Seeing Blind (Rough Draft)

Chapter Three

Avery opened her eyes, her stomach sinking at the realization that this was not a nightmare, she was actually living in Greenwich with her father, her mother had abandoned her, and they were the only two White people in town.

The Best Summer Ever was going to turn out to be The Worst Summer Ever.

What were her friends doing right now? Were they missing her like she was missing them? Would they come and visit her? Paris had her license already, she could get the gang together and drive to see Avery.

But if Avery was in their shoes, would she come and see her friend?

They were all scared of coming to Greenwich so Avery didn't think she would. So that meant that her friends wouldn't either, thinking Avery was a lost cause. Come on, look where she lived now, she was a lost cause.

Avery rolled out of bed and picked out an outfit from her bare dresser. Her dad was right, it'll take weeks for them to unpack everything.

Walking into the kitchen, her dad looked over at her, throwing ingredients into a pan. He did a double-take. "Does your mother usually let you dress so skimpy?"

Avery looked down at herself. Jean short shorts, a green low cut tank top, and flip flops. What was so wrong with it? "This is the new style, Dad."

He snorted. "Huh. I didn't realize that the new style was to be half-naked, that's my bad."

Avery took a seat at the dining room table he and Torrance set up last night. She would not feel slut-shamed by her father, she would not. "What are you making?"

"Omelets. You still like omelets, don't you?"

"Yes."

Avery and her dad didn't talk as he finished making their breakfast. He set two plastic plates down in front of them and sat across from Avery. "Bon Appetit."

Avery breathed in the delicious scents, her stomach growling. After a bite, she got up and got a cup of coffee. Her mother let her do practically anything she wanted around the house, and at fourteen, she had her first taste of coffee.

Her father's coffee wasn't Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts worthy, but it'll do.

"I didn't know you drank coffee," her father observed when she sat back down, digging into her omelet once more.

"I picked it up after you left. Like a lot of things."

Her father was silent for a few minutes and then said, "I didn't want to leave, but the fighting became so bad and I didn't want you to be around that. So I asked for a divorce and moved out. Your mother was the one who cut my ties with you. I wanted to see you, all the time. Avery-"

"Forget it, Dad. I'm only staying with you until Mom comes back and takes me with her to New York as I've said." She got up and took her empty plate to the trash can. "You're wrong about her."

"Right, of course." Her father cleared his throat. "So what are you going to do today?"

Stay inside all day hiding from people. She didn't want to interact with anyone here and that meant staying inside the whole day. Which sucked since Avery was such a people person; she thrived on social interactions. But not with the people of Greenwich.

"Do you still run?" Dad inquired, throwing his plate out.

Avery was surprised he even remembered. "Not really. I stopped three years ago." The year he had left Mom and her.

He shook his head. "That's a shame. Well, I'm going over to the bank to do some financial business. It'll take most of the morning so if you want to throw a wild party to meet some new friends, now's your time."