I woke up in a strange place. My neck ached, and I needed to pee urgently. My eyes were burning too, after sleeping in contact lenses. I'll probably suffer long term vision loss from this.
My gaze traced the stream of sunlight pouring in, to a darkened glass window situated at the top of the wooden wall. This was no strange place, this was the Warehouse.
I could still taste the remnants of puke since last night. Or this morning.
Grabbing my glasses from my bag, I found my way to the bathroom, already expecting it to be subpar. Places frequented by males were always subpar, hygiene-wise.
Surprisingly, the bathroom looked fresh, with a citus-y scent. I did my business, then proceeded for the sink where I could remove my contacts and replace them with my trusty glasses. When I was done, I splashed cold water on my face, and tied my unruly hair into a high ponytail.
When I emerged from the bathroom, I noticed movement.
The terrier, Arnold. He was eyeing me like I was prey.
I tensed, quickly making my way to the couch where I had been dumped. Did I tell Finn to drop me here last night? I think so.
I began searching for my phone, and finally found it at the bottom of my bag.
Lo and behold, 15 missed calls from mother.
The time read 1pm too.
By my estimation, there should be a nation-wide police search for me right now.
And then I noticed another human being staring down at me from upstairs. Yes, the Warehouse was strangely enough, a liveable place. It should have been a mess but it had seemingly been renovated into a cozy loft.
"Hi," I waved up at Levi. "Um, I'm just gonna go now. My mom's probably at the police station. And I'm probably on the news."
He looked confused. Then he called down, "Nah they only start searching after 20 hours. Do you wanna get some fast food?"
I was horrified at his casual behavior.
"No! I gotta get home, stat."
He shrugged. "Alright, I'm gonna head back to sleep."
"Wait. Do you live here?" I asked, incredulously.
From above, he grinned. "I thought you knew. But yeah, just me and my boy Arnold here. Don't pet him."
"Wasn't planning to," I mumbled under my breath as I whipped out my phone to summon an Uber.
"If you stay a little longer Finn's baby brother is coming over in the afternoon."
As I frantically keyed the address in, I panicked when I realized this place didn't exist on the map. "Why would I wanna meet his brother? Also, this place doesn't exist on the map, and I need to call an Uber right now."
"Go on Google Maps and hail a ride from there, it'll get your exact location." He just said. "Also Finn's brother is the best kid in the world. Why wouldn't you wanna meet him?"
I ignored the second part of his speech, focusing on gathering my stuff while the Uber tried finding me a ride. Finally, I got a ride, 10 minutes away. I sighed to myself.
My mother was probably planning my funeral now.
Then I thought about my Calculus worksheets. Where were they? They weren't in my bag. Finn confiscated them last night and never returned them. I groaned internally.
Nancy 1, Ava 0.
"What now?" Levi asked.
I wasn't aware he was still watching from above.
"Can you stop spying on me from up there? It's weird." I said back.
"My house my rules. But what's got your panties in a twist now?"
"Finn took my Calc worksheets last night and never gave them back."
He "oh"d, not knowing what to say it seems. Then he said, "You got inked by the way, in case you forgot."
"Of course I remember," I said defensively. I didn't remember at all. And suddenly it was causing me so much stress. I made my way somewhere where Levi wouldn't see and lifted my shirt. There was a bandage of sorts on my ribcage.
My heart began accelerating.
I contemplated for a long time if I should take a look at it right now. I vaguely remember getting Pinhead's name. And Theo. And butterflies and cheese and so many substances that should not be in my body.
For Goodness' sake.
My phone pinged, informing me that the Uber was near. As I made my way to the front door, the dog eyed me, but I ignored the dog because I had more pressing matters to attend to.
On the ride back home, my mother phoned me another two times, I never bothered answering. I would just tell her I lost my phone when I got home.
As I neared my house, I hid my phone in my underwear, grateful that I had opted to wear loose cargo pants. This is also why you wear boyshorts instead of those god-awful thongs girls wear.
My mother was waiting at the patio of our house when I pulled near. I quickly paid the driver and got down. As I neared my mother, I saw that she had swollen eyes. She either got stung by a bee on both eyes or she was crying heavily.
For my own emotional wellbeing, I chose to believe she got stung by bees on her eyebags.
"Hi," I waved awkwardly at her.
She wordlessly got up, and entered the house.
Oh boy.
"Mom, look, I'm sorry. I lost my phone."
"You. Snuck. Out." She said through gritted teeth, not even making eye contact with me.
I spotted Pinhead near her food bowl. It was empty. So I made my way to Pinhead's food bowl to refill it.
"I'm sorry." I told my mom as I refilled my cat's bowl.
"Give me a moment I need to phone the police station to tell them my prodigal daughter came home."
So she did call the police.
"Okay." I said, as she disappeared into the kitchen.
Pinhead stared up at me with wide eyes.
"I'm in trouble Pinhead. But I got your name tatted somewhere I'll show you later. I can't show right now or my mom would put me up for adoption."
The cat meowed in response.
"Thank you, Pinhead, you always understand me. I have so much to tell you. So many things happened last night!"
The cat ate her food while I stroked her long fur.
My phone was slowly dislodging itself from my underwear so I put a hand in my pocket to adjust it. As I did so, I tried my very best to think of what to tell my mother. I ruminated on a few excuses but I could come up with nothing solid. Nothing that would let me go scott free.
When my mother re-emerged from the kitchen, she had her hands on her hips.
I started talking before she could.
"I'm sorry for sneaking out and making you think I ran away."
"I thought you were dead." She gritted out. "Like your father."
I winced.
We don't talk about my father. Not in this house.
"I was... consoling a friend. She just went through a tough break up last night."
"And how did you lose your phone in the process?"
I hadn't thought of that.
"I left it in the Uber on the way there."
My mother looked livid. "Getting into a car with a complete stranger at God knows what time in the middle of the night, that is not acceptable."
"Look, I'm nearly 18, I think I deserve some autonomy." I tried to say calmly. But my mother wasn't having any of it.
"Not until you show that you are capable of being mature! Getting into a car with a stranger is not mature. Neither is sneaking off into the night with God knows who. Which friend is this?"
"Uh... Nancy."
"Since when were you close to Nancy?" She crossed her arms.
Right. What was I thinking? I wasn't thinking at all.
"We... got close lately. We're on the same team for an upcoming Spelling Bee contest..."
My mother looked livid. "I don't believe you. You hated that girl."
"No, really, we got close recently... ever since Francesca started drinking alcohol..."
"That lovely girl who volunteers at the hospice with you?" My mother looked concerned now.
"Yes. She even started smoking. But don't go confronting her mom! She told me not to tell."
Pinhead was scratching the side of our couch again. My mother usually berated the cat for that, but she was occupied with me right now, it seems.
"So Nancy is your new best friend?"
"Well, yes," I could taste puke all over again. Nancy and I will never be a thing. Never. "We realized we had so much in common. I'm sorry for sneaking off like that, I knew you'd never let me go for a sleepover."
Her face softened. "If you could justify a sudden leave I'm sure I would've allowed you. I could've dropped you off at her house too. Now what about your cellphone? Where did you leave that?"
I blinked at her. "I think I might have left it at her house. Or in the Uber on the way there." I squeaked out.
Her face hardened again. "You are so irresponsible, thinking things come free in life. After your finals you're getting a job so you can earn your own allowance."
"I don't support capitalism mom, that's why I volunteer for free at the hospice."
"You're doing it for your personal statement. Don't think I don't know you Ava."
I winced. She wasn't wrong. The only thing I wanted was an admission into an Ivy League and I was the type of person to capitalize on my traumas if it meant getting an acceptance letter. But this wasn't important, not right now.
"So can I go take a shower now?" I asked sheepishly to my mother. The sentence came out weird, kind of rude in fact.
She levelled her gaze with me. "Tell Nancy to come over for dinner one of these days. I'd love to meet the person you've gotten so close to lately."
"Um..."
An unexpected complication, it seems.
But Nancy would be my ticket to freedom. Someone like her is someone my mother would adore seeing me hang around.
"Sure, I can ask. But not this week, she's had a very rough time getting over her boyfriend, I mean her ex."
"Okay." My mother said reluctantly. "You may go now. In the future, you are required to keep me informed on your whereabouts and who you're with, I think it's only fair that as your mother, I can have a peace of mind."
"Okay, Mom."
-
a/n: Mothers...
I haven't gone through this chapter so please point out grammatical (or any) errors that you see!
Anyway, next chapter is in Levi's POV🤪