Not the Same

Chapter twenty-one

I wake up in the morning expecting to by lying next to Cameron, but instead I wake up to see an empty spot next to me. Sighing, I slowly sit up, trying not to cause myself too much pain.

I can't help but think about why Cameron wasn't there when I woke up. Is he still mad at me? He was still avoiding me until I fell in the shark tank. I guess he was just talking to me to see if I was okay and now that he knows, he's back to ignoring me. Part of me wants to text him to see what's going on, but I don't think I'll like the answer. Every other time he's stayed over, he has at least left me some kind of message letting me know that he left or explaining why he had to leave.

The week goes by obnoxiously slow. I'm not surprised by the fact that Cameron ignores me all week, but I'm confused as to why Hailie is too. Did I do something to hurt Hailie too? I don't know how I could considering the fact that the last time I even saw her was the night I left the hospital. 

I get to my dorm room and sigh. It feels so empty without Hailie here. She hasn't spent much time in the room lately. The only time I run into her is when she's packing an overnight bag for her secret boyfriend's dorm. It's a little annoying that she still hasn't told me who he is and I'm starting to get a little mad about it. I understand wanting privacy, but if this guy is so bad she feels that she can't confide in me, her best friend, then she probably shouldn't be having sleepovers with him every night.

As I'm angrily walking around my room, my phone vibrates. Clicking the home button, I see that I have a text.

Mom: You need to come home right now. We have important matters to discuss.

This can't be good.

I spend the entire ride to my house wondering what I could have done to make my mother mad at me. The possibilities are endless. Somehow I can still manage to annoy my mother while I'm miles away.

I pull into the driveway of my house and sigh. My brother's car is parked in the driveway. Why is my brother here too? This really can't be good. I'm confused because this isn't one of our required times that we had to go home. Something bad must have happened in order for my mom to tell us to come home.

After a few minutes of debating whether or not I can back out of the driveway without them noticing I'm here, I decide it's now or never.

With a final sigh, I enter the house.

I walk into my kitchen, thinking that they invited me over for dinner, but no one's in there. I continue walking around the house for a while until I notice noises coming from the dining room. Why would they be in there? We never eat in there, let alone go in there unless it's one of my parent's business dinners. My parents used to bring their bosses over for dinner, but once they started their own companies and advanced in their professions, there wasn't anyone for them to try to impress so the dinners stopped. I'm not complaining; those dinners were terrible. They were filled with stuffy conversation and snobby, pretentious small talk.

"Hi," I say to my parents and my brother cautiously.

They look up at me slowly, as if they didn't notice my presence until right now.

"Avery," my father says in acknowledgement while nodding his head.

Adam looks at me, but shifts his gaze once we make eye contact. That's weird. Adam never misses an opportunity to glare at me or mock in me some way.

"Take a seat," my father says to me, his tone holding no emotion.

I sit down on a couch across from my parents. Adam sits in a chair on my right. We're all facing each other as we sit there in silence.

Unnerving silence.

I've had many moments in this house where I've felt uncomfortable, but this definitely has to be in the top three of awkward moments I've had in this house. I would almost rather take them screaming at me than sitting here in this painful silence.

"So, I guess I'll start," my dad says. "I would like to start by saying-"

"Just on with it," my mother snaps.

"I'm trying, dear," my father sighs.

"Well try harder," my mother barks.

"As I was saying, I would like to start by giving Adam the opportunity to speak. Adam, do you have anything you'd like to say?"

Adam takes a deep sigh and then turns to me. He looks like he's physically in pain for what he's about to say.

"I'm sorry, Avery. I didn't mean to hurt you or anyone. I didn't plan for this to happen."

I'm shocked.

Completely shocked.

I could count on one hand how many times my brother has ever apologized to me since we stopped being friends.

After getting over my initial shock, I gain some composure and respond.

"Um it's okay. I mean, yeah it definitely sucked to fall into a shark tank and think I was going to die, but I'm okay sort of so let's just put it in the past."

"WHAT?"

"YOU FELL IN A SHARK TANK?"

My parents are looking at my in identical expressions of shock and horror, making me even more confused. Adam is looking at me with a bitter look on his face, as if I said something wrong. I catch a glimpse of what looks like fear in his eyes.

"Isn't that what we're talking about? How Adam pushed me into the shark tank?"

My mother looks at Adam bitterly.

"We're talking about how your brother got your best friend pregnant."

Author's note:

Hi love bugs!! 

So?

Were you expecting that? How many of you had a feeling something was going on between Hailie and Adam?  What do you think is going to happen next?

I'm sorry I haven't been updating as frequently as you and I would both like.  I've been extremely stressed with finals approaching.  And, to add to already feeling gross and rundown, I have pneumonia :/ 

BUT I'll have A LOT more free time coming up this weekend so hopefully I'll be able to update more!

Thank you all for being so kind and patient with me! You constantly make my days brighter  :)

I love you all and hope you're excited for the next update!

xoxo,

LetTheGamesBegin_