Short Stories

From Ava to Eva (𝕞𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕪)

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I was lounging on the couch of my small one-bedroom apartment, thinking of nothing in particular and surrounded by my friend group of four- Max Darenson, Zack Ceynese, Emma Rathony and me, Avery Ethan. But nobody really called me that except for my uncle Ben. To my friends, I would always and forever be Ava.

Me, Max and Emma had been best friends all throughout highschool, while Zack had been a later addition to our clique. He had met Emma at the zoo they both worked and soon after they announced they were dating.

I had been afraid our friend group would fall apart after that, with me and Max becoming third wheels. But, honestly, nothing really changed. We were all still best friends, even if two of us were more than that.

But that didn't stop me from distrusting Zack. While we were all together, he seemed like a great guy and I've never seen him be anything but kind to Emma. But I still had a bad feeling about him.

In the three months since they've been together, Emma has been acting different from her usual cheerful and carefree self. She seems jumpier, always looking ready to bolt if need be and she's constantly looking over her shoulder.

I haven't asked her about but I have a feeling Zack has some involvement in the whole thing.

"How was work today?" asked the ever-thoughtful Max.

I jumped at being addressed, apparently more spaced out than I thought.

"Tiring, as usual." I replied with a stretch and a groan.

I worked at the local Target because I couldn't afford to work anywhere else. Money had always been tight growing up and I'd spent the majority of highschool working minimum wage part-time jobs. Still, it was barely enough to get by. I never had the resources to go to college, so my childhood dream of becoming a detective had been deemed impossible long ago.

Still, I enjoyed reading mystery books, even though my curious nature often caused me to skip to the end of the book when I couldn't take the suspense any longer.

Suddenly, I had an idea. One that could satisfy my urge of solving mysteries, while also not giving me the chance to cheat and check the back of the book. Plus, it would give me something to think about while I was restocking shelves at Target and Emma something to plan while she's feeding baby penguins.

"Oh, Emma, I just had an idea!" I told her excitedly.

Emma perked up from her spot on my kitchen table, eager to help.

"Yes?"

"Whenever you have the time, could you maybe write me a short mystery story? But don't write the ending so I can figure it out myself! It would mean a lot!" I asked her.

Emma was an amazing writer. In her free time, she wrote the most interesting short stories and heartfelt poems. Once she left the zoo, she wanted to become a full time author. She loved it whenever we gave her ideas or requests for new stories, whether we did it on purpose or on accident. Sometimes she wrote stories based on events that happened in our town or funny things than happened to us.

"Of course!" she agreed, for some reason sharing a quick glance with Max.

I brushed it off and beamed back at her.