Edited
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( and boy was this a hard chapter to edit because it's mostly dialogue.)
Heeeeey, so don't hate me but we're gonna get serious for a bit.
Me: ┐( ∵ )┌
You reading this: ತ_ತ
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Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
Brunch did not go as Avery had planned. She was going to officially ask Mira out but, once again, she was reminded that a relationship with gaping holes would never work. Mira deserved to know the truth.
They pulled up to Mira's house in her car. Giya immediately swung open the front door and stomped out.
She was fuming.
Mira opened the door to her car that Avery drove, and climbed out. She couldn't look her mom in the eye. She stared at the ground instead, waiting for Giya to yell at her for being late.
It never came.
Her mother gave her a sad look, glancing from her to Avery. Giya bit her lip as Avery stepped forward.
"Giya, I can –" Avery started but Giya held up her hand, silencing her.
"Did I not tell you to stay away from my daughter, Eden. Was hurting her once not enough? She could've ended up like Líla. Is that what you want for her?"
Avery looked like she'd been stabbed in the gut. Mira stepped in front of Avery into the heat of her mother's fury.
"Mom, don't blame her for Líla. Don't blame her for whatever in the hell happened to me. Don't you think it's time I know what happened?"
Giya looked taken back by Mira's sudden aggression. Ray and Aiden came outside as well as some neighbours.
Ray placed his hands on his wife's shoulder. "Giya, let's take the kids inside."
Giya flinched slightly at the contact. She glanced up at Ray, the anger washing away from her as he quickly removed his arm. Her eyes brushed over the ghost of his hand on her shoulder that was trying to support her and she sighed. She then silently made her way back inside. Aiden, still wrapped in his blankie, looked at his sister and then Mira.
He looked back at his sister.
"V."
She flinched at the use of her old nickname.
"We have rules. The second you break one, you break all."
He walked back inside too. Mira held onto Avery's hand.
"He'll come around. Let's go in," Mira assured her.
She smiled at her and Avery smiled back but it didn't reach her eyes. They walked into the house with everyone and followed Ray into the TV room. Giya switched the TV off as they all sat scattered in their bubbles.
Eventually, Mira spoke. "I want to know what happened two years ago. Starting with Líla?" Everyone in the room looked at Avery, who glanced at Giya. Giya turned her gaze away. Avery knew the only people who knew somewhat of the truth about Líla were Claudia, Adam, Ms González and Giya but they didn't know Avery's side of the story. They all refused to listen.
Avery sighed, sensing that most of the room was waiting for her. "As you know, I used to be quite rebellious and sometimes irresponsible," she began.
Giya huffed and bit the inside of her cheek causing Ray to give her a stern look. Mira had never seen her mother so blatantly express her disapproval of Avery. Avery continued once Ray gave her the go-ahead. "When we started high school Líla and I heard about this party taking place at The Secret Falls and decided it'd be cool to check it out and to be one of the big kids." Avery clenched her fist, her nails digging into the palm of her hand. "If I had known that day, it was a college rave party taking place, I never would have let her go. Then again, we didn't know what to expect. Once we arrived there were the usual things one would find at a rave; snacks, alcohol... d-drugs." She stammered and Giya rolled her eyes.
"You've told us this before. You and Líla took some. You recovered but Líla never did. She got addicted. Then she died. End of story." Giya got up to walk away but Mira grabbed onto her arm too shocked to even comprehend what her mother had just revealed. Mira knew there was more, Avery could never have let it happen. "How many times have you let your homophobic tendencies cloud your judgement. I know there's something Avery has to say that she's been holding back because of you and your hostility. Mom, if you trust me, hear her out. "
Giya stared at Mira, confused by her statement, but she sat back down still stumped at Mira's accusation.
"Líla, as Giya said, got addicted. I didn't know."
"Lies," Giya intervened. "You knew exactly how and when, just admit it."
Mira was confused why her mother was acting so hostile toward Avery. Ray placed a hand on Giya's shoulder to stop her and Giya snapped out of her rage. She looked over at Ray and they seemed to share a silent message and Giya backed down.
"I swear –" Avery began again. This time, Aiden was the one standing, his shoulders trembling with rage.
"Then tell us how it was, that Lila was addicted to the same drugs that they found in Mira's system the night she fell off the cliff at The Secret Falls!"
The world began to tilt sideways as the TV room turned into an unbearable furnace for Mira. She swallowed back the lump in her throat, finding herself not being able to breathe properly. She sat back on the couch as the situation before her escalated but she couldn't move.
She was paralyzed.
She glanced at Avery who looked crestfallen, terrified to go on.
Mira wanted to reach out to her, hold her and tell her she was fine and encourage her to continue but she knew the shock had hit her too.
The last person they expected to say something tonight was the one who would answer all of Mira's questions.
Aiden's teeth chattered as tears flowed out of his eyes and his nose leaked. He wiped it away with the blankie.
"At the end of summer, we added the last two Eden rules: four, never fight in front of mom and five, never date your sibling's best friend." He faced Mira as he continued, "We added those because Avery was the reason you nearly died."
Mira tried taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Something wasn't adding up to her. It all felt wrong and she needed to find out the truth.
"Two years ago, Avery asked you out and you started dating," Aiden said.
Mira glanced over at her parents and they didn't stop him.
"You were the happiest couple I knew but Líla was recovering from her addiction. Everyone knew she was at rehab and, suddenly, disappeared one day. No one knew what happened to her. Avery started using you as a distraction – a means to fill a void. She took you out every weekend and you went to every party with her. Then one day, I guess, she was done with you and broke up with you but eventually, you started to get close again but Avery was still lost. She was going to a party at The Secret Falls and she convinced you to go with her...and I was too sick to stop you."
He stopped taking in a shaky breath of air.
"Mira, that night you fell off the edge of The Falls from Danger Peak, you hit your head. No one knew how or why you were up there but you went, you fell, and nearly died."
Avery felt her head spin. It was happening all over again. Her narrative was yet again being told by another person. Everyone knew the version of the story they wanted to hear.
They always did this; she never got the chance to defend herself.
Ray got up and clasped onto Aiden's shoulder, his lips quivering as he tried to calm the boy down and place him back in his seat. Mira realised her father had been restraining himself the entire time. Ray closed his eyes as he sat next to phoenix and looked at Mira sadly.
"The blood tests that were taken showed signs of drugs in your system the same ones Líla had been on. So, naturally, we assumed..." Ray drifted off unable to complete his sentence.
Giya finished for him. "Avery knew the entire time and been the provider."
For the first time, since they took over the narrative, Mira glanced at Avery.
She gasped; Avery was pale, her eyes frantic. I
t was the same Avery, Mira had seen back at McDonald's - the same Avery begging for someone to allow her to share her burden. Mira figured that they always shut her down again and again. Mira tried to figure out why and she found her answer in the look Giya gave Avery.
It wasn't anger. It was a look of betrayal and heartbreak.
Everyone had been so hurt by the events; they didn't want to face the truth even though they needed it. She also realised Avery never stood up for herself and eventually gave up because she had felt as if she had hurt Giya and Ray, her second parents in some way. They pushed Avery away out of fear and she held back out of respect but, this time, she had Mira to push back.
Mira grasped her hand.
"Avery, I want you to look me in the eye and answer me honestly. Did you give me the drugs I took that night?"
Avery's head snapped up to meet her eyes. Giya opened her mouth but Mira held her hand up to stop her.
Avery shook her head. "No, I never did. I would never."
Avery's eyes glossed over with tears.
Mira turned and asked Avery, "Did you see me take those drugs that night?"
Everyone in the room froze. After a while, Avery shook her head again, more vigorously. "No, I didn't see you because I left The Falls early." Mira inhaled slowly as a tear rolled down Avery's face and she whispered, "I could never hurt you."
Avery turned to face Giya. Mira saw the motivation to fight back finally light up her eyes. She knew Mira was there for her. She stood up straight and walked over to Giya, stopping in front of her.
"Giya, I swear I am telling the truth. For once please let me explain. All those weekend parties Mira and I went to weren't actual parties at all. We used to–"
"–go see Líla when she was in hiding!" Mira exclaimed suddenly remembering almost like putting the puzzle together started to unlock a chest in her mind.
Everyone turned to face Mira in shock. Even she was dumbfounded at her statement.
"I remember we always used to deliver groceries and toiletries and take her to your mom for check-ups. Claudia swore to keep it a secret."
Giya looked at her daughter and back to Avery. Giya's face fell in regret as she realised there was more to the story and Mira could see there was something else that had been fuelling Giya's anger. She was projecting her fear of something else onto Avery but Giya had seen the light because Mira had shattered the block with her memories.
Mira's intervention had opened her sights to dig deeper for the truth.
She watched as Giya cautiously leaned forward. "Let me ask you something, Eden. Did Líla tell you she was taking drugs?"
Avery shook her head. "No, I thought that..." She turned away from Aiden and Mira ashamed. "I thought our first time was our last. Even then, I told her we shouldn't, she told me it was just that once. I refused, dragging her away but eventually she convinced me. I made a mistake then and I'll admit that. Yes, we went to those parties but I never assumed that she was ... and then I began to notice the change in tenth grade.''
Mira noticed her mother began to ask Avery questions, which was a sign she was putting her own emotions aside. She was letting Avery explain herself.
Giya hated to admit it but she started to notice there was a pattern to the way events played. With each question, Giya became more and more relieved as if a weight was being lifted from her shoulders too.
"I noticed she was acting strange. That's when I accidentally walked in on her one day at a party. She tried to get me on board. I was furious and I took her home and we argued. It was our first major fight. I made her promise to never do it again. We said we'd work it out together. Grace González was a conservative Catholic so she never approved of me and her daughter. So we had kept up the friendship facade but I was done."
Avery glanced back at Mira, expecting her to finally tell her she's heard enough to know she didn't want to be with her but Mira didn't. She just gave Avery a nod of encouragement.
"That's when I started to host the parties instead. I thought maybe if I was the one controlling everything perhaps I could keep her safe. I broke up with her that year too because I couldn't bring myself to lie to Grace. The next year, I found out she had a boyfriend and by this time, Mira had started to enter my life after Evelyn. I had been caught up with my own life I didn't see the obvious. He was a 22-year-old, at a local college and I realised Líla was getting worse. Putting two and two together I figured it was him. I told her mom everything. Líla probably hated me because of it. Her mom sent her away to rehab and I didn't see her until my senior year. By then, Mira and I had been dating."
Avery sniffled and touched her face stained with tears she hadn't realised she'd shed. Ray handed her a handkerchief.
"Also, the reason Mira and I broke up for a while wasn't because of Líla." Avery glanced at Aiden. "It was because she couldn't break her best friend's trust. Mira felt that by dating me, she was betraying you, so she broke up with me."
Aiden looked up at Mira and she gave him a small nod, tears rolling down her face.
"I remember, Aiden." She took in a deep breath as he nodded taking in the news.
Avery looked at Giya again. "It just happened that Líla came back that year too. She was 10 months clean. She wanted to get back together but I told her about Mira. She wasn't exactly happy but she said she understood. She left that night. I should've stopped her. I should have sensed she wasn't okay. She called me later that night. I remember her calling, hysterical over the phone. When I got to Líla, it was too late. She had been drugged at the party. She didn't know who or how but the deed was done. They eventually found out it was her ex-boyfriend because one of the frat guys and his roommate saw them together."
Mira saw her mother pale and take a seat beside Avery. "That poor girl, I can imagine how she felt." Tears streamed down Giya's face and Ray held his wife close as tears welled up in his eyes.
He was trying to be strong for everyone.
Aiden looked over at Giya and then back to Mira. They had the same thought. Giya was hiding something.
Avery leaned into Giya's embrace as she stroked her back soothingly. Avery clutched onto Giya and sobbed, allowing herself to finally heal.
"Líla had her secrets to keep and wanted me to help her. So I did. I helped hide her for nine months until she gave birth to her daughter. The baby was miraculously healthy but Líla died during labour from the strain on her body. My mom contacted Grace... Líla went into labour, the night we had gone to a party at The Falls. I was alone with Mira when I got the call from the hospital. Adam had taken Aiden home earlier because he was sick." Avery choked back on her sobs as Giya placed her chin on Avery's head and she rocked her back and forth. "I shouldn't have left Mira but she said she wanted to go home and told me Líla needed me there. So I left her. It was my fault."
"No, it wasn't, Avery. Mira was mature enough to have gotten herself home safe." Giya finished the story, this time the end was clear. "You were at the hospital already for Líla when Mira was brought in. Then the two of us showed up. They told me she had fallen. You heard what happened that night to Mira at the same time as us. You couldn't have known any better and we thought you were with her. Aiden and you fought that day and your mom had an anxiety attack from the stress. So she didn't clarify the situation with us before seeing to Mira and by the time she was done the damage was done."
Everyone was solemn.
"I'm sorry. I blamed you for not knowing and I never asked because I just saw you as another..." Giya took a deep breath and Avery nodded as if she understood exactly who Giya meant. "And I didn't want Mira to go through the same thing I did."
She didn't say a name but Mira noticed her dad tense up too. Mira realized everyone here had their secrets that they were trying to protect so they become blind to those who are crying out for help.
"What about the drugs in her system?" Aiden snivelled.
Nobody answered. They looked at Mira. She shrugged. "I don't know. That hasn't rung a bell."
They all gazed back at the floor sitting in silence.
Mira had one question left for Avery as she saw her necklace catch the light. "Avery, how did you get my chain?"
Giya let Avery go, so she could face Mira. "Evelyn gave it to me. She was at the party that night."
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Giya be like: (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ
Poor Avery.
Don't worry...we have some fun ahead of us now.
(☞ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞