Unchained

Epilogue

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8292...

"What are you doing?"

I looked up. It was Shayline.

"Oh, nothing," I said, turning back to my textbook. She didn't say anything, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her staring at the ground. From here, I could see the red circles around her eyes. If you looked closely, you could see some around mine, too.

Accepting Tamara's death wasn't easy, to say the least.

"Hey." I sat up and turned to her. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to my place after school."

She looked at me, her eyes wandering over my face as if she was deciding if I was a friend or a foe. "Avaley, my parents won't let me. You know that."

I shrugged. "What they won't know won't hurt them, right?" I smiled, memories of our friendship echoing through my mind. 

She smiled, too. "Yeah, I could use some help on math. I mean... If you don't mind..." I could tell she wasn't trying to make it awkward. About Sean and everything, how the cute and sexy tutor ended up being a demon from hell trying to kill me.

"It's no biggie, we can study for that science test coming up, too," I added in. I saw a look of shock pass across her face. I interpreted it as: Doesn't she remember that Mr. Hauge is the teacher that ripped off his shirt in front of her and assaulted her any times?

Well, I remembered. And sadly, in this story, that problem wouldn't be solved. Ever since I came back to school yesterday, he still gave me those looks but hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. I couldn't believe after everything, he would still treat me like he would any girl he had his eyes on. Some people were just like that. And I had to stick up with it.

Besides, the school year was almost over. I would leave him behind and start fresh. New friends. New teachers. New experiences.

I snapped back to reality. "If you're okay with that."

She nodded, smiling again. "Of course." she gave me a little nudge, and I was about to nudge her back but I then realized David Pearson himself had walked into the room, his eyes scanning over the faces. The eyes of girls fell onto him and hushed whispering about him started, but he ignored that. His eyes caught mine. A grin split up his face. I blushed.

Oh come on. A story can't be complete without romance, right?

Especially if this guy is named David Pearson and...

"Hey, Amazing Avaley," he said, sliding in the seat next to me. "What's up?"

"The ceiling," I said. "How are you, Destructive David?" 

Okay, so we came up with names for each other. Big deal.

"Not bad, not bad," he said, flashing me a smile as he pulled his textbook out. "Shall we compare homework, my dear lady?"

My face went warm as the bell rang. "Some other time," I said.

My phone suddenly buzzed and I looked down at it. A text from mom:

finish clean new aprtmnt. c u after school?

I had to let out a sigh. Ever since the destruction of yucky Sean, life had began to get normal again. Not only had I lost my powers, big downer, but I came to the realization that I wasn't invincible anymore. My parents went through with the divorce (with dad at a sprained ankle and mom at a bad hair day for a while), and mom won custody over me. I knew they were still confused about what happened, and I begged them not to talk about it. I knew they would eventually, and I'd just have to wait for that.

We found Ryker, by the way.

I mean, if you just wanted to know. 

He was at Kevin's place.

Oh, Kevin, you're probably thinking. How is that guardian angel, anyway?

He's good. I mean, I went and visited him yesterday with David. After I cried over seeing my doggy, alive and well, Kevin told me the truth. About everything.

Everything.

I mean, he's my guardian angel, so we can't keep secrets from each other. And I like that.

He told me about the beautiful angel, himself, my powers, Sean, David, and answered all my questions. About everything. And now, I truly understand it. It makes sense.

But I can't tell you all that.

I know, I know, you want to know. But I can't. Why?

We'll leave that to another day.

"You okay?" David asked, whispering in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. Hearing his voice sent excitement and terror running through me. Excitement because here he was, alive, loving me, and we finally could have peace between us knowing that all was sort of ok. And terror because looking at him reminded me of who I was really was, what I had done, and what I could become. 

My life was far from perfect. I was no longer Amazing Avaley. But I was... Better Avaley. Improving Avaley. I had lost a lot of things - my old life, my home, my powers, and Tamara ... but I had gained new things. David, of course, a stronger friendship with Shayline and the realization of my own guardian angel. Things were going to be weird. As in, my life, of course. I was scared for it but looking at David, I knew he'd help me through everything. He always did, anyway. I had to give him that. Even though he threw me out a window once. I would never forgive him for that.

So how could I answer his question? Was I really okay? 

I guess you'll never know.

We'll have to leave that to another day.