Aces

FIFTEEN

Amaya

"Hey, you've been pretty quiet today. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
"Did I hear that right? Avery Turner finally left her house?" I joked.
"When was the last time you left your house for something other than school, Amaya?" I stopped. Avery had a point, I never go out. Today, that was going to change. "Actually, I'm going on a date with Aiden today."
"Forgot about that." I saw Avery's mood instantly dip to an all time low. "I bet he's going to ask you to be his girlfriend tonight."
"He kind of already did..."
"Oh." Avery's voice cracked and her pace increased.
"Hey, you're fourteen. You have your whole life ahead of you to find a good man."
"Mhm."
"Sorry, or woman."
"I'm not gay! Why does everyone keep thinking that?" She shouted. The aggravation in her voice was venomous and aiming right for my heart.
"No, I was just trying to-" Before I could finish, Avery was long gone.

Avery and I had been sitting in silence for 9 whole minutes. Then, Axel and Adrien walked in. "You're a little late, boys." I called.
"It doesn't matter, Mrs Winson isn't here yet." Aiden said as he reached their desk, behind ours.
"Wait, why is Mrs Winson not here yet?" Avery asked.
"Nice to know you're finally joining the conversation." I muttered under my breath. The boys took their seats and Avery completely blanked me.
"Maybe she's dead."
"Axel, don't say things like that." I advised. That's when Mr Crossett walked in, sending an eerie silence around the room. "Year 10, I regret to inform you that Mrs Winson will not be coming into school today. She was pronounced dead at 9:55 this morning, so you will all be sent home for the rest of the day and there will be no school tomorrow. Be safe." Without another word, he had left the room. Avery and I turned around to the boys in unison; all of our jaws were dropped wide open. "How about we all go back to my place?" Aiden suggested.
"Our place." Avery corrected.
"Sure, I just need to text my Ma so she knows where I am."
"I'm all good to come, my parents don't really care where I am and what I do."
"Cool. Wanna grab ice cream on the way?"
"Always!" As I sent the message to Ma, my phone buzzed, followed by 3 more from other people's phones: Avery's, Aiden's and Axel's. Mortified, I read the message and collapsed on the floor. All three of them rushed to my side as the world went black.