Avery Randolph looked like a typical, small town girl. Smart, pretty, soft. She was anything but, proven by going on joyrides on weekends, smoking pot and drinking when she had the chance.
But her domain is challenged when new girl Ginny Miller move...
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AVERY STEPPED OUT OF the car, as the clock ticked to 7:55. The school day was almost starting, and Avery and Gavin had gotten breakfast at Blue Farm, deciding to hang out in his car in the school parking lot before the day started.
Max and Norah spotted them easily, with Jordan in tow. "Well, well, this is a new development." Max was smirking at Avery, who lightly rolled her eyes with a smile, adjusting her Yale sweater that Chris had bought for her. Gavin sighed. "Would you believe it if we told you we're just friends?" he asked. Both Norah and Max shook their heads. "Nope."
They all walked together, with Norah and Max laughing at their own interpretations of Avery and Gavin showing up at school in his car. The other two girls kept laughing as they walked through the doors, but Max quickly stopped, her face painting in a grimace when she saw Ginny. Avery's upper lip curled in disgust, her eyes narrowing at the sight of Ginny and Hunter talking awkwardly.
"I thought you'd already learnt not to try and tame snakes, Hunter." Yet, as Avery said this, it was her words that were filled with venom. Ginny walked off.
Max was scrolling through her phone. "Guys, Sophie looks so happy." She laughed. "I hate it." Max looked at her phone again. "'Be kind, it's free'. Yeah, real kind, Sophie, when you ripped my heart out. She kept our pictures up," sighed Max, "what do you think that means?"
"That she loves you and misses you and wants to get back together."
Avery snorted. "I deleted the photos of Marcus and I after the election was over." Gavin rubbed a hand on her knee as they sat on the floor. "Really?"
"No."
Max scowled. "Perfect. 'Cause I play the evil and unlovable witch in the musical. So, you know, different from my everyday life." She rolled her eyes.
"They should've cast Ginny as the witch. Or, you know, just booted her ass out of Wellsbury high."
"THANKS," SAID AVERY. GAVIN smiled. "No problem.
In the middle of the day, Avery had been feeling nauseous and had asked Gavin to tell Mr. Gitten that she was going home sick. But, instead, Gavin had offered to drive her to Paul's office. So, Avery got out of the car and walked into the building, maneuvering her way around. "Hey," she greeted Georgia, who was frowning at her computer.
"Hi, love," replied Georgia. Avery came up behind her, just as Paul did. "Something tells me this isn't work related," murmured Paul. Georgia startled slightly. "Hey."
"You okay?" Paul was asking both of them. Avery raised a brow. "I felt sick and I had to go home. But, it's too late to cancel the rage room, so I still have to go."
"Yeah," replied Georgia. "Just looking at dresses."
"Dresses that are far outside our budget." Paul scoffed lightly with a smile. "Yeah, we should talk about the budget," agreed Georgia. "Yeah, what about it?"
"I hate it."
Avery guffawed and walked into Paul's office. "Not my circus, not my monkeys," she mumbled, sitting down on the small couch. Both Paul and Nick came into the office and it was Avery's hint to put music on in her airPods as she began on her homework.
Her phone rang, the shrillness of it going through her headphones. Avery looked at it, scoffing. She took out her airPods and then picked it up, putting it against her ear. Paul looked at her, raising a brow. "Hi, honey!" Sophia's voice was like nails on a chalkboard.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" Avery's reply was swift and unforgiving. The blonde quickly mouthed 'Sophia'. Nick snorted.
"It's me. Your mother."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You must have the wrong number. Or, you know, confused me with someone who's easy to manipulate." Avery hung up. Nick started to laugh as Paul tried to strangle a smile. "Nice."
It was fun to make people feel inadequate.
···
GEORGIA PLACED SOME CUTLERY down on the small table in the kitchen, before looking down at Austin and Avery who were doing their homework. "Did you know that Edith Wharton's home is available for weddings?" asked the Miller woman. "The Mount. Isn't that romantic?"
Avery sipped her iced tea, glancing up at her dad and his fiance. "I. . . I didn't take you for an Edith Wharton fan," admitted Paul. "A bunch of the Neighbourhood Club women have been to weddings there." Georgia tried to be nonchalant about it. "They were talking about it."
"I see. Hey, by the way, I'm sorry you didn't get into the Neighbourhood Club. I know you really wanted it."
"It's not over till it's over."
Paul nodded, his lips slightly parted and his jaw locking. "I do not want to know what that means," he told her. Avery giggled, shutting her spanish book and gathering the other school books, before heading for her bedroom. "It sounds like something you shouldn't question, lest you want to talk about fight club."
Avery glanced at her dad, who merely gave her a look. "Call me down when dinner's ready. I need to ask Gavin something about the spanish homework."
She walked up to her room, leaving the door open a bit and opening her laptop to FaceTime Gavin. "Hey," he greeted, looking toward the camera. He looked like he was in the middle of something. "Hi. I'm not disturbing, am I?"
"No, no, not at all. I'm just finishing a piece for my portfolio."
Avery smiled. "How's it going? Can I see?"
Gavin chuckled. Avery swallowed, her face falling a bit. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Gavin shuffled a bit on his end, clearing his throat. "No, it's fine. I just. . . it's actually a sketch of you."
"Me?" Avery raised a brow. "Yeah. I wanted something that represented dopamine and then I thought of you."
The Randolph girl chuckled. "Did you know that when you get dopamine, the chemical reaction is actually dancing as it goes along the little line thingy?" Gavin furrowed his brows. "You're kidding."
"No, I'm serious. I saw a tik tok of it. I can send it to you."
"Please do. This, I have to see."
Voices came from Ginny's room. Avery sent the video to Gavin, who raised his brows. "Wow. You weren't kidding. How'd you even find this?"
Avery shrugged. "It just popped up on my for you page." She caught a glimpse of her homework. "Anyway, the reason I was calling beyond just that, was because I don't understand question number seven in the spanish homework sheet."
Gavin rustled around, before finding the paper he was looking for. "Ah; '¿Qué monumento cultural le gustaría más ver si visitara España en los próximos cinco años?' It asks you which cultural monument would you most want to see, if you ever visited Spain in the next five years. So, just google cultural monuments and pick the one that seems the most interesting."
Avery hummed. "I googled Alcazaba. I'd like to see it sometime, actually."
