High Tide

Chapter 5 [Surf's Up]

Chapter 5

Surf's Up

It happened so fast. One moment Corey was on top of Asher and the next they were both being dragged apart by some big, beefy guys. As a few of his friends started ushering him away, among the drunken slurs, Avery could only make out one single word: tease.

The blood rushed to her face, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. So she was the one in the wrong now for telling him to stop? That was so ridiculous!

Trying to ignore the dozens of eyes locked on her, she moved through the crowd and found Asher again, being looked at by his sister and a giggly Tori.

"Are you okay?" Avery asked when she reached the little group. She frowned when she saw Asher's eye, which looked red and a little swollen. He also had a split lip, but the worst injury of all seemed to be his bruised ego.

"I should've gotten a punch in," he grumbled. "Ouch! Damn it, Jo I'll be fine!" he added, shrugging Jo's hand away.

"What even happened?" Jo asked, turning to Avery. "Was it about Sienna again?" she added, glancing at her brother curiously. He was glaring at the overturned drink table.

"No, the asshole was–" Asher began.

"It's fine; Corey didn't know how to keep his hands to himself," Avery interrupted, not quite sure who Sienna was but figuring it didn't really matter at this point. "Anyway, it's almost eleven... I'm gonna just go wait for your mom out front," she added and, before either Asher or Jo could say anything else, she slipped back into the crowd.

"I'm gonna go–" Asher began, but Jo held him back when he tried to stand up.

"Let her go," she said. "She'll be fine."

Marissa wasn't asleep yet when she heard noise coming from her sister's bedroom. She sat up in bed and glanced at her bedroom door, then at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It was a quarter after eleven. She hesitated for a moment before tip-toeing over.

"I'm sorry for getting you in trouble this afternoon," she said shyly, standing in the door frame with her fingers laced together in front of her.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault," Avery replied softly, turning her back to Marissa while she changed out of her swimsuit and into a comfortable t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. "I was just in a bad mood, that's all," she added.

"I told Lydia you were on your period," Marissa sniggered.

"You're so lame," Avery laughed.

"Am not, I'm cooler than you," Marissa pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. Glad that everything with her sister was okay again, she made her way to the bed and fell on top of it, snuggling up into Avery's pillows.

"Whatever you say," Avery shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "You wanna sleep here tonight?" she added, climbing into bed next to Marissa and poking her playfully in the side.

"Yeah," Marissa grinned. "It can be like back in our other home," she added.

After getting up to shut the lights, Avery climbed back into bed, staring up at the ceiling. The sound of Marissa's breathing next to her was so familiar and so soothing.