And After that We Didn't Talk

Ava

Chapter 7

Nothing makes you more retrospective than getting knocked the fuck out. Ava was all I could think about. How could she betray me. Were there signs of betrayal that I missed. As i drifted back and forth to sleep, I reminisced about the first time we met.

We were in Maryland attending our overpriced private school. She was sitting on the bright red chair outside the guidance counselor's office; the guidance counselor also doubled as the dean's office. Ava's uniform was wrinkled and her long black hair was a fried mess. She sat in the fetal position with her arms cradling her knees. Don't want to sit next to that bitch, I thought as I sat two seats away. My headphones were blazing and the phone kept pinging. Sade was providing me the class's post fight commentary straight from geometry class. I whooped some girls ass for calling me the n word.

As soon as I sat down, Ava looked up and rolled her eyes. Another white girl with a death wish I thought.

"Could you not?" She said waving her unpolished hands around. The dirt under her finger nails made me want to gag.

"Could you make me?'' I mocked her tone as I stared directly in her eyes. They looked sad. Her mascara left deep black tire marks that trailed down from here tear ducts to her cheeks. My next thought was she should have invested in waterproof. 

 Ava definitely wasn't here to see the dean. She was probably being bullied, I thought to myself. I didn't turn my music down, but I didn't make it louder like I initially planned to do. Which I can assure you was  A-win-win situation.

I glanced at her between reading text messages. Ava was a pretty girl, like Kylie Jenner before the lip fillers. She waited silently, sighing occasionally, and rocking back and forth. My better judgement told me to mind my business, but the nosey in me was like nah fuck that.

I turned down the music and turned to the rocking girl. "Are you okay?" I asked as sincerely as I could fake. Ava looked up for a moment and placed her head back onto her knees ignoring the fuck out of me.

"Whatever." I said annoyed. I turned my music up as high as it could go until the dean called me inside the office.

A few days later, Ava and I bumped heads again. Sade and I were in the bathroom adjusting our uniforms, so we could show off our smooth brown legs in the cafeteria, when we saw an apple roll from under one of  the bathroom stalls.

"What the fuck?" Sade said jumping on to the sink.

"Relax girl, it's just an apple," I said, picking it up and examining it.

"Oh I thought it was a mouse or cockroach or something." She said hopping down from the sink.

"No bitch this isn't your house in west Baltimore." I laughed and shot it into the wastebasket. It went in of course.

"Funny bitch. We can't all live in the burbs' with them white folks." She said spraying me with water from the faucet. " But where did it come from? We're the only ones in here. We did look under the stalls when we came in, right?"

"Girl we can trade. It get's old real quick. Let's figure it out. You know, bitches love a good mystery." I said looking under the stalls again.

"There's one stall we didn't check." Sade walked toward the stall for handicap students and kicked it open. Ava sat on the toilet with a lunch tray on her lap. Her eyes were puffy and she had mayonnaise on her lip."

"What the hell?" Sade screamed in disgusted shock.

I wasn't surprised when I saw Ava. In fact, it confirmed what I originally thought. She was a loner and probably being bullied. 

"Sorry." Ava said, jumping up on from the stall. She threw her bag on her back and made a beeline for the exit.

"Wait." I screamed and she froze. I know how it feels to be an outcast.

I walked towards the mirror and began fixing the contour on my nose. It looked a little too dark. "You don't have to eat lunch alone."

"What the hell," Sade said. "Don't you know who that is"

I turned and squinted a little. "Nope doesn't ring a bell."

"You probably don't know what she looks like with her clothes on." Sade pulled out her phone.

I put my hand over my mouth. "Oh shit, you're Chava Gaurdini. Ean sent your nudes to everybody in school." I laughed but Ava didn't. Instead, she turned red and shifted uncomfortably.

"It was a big mistake and I've been paying for it everyday." She blurted out. There was an awkward silence. Sade and stared at her like she had two heads.

"At least she has a little back bone, I like her already" I laughed. I turned to the mirror and began to put my blonde box braids in a messy bun. "I don't need to hear anything more. I meant it when I said she doesn't have to eat alone."

"Are you sure?'' Sade was taping her blue acrylics on the sink. "Sending her nudes around town, sounds like a whole hoe." Putting on lipstick.

"Ean's a bastard for leaking her nudes. That could have easily happened to any of us."

Ava looked down. "Ean didn't leak my nudes."

"Then who did?" Sade and I froze waiting for the tea.

"It was Molly Mockins," She revealed, emphasizing the name.

"Not Molly Mockins!" I gasped dramatically and turned to Sade. "Who the fuck is Molly Mockins?"

"Bushy Brows from math class. You know the weirdo that wears the green leotard at gym class."

"Ohhhhh that hoe with bowl cut and unibrow" I shook my head. "Why would she do that."

"We liked the same guy and ..... Ava spoke softer.

"Okay. And..." I said signally to her to wrap up the story. "Please don't tell me you stole that girl's man"

"No I would never do that. Molly was my best friend. I introduced her to Ean. When I found out he was dating us both, I ended things with him. Molly found out a few weeks later and accused me of betraying her. Now the whole school thinks I'm a slut."

"I wish a bitch would try me like that," Sade said, picking up the eyebrow pencil. I looked at her knowing damn well she wouldn't do a damned thing. She was definitely all talk. "If the whole school hates her, what are they going to say about us." Sade continued fixing her brows.

I grabbed a couple napkins and walked towards Ava ."Number one, people treat you based on how you carry yourself." I said blotting the smeared mayo that smudged the side of Ava's mouth. "Sorry girl, it was bothering me." I balled up the napkin and shot it in the wastebasket. "Number two, we have two years left in this hell hole before I get accepted to Fordham University and Move to NYC. And most importantly, number three, who the fuck is going to check me, boo?" I balled up my fists. " Nobody wants these problems. Anyway, we're talking like Chava isn't here. We should ask her, What does she want to do?"

Ava was half way out the door when we glanced her way. She turned around and looked pensive like she was weighing her options. She closed the door and walked towards us. "It would be nice to have company, but why would you help me?"

"We're both wondering that girl!" Sad looked unimpressed.

"I know what it feels like to feel ostracized and lonely. It's wack. And plus Chava is cute as fuck. She definitely has potential." I winked at Ava playfully, but that didn't stop her from inching towards the door. I put my hand up and stopped her before she was on the other side. " If you're going to hang with us you need to have two things: loyalty and self-respect." She nodded. And the rest was history. Thanks to me, she dyed her hair blonde, waxed, got some acrylic tips and built her confidence. Of course she complained a couple times about feeling like she had to put on an act but it was how things were. Being black, hot and educated  in a private school was not an easy job. And there was definitely no room for being yourself.  If I'd known better I'd left her in the bathroom with Mayo on her mustache.