Chapter 5
Though I tried to fight it by burying my head under my pillow, I was woken by the blinding sunlight filtering through my curtains. For a moment, I scrambled my hands around me in my bed in search for my phone. When I found it, I pressed the home button, revealing the time and day. 07:43, Thursday. Today was the day I was to pick up Logan from the airport, which reminded me: I still hadn't replied to his email. I leaned over my bed to pick up my laptop, and set it on my lap. After turning it on and opening my email, I read it over once more.
Hey Avery,
Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, it's been really hectic over here and hard to get an internet connection. I'm glad to hear you have a good time, but why were you at a party? I didn't realise it was your thing. Also, watch your back with Wade, babe. Don't want you getting into trouble.
Hugs and kisses
- Logan
It was only then that I decided that I wasn't going to respond to the email itself, but just in general, because honestly, I didn't know how to reply, especially since last night with Wade. Here Logan was telling me to keep away from Wade, but there he was clearly devastated. I know I wasn't all for helping Wade in the beginning, but seeing him like that really affected me.
Hi Logan,
Can't wait to see you later! I've missed you. See you at the airport.
More hugs and. kisses
- Avery
After hitting send, I closed my laptop and made my way to the kitchen. From the stairs, I could already smell the sweet smell of pancakes. Cooking up a nice breakfast was something my mum would always do on school mornings, if she hadn't gone to work already. I took my place at the dining table besides Avery, who was sat there already eating her pancakes. While pouring a generous amount of syrup over my pancakes, I could feel the heavy stare of Dad over me.
"What?" I asked, my cheeks reddening. "I like syrup."
He shook his head, and put his fork beside his plate of pancakes. "Avery, last week today when I had to go out, your mother found a bloody cloth in the trash. She hadn't said anything until yesterday because she assumed it was mine, but whose was it really?"
He looked between my sister and me, but mainly at myself. I was a bit shocked about it all, since it was last Thursday that I put it there. It didn't occur to me that anyone would find it. How would I explain that the blood on the cloth belonged to Wade? I tried hard to think of an excuse, but I didn't want to lie to him.
"Last week after dropping Logan to the airport with his parents, I stopped off at the cupcake place but Wade was there," I confessed, sucking in a breath. He was already angry, I could see it on his face. I looked over to my mother for help, but she shook her head and cleared away the mess she'd made from the pancakes. I looked back to Dad, confessing, "Wade got really beat up, but it wasn't his fault, really."
"Yeah Dad, he's actually really cool," Annabeth piped in, trying to help me out with the situation, but I knew full well she'd only made it worse.
"I don't want you around that silly boy, and I'm disappointed that you'd let him around your sister, Avery. If I find out you've been hanging out with Wade Cohen, you're in big trouble, young lady."
"I'm not a young lady," I retorted, suddenly put off my drowned-in-syrup pancakes. It was by far uncharacteristic of me to argue back with my dad, but something really riled me up. "You know nothing about Wade, and clearly nothing about me if you think I'm going to not help someone who has just been battered. I thought we didn't judge people, Daddy, you taught me that."
I stood up from my seat at the table, having come to the conclusion of my lost appetite. As I attempted to storm out of the room and upstairs, Dad got up and stood in my way.
"Sit down!" he yelled, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Don't take that tone with me. See, he's already influencing you. You're supposed to be a responsible role model for your sister."
"You're supposed to be a role model for us, Dad, but I couldn't be more ashamed. You're judging a boy over mistakes he made when he was thirteen. Do you understand how ridiculous that sounds?" I wailed, feeling a foreshadowing lump rise in my throat. "Let me pass. Please."
He looked so disappointed with me, but what for? After a moment, he stepped aside and I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, into my bedroom and slammed shut my door. I couldn't resist the urge to cry any longer, and before I knew it, I was drowning in my own tears. I wasn't so much mad about what Dad thought of Wade, because that was inevitable and expected, but the fact that he was so mad at me infuriated me. What had I really done wrong? It wasn't just Dad, it was Logan too. He, as well, seemed to be against the idea of me and Wade even being friends, but why?
I was also mad at myself. Why would I get so defensive about Wade? I mean, before a week ago I was being judgemental about him too. Why did I put myself on the line for Wade? I could have easily not brought him back that night, especially knowing how distraught my dad would get. Heck, I didn't even want to. I was lying to myself. When Wade got beaten up, I didn't want to help him, but I did because I knew Logan would have. The truth was, Wade didn't need me. But he needed a friend, I could see it yesterday when I stopped by at his house. He was broken, and I knew it wasn't my job to fix him but I could at least be there for him. Why did my Dad and Logan have such a problem with that?
After about ten minutes of non-stop crying, I willed myself to the bathroom. I undressed myself before stepping into the shower. I turned the tap, and instantly felt the hot gushing water pounding on my back. It felt relieving, like all of my upset was being washed down the drain. I thought maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring Wade with me to collect Logan. Once I was composed, I climbed out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body and made my way back to my bedroom.
Once in my bedroom, I picked out an outfit for school today. It was pretty simple - merely a pair of blue jeans and a grey sweater. I threw on my white sneakers, grabbed my schoolbag, phone and keys and headed out. To avoid Dad, I decided it was best to wait for Annabeth in my car. Before leaving, I peered into her bedroom, and she jumped.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I apologised to her, still in the doorway. "I'll wait in the car, okay?"
She nodded and gave me a sorry smile, as if apologising for making the argument with Dad worse, but I didn't blame her. After reassuring her with a smile, I made my way downstairs, avoiding any eye contact of my dad, who was still sat on the dining room table. I gave my mum a kiss on the cheek before leaving the house, and heading on over to my car.
Once inside my car, I started up the engine to warm it up. Then, I switched on my phone, revealing one new message. It was another picture message from Wade. I smiled down at the picture of a ginger kid face palming, which the caption: when you scare people away with your problems.
Me: I don't scare easy
Wade: see you later, Princess
It was then that I decided that I couldn't back out on bringing Wade to the airport now, but there was also no reason to. Logan should be happy to see his cousin pick him up, and my dad was completely out of order. I was seventeen and old enough to decide for myself who I can and can't be friends with. It wasn't as if Wade was gonna hurt me, or get me into trouble. If anything, I'd only be getting him out of it.
Soon after, Annabeth made her way over to my car, pulling open the door and sitting in the passenger's side. She put her schoolbag and jacket in the back seat along with my own, and then turned to face me.
"Are you okay?" she asked me, her blue eyes looking truly concerned. "Dad shouldn't have yelled at you like that."
"I'm fine," I told her, honestly, backing out of the driveway. I was seriously over it. Dad was entitled to his opinion, but it didn't mean I was going to share it. "Don't get involved, though. I don't want Dad shouting at you too."
"But what about Wade?" she questioned as we stopped at a red light on the way to school. "Isn't he coming with you today to pick up Logan from the airport?"
I sighed, hoping I wouldn't have to tell her, because if Dad asked her, I wouldn't want her to have to lie for me. But, I couldn't lie to her.
"Look," I began, now driving since the light had changed. "Wade's still coming with me. He's going through something, and he needs a friend. I'll be that friend for him, even if Dad doesn't think it's a good idea. If Dad asks you, I don't want you to lie to him and get yourself in trouble, okay? Just let me deal with him."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she carried on, pressing buttons on the stereo in my car. "I mean, Dad was furious. You always listen to him, and I'm scared you're going to get into real big trouble."
"Annabeth, I understand where you're coming from but Wade's not a bad person. His parents died, for Pete's sake," I explained. "I don't want you to learn from this and disobey Dad, but I need to do the right thing. Pushing him away can't be the right thing."
For the most part of the ride, Annabeth didn't mention Dad or Wade. She talked about her and Sean, or about her test the next day. But, it was obviously playing on her mind still, as when we were nearer to school, she piped up again.
"What's Dad's issue with Wade?"
It was a good question. I knew Wade had done a lot of messed up things when we were younger, but it wasn't a reason enough to hate him as much as he did. I tried to explain to Annabeth the mistakes Wade had made when after his parents died, from getting into fights, slashing tires to stealing. Dad did have a fair point about how Wade once was - he completely changed as a person, but he wasn't being fair about how Wade was now. He was different now, and I was pretty sure thirteen-year-old Dad was nothing like the Dad that Annabeth and I knew. As Wade had said himself, he was messed up, but I'm pretty sure constantly being judged didn't help him. I had judged him, and for that, I was going to make it up to him.
**
School today was okay, and the same as every day at school since Logan had left for London. A bunch of people asked for him, and I'd tell him he's coming back today. Logan was quite popular in school, but I guess he deserved it. He was the nicest guy you'd ever meet, and everyone wanted to be his friend. I sat with mine and Logan's usual crew at lunchtime, as I'd done since he'd left. They were all happy to hear he was coming back today. The past week without Logan at school made me realise they were more his friends than mine, I just came along with him. It wasn't the same without him, as I was always by his side. So, when he wasn't here, whenever they'd talk to me, they'd talk to me about Logan.
"Tell Logan to come for me for my notes," Kathy Berry told me during lunch, smilingly. She had written up notes for the classes Logan had missed, as she was in most of them.
By the time Annabeth and I had driven home from school, it was already ten past three. I was to pick up Wade from his place at four o'clock, but I had yet to get dressed in something cute for his parent's fancy gathering. We got out of my car, and I locked the car door behind us, and we made our way over to the door. Luckily, I knew that Dad and Mum wouldn't be home as they'd still be at work at this time.
We got inside, and I locked the house door behind us, rushing up to my bedroom. I fished through my closet to find something to wear, but luck was not on my side, and I had nothing to wear. It wasn't like I could borrow something of Annabeth's, since she was slimmer and taller than I was.
After ten minutes, I finally found something to wear: a chiffon vest, black wet-look skinny trousers with a gold chain Logan bought me two Christmases ago. I paired the outfit with a pair of black pumps, and couldn't make my way out of the door fast enough. It was nearing four o'clock and I had yet to pick up Wade, and Logan landed at half four.
I started the engine of my car and made my way over to Wade's place as fast as I could, and by the time I got there, it was already ten past four. Ten minutes wasn't too bad, I thought. I wound down my window and told him to hop in, pressing the unlock button before doing so.
"You're late, Princess," Wade smirked, now fastening his seatbelt.
"Sorry," I blushed, beginning to pull out into the main road. "Wardrobe mishap."
"You look great," he complimented me. I glanced over to him, but he didn't do as much as glance back, his eyes fixed out of the window. "Stop staring."
"I glanced!" I defended, poking him with my free hand, and the other hand on the wheel. "And thanks."
It was suddenly awkward, and it seemed that Wade was embarrassed to have complimented me, which was ironic seeing as I'd seen him totally topless the day before, and to say he looked great would be an understatement. I looked over to him again, and I could see a smile creeping in his face. Not a smirk, but coy smile.
"Eyes on the road, Princess."
authors note // this is bad, I'm sorry! It'll get better, I promise.
also, please comment what you thought! That's what motivates me to carry on the most.