The warning bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Avery, Maddy and Kelsey stood up from their table and silently slung their bags over their shoulders, disposing of their trash on their way back into the hallways. The chatter was deafening, groups of friends huddled together and walking to their lockers before their next class.
"What do you have next, again?" Kelsey asked as they met up around Avery's locker. Maddy flipped open her binder and glanced inside, her eyes scanning her schedule.
"Avery and I have History with Ms. Lamstein," she said as she closed her binder back up and hugged it to her chest. Kelsey nodded and checked her phone, rolling her eyes as she did so.
"I'll see you during free period, Aves. My next class is on the other side of campus." The three girls hugged and Kelsey bid her friends goodbye before disappearing into the mass of students.
Avery closed her locker and leaned her forehead against it, letting out a heavy sigh as she held her notebook in her hands. Maddy watched her with furrowed brows, about to ask her if she was okay when a shadow fell over them.
Both girls lifted their gazes and saw Kaleb standing there, playing with the strap of his backpack. He smiled at them both, his eyes lingering on Maddy for a second too long before they rested on Avery.
"So what did Aiden do to piss you off?" He asked and Avery chuckled lightly. She pushed off the lockers and Maddy was immediately at her side as she began walking away. Kaleb caught up quickly, hands in his pockets and his eyes flickering between Avery's face and watching where he was going.
"Honestly, it wasn't even that bad," Avery began, "I accidentally knocked into him this morning and he was an asshole. He's kind of moody." She shrugged and saw Kaleb roll his eyes, his lips turning up at the corners as he fought a smile.
"Understatement of the year," he said as they turned a corner. The halls were beginning to empty out as students walked into their classes, the noise dwindling to just random conversations of passerby's.
"Alright, I just wanted to get an actual answer other than his riveting and slightly annoying 'nothing'," Kaleb said as he started slowing down. "I'll see you guys around." Avery and Maddy waved at him as he walked backwards before turning and disappearing around the corner they came from.
The girls walked a couple of doors down and stopped in front of their class.
"Are you okay?" Maddy asked and Avery shrugged again.
"My dad has a brain tumor and I just broke up with my boyfriend," she said and glanced at Maddy from the corner of her eye.
"Right," Maddy nodded her head once and they both walked into their classroom.
Almost as if sensing his presence, Avery glanced around until she locked eyes with Aiden. He was sitting on the far right side of the room in the chair closest to the window. The black hoodie he'd been sporting all day was draped over the back of his chair and Avery's eyes widened when she looked at his arms.
Not only were they muscular and defined but every single inch of skin from the tips of his fingers, all the way up his arms and under the sleeves of his black t-shirt was covered in beautiful ink. There were faces and sceneries and words all intricately wound together to cover the entirety of his exposed skin.
As her eyes danced across his torso, she noticed more ink peeking out from the collar of his shirt and onto his neck. She was mesmerized. Her eyes were shining with nothing but pure admiration at the sight before her. He was absolutely breathtaking to look at.
She snapped out of her trance when her History teacher, Ms. Lamstein, cleared her throat. She realized that she'd been gawking at Aiden in front of the entire class and her cheeks flamed red with embarrassment. Maddy had already taken a seat in the second to last row and was staring at her with panic stricken eyes since now there were only single seats left next to people neither of them knew well.
"Ms. Mitchell, since you've taken to staring at Mr. Keller so openly, why don't you go sit next to him so I can get my class started?" Avery snapped her gaze towards her teachers stern disposition, her mouth opening and closing as her mind tried to think of some way to refuse.
But with one more menacing glare thrown her way, Avery lowered her head and scurried towards the back of the classroom. When she reached Aiden, she didn't even make eye contact. She simply put her notebook on the table, slid her backpack onto the floor and sat down with her hair covering her face.
As soon as Ms. Lamstein mentioned that she'd be handing out the syllabus for the entire class to go over, Avery reached down into her backpack and took out a pen and her planner to fill in any important dates she had to remember. When she came back up, the hair that was so perfectly shielding her from Aiden's scrutinizing gaze flipped back behind her shoulder.
"You done hiding?" His deep, smooth voice broke through the silence and she snapped her head in his direction. His green eyes were shining with amusement and there was the smallest of smirks pulling at his lips.
"What?" Avery asked, genuinely confused. He pointed a tattooed finger at her hair, finally realizing what he meant and she laughed nervously.
"I wasn't hiding," she lied and turned to look the other way just in time to grab the two packets the teacher handed her. She slid one to Aiden, but moved her hand away just before their fingers could touch. She began skimming through the syllabus, jotting down notes and dates into her planner for projects due dates and essays. Avery could feel his eyes burning holes through her, but before she could turn and snap at him to stop staring no matter how hypocritical it sounded, the phone on Ms. Lamstein's desk rang.
The teacher huffed, turning on her heel and walking back towards the front of the room. The words she was ready to spit at Aiden died in her throat when she saw Ms. Lamstein glance at her quickly with a frown before nodding her head and hanging up. It felt like the cold ocean waters had begun to pull her under as the teacher made her way towards her.
"Avery," Ms. Lamstein spoke softly and leaned down, her eyes shifting to Aiden for a second before speaking again, "there's a call for you at the office from Savannah Regional."
All of the color drained from her face, her hands shaking as she began packing up her notebook and planner. Her teacher must have noticed the terrified look on her face because she placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.
"He's okay. He's the one who's on the line," she reassured Avery. Her shoulders immediately relaxed and she nodded, picking her bag up off the floor and slinging it on. She glanced over to see Maddy packing up her things too and then getting up to walk towards Avery.
Ms. Lamstein pursed her lips but said nothing, most teachers have become used to the fact that Maddy and Kelsey don't ever leave Avery's side. "I'll get you guys some hall passes," she said with a defeated sigh and they all walk towards the front of the room. Avery looked over her shoulder towards Aiden, his tattooed arms were crossed over his chest as he leant back in his chair, his black jean clad legs stretching in front of him as he watched her.
His head was slightly tilted to the side, eyes calculating and brows furrowed. She held his gaze for a few seconds longer than was necessary before she felt the heat creep up her neck and into her cheeks, forcing her to look away from him.
↠↠↠↞↞↞
Avery and Maddy walked in silence down the halls towards the main office. The atmosphere was tense, but neither one knew what to say to relieve it. She found it odd that her dad had called the school instead of her cell phone, but then again he probably didn't want to get her into trouble if she were to answer her phone during school hours
The only thing she was worried about was the reason behind him calling. She prayed that he was okay.
When the large glass doors to the office came into view Avery stopped walking. She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw as the nerves began to take a tight hold of her, she took some deep breaths in and slowly let them out before opening her eyes up again.
Maddy was running her hand up and down Avery's back comfortingly, she smiled at her when she took her hand off but anyone would be able to see the worry that was swimming in her friends golden eyes. Maddy was worried too.
"Come on," Maddy said as she gently tugged at Avery's arm. They walked the remaining few feet and pushed the glass doors open, both of them being showered in the light that peered in through the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the entire quad. The woman who sat at the desk stopped typing on her computer with a scowl, but a warm smile overtook her face when she locked eyes with Avery.
"You know where the phone is hun," she said as she pointed to the black stand that it sat on at the end of the glass countertop. With shaky limbs, Avery walked and reached for the phone, pressing it to her ear as she held it tightly with both hands.
"Dad?" she said in a broken whisper.
"Hey, kiddo." His voice was hoarse and quiet, forcing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Her shoulders tensed and she gripped the phone even tighter, her knuckles turning white.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Fear was laced into her words as they tumbled from her lips. She heard shuffling on the other end and a grunt from her father before she heard him sigh. She could practically see him running a hand down his face in frustration.
"It looks like I'm coming down with something, so I won't be able to come home tonight since they want to make sure it's not anything serious. There's no need to stop by the hospital after you leave school," he took in a haggard breath at the end and dissolved into a fit of unrelenting coughs.
Avery had a bombardment of questions at the tip of her tongue, ready to demand answers before her father spoke up again.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm fine," he coughed a few more times and Avery's eyes began to water, "just focus on school today, yeah? You can stop by tonight and keep me company for dinner."
"Okay," she whispered and stopped a stray tear from rolling down her cheek.
"I love you, kid."
"Love you too."
The line went dead and Avery stood staring at the wall, the phone still pressed to her ear as the monotonous sound continued to blare loudly.
Her dad wasn't coming home tonight.
But she'd become used to the feeling of disappointment that blossomed in her chest at the thought of spending her nights in their house alone. She slowly placed the phone back where it belonged and turned to face Maddy, who had been sitting in one of the chairs along the glass wall and scrolling through her phone
"Do you want to sleep over tonight?" Avery asked her and at the sound of her voice Maddy's head shot up. She took in her friends glassy eyes and slightly pink nose and understanding flashed through her eyes.
"Sure," she said with a small smile, "I'll bring the pizza and Kelsey can bring the movies."
Avery forced a smile onto her face and began walking back towards the hallways. Her thoughts were solely on the fact that her dad only seemed to be getting worse, and that no matter how hard he tried to downplay it, she always saw right through it.
♡♡♡
☼ our little Avery is having such a bad first day of school like im so upset at myself for putting her through this ☹
☼ Aiden actually spoke words that were civil, even though he was kind of mocking her but I love him either way. can you blame me though? don't worry though, I smell some kickass drama coming in the next chapter
☼ let me know your thoughts and don't forget to vote, I love seeing those little notifications pop up on my screen
☼ also the Watty's Longlist was posted today and although Recovery Road didn't make it on, my dear friend moonraess's story Crash Into Me did and I am so proud of her! I highly recommend you follow and read her work, she's truly an amazing writer. Love you Tay ♡
♡ Sandy