"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I repeated as I waited outside of Avery's biology class that I had just ditched. I bought her a cookie as an apology and held it with outstretched hands hoping for forgiveness.
Avery huffed as she saw me. "Oh great, you're alive. Not that I would have known because you failed to answer my 200 texts." She glared at me, folding her arms. One could always tell the level of Avery's anger by the amount that she used her hands. Considering the fact that they were folded, I think I was in the clear. When they were flailing - run for your life.
I really did feel awful though. After Alexander had dropped me off, I finally remembered that I had actual classes to attend and that I had just skipped on and a friend that had completely slipped my mind. Avery did send me an insane amount of texts. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had counted two hundred of them to make her point.
"I'm so sorry, Avery! So beyond sorry that sorry doesn't even begin to cover the sorry that I feel about being sorry!" I gabbed on before she snatched the cookie from my hands.
"What happened?" She asked curiously as she bit into the chocolate chip cookie.
"It was such a shit day. Aaron came up to me." I explained.
"You know there's nothing going on in his head when not even a punch can spark brain activity." Avery rolled her eyes and took another bite.
I laughed. "Alexander was actually kind of amazing and took me out for lunch."
"Nathan's Alexander?" She asked as her eyebrows shot up. I nodded in return.
She grabbed my arm and began dragging me outside and next to her car. She opened the passenger side and shoved me in, "Ow! I'm still attached to the arm, Avery!" She motioned for me to move my legs inside the vehicle before she slammed the door shut for me.
She jogged around and hopped into the driver's seat before turning to face me. "We left it at Alexander taking you out?" She said before turning the car on and beginning to drive home.
"Not out, I just had a very minor meltdown and he suggested we take a breather. It turns out the guy that I tripped on in class was actually Alexander." I explained.
"Aww, Olivia! Are you guys going out again?" She squealed.
"Oh my God, no. We're not dating. He just saved me from making an ass of myself in front of Aaron. There's nothing romantic there. I'd say there's barely a friendship there."
"But how amazing would it be to go out on double dates with someone who isn't a colossal asshole like Aaron?" Avery placed both her hands on her cheeks in excitement. She had never liked Aaron and it was for this reason that she refused to introduce Nathan to Aaron when we were dating. I suppose looking back, she was a good judge of character.
"Hands on the wheel." She placed her hands back. "There's nothing romantic happening. In what world am I ready for that? I still need to drive thirty minutes away to get food."
"That's true," Avery nodded her head in agreement.
"Thanks, Avery." I stated dryly. She lifted her hands in surrender before placing them back on the steering wheel. "Stacey came up to me today." I said softly.
"When you got a name like Stacey, there's only so far you can go in life. You're destined to be a bitch." Avery explained, "What did she want?"
"She told me I should hang out with the group again and that Aaron and the guys went on a fishing trip to the cabin." I looked at my hands.
"A fishing trip? What are they, fifty year old men?"
"I don't know, it had something to do with fish." I waved my hand nonchalantly.
"Because why wouldn't you want to hang out with the guy who cheated on you and the girl he cheated on you with? Such shit people." Avery puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "Is that all she said? If I know Stacey at all, she came up to you for a selfish reason."
"She asked for notes." I admitted.
"And you said..."
"I'd hand them over," I mumbled.
"Olivia!" Avery hit my shoulder.
"I couldn't help it. You know me." I rubbed my shoulder with my hand.
She sighed dejectedly, "I do." She pulled into my driveway and I saw a white Mercedes parked. "Looks like mommy dearest decided to pay a visit." Avery said bitterly while staring at the white Mercedes.
"I didn't know she'd be home today."
"Do you want to stay at my place?" Avery offered.
"It's fine, it won't be so bad. I'll have to get it over with sooner or later anyway." I huffed as I climbed out of the car. "Thank you for the ride, Avery!"
"Call me later! And remember that 'no' can still be a part of your vocabulary!" She called as she drove off.
I pushed the door to my house open and walked in hesitantly.
"My Olivia!" My mom greeted me as I walked in. I could smell her Chanel perfume as soon as I stepped inside. Her white blouse was tucked into her wide legged, cream colored pants and cinched together with a Gucci belt. "How are you, darling?" She grabbed onto my shoulders and gave me an air kiss on both cheeks, making sure to keep her makeup pristine.
"Hey, mom. I've been good and you?" I asked tentatively.
"It seems you've been hanging around Avery a bit too much if you're resorting to colloquial 'heys' at your mother." She wrinkled her nose at me. "That's where inheritance money gets you. Without proper manners or decorum."
"My apologies, mother." My mom didn't have an issue with Avery because her family was well off but the snubs of their money being 'inherited' and not passed down in the family blood line were pretty constant.
"How has school been, my dear?" My mother asked, her eyes glued to her phone, likely replying to an email.
"It's been going really well." I replied honestly, still standing in the doorway.
"You're still stuck on teaching then? I was hoping our last conversation would have sparked some thought in you. I'd hate to have a blue collar worker in this family, Olivia." My mother raised an eyebrow at me while she talked. She heavily disproved of my wanting to become a teacher as she had made abundantly clear. I believe the preferred vocation was 'rich housewife'.
"I still have one more year. That gives me plenty of time to think about my future." I replied, skirting around the topic as was my maneuver when I wanted to get out of talking about something with my mom. She'd move on to bigger problems like which bag she needed to get to prove she had the most money to her friends and hopefully forget this conversation in time.
"Yes, I suppose. Oh, Olivia, you couldn't have done something different with your hair? I will make an appointment at my boutique. This is a travesty." She said disdainfully as she used two fingers to lift a strand of my hair.
"Sure, mother." I replied awkwardly, patting my hair down. "Well, I have a bunch of assignments to get to, so I should probably get started on that." I made my way to the staircase hoping to escape to my room.
"Of course, dear. Just salad tonight though I'm afraid. I'm on a quite strict diet," she stated as her hands smoothed out her already impossibly flat stomach. "How have you been on that front? You look like you've gained a bit of weight there, Olivia."
I gawked at her, "I have not!" I replied touching my stomach self consciously.
"I'm only asking because I love you, my dear. Who could love you more than your own mother?"
"I know, I'm sorry." I replied quietly.
"I'll be headed back to Paris tomorrow afternoon. There's another fashion show and then a couple of my girlfriends are going to check out some new parts of Europe. They're supposed to be considered 'up and coming' but you wouldn't believe the state of some of these places. The last place we visited was practically a ghetto. I thought I might faint. You're welcome to join me?" She asked the same thing every time she travelled and she always got the same answer.
"I have school, mother. But thank you for the offer all the same." As though I'd want to trapeze through Europe with my mother and her obnoxious friends who looked down at anyone who wasn't wearing designer clothes or living in a million dollar mansion.
"How are things with Aaron?" She asked as my heart clenched. I'd been dreading this topic. Aaron's mother was in the same country club as my mom. That's how Aaron and I met actually. My mom and Aaron's dad actually did business together. I knew it was going to be very difficult to explain that we broke up. I had my suspicions that our wedding was already planned and paid for.
"Good," I replied shortly, desperately wanting to leave.
"We'll have to plan a get together, just us and Aaron's family soon."
"I know, mother." My head was feeling woozy and my stomach was churning. I think I was going to vomit.
"Well, I'll see you in a few weeks I suppose," she stated.
"Of course. Have fun, mother," I replied before taking my opportunity to run upstairs.
"Oh for goodness sake, Olivia!" I paused halfway up the staircase, "Don't run!" I slowed my pace down and walked up the rest of the steps while my mother muttered, "Sometimes, I just don't know where I went wrong."