GOLDEN, luke hemmings

XXVI: REASONS WHY

chapter twenty-six; reasons why

There were most likely an infinite amount of reasons why Ava Mitsuko Morrison shouldn't be and was not allowed to be up past the sharp hour of twelve o'clock, and the list seemed to be growing the longer one person would think about it. To the human eye, as it sees plainly what your brain tells you to see unless you intently focus on depth without information, she was a vibrant girl of twenty who had short, dyed hair that changed colour nearly every time she grew bored, and a short height falling to about five foot two.

However, if you were talking personality wise—it was quite clear that Ava was more than just complicated. She was enigmatic when she wanted to be, but also an open book at the same time. And, if we even had time to list all the ways she was a paradox within herself, you'd easily discover that she was quite contradicting and worth more than a simple description with the adjective complicated.

Whenever Ava would stay up longer than she should've, and this was usually when she refused to take a small dose of melatonin from over-the-counter, she would get off of her bed in the middle of the night and trudge to the kitchen in her and Becca's apartment and begin rummaging through the fridge. She was an over thinker, obviously enough, but this cursing personality trait made its full-blows in the times when the sun would go down and she was left alone.

Sitting on the couch as she held a plateful of leftovers from Ruby Tuesday's, munching on some French fries she had just finished reheating in the microwave, she thought about the events that had happened throughout the past two-three days.

The mall date was better than she had expected and she had beat Luke at skeeball, getting enough tickets to get a RingPop and then propose to him. So, officially, Luke Hemmings and Ava Morrison were now boyfriend and girlfriend and it was made memorable because right after she proposed to him, they took a picture in the Chuck E. Cheese PhotoBooth. Afterwards, after shopping around for clothes and makeup and random things—as agreed, everyone met up at Ruby Tuesday's and ate, not knowing that there was now two couples at the table, not just one, but when it was announced—not one person was shocked.

Happy, sure, but to quote Becca, "It was so obvious that you guys were as whipped as cream for the other, it's just about time one of you finally grew a pair and did something about it," so the group accepted them with open, yet unsurprised arms.

The remembrance of all of this made Ava smile to herself as she began to eat some more, sighing like she was in a dream she didn't want to end. Mainly because events were happening too fast and she didn't like change any more than the other person.

Thanksgiving was fast approaching and she would've rather jumped in front of a speeding truck on the highway than face her family fears. She was mentally preparing speeches, even thinking of writing down topics and puns on pink notecards that she had gotten from Staples but never had use for (until now) so that when she was feeling that an anxiety attack was going to arrive, she could pull out some cards out of her pockets and begin to talk about something. The idea to any healthy person who had a perfect mental condition would find the idea a bit weird, but to someone as anxious and anxiety-driven as Ava, it was perfectly normal and she was going to stick to what she knew. She had already searched Google for help and advice, and wrote down positivity vibes in a notebook to cheer her up.

Luke had bought her Post-It notes to help her and would give her more topics as they both would sit on Ava's couch, and he would give her motivational pep talks that would usually end with him kissing her. He assured her that he would be with her the whole time and if she wanted to leave throughout the night, they would have a safe word and Luke would make up an excuse so they could flee from the scene.