Along came Avery

2 2 . p a r e n t a l g u i d a n c e

I gently close the door as I hear him go on about the problematic members of his group. I hum, slowly turning round and lifting my eyes up to him, Avery, as he seems to not know what personal space is. I press my back against the door, swallowing and dropping my eyes down to the ground when the eye contact becomes quite intense. I hum again.

"It's ridiculous!"

"I can only imagine." I breathe out, watching Avery's Nike shoes take another step closer to me. I press the phone more against my ear. "Group works are so problematic if you have problematic members."

"I don't even mind group work most of the time, but the people are the problem. From the moment they put us together last Friday, I just knew." Nate groans over the line, for the hundred and first time. "It's silly, honestly."

"Hmm, I know." I tense up the moment Avery stops before me, bending down a bit so he's a bit closer to my height. One hand grazes down my side as the other leans against the door, right by the side of my head, the very same side my phone is against my ear. "W-what now?"

"I don't know. I think..." he takes a deep breath and sigh, meanwhile Avery leans down a bit, nose tingling against my cheek right to my ear. "I think I should talk to them, right?" I squeak a bit, eyes pressed closed when his lips — warm, partially smooth so I know he either licked them wet or his lips have some sort of lip therapy or valseline — press against the joint of my jaw and neck, right under my ear. "Or report them? I don't know if I should report them. Isn't it too soon? It hasn't even been a full week. That's taking it too far, right?"

"Y-yes. Yeah..." I breathe, moving a bit away from Avery towards the side, but the hand by my side rounds my back and firmly presses his hand right in the middle, forcing my back to lean off the wall. "I mean... no? There's no need to— to report. They'll think you're being ridiculous. I think just—" I pause when Avery's light chuckle drums in my ear. "—I think, maybe... just... talk to them, Nate."

"You're right. Urgh, I should just speak to them before blowing matters out of proportion."

"Avery," I mutter when he lightly places another peck right on the exact same spot. The annoying tingles skate down my neck and across my cheek, and it itches like I could just scratch it numb.

"Avery?"

"Oh—" I quickly push Avery back with force, scooting away from him with a flushed face but thanks heaven for my melanin. I move away from the door and towards the tiny living room. I sit down, back towards Avery as I face the small balcony. "Ahm... no, sorry. I mean, Ahm..." Lie. Lie. "Avery... went through this. Before. Yeah. Maybe talk to him for advice? Otherwise from me, I think it's best you just speak to them and let them know how you feel."

"You're such a bad liar." Avery, somewhere close, mutters as his footsteps tap the floor the closer he gets.

"I guess I could ask him. He wouldn't be weird about it?"

"I doubt it. I don't think so."

Nate hums over the line, and then breathes out, perhaps in thought. Meanwhile, from my peripheral view, I see Avery stop right by my side. Before I could glare up at his figure, I feel his fingers seep through the strands of my braids before he tugs my head back. Not hard, but I feel that slight sting as the first time he grabbed my hair in the corridors towards the female restroom. I gasp, looking up at him as he looks down at me with a neutral expression.

"Lie down."

I'll never understand why I do. But I do. No questions asked but a thousand of hesitations felt. At first I buffer like some laptop being asked to do the impossible, but when he tugs my hair again, I lie down right up until my back is against the soft cushions. I'm close to dropping my phone, but Nate's voice brings me back from this bubble engulfing both Avery and I, and to the real world.