Ava's POV:
Living with Winnie wasn't that bad.
"Winnie!"
At least, for me.
"What?" Winnie asks.
Trevon burst through the kitchen door with a hairbrush, "What the heck?"
"Huh?"
"You used my hairbrush!"
"It could be anyone."
"It's you!"
"And how do you know that?"
"Because it's not in my cup. I always leave my hairbrush in my cup after I finish using it. Always."
I remember, there was a point in my life when I wished for another sibling.
"Why would you say it's her?" I ask.
And I'm glad it never happened.
"Because you're too disgusted by me to use anything from me." Trevon turns back to Winnie, "She, on the other hand, is so much more disgusting than me."
"Oh, cry me a river."
Dad walks through the door.
"Dad!" Trevon screams.
"If it's about Winnie, I don't wanna hear it." Trevon had been complaining about anything and everything Winnie did all week.
"But-"
"Nope." Dad grabs the freshly brewed coffee.
"Winnie-"
"Go to school."
"She-"
"Go to school."
"But, I haven't even eaten breakfast!"
"My response stands."
In translation: I'm fed up with your behavior.
When dad left, Trevon gave Winnie one last nasty look and stomped upstairs.
"Geez," Winnie grumbles. "Lyah right. He is an entitled brat."
I exhaled and continued my breakfast. After we finished, it was time to go to school. Per usual, Trevon banned Winnie from sitting in the front. Which is stupid because how would she sit in the front when I'm already there?
When we reached school, everything was as per usual, the same.
I stare out the window and stare at the butterfly.
It's colorful.
It lands in front of me and crawls up.
Sometimes, I wonder what it's like to be a butterfly, but then I remember how kids like to pick them up, and then they're dead.
I hear a knock and look up to see Mr.Nocella walk past me. I release a breath, pick up my pencil, and finish the test in front of me.
B.
That's the grade I got on the test.
Once the tests were passed out, Mr.Nocella did what every other teacher did. He went to the front and lectured us about our current status.
The door opens and the principal's head pops in. I want to say he comes with good news, but the two policemen behind him say otherwise.
The moment Mr.Nocella steps out of the classroom, the whole room explodes with gossip.
Some say they came because of his ex-wife.
Others say it's because of his relationship with a student at school.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any more ridiculous, in my next class, the principal called for me.
With the rumors of Mr.Nocella being escorted out by a policeman, being called by the principal isn't a good look.
Outside of the office, I saw Eli and Seth.
Ever since Mina left town, the number of times Seth and I interacted drastically decreased. Mostly because I actively avoid all the locations I know he's in such as the route he takes to class to the store he works in.
"Ava. Eli. In my office."
There's a part of me that desperately wants to know why Seth is in the office, but I know better than to probe into someone I'm actively avoiding business with.
Eli and I sat in front of the principal.
He folds his hands together, "Ava. Eli. I'm sure you're curious as to why you're here."
"Is it because we skipped class? If it is, I'll take all the punishment," Eli says.
Eli looks at me.
"What?" I ask.
"Aren't you going to jump in and take part of the punishment with me?"
"No."
"What?"
"N-No Eli," the principal says. "That's not it."
"Oh, then we never skipped class."
The principal gave him a grimy smile, "Sure." He clears his throat, "You're not in trouble," he says. "I'm calling you two to hear your sides of the story."
"Our side of the story?" Eli asks. "About what?"
"There have been rumors about possible relations between one of our teachers and a student."
"Oh, you mean Mr.Nocella and Maeve?"
Eli has no filter.
"Yes, and it so happens you two somehow-" the principal looks at me.
"Nothing is going on between them," Eli says. "I mean, we did see Maeve in Mr.Nocella's house before."
"You did?"
"Yeah. She looked angry."
The principal folds his hands above the desk and moves forward, "Oh?"
"I think she's angry because Mr.Nocella asked her to leave. Pretty sure he's used to those situations."
I look at Eli.
Where is he going with this?
"I mean, you know, after his wife cheated on him, all sorts of crazy came at him. Women here. Women there."
"And how would you know that?"
"My mom."
My brows furrow together.
"No my mom is not one of the crazies, but she told me she saw a woman pressuring Mr.Nocella at a grocery market into going out with her. Make sense. He's a good-looking man. Sad. Need some healing." Eli nods as if he accomplished something.
"Eli," the principal blew out soft air, "This is a serious situation."
"Why?" Eli asks. "Because some rumors, without evidence, say Mr.Nocella is sleeping with a student? Come on. You know Mr.Nocella. He's one of the best teachers here. Everyone loves him. And he doesn't have that creepy I'm going to sleep with a student vibe."
I wouldn't say that.
"That's more like the gym teacher kind of thing." Eli tapped against the desk, "Look into that."
The principal looks away from Eli, "Ava?" He knows he's not going to get anything usable from Eli. "What are you thinking?"
Not much.
"And keep in mind. This is a serious matter."
"Well, that day, after babysitting Mr.Nocella's kids." It's not a secret I'm babysitting Mr.Nocella's kids. "Eli and I caught Maeve and Mr.Nocella at his front door."
The principal nods.
"Maeve was crying."
"Yes."
"Mr.Nocella looks frantic."
"Yes."
"So, I told Mr.Nocella to go get the boys with Eli. To talk to Maeve a bit."
"Yes."
"I wanted to know why she would be at a teacher's house. You know, you wouldn't want to conclude before knowing the full story."
"Yes. Definitely."
"She refused to tell me, then left. But, from what I heard-"
"What did you hear?"
"She's been going to Mr.Nocella for emotional support. Her ex-boyfriend was some criminal and her current boyfriend, Galven, isn't very supportive of her."
The principal waits for me.
"Between us, Maeve doesn't seem like she's in a good place."
He nodded but didn't say anything else.
"I talked to Mr.Nocella and he said there wasn't anything between them. I believe him. I mean, if you were having an affair with a student, would you hang out at the front of the house knowing someone is about to drop off your kids? And then, catch you? That doesn't make sense at all."
"You're right. It doesn't."
"I was there," Eli replied.
"Thank you." The principal got up, "If there is anything else you guys hear or see. Please tell me."
When we left the office, the principal called Seth.
When he passes me, he smiles, "Witness C is here."
With that single line, I understood why Seth is present. He's also here because of Mr.Nocella. Now, the question is, how is he involved?
There is a part of me that's tempted to ask him, but the other part of me says to stay away.
"Why did the principal call you?" That's the question Eli asked during the passing period.
Generally, I wouldn't see Seth during this particular time of the day - because I made sure of it - but Eli convinced me.
"Nothing much. Why do you ask?" Seth looks at me.
Okay. There may be a chance I trick Eli into thinking he is curious about why the principal called Seth right after us.
"Well, you smiled and said Witness C is here. So, I assumed he called you in to talk about Mr.Nocella. Did he?"
Good job Eli.
"Yeah."
Now, ask more questions.
"How are you involved in this?"
I'm going to give you a kiss later.
"Well-" Seth looks at me again.
"Yo-" Eli says, "Mind moving your fuck-eyes away from my girlfriend?"
I look at Eli, too shocked to even respond or react.
"What?" Seth question.
"I'm the one talking to you, not Ava. So, let's keep your sights here." He points at his own eyes.
Silence.
This is not how I expect the course of the conversation to go.
"Sup guys," Trevon appeared. "Why are we all here?"
"We were talking about Mr.Nocella," Seth tries his best to move his sight from Eli to Trevon without stopping at me.
"Oh yeah. Heard he got arrested."
"He didn't get arrested," Ben appeared, "He got interrogated."
"Same difference," Winnie says.
"Isn't your class on the other side of the school?" Eli asked Ben.
"Yeah," Ben responded. "But, Winnie needs me to carry her books."
Trevon rolled his eyes, "Geez. If you worship her so much, why don't you make a shrine of her?"
He had not seen the inside of Ben's locker.
"Jealous?" Winnie grins.
"Mina isn't anything like you."
Winnie and Trevon glared at each other.
Ben stepped in between them, "So, Mr.Nocella?" Ever since Winnie moved into my house, Ben is forced to become the peacemaker between Winnie and Trevon. I am the peacemaker at home when my parents aren't present and the rest of the time is on Ben's shoulders.
"Oh yeah. I was asking Seth what he said when the principal called him."
We all look at Seth.
"Nothing much."
"Come on," Trevon says. "I thought we were friends. What's up with the half-ass response?"
Something tells me Seth was trying to use what he knows as leverage against me.
They all had their eyes pinned on Seth.
Peer pressure.
Child. Teen. Adults.
It doesn't matter who you are or what age you're in, you're constantly affected by it.
"What's going on here?" Shelbie came with a few other people. "Why are we grouping here?"
"Seth was going to tell us what he knows about Mr.Nocella and Maeve. The principal called him in after us." Everyone already knows what Eli and I saw so there's no surprise there. But, it's different in Seth's case.
"What?! You know something about Mr.Nocella and Maeve?" Shelbie, Sarah, and Zoey force their way closer to Seth.
When our eyes met, I smiled sweetly.
"What is it?" Shelbie asked. "You have to tell us."
"Um-" Seth swallows, "I just told him I noticed how Maeve would eat lunch in Mr.Nocella's classroom."
Everyone gasps.
Let's dig a bit into this statement.
I let out an exaggerated gasp, "Oh my goodness! Do you think-" I look at Zoey.
"Were they doing more than lunch?" Zoey asks.
Seth shakes his head, "They were just eating lunch."
"And?" Winnie aggressively chews the gum in her mouth. "What else? Were they having sex?"
"N-No! Just lunch. Just eating lunch."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
No. There must be more.
"You're pulling our legs," I said. "The principal called you because you noticed they were eating lunch together? I mean, how would he even know you saw that?" I gasp, "Unless someone else was with Seth?"
"That makes sense!" Sarah followed my lead, "I mean, someone had to go to the principal with that information, or else he wouldn't have known. Who was it?"
He thinks he can smooth his way out. Please.
Seth's lips tighten for a brief moment, "Galven told the principal."
"Galven?" Shelbie question. "Galven Petruzello?"
"Oh, hell no!" Winnie erupted.
It didn't take long for the information given to spiral out of control. Galven is Maeve's boyfriend, so why is he snitching on the principal about her? What is going on between them? Are they broken up? But, why sabotage Mr.Nocella? Why go against Maeve - whom he has no interest in? I mean, he loves Lyah, doesn't he? Or well, obsessed with her.
My phone vibrates.
Seth: I know why Galven did it. Want me to tell you?
I look up from the screen to see Seth's smiling face.
Looks like he wasn't the one who got hook, line, and sinker.
I turn to my right to see Eli staring at my screen.
Silence.
"You guys wanna watch a movie?" Trevon asks.
"No. I'm not into theaters nowadays," Winnie replies.
"Not you. I'm sick of you."
"Then, I guess you don't wanna watch with Benny Boo too."
Trevon turns towards Ben, "Dude."
"Maybe we can watch a movie...at one of our houses?" Ben gives him a meek smile.
I tune out for the rest of the conversation and focus on the guy beside me.
Why isn't he asking me anything?
At that moment, I didn't know what to think or feel. I should feel good having a trustworthy boyfriend, but at the same time, I feel something else.
Quickly, I shook off that feeling.
It's not a good feeling.
"We should watch Sweet Susan," Mary says. She looks at Eli, "Try not to cry this time."
Eli looks away from me, "What?"
"Sweet Susan."
"Oh, what about Sweet Susan?"
"We should all watch it."
"Yeah. That's a nice movie."
"What's Sweet Susan?" I ask.
"It's a movie about a girl who murders others," Eli says.
For a movie with such a sweet title, I did not expect it to be in such a raw category.
"Why did you cry?"
"Well-"
"You got to watch the movie to know," Eli interrupts Mary.
"Is it a new movie?"Winnie asks, "Cause I never heard of it."
Mary looks at Eli, "I think it came out a few days ago?"
And they already watch it...together.
"Coming?"
When did they start walking down the hallway?
"Uh. Yeah."
I wish I could focus more on the movie but I couldn't. I tried. I really tried my best to not let it bother me.
But, it does.
While the blood splatter on the screen, I fix my gaze on the reflection below the TV. Inside the mirror were characters in my life - including me. Were any of them main characters?
None.
As my psychiatrist once said, there aren't any main, side, comedic, or heroic characters.
Why?
Because we're people.
Real-life blood to the bone people.
We all have emotions...thoughts...uncontrolled by anything other than ourselves.
The longer I stare at the reflection, the more the room spins.
I couldn't breathe.
Mary looks at Eli.
I want to throw up.
Involuntarily, my body moves from the seat and I walk to another room. Out of the darkroom and into the bathroom.
The lights flicker on and I close the door.
I don't like what I see.
This was supposed to be it.
This was supposed to be my happy ending.
The image of Mary beside Eli clouded my thoughts. My nails claw against the surface of my skull. There it is, that familiar feeling.
I hate it.
"Ava?"
It's disgusting.
"Ava. Are you okay?"
Old habits die hard.