"We have to find out what Alora's trigger is. She hasn't been around for long and we need a proper goodbye, like we had with Daisy. We deserve that much, Will," Ava said, wrapping her arms around herself to keep shelter from the cold.
"You're right," I said, only listening half-heartedly. She was channelling her heartbreak from Daisy into motivation to protect the other alters, whereas I was still recovering from the shock of having lost a part of the girl I loved.
It was all happening so fast. All I wanted was a moment to catch my breath.
"Will, think. Two of Holly's alters so far have been based on people in her life. Kat's trigger was her aunt, who was her namesake and Daisy's trigger was Granddad. Is it possible that maybe even Alora might have a connection to a person?" She asked, her voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. Her face was red from the cold. I snuggled in closer to her to give her warmth.
"Maybe..." I drifted off, still unable to process her words. I was lost in thought; I couldn't pay attention to anything.
"Will, are you okay?" She asked, then cringed. "Sorry, sorry. That was a dumb question. Obviously you aren't. Do you want to talk about it?"
Ava was nervous. It was an odd emotion to associate with her, considering that first of all, Ava didn't have emotions, and second of all, she was fearless.
"What's with you?" I asked, then cringed, much like she had mere moments before. Clearly, deep talks were not our thing.
"Okay, let me rephrase that so that I sound a tad less insensitive."
"Sure, go ahead," she laughed, but her voice sounded wispy. I unbuttoned my coat and loosely draped it over her shoulders.
"You look really pale, you have dark circles under your eyes and your hair's a mess. Have you slept at all?" I asked in a worried rush.
"So much for less insensitive," she muttered sarcastically, an amused smile grazing her lips.
"I'm just worried, Will," she burst out. "What if we can't save the alters?"
I edged closer to her and she rested her head on my shoulder. "We can't save the alters," I declared.
She let out a shaky sigh. "Gee, thanks for the optimism," she muttered.
"Ava, the end is inevitable," I said softly. "All we can do is prolong the end until we've managed to collect ourselves and accept the situation."
"That seems so selfish, though, doesn't it?" She asked dryly, lifting her head to face me.
"All this time, we've forgotten about our own lives. Holly's important to us, but not so much that we prioritize her happiness over our own," I said confidently.
Ava's expression darkened. She looked at me with storms in her eyes. "So is that why you cheated on her with Thea? You replaced her so that you could be happy." She let out a bitter laugh.
"And in the process, you broke her heart."
"That's different," I retorted indignantly.
"How?" She challenged. I stared at her unblinkingly, unable to say a word. She'd shot me right in the heart.
"I said how, Will!" She shouted, her voice echoing through the empty street. Tears began to pool in her eyes.
"It's different because I didn't do it to be happy. I didn't do it with a purpose at all! I wasn't thinking," I muttered, angry with myself for not having a better argument.
She was right; I was selfish. I was trying to stitch a bullet hole that hadn't even been shot. I was trying to chase after another train before my own had left the station.
"You're despicable," Ava spat out. I didn't even try to disagree.
"Ava," I whispered, my eyes growing wide.
She stirred, but didn't respond, clearly still mad at me.
"Ava," I said again, louder.
"What?" She snapped.
"The picture. THE PICTURE!" I shouted, rising to my feet. I lent her a hand and pulled her up.
"Speak properly," she said groggily, too done with me at this point. But I knew my revelation would change her feelings towards me, at least momentarily.
"Holly's mom was the other woman in the picture," I said slowly.
"Great going, Einstein." Ava rolled her eyes.
"Holly's mom.... Alora Mills," I finished with a smug smile.
I expected Ava to gasp, clap her hands together in delight or even hug me. Instead, she slapped me. Bloody hard.
"YOU CHOOSE TO TELL ME THAT NOW?" She shouted. "HER NAME WAS ALORA ALL THIS TIME AND YOU DIDN'T ONCE THINK THERE WAS A CONNECTION?"
"Oh, actually Mr. Mills told me there was a connection," I grinned.
"HE TOLD YOU?!? AND EVEN THEN YOU DIDN'T ACT ON IT? WILL, HOW DUMB ARE YOU?" She shouted, pacing in a circle.
"He told him!" She muttered under her breath, then let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Okay I'm not really helping my case here, am I?" I asked nervously.
She didn't appear to notice me any longer as she paced in circles, round and round, muttering to herself rapidly. Suddenly, she stopped to face me.
"Mr. Mills is in love with Ted's mom. Ever since they started dating, we've been seeing less and less of Alora..." Ava started.
"Which means Mr. Mills is slowly starting to move on. The trigger was Mrs. Mills' memory," I said excitedly.
"Bingo! Now you're using your brain," Ava remarked, placing her hand on my shoulder like a proud parent.
"Ava...." I started nervously, a sudden thought occuring to me.
"Yeah?" She asked, her grin fading ever so slightly.
"Ted texted me an hour ago. He's at Holly's house...."
"....With his mom," Ava finished for me.
Instinctively, the two of us ran down two blocks as fast as our legs could take us.
Ava's long black hair billowed in the wind as she ran. I'd never seen her looking so determined. Holly was the centre of her solar system. Everything revolved around Holly.
I knew Ava despised me for what I said earlier, about prioritizing ourselves over Holly, but I couldn't take it back. I believed in it. Holly wasn't going to stay forever. She was a ticking time bomb. The minute she left, we'd all be facing the damage.
I loved Holly, but I had to love myself too. Ava was forgetting that we had lives to live after Holly was gone. We had to finish high school, get into college, find jobs, start families of our own.... This little segment of our lives wasn't everything.
As much as I hated the thought of leading a life without Holly, I knew it was what I had to do. I knew it was what she wanted me to do.
When we reached Holly's lane, we stopped by the sidewalk to catch our breath. "I'm sorry for screaming at you," Ava sighed.
"Don't be. I deserved it," I said honestly.
"Yeah, you do," she agreed, chuckling.
"We cool?" I asked, reaching out a hand.
"For now," she grinned, taking it.
That pretty much summed up our entire friendship. I'd do something stupid, Ava would get mad. We'd have a fight, and then we'd be closer than ever. It was a never-ending cycle of mistakes and apologies.
We walked hand in hand towards Holly's front lawn, ready to crash the party. I wasn't even sure what we were planning to do. Ava looked like she wanted to send Ted's mom home and forbid Mr. Mills from seeing her ever again, but surely she couldn't do something like that. It wasn't in her control.
"You think this is going to work?" We heard Mr. Mills ask from out on the front porch.
"It will if we make it," Mrs. Reed answered, kissing him.
Ava looked at me wth tears brimming in her large black eyes. We both knew what this meant.
Just as that little wisp of hope in our hearts disappeared forever, so did Alora.
• • •
A/N Sorry for this messy chapter! I'll edit it as soon as I can. I was just too eager to publish something so that y'all won't forget my story :)
Let me know what you think!