RUN!

27. Where do we go

Song: Where do we go now? By Gracie Abrams

   Mrs. Chan brings apple tart for lunch later that week. It's the first time in a long while that both she and mum are off from work the entire day so when she appears at our front door it's quite shocking.

"Hey Mrs. Chan!" I greet despite the immediate wave of shock that came. Mrs. Chan looks better than she has since Avery went missing and that's enough to make my lunch. I step aside so she can come in.

"Hey Adonis, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to see you since the accident. How are you feeling?" She asks, setting the apple tart down on the dining table.

I flash her one of my most convincing grins.

"I'm way better, my hand's doing swell as well." That's not a lie. If you minus the disturbing diary entry I read last night, the fact that someone attempted to kill me and the fact that Avery's phone is still missing then yes, I am doing better.

Mrs. Chan starts to say something but then Mum steps out of the kitchen dramatically, holding a can of juice in one hand and two glasses in the other.

"Ava! I didn't know you were here!" Mum greets. Her lips spread into a thin smile, the uncomfortable one. She's not quite settled around Mrs. Chan.

"I just came actually, I brought a tart for Adonis."

"Oh really?" Mum's dragging the end of every word in amusement so it sounds more like oh reallllyyyy?

She flips her shiny brown hair before dropping the can and the glasses. Then she stands straight.

Silence. This is awkward, she isn't just going to let Mrs. Chan leave right? The woman's alone in that big house haunted my several thoughts of what ifs that could be happening to her daughter. It would be the worst thing to do to let her leave. And yet people, my self righteous mother makes no move to explicitly tell her to stay.

So I do it for her.

"Hey Mrs. Chan, why don't you join us for dinner?" The way mum's eyes snaps to me tells me everything I need to know. Mrs. Chan coughs.

"Thank you dear but I should probably get going."

"Isn't today your day off? Come on, join us. It might take your mind off of some things," mum insists, realizing that the only way to get out of this is to play along. Mrs. Chan gives in and nods, taking a seat on the dining. Mum takes a seat next to her and I go get the plates and an extra glass.

"So, any leads?" Mum asks Mrs. Chan. I glance at them from the kitchen, watching the back of their heads. Mum is shorter and plumper that Mrs. Chan, it was one of the things she was unsure about. She had always been a tad bit thicker than what Western society prided on but she isn't fat. And I don't mean that as in i'm not trying to insult your self esteem I mean it as in she is not fat. At all. She barely even  tummy fat. Either way she did get bigger after popping out two beautiful and angelic boys(yassss) and she was never able to get back that pre pregnancy body.

Mrs. Chan however, got it back alright! I'd dare say she looks even hotter than she did when she was a teen. Her long black hair is as straight as a ruler and so so dark it's hard to think of a time white hair strands would come out of that. Her face, just like Avery's is almost almond shaped but she's obviously more cheeky than Avery. She generally has more fat than her daughter.

"I think they're gonna close the case," Mrs. Chan finishes what it was she was saying to mum.

"What? That's dumb," I can't resist saying as I step into the living room.