Finding Ava.

chapter one

The towering, strongly built body guard shoved his way past the sweltering halls of Albert High, looking for a particular headstrong brunette. It wasn't long before he found her sucking face with a blonde
Haired boy who had been giving her sorry looks the day before.
Frustrated, Paul grabbed her hand and pulled her away from him.
" Miss Ava-"
"I don't want to hear it Paul, let that bastard find out. I don't care okay?"
He looked at her disapprovingly and led her away from the confused blonde head.
" Honestly, Paul. When will you stop ? I'm not going to listen to him okay ? Don't increase your work. Go out, get a smoke, chill, play with that abomination you call a PS whatever and let me do what I want to. It's a win - win. I don't rat you out, and in return you don't say anything to daddy dear." Ava said, spitting out the last few words.

Sighing, Paul simply ignored her and continued walking till they reached her class. She was fifteen minutes late and she knew that this time it will be difficult for her to squeeze out of detention. With her usual self important and confident air she walked into the classroom.
" Detention miss Ava." Mr. Hills croaked and continued with calculus.
Rolling her eyes, she started doodling, waiting for the bell to signal the end of her misery. If there was one thing she couldn't stand more than her father, it was mathematics.
Paul stood at the back of the room, a look of disapproval hidden behind his shades. In all the clients he had served, Miss Ava was most stubborn he had had the misfortune to come across. Determined and strong willed she listened to no one but herself. She was afraid of nothing. And,most dangerously she had no boundaries. Paul grudgingly admired the girl in spite of himself.

After painstakingly getting past Thursday, Ava decided she needed a break and she knew exactly where to get one.

As she sat on the hood of her car in the parking lot, much to her pleasure she found Logan's car blocking hers. He wanted her. Smirking, she leaned back as he found his way to her and blatantly checked her out. The leather jacket and calf length boots added to her persona and his desire.
Soon, they found themselves engaged in each other. Logan's hands were too big and rough she thought. And his tongue tasted bland. The taste of his tongue reminded her of the house walls: tasteless and boring, hardly a worthy distraction. Nothing personal, bare.
He either put too much pressure or too little pressure. And his hair was too short. Body too warm, neck too sweaty and cologne too desperate.

That was the problem with Ava, she'd had so much experience that she could be a sex critic. She could be employed as an erotica actress and pull it off in one go. And Logan, Logan was just a beginner.
Nevertheless, Ava had to unwind and Logan offered the perfect opportunity. Agreed that he has hands the size of shovels, ones that leave marks and bruises along her body in stead of the sparks she craved. His tongue could never dominate her mouth, in spite of herself, Ava regretted choosing Logan as a toy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hesitant tap on her shoulders. A tap so gentle, she wouldn't have noticed if Logan wasn't so...plain.
Pretending to be annoyed, Ava glared at the interrupter.
"What do you want loser ?" She demanded, looking at the lanky boy with brown eyes.

"If you could take that face sucking session out of the parking lot, it'd be really nice."

"You know what else would be nice ?" Ava had gotten up, ready to knock the spectacles off the geek and wipe the innocent look right off his face.

Logan managed to interrupt just in time, before she got into yet another fight. Bunking detention and getting into fight, Ava was really trying Paul's patience.
Logan had pushed the geek away and now, had the same hungry look in his eyes. Little did he know, Ava wasn't giving him more than a make out. Shoving him off, she got into the car and let Paul drive her to her house. Tonight would be long for Miss Ava Williams
**
As she walked down the length of the corridors of the school building Ava was lost deep in thoughts. Thought that troubled her and more than that, infuriated her.
In her reverie, Ava bumped into a shoulder. Startled, all her defences up, she turned to glare at the stranger only to spot a familiar brown pair of eyes that held a sheepish look.
"Watch it" she scowled as he walked into class, muttering an apology. Entering the same psychology class, Ava took her usual seat next to the window and looked out as she anticipated the coming of the teacher. The one subject she truly cared about was psychology.
As Ms. Linde entered, she straight away got to the point.
"So, class pair up with your partners for this semester project. It will be due in two months but, before you take this time for granted, I'd like to add that this accounts for 50% of your final grade. So, you better take this up seriously because I expect a good standard of work submitted."
Ava hated paired projects. Not only because she didn't have a best friend or a group of close friends but also because one person usually did most of the work while both got credit. She didn't bother looking around for a partner and waited for some poor soul to be left. This had been going on since sophomore year and, would continue till her graduation. Ava didn't need friends, she merely required distractions. But, she knew if she chose a partner, she'd end up getting no work done.
After fifteen minutes of chaotic discussion, Ms. Linde asked for the pair names and finally, got to Ava. On knowing that Ava had no pair, she asked whether there was someone who didn't have one either. No sooner had she asked than a hand shot up from the back row. Ava found herself looking at the familiar playful brown eyes. She bit her lip in annoyance and rolling her eyes, shifted her bag to make space for him to come over and sit with her. Ava Williams never adjusted for anyone especially boys.
As he sat beside her he introduced himself, " Aaron, nice to meet you. Again." He smiled and put his hand out to shake hers.
Not taking his hand Ava introduced herself with a curt, "Ava"
He took his hand back, slightly taken aback by her cold attitude.
"Look" he started in a matter of fact tone. "We need to work together for the next two months. Why not warm up to each other rather than hate every moment we spend together?"
Ava just rolled her eyes and took down the project guidelines. Before he could say something else, the bell rang and she all but ran out of the classroom.
****
After pondering over the project in calculus, Ava decided to take charge and get started right away. Aaron seemed interested but, before she allowed him to work with her, he'd have to pass a test.
With her mind made up, Ava headed to his table during lunch and asked him to meet her after school near her car. That done, Paul was asked to stay near the car till she came.

As the bell for the last period rang, Ava made her way into the washroom and stayed put for half an hour. This was the only test Aaron had to pass. The test of patience. If he truly cared about the subject, he'd wait for her. Especially since her car was still outside. Ava might look the spitting image of her beautiful mother but, her head worked as strategically as her father's. Quick to hate people and assume the worst of them, this so called test was an excuse to drive away the innocent looking geek. Ava really hated working with people. She'd rather spend hours buried in thick volumes than converse with another human being. After half an hour or so, Ava was sure the puppy would have run home by now. She was positive that the sorry excuse for a boy had gotten impatient and complained to mommy. As she walked towards her car, she could not have been more shocked to see the same pair of brown eyes laughing and chatting animatedly with Paul. The smug smile of satisfaction was wiped off her face before one could say geek. Infuriated, she glared at Aaron while slipping into the car and slamming the door shut. Mentally cursing the boy getting into the passenger seat.
She hadn't been prepared for this and, the sheer unpredictable behaviour of that puppy faced boy outraged her. She never took anyone home. None of her hook ups had entered her territory and certainly not a project partner. She clenched and unclenched her fists cursing him. It was his fault that she was freaking out now. His fault for waiting. His fault for passing the test. Ava had been so absorbed in her mental rant that, Aaron had to shout in her ears to get her to listen to what he was saying.
"I said, what took you so long ? Paul and I were thinking of ditching you." He joked. The playful tone and dancing eyes irritated her.
"None of your damn business. And next time you want to go lunching with Paul, notify me so that I can get enough proof to get him fired and have your sorry ass kicked." Heatedly Ava answered the boy with the brown eyes.
Paul never liked- no scratch that. He hated everyone Ava hooked up with. Everyone she hung out with and yet, his relaxed body language around this puppy got on her nerves.
She knew it wasn't their fault and that was why she felt angry. She felt angry at herself. And what she was becoming and what she had let herself become. She was a creature of circumstances and she hated that. She hated herself with passion.
Silence ensued the rest of the ride. Well, apart from the puppy humming an abominably delightful tune, a soft and slow tune. One she hadn't heard. Her fingers silently tapped the wheel to the tune
She hated that she liked the tune.
They reached her house after a short while and as the party of three made their way into the house, a particular pair of brown eyes were curiously raving every corner.
Quite the opposite of how another pair of hard brown eyes had raved her body.
These eyes weren't prying, they were curious. These eyes weren't hungry, they were playful. These eyes seemed so light and carefree and it maddened Ava. They angered her.

"So, whats for lunch?" Asked Aaron.
Ava had forgotten that having company over meant feeding them too. Giving him a blank look she said," I'll cook you whatever you want?"

"Pasta works well, just don't poison me okay?"
Rolling her eyes, she worked her way towards the kitchen.
Aaron whistled as he entered the kitchen," That's spiffing!"
Ava raised an eyebrow to the strange comment and continued looking for ingredients.

While Ava cooked, Aaron sat on the counter top - much to the chagrin of his hostess - and scanned the layout of the project. Ava was surprised that he didn't waste time chatting.
They worked well she noticed and, quite efficiently.
Maybe, having him over wasn't such a bad idea she thought while sitting opposite him as he ate. And he started piping his own ideas which merged very well with her own.

As he devoured the pasta and talked, she watched him eat. The long fingers made the spaghetti dance. She watched the sun light hit his brown hair, making it seem golden. She watched his eyelashes brush against his glasses.
And she also watched him as he got sauce on his cheek while fixing his glasses. Then, she did something that surprised her as much as it surprised him. She reached out to his face and gently wiped it off, fixing his specs for him.
All this while, he had been talking about the project and she had completely zoned out. With that action, he stopped talking, caught off guard.
"Whoa."
"Uh... I'm OCD I can't stand things being out of place. Why don't we continue discussing the project?"

And just like that they discussed the project and, after some time he left her house. Once more, Ava was left to her own thoughts which echoed in the house mercilessly.