Dear Ava

Chapter 11

Ava was exhausted. It was a weekend but Ava was exhausted. It had been a week since Mason had passed away. Ava thought she would be in her room, cooped up, and mourning, but here she was, walking towards a destination she did not want to visit. James had somehow convinced Ava that she needed to do the next two things, Firstly, read the letter and secondly, get Noah's alibi. If Ava suspected Noah, she needed to know more about him.

So she was going to meet Noah first, Ava did not dare to read another letter. She and James had met at a cafe, she could not trust reading the letter in public, but that was just another reason, Ava couldn't handle reading Mason's letter anytime soon. She was living on the adrenaline rush to find who had done this to Mason.

Ava knew Noah's spot, the one where he used to hang out often. Unfortunately, it was also nearby where Mason worked. As she passed Mason's workplace, she was once again gripped by memories, memories she refused to focus on. 'We have to go and confront Noah, now is not the time to be emotional' this was the chant in Ava's head.

Ava saw Noah in the cafe ahead, he was, as usual with his friends. Now, Ava had to go and ask him, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Noah had insulted Mason enough and she did not want to hear more, but she had to. She didn't want to though. Her heart refused to let her take a step forward. She stopped at the entrance of the cafe, willing to turn back when her phone buzzed.

The caller id sent a wave of calmness through her veins. "James, hello," she spoke into her phone.

"Did you do it, Ava? Did you read the letter, did you meet him?' Ava had left that day from James' home as immediately as she could, and she had not contacted him. He was eager to know what was the ordeal, what was in the letter.

"No, I didn't read the letter yet," Ava saw that Noah had spotted her, " I'll call you later," she whispered in her phone and shut it.

"Oh, Golden boy's queen is here, didn't you rush away that day?" Noah didn't spare a second before his snide remark.

Maintaining her temper Ava said, "Noah, I want to talk with you."

"Why if I may ask, would I want to waste my time like that?" Noah replied, bored.

"It's something about Mason."

"And do you think I will want to talk about the Golden Boy?"

"Stop calling him that!"

"Whatever, speak your thing and go. I know you are hurt, that is why we haven't thrown you out yet" Noah said

"I don't need your sympathy......" Ava was furious.

"Why are you here?" He replied, Why was Ava here?

"Mason's scarf, where did you get it?" Ava decided to start from here.

"Somewhere, what's that got to do with you?" Noah dismissed the question.

"I need to know." She pressed.

"I am not forced to tell."

"Please Noah, where were you that night?" Ava questioned directly.

"What night?"

"That night, when, when, Mason, when he...." She couldn't speak it out.

"Committed suicide? What has that got to do with me?" Noah blatantly put it out

"Where ?" Ava forcefully asked once again, she was running out of patience.

"Anywhere?"

"Just tell me, Noah" she pleaded.

"Why? Do you think I forced him to do that?" Noah was furious at the questioning.

"What?" Ava was at the loss of words.

"Do you think I forced Mason to do anything? Are you kidding me?" He laid it out. Ava was suspecting Noah.

"So, why aren't you telling me where you were?" It took all her courage to ask him that.

"That is some personal information, you fool. What exactly are you thinking? Mason, he was a coward, he went ahead and maybe cut himself or hanged himself, I don't know," Noah, completely deranged now, could not control himself.

"Noah," Ava's whisper came. She was asking him to stop

"No, you asked for it. Mason was a coward. He went ahead and gave his own life, nobody took it from him," His words pierced her heart. But, Noah did not know about the letters.

"Noah," Ava spoke a little louder.

"Listen, Ava, I got nothing to say to you, Why are you here? Lover Boy left you a letter, read it, and do what you want." Noah sat back on his table, focusing back on his friends.

"I'm just here to ask about the scarf." Ava tried once again.

"And I got it somewhere, I returned it to you out of sympathy, now, just go away," Noah said, almost annoyed.

"Why are you ignoring all this?" she whispered.

Noah just ignored her for a while, "Because it doesn't concern me."

"Really? It doesn't concern you, you are the one who bullied him all your life?" Ava continued, once again, absolutely furious

"No, just go"

"Fine." Ava couldn't control her tears anymore.

"GO!" Noah finally lost his temper.

"I am, and I will be back, but." Ava rushed out of the cafe into the back of the alley besides.

She had been here many times before. It was her and Mason's favorite place to hang out after he had finished his job. She sat on the bench there, slightly sobbing. After a while, she took the letter from her purse and opened it to try and read.

"Mason, Are you here?" she said as she quietly rested her head on the bench and started to read, hoping it would give her some more clues.

'Dear Ava,'

It started.