Ten & Levan

36. Thirty Six

LEVAN

Number 11,

My mom's having a party this evening, and she really wants you to come. Not that I don't want you to come. That sounded like it. But obviously, I want you to come. See you at six?

PS: Please say yes!

PPS: Oh, and you must bring Ava or I won't be pleased.

PPPS: And please wear something that's not black or gray. I'm begging you.

Over and out.

10.

I read the note that Ten stuck in my jacket pocket as I exited her car over and over again. What's in there that she couldn't just say to me? Is it a code for something? Why did she have to write it down? Does writing short letters give her some kind of thrill as well? I put it aside, realizing that I'll never fully understand her, and that's okay.

I shake my head and debate asking Ava about it while I flip through all the chapters I've written for my story. I realized it was time to analyze what's becoming of this story, or if it's not. So I spend all morning reading through all the starless nights, and tweaking a few lines to make them clearer. I keep rearranging the segments until it looks like a jigsaw puzzle finally coming together; how unfortunate that it's a sad picture.

By the time I'm going through the last few pages, I've made up my mind, and I'm not going to ask Ava about it. I'm just going to tell her go to a friend's house for the evening and stay there until I pick her up whenever I get back.

I don't think Ten can ever be anything but pleased anyway.

Somewhere around nine, the silence of the neighborhood is broken into by my dad's rusty old Volkswagen starting up. I stay still until I know he's gone for sure, and only then do I step out of my cave in resolve to make something fulfilling for breakfast, because damn am I hungry. But this is what life is at the moment; lurking around corners and hiding in our rooms so that none of us come face to face.

It's surprising; the lengths we go, just to skip a moment of heartache.

***

I frown at myself as I straighten the cuffs of this new shirt I bought and for the thousandth time since I bought it, I think of how easily Ten persuades me to do things now which I wouldn't do before. For a second, I sit wondering in my truck whether it's okay—listening to everything she says. But then I realize she's Ten and I'm only Levan.

I put on my jacket and check myself out in the mirror before I step out of the truck. Before I even fully leave the truck, I see her standing at the door to her house, grinning at me with a confused frown. I walk my way up her driveway with my eyes down, but as soon I see her again, I grin right back at her, I feel like a clown.

"You're wearing white!" she notes with surprise, her brows sky high.

"I thought you said you won't be pleased if I were to wear black..."

"No, I said that about not bringing Ava, where is she?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest and putting on a pout.

"She went to a friend's place," I tell her.

"Oh..." she says, jutting her bottom lip forward. "That's fine then, I guess," she shrugs, her eyes bright and her smile back on. "Come on in," she says, grabbing me not by the hand, which I've gotten used to, but by the arm. Clinging onto me, she drags me into her house.