O R A N G E
—
Yu Na had insisted on taking Avery, something he was eternally grateful for, as it saved him the hassle of hauling a duffle bag around on buses. Or in the back of Rachel D'Amico's smart car. So he sat in the passenger seat, watching buildings, people and ads blur together into streaks of vibrance as he thought about that morning.
Leaving the home had been hard, keeping it together for the sake of the others had been even harder. Yu Na and he had decided to tell them that he had been given the chance to study farther away. Some of them had taken it ok, making him promise to come visit. While others, particularly Sylvia, had taken it awfully, bursting into sobs and grabbing onto his leg to keep him from leaving. It had taken Avery twenty minutes alone to console her, to promise her that he would be back, that he wasn't leaving her forever. Sylvia never had believed that line very well.
They took a left and a white and bronze sign came into view. Then a moment later, Tulsa University popped up, surrounded by a massive brick wall. The heavy-duty gate was propped open, allowing passage way for entering students. Yu Na drove through the entrance and slowly to a visitor parking lot, where she parked the car and turned it off. Neither of them moved, both realizing that this was both very real and actually happening.
"This is it." Avery said, verbally acknowledging what was about to be his new reality. Yu Na let out a breath and turned to him with barely-masked emotion, gripping his hand tightly in her own. Avery took in her expression, filled with worry, sorrow, and something else he couldn't quite decipher.
"Promise me", She started, her hands shaking a little as she held onto his, anything to keep him in the car as long as possible, away from the threat outside. "That you'll be safe, that you'll be careful. Please Avery, I need to know." Avery let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, looking her straight in the eyes and attempting to keep himself from breaking down.
"I promise." Then, with a second thought. "Yu Na?"
"Yes?" Yu Na replied, blinking rapidly to clear the water from her eyes.
"Thank you. For everything, I really mean it." Yu Na felt her heart clench at that, her emotions overpower her. She pulled him into another hug, wrapping her arm around around his neck as her cheek pressed against the side of his head. A long moment later, she pulled back, tears steadily rolling down her face, and put her hand against his cheek. "I'm going to miss you, dear boy." That was when it really hit Avery. That in a few moments, he was going to get out of the car, and that would be that. Yu Na would be gone, the life he knew would be gone. He would still visit her but because of school rules, it couldn't be often. He felt so lost, wrapped up in the realization that in a few moments, he was going to be so utterly, alone.
So he relished the moment, carefully taking in everything from the beat-up interior of Yu Na's minivan to the sorrow displayed on her face. Outside, hundreds of people were bustling about, laughing, crying, and running around–but all of that had faded from view. Avery focused only on what was in front of him, on who was in front of him. He then inhaled a shaky breath, giving her a response that she needed.
"I'm going to miss you more than you'll know." Yu Na smiled through the tears, noticing the many cars leaving in the corner of her eye. "You should probably go join them." She whispered, indicating with her head towards the mass of students. Avery nodded, silently picking his navy duffle back off the floor, opening the door, and slinging the strap onto his shoulder. As he turned back to her, he grimaced, pain in his heart and sorrow in his eyes that made Yu Na want to grab him and leave as fast as she could.
"Bye Yu Na." The words choked out as Avery attempted to give her the most cheerful smile he could muster. "That sounds far too final." Yu Na tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her heart hammering against her chest as she let out a somber chuckle, piecing together an offer.
"Why don't we end with 'I'll see you soon?'" He forced another smile, looking down at his feet and then back up at her, nodding slightly. "Deal." She cocked her head slightly to the side, taking him in one last time. She etched his features, his stature, his complexion. It was then, that she saw she'd barely blinked. He was no longer the small, quiet boy, standing on his tip-toes to see what she was doing. At some point, he'd grown tall enough, and perhaps around then, when he'd started taking on some of her chores, taking on the care of the other children, he'd ceased to be one himself. He'd grown up, she realized. Right in front of her eyes, yet undetected all the same. So she took in the growth of his limbs, the loss of baby fat in his face, the quiet maturity in his eyes, and she took it in with a surmising smile.
"Alright Avery," She turned the car on, pensivity taking over her face as she turned back to the boy she had raised as her own. He was becoming so handsome, so mature—and she doubted he realized it. "I'll see you soon then. I love you." Avery nodded, adjusting his grip on the duffle and stepping back, away from the car.
"You too, Yu Na. I love you too." And with that he closed the door and stood, waving back and watching her minivan get smaller and smaller, until it took a turn and completely disappeared from view. He kept staring at where it had disappeared for a moment, reminiscing and composing himself. Then, he turned toward the school and started forward, hearing the gravel crunch under his converse. He didn't make it very far, though. A few steps in, a force collided with his side, catapulting him into the ground and knocking the air out of his lungs. He heard his oversized duffle crunch to a stop a foot or so away as he lay there, stunned and disoriented, his insides protesting against the heavy weight sinking into them.
"I'm so so sorry." The force said, words flying out of a mouth at miles a minute. "I'm such a klutz. I—oh my god I'm suffocating you." Hands pushed off of his chest, and the weight lifted, crunching into the gravel nearby. Avery groaned, slowly sitting up and starting to brush the small rocks from his clothes. The girl sat next to him, biting her lip nervously as her hands wrung with guilt. She'd skipped her ADHD meds to be more sociable, and outgoing, more herself—not some zoned-in study-monster. Did karma really hate her that much?
"It's fine." Avery said, feeling bad as his annoyance dripped into end of his remark. She bit her lip again, and grimaced, catching the boy's miffed-ness and opening her mouth to apologize once more. "Still, are you okay? I feel really bad. I—" She stopped, pausing a moment and narrowing her eyes slightly in concentration. Avery cocked an eyebrow, reaching over to grab his duffle. Then, it hit her. Muffin Boy.
"Hey, you work at that café, right?"
"Hm?" Avery jolted up, slinging the duffle over his shoulder. He still hadn't gotten a good look at her face but it didn't matter, they'd probably never speak to each other again anyway.
"That cute little one, ah!" She gestured with her hands, eyes lighting up.
"De Lune! I was there two weeks ago." His grip tightened on the straps of his duffle as the girl paused momentarily to retrieve her own things, laying forgotten a few feet away. Avery took that moment as an excuse to look at her again, recognizing the short brown hair, the freckles dotting her cheeks. Her features were almost symmetrical and her eyes, an interesting mélange of brown and green; a true hazel. In the back of his mind, he decided that she was pretty.
"Oh yeah." He said as she came back, pausing to figure out how she was going to carry her stuff. "You were with that blond dude and the other girl." She then smiled apologetically, glancing around and feeling a bit awkward.
"Yeah, yeah I was. I'm Klaire by the way."
"Avery." Her hand extended outward and Avery slowly met it, exchanging a handshake.
She bit her lip again, something he was beginning to see was a habit. It annoyed him slightly, making her look meek and quiet when it was clear she wasn't like that at all. Not naturally, anyway.
Avery glanced towards the whole auditorium in front of them, eyeing the elaborate stonework. "They here too?" He didn't look back at her, still tracing over the handiwork and missing her slight flinch.
"Micah didn't get in." Avery turned back to her, slight surprise written on his face.
"But don't all you guys..." He trailed off, realizing how stand-offish that had been. Klaire furrowed her brows, trying to figure out if what he meant by 'all of you guys' was what she thought it meant. "Nothing's an open ticket you know? Like take Micah for one, sure his whole family's gone here, but," She shrugged, adjusting her bags. "He just didn't make it. He'll be fine but that's that, you know?" Avery nodded silently listening to her words. Or trying to at least.
"Anyways you probably get that, right?"
"Huh?" He glanced at her and she shrugged, like her words were the most nonchalant in the universe.
"You're here, yet I bet you have some people that aren't. People that you wish you didn't have to leave." Avery had to force himself to keep going; her words having hit too close to home and far too soon. The gravel continued to crunch as they got nearer to the building, the distant squeaking of people becoming clearer. Klaire smiled, hoping that with doing so, she was extending an olive branch of some sort. Avery found that he almost wanted to smile back. Maybe she wasn't so bad.
"First days are kinda lonely." They started up the stairs, getting closer and closer to the steady stream inside. "But it gets better," She said knowingly. "Trust me, I've been shipped off to enough boarding schools to count." Avery didn't know what to make of the bitter undertone. What was so bad about expensive boarding schools if you were rich? Wasn't that what you wanted? It made her seem less simple, less stereotypical. He wondered if it was just her, or if anyone else was like that.
"You just gotta find your people."
"My people." He restated, and she twisted around on the step, shrugging again in a friendly gesture.
"Yeah, you know, who you vibe with. I know that's hard to see on the first day, but it'll work out." She seemed...nice. Almost real. It almost confused. He blocked it out, following her into the building, and into the beginning of Orientation.