Salty Licorice

Chapter 66

Avery's POV

I'm sitting in the parking lot in front of the school waiting for Marisa to pull in. Why on earth does she get to school so early I have no idea. But here I am sitting in my pajamas in my truck with my heaters blowing softly at my feet as I have music playing loudly to help keep my eyes open so I don't miss her. I can see different purples and pinks slowly take over the dark blue and black of the sky. I nod off a bit as I bob my head to the beat of the song playing. I hear the roar of an engine approach along with a few others. I turn and watch as a black blazer with its little front bumper rack and its two smiley face light covers along with her four floodlights bolted to the roof of her truck.

Her lights shut off, but she doesn't jump out of her truck and instead just sits there. I jump out and pull open her passenger door knowing full well she doesn't have it locked. Her head whips around to face me with wide eyes.

"Fuck, Avery don't do that," She snaps at me getting over being startled.

"Skip class with me," I say, getting into her truck and shutting the door.

"And why would I do that?" She raises her brow at me.

"Like you wanna go anyway," I roll my eyes.

"I happen to be doing that art show so yeah I sorta can't just skip this week," She grins at me.

"But that's not till Friday, it's Monday. Come on lengthen your weekend with me," I beg.

"You've never missed a day of class," She points out. "Your mom forced you to come to school with the flu, like every year."

"So," I shrug. "Look, you need to skip with me. I can't do this on my own."

"Tell me and I'll go," She says.

"Tom and you are gonna help me move all my shit out of my parents house, and into yours," I simply say.

She looks at me for a long moment before she takes a deep breath and looks out the windshield at the array of colors splashed across the sky.

"When do they leave the house?" She asks.

"Tom will call me when they're gone and he's called the school to excuse my absence," I explain.

"And my excused absence?" She asks with slight amusement.

"Ask your dad, not like my dimwit brother can help with your situation, he's a nervous wreck trying to act like his own Dad," I laugh.

She chuckles and we silently watch as the sky changes into probably 5 different bob ross paintings in the span of nearly 20 minutes. Finally my phone rings and I answer it only to realize it's Liz's voice on the other line instead.

"Hey Avery." I can hear the sound of the crowded halls through her side of the phone.

"Hey is everything okay?" I sat up a little.

"Actually I wanted to ask you that. Where are you, I wanna see you?" She says, sounding nervous.

"Oh, uhm, well I actually won't be at school today," I explained loosely.

"Why, what's happened? Are you okay?" She rushes her questions.

"Yes, kitten, I'm fine," I smile at the sound of her being so worried. "I'll explain later, okay?"

"Okay," She says quietly.

My phone beeps indicating another call, I see Tom's name on my screen before I go back to my call with Liz, "Kitten, I have to go. Have a good day and I'll see you later-" I forced my mouth to stop talking before I said those three words I'm not at all ready to say, or hear yet.