Not As It Seems - We Bought A Zoo Fanfic

Ch 13

Avery's POV:

My dad was currently away with my uncle for lunch and Dylan and Rosie were at school. Kelly convinced my dad to let me skip school for the day since I was exhausted and stayed in bed with me until I finally woke up around 10. She cooked me a nice breakfast while I silently got ready, not feeling up to talking with her after our interaction last night.

She was bound to be curious, but I didn't plan on telling her anything that happened with Ferris. She didn't say anything either but I could sense the curiosity consuming her.

"Avery, I've got a staff meeting to go to. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?" Kelly asked me when I finished eating my eggs. I nodded without glancing up at her in hopes that she wouldn't see my panicked expression leaking it's way onto my face. I hadn't been left alone for weeks, but I knew I couldn't attend the staff meetings so I decided to suck it up. I mean how hard could it be?

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It was hard, 20 minutes after she left I gave up and stumbled to the Jaguar with shaky hands. When the door was opened loudly all eyes landed on me. My dad was even there with a check gripped in his hand and my uncle was standing by his side. 

"I-I...I." I stuttered trying to form a sentence to explain my sudden entrance. Kelly must have understood what was going on because she was the first to unfreeze and came straight towards me with open arms.

"I shouldn't have left you alone." She muttered, mostly to herself. Her arms were placed carefully under me and soon I was carried to her chair where she sat me on her lap with my face towards her chest.

"Continue with the meeting please." She instructed the still shocked adults in the room. They all listened to her and continued on as if I never entered the room.

"You okay sweetie?" Kelly quietly asked. I nodded my head, still slightly shaking from earlier.

"Are you sure? Use your words."

"Y-yes." I croaked into her chest. At this point she wasn't even paying attention to the meeting anymore. I could feel her gaze on the back of my head.

"Can we have a small chat after this?" My breath hitched which she caught on to.

"Umm sure." I mumbled, scared of what she wanted to talk to me about.

———

The meeting was over and everyone left silently. Kelly and I were the only ones left in the Jaguar.

"Okay, I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to consider therapy. I've noticed your grades have been going down, you haven't been getting enough sleep at night, and you do so much work around the zoo. Somethings bothering you and if you don't want to talk to me about it you should consider professional help." She explained and I looked down at my feet sadly. Even if I did go to a professional I couldn't explain my emotions.

"I...don't really want to. I'm fine." I replied and she frowned but nodded.

"Ok then. You don't have to. But feel free to talk to me, or call me after a nightmare. If you need me I'll be there." She comforted me and I smiled.

"Thank you."

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Kelly's Pov: 

Avery was really worrying me, but I couldn't do much about it. She only seemed to open up to me and when I mentioned therapy she seemed really scared. So of course I wasn't going to make her do anything against her wishes, I'd just have to wait until she tells me the real story of what happened that night or until I find out myself. But I still needed to tell her father about what I learned. Benjamin seemed even more clueless then me to the whole situation and he was her father so he deserved to know. 

"Hey Benjamin, do you have a sec?" I asked the man when I saw him exiting the tiger area. 

"Umm sure, yea. What's up?" 

I took a deep breath and started explaining the information I had gathered. "Something happened to Avery the night she got lost. I'm not sure what but it was bad enough to give her PTSD. She must have been kidnapped or something similar because she can't be alone for long periods of time. It'd explain the bruises and cuts that were on her body." 

"Why are you telling me this? He questioned. As much as I wanted to believe that he cared, he didn't seem to be very worried. 

"She's your kid. I thought you'd want to know." I replied and he shrugged. 

"Okay then. Thanks for telling me I guess." 

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A/n: sorry it took me so long to update. school started and I hate it. I got 3 homework assignments the first day :l. I might update again sometime today, but I have a creative writing story to finish.