Can I Tell You A Secret?

Chapter Eleven

Trigger warning: this chapter contains many things that could be triggering including terrorism and some other things that. I don't want to spoil the story

My friends are awesome. I come back to school on the 14th, back to normal, and they don't bombard me with questions. They don't ask me why I was so weird, or the reason behind my sensitivity yesterday. They just go with it. That's what I'd do with them. On the 15th I enter homeroom, and get the best surprise ever. Sitting in the desk I've been using for the last month, is Ava.

"Ava, Ava, Ava, Ava, Avaaaaa!" I squeal, rushing in and hugging her.

She hugs me back.

"Ettie! Oh, it's so good to see a normal sized person," she says.

"Speaking of, you're looking good!" I say.

"Thank you, hun!" she grins.

"Do the others know you're back?" I ask.

"No, but they're about to," he smiles, looking at the door.

Our other friends walk in, and squeal when they see Ava. We're all grinning; it's so good to be back together!

"There's going to be a sleepover at my house this weekend to celebrate, and you have to come!" I tell them.

"Yes! That's a great idea!" Ava exclaims.

On Friday night, I'm sitting at my desk doing homework, when I hear the doorbell ring. It's Ava, here for the sleepover. I asked her to come earlier, so Wren could see her again. I haven't told Wren that she's back, because I want to see the look on Wren's face when she sees that she's back. I walk downstairs, and see Wren reading in the living room.

"Wren, can you get it?" I ask her.

She sighs, rolls her eyes, and gets up to open the door.

"Lazy," she snorts.

She opens the door, and is shocked into silence for a second. Then she starts screaming like someone who has just had Ellen DeGeneres come to their front door. She hugs Ava, still screaming.

"You're back, you're back!" she yells out.

Mum comes to see what's causing the commotion.

"How long have you been back?" Wren asks Ava.

"I've only been back for a few days. How long has your room been unpacked?" she asks.

"I still haven't finished..." Wren grins.

"That's so typical of you," Ava says, shaking her head jokingly.

Wren laughs.

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Ettie, Lucy, Taryn, Al and I are having a sleepover to celebrate my return," she explains.

"Ok, I should let you go. It was so nice seeing you again!" Wren hugs Ava once more before going back to her book.

Ava and I go up to my room, where I've cleared some space for our sleeping bags. We normally arrange our sleeping bags in a star shape, with our heads facing in, so that we can talk more easily. Avalyn dumps her stuff on my bunk bed (the bottom bunk... I don't let anyone, including myself, touch the top bunk. It's off limits, and my friends respect that) and lies her sleeping back next to mine, in the start of a star shape.

"When are the others coming?" she asks.

"They should be here soon," I tell her, just as the doorbell rings.

"Speak of the devil," Ava winks, and I laugh.

We go downstairs to let Lucy in. And do the same with Alice ten minutes later. And then we do the same with Taryn half an hour after Alice. We muck around a bit, waiting for it to get dark. All the secrets start coming out in the dark. After dinner we collect mugs of hot chocolate, and snuggle up in blankets on the beanbags on my deck. It's getting cold now, so our beanbags are pressed right close together.