Leave What Was Found

24: Mistakes Were Made

Avery woke up in someone else's bed. That was the first thing she realized. The second was that her head was resting on someone's chest. Avery immediately scrambled up from the bed and took in her surroundings.

She was definitely in a dorm at Hartfield. She looked over at the boy in the bed and her heart skipped a beat. It was Julian. Avery put her head in her hands and sighed. Of all the people she could have met last night, she saw him? She rubbed her temples, she was massively hungover. How much did she have to drink? What happened yesterday? Julian woke from Avery's movement and noticed her standing there.

"You're not going to throw up again, are you?" he asked as he opened his eyes and noticed the look on her face.

Avery's eyes widened. God, how drunk had she really been drunk last night? "Uh, no," she finally mumbled.

"Then there's aspirin and water on the desk," he said plainly.

Avery went over and took two pills. She sat down on Cole's bed which was empty and glanced over at Julian who was now sitting in his bed.

"Uh, what exactly happened last night?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?" he asked.

Avery tried to think about all that had happened yesterday. She remembered breaking up with Archer, going to dye her hair pink, going to the diner. Then, all at once, she remembered Grace's words which were flying back at her now. Avery's expression turned sour.

"How did I end up here?" she asked, trying to ignore the pounding headache she was getting.

Julian sighed and Avery wondered if he was annoyed with her. "Well, Emmet brought you here around one in the morning, you were completely wasted, he called Cole who told me and we met Emmet in the parking lot. We were going to put you in your room, but Merriwether was still up so we brought you to the boy's dorm. Brady was already sleeping in Chelsey's room, so Cole went and slept in Brady's room, so you could sleep here."

"But somehow we ended up in the same bed?" she said, still confused.

Julian looked away for a moment then shrugged. "You're not exactly easy to keep in bed when you're drunk, I had to hold you down so you wouldn't get us caught."

Avery's cheeks felt hot. That was embarrassing. She looked away from him and picked at a loose string on Cole's bedspread.

"So, uh, pink hair?" he finally asked, trying to change the subject. "Was that a drunken decision?"

Avery touched the ends of her hair which were now rose gold pink.

"No, that was a pre-alcohol decision," she mumbled. "Why? Does it look bad?" she asked, touching the ends of her pink hair.

Julian quickly shook his head. "No, not all," he said. "I was just surprised, that's all."

He looked as if he wanted to ask more questions but he stopped himself. Avery wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. She had just woken up in the bed of her childfood best friend who was dating her roommate. It was wrong. So wrong.

"I need to go," she mumbled, getting up and heading to the door.

"Avery, wait," Julian called after her.

She paused at the door and he got up from the bed and stood inches from her.

"Last night, you kind of mentioned what happened with your mom and I just want you to know that I'm sorry," he said sympathetically.

Avery's eyes widened. God, how drunk was she last night? She studied his expression. He seemed so sincere. It was only then she remembered that he knew all the times in her childhood where she had wished she had a mom. He knew that she had cried in the bathroom when they had to make mother's day cards in class. He knew how mortified she was when her dad tried to take her to buy her first bra. He knew how desperately she craved the feeling of having the support of a mother. Avery looked away for a moment as she thought about her childhood best friend, the boy she cared so deeply for. That same affection was in his eyes, she saw it so clearly now.