Collision

Chapter 6.

Ava pov

(Ava has arrived home)

The familiar scent of my home came to my senses. I kept my bag on my back as I headed up the stairs, skipping two stairs at a time, towards my room. Our home always seemed homely and...cozy to me. It must of been the way mum had decorated it, with all the candles and pictures everywhere but I always felt comfortable here. We were not rich, but we weren't poor either.

My bag had got to heavy for me to carry, so I dropped it beside the wall once I made it up the stairs. I usually kept my bag by the front door, but mum has been tripping over it and has blamed me for it. I mean, come on! It is her fault as well, she should watch where she is going right? Trust me...she can get scary.

I twisted the door knob of my room open. I went to my drawers to pick out a woolly jumper and sweats. I brought them to my bathroom and stripped out of my uniform. This uniform can get pretty itchy. I pulled the jumper over my head and slipped on my sweats. Quickly, I tied my hair in a messy bun. Grabbing my uniform, I headed out of the bathroom. What am I supposed to do with the uniform now, since I am leaving? I looked around my room and lazily chucked my clothes on my chair.

I jumped on my bed landing back first, the mattress bounced slightly to my weight. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what I should be doing. I got up sitting cross-legged, leaning my back on my head rest. Should I be looking for a new school? I discarded the questions in my mind and hopped off my bed to grab my HP Spectre laptop. I was always fond of my laptop because I had to save the money to buy it. Mum thought I had too many things so she didn't want to "waste" her money on any more "gadgets". I huffed at the thought, she could be a drama queen at times.

I grabbed my laptop and plunked myself on my bed. I laid on my bed with my laptop in front of me, leaning on my elbows to hoist me slightly up. Opening chrome, I hover my cursor over the search bar. Silently, I tapped my fingers softly over the keys, not typing anything. How do I look for a school? I place my chin on my palm, with my fingers tapping on my cheek. I always seem to fidget when I think, quite a habit. I took hold of my thoughts. Okay, you know what you should do? You should search up schools your old friends attend. Wow, you are so smart brain....note the sarcasm. I wracked my brain for the familiar school names. My fingers automatically start typing. Mountain Valley High school.

A list of links appear. I moved my cursor to the first link. The school's web page appears. The students looked like they were forced to give unnatural smiles. The one thing that made me more interested in the school, was the fact it had no uniform. I examined the faces of the students. One of the beautiful girls in the image, looked vaguely familiar. I zoomed in on her face. My jaw dropped as I looked at her features. MIA?

Mia had been my best friend while we attended the same primary school. We used to talk about Nicholas most of the time...but that is what best friends do right? She used to look like stereotypical nerd, with the glasses, pinky tails and braces. I looked at her picture again...did she have a twin she never told me about? She looked so different to her twelve year old self. I met Lauren in year 7, when I moved schools. We definitely hit it off from the beginning.The thought of Lauren reminded me I needed to call her. I got up and went over to my chair, almost forgetting it was still in the pocket of my blazer. I rummaged through my clothes and finally find my blazer. My hand slipped inside and landed on my phone. I take it out and scroll down my contacts, stopping on Lauren's name.

I look at the time, don't want to be calling during school hours do we? The time showed that it was 3.40 pm, 10 minutes after school ended. I hastily hit call. I brought the phone to my ear. I stood there for a good 30 seconds before I hung up. Why is this girl so hard to get a hold of? I tried calling again.

The long awaiting sound of Lauren's voice came through the phone's speaker. "Hello" she said. She sounded slightly anxious.

"Hello Lauren" I said, but it sounded more like a question. I walked over to my bed with the phone close to my ear.

"Ava! What happened? I have been looking everywhere for you! Do-"Lauren's voice boomed out of my phone, loud enough that I had to hold it away from my ear.

I cut off her yelling with a calming tone. "I am so sorry, I should of texted you saying I was going home". I twirled my hair around my finger , feeling guilty. I sat on my bed slowly.

"Okay apology accepted. Now, you are not going to hang up okay? Instead you are going to answer the question I am going to ask you! Not like what you did when I asked you what happened between you and Jake" she said sternly.

I gave out a exasperated sigh. "I had a right to, you were asking really dumb questions! Like seriously, how am I going to answer-" I started speaking in a high pitch voice mimicking Lauren's "How many times has he said "like" to you?".

"It is a reasonable question! If he has been saying it a lot, it obviously means he is giving out a hint, duh!" she added in murmur "not that you will ever know since you never counted".

"Oh my gosh, what is your question Lauren, I promise I will not hang up" I said trying conceal the giggles.

"Okay good" she said, calming herself down. "What did Natasha do to make you move? Hey, about that, are you sure? I mean...this is the school that everyone wants to go to...anyone who attends here are considered lucky, Ava" she said.

I stayed there sitting in silence for a moment. I finally opened my mouth to speak. "Who told you?" I asked. That was all I could think to say at the time.

"Uhh...well people may or may not be speaking about your little encounter with her, plus it is sorta on Facebook" she said sounding slightly uneasy. News gets around fast doesn't it? I quickly put my attention onto my laptop and searched up Facebook.

"Oh okay...umm, she just spoke about my dad and...she called me a couple of names" I said. I left out the whole Nicholas business because truthfully, I found it embarrassing. He told her that I was staring at him and I couldn't even open my mouth to speak to him. I looked so transparent, everyone could see that I was nervous around him. Not any more, trust me on that. That is one thing I am thankful for during that experience.

"No, tell me everything. I know you, you deal with that junk everyday. I see your reaction each time. You fight it, you don't let it get to you. Why break now, Ava? " she asked clearly through the phone. Her tone was grim and vaguely demanding.

"I-I" I stuttered. Way to go Ava. I wasn't sure what to say, because she was right. Why break now? I looked at my Facebook notifications. As I thought for a moment, I figured exactly why I needed to go. "I am tired of fighting. Each time, I just stand in of her and look at her as if I am fine. Truthfully? I'm not. It hurts every time. It feels like she cuts the wound deeper and deeper each time she talks to me. I haven't broken yet, but I know I will and I don't want her to see it and get the satisfaction. Looking at all these..Facebook posts on me. I really don't understand why I even bother acting fine, when in the end I will break. It is inevitable".

There was a pause. It wasn't awkward or boring it was just silence. I could sense we were both in thought. "You are right. I don't want to see her have the satisfaction. You are strong and an awesome person. I don't want to see that go." she said quietly.

"Thank you. I know that this is probably hard for you. I am going to miss you but we can always hang out after school, right?" I asked lightly.

"Sure and I will miss you too...so have you figured out a school yet? huh,huh,huh?"she asked. I knew she had even the slightest of smiles on her face right now.

"I thought of maybe Mountain Valley. I have a friend I know who goes there. No uniform too. So, I think I could even start tomorrow there. I haven't spoken to my mum about it, so I am not sure" I said as I closed the Facebook page.

"Oh okay. Mountain Valley, hmm...I think I have heard of it" she said. I heard someone yelling her name in the distance. "Oh, hey Ava I have to go. I will talk to you soon. Good luck!" she said as she hung up.

"Bye" I said, even though she hung up. I dropped my phone and laid down. My eyes slowly became drowsy. I brought my pillow closer and shut my eyes.