Salty Licorice

Chapter 21

Marisa's POV

Avery just left this morning, I just couldn't get that look in her eyes out of my head. I don't know how her parents don't see that she's breaking inside every Sunday just to keep them happy. Last night she was so happy and energetic, then this morning it was like her whole world was falling apart and she was just there watching it without being able to do a thing. I hate it when she wears those stupid dresses and clothes, not because she doesn't look good in them but simply for the fact that she looks like she wants to crawl out of her skin. It's so excruciatingly clear she feels extremely uncomfortable.

After she walks out I just stay in the kitchen looking at the door she just left through. I gently take off my glasses resting them on the countertop and run my hands over my face, pressing hard against my eyelids to try to hold in the need to cry. I have this overwhelming desire to just chase after her and hug her while giving her father a kick in his ass for doing this to his own daughter.

"How could they?" I ask from under my palms.

"I know a lot of they's, so you might have to specify their princess," Dad's gruff voice reminds her he's still here.

"Avery's parents," I reiterate.

There's a long pause from him, drawing my curiosity to look. As I adjust my glasses on the bridge of my nose I see his face and realize I might have walked into too deep of water at 9am in the morning on a Sunday. His hands rest flat against the countertop on either side of his coffee with his head down and a tight brow.

"Princess, I need you to understand that what I'm going to say isn't to justify their actions but only to give a little understanding," He finally gets out. "Parenting isn't exactly a straightforward path, there are a lot of hurdles that you face and some take a different approach than others based on the tools they have themselves. But in the end it's all about what you believe is the right path for your child, so when they face the world they are prepared to the best of our abilities."

I don't think I fully understand what he's trying to say, but I'm not liking the direction he's going with this. It sounds more like he's defending them instead of explaining how deranged a person would have to be to ignore all the pain they're causing. So instead of responding I just got up and made my way to my room, passing my sleepy looking brother Mateo on my way. I can hear him questioning where Avery went which leads to more questions about why she left and when she will be back, all without good answers.

By the time noon rolls around I'm just sitting on the roof outside my window drawing when I hear a truck rolling up my driveway. I look down to see a red pick up pulling to a stop. Avery steps out in her normal clothes looking up at me holding her hand up with her keys in front of her eyes to block the sun, the keys lanyard smacking lightly against the side of her head from the wind.

"Howdy partner," she yells up to me.

Making her way to the second floor deck and inside probably towards my room. A minute later I hear the window that's to my back slide open before a body settles itself next to me.

"Have I ever told you how much I like your house," she says to me.

"You wanna live on a dangerous road in the bad part of town with a gravel driveway and a house that was probably built in the 70s to match the living room's repugnant floral wallpaper?" I deadpan not looking up from my sketch pad as I finish drawing my current sketch for my portfolio.

"Nevermind, it's not really about the house itself anyway," her voice drops to a softer tone almost like a whisper. "What are you drawing?"

"It's for my college application, I need to put together a portfolio. So I'm trying to sketch up some ideas for it."