fAt girl

Across the Road

******* Sorry, I know it's short. But I'm super busy lately with school. But I promise you that I will upload asap! :) thanks for reading, you guys honestly have no idea how much it means to me. Thanks a bunch!! Comment + rate guys! Love ya!

-Broken_girl :)******

flopped on her bed and pulled out her sheet of homework. She really didn't want to do it, but she knew she might be able to focus on that for awhile, instead of her father. Ava searched through her dresser top for a pencil. After giving up she went downstairs. She opened the fridge and found a serving of yogurt. As she closed the fridge door her eyes caught notice of something. The list. The one that her mother had wrote out every week for her father to do when he got home. At the very bottom of the list it said 'clean attic.'

"Clean the attic?" Ava pondered aloud. Nobody went into the attic, it was dusty and stuffy. Piled to the roof with old junk that her parents had kept for god knows what. Ava nibbled on her bottom lip and stuck the yogurt back in the fridge for later. She climbed the stairs and walked until she stood directly outside the doors that lead to the attic. She knew that there was another set of stairs on the other side, leading up to another door. Ava knew that he parents normally kept the attic locked, but Ava knew where the key was. She retrieved the key from its hiding place. (Behind her mother's favorite painting, taped to the wall.) Ava never understood the importance of hiding the attic key, it's not like there was anything up there worth value to steal. Or to look at for that matter. Ava climbed the last set of stairs and stuck the key into its hole. She unlocked the door and rested her hand on the knob for a moment. Just as she was about to turn it, she heard the sound of knocking coming from downstairs, on the main level. With a flustered sigh she retreated back down the steps and made her way to the front door.

She swung the door open, an unfamiliar face greeted her. She stood there staring at him with a goofy look on her face. "Uh, Hello?" She managed to squeak out.

The boy smiled, he looked like he was a teenager. Messy brown hair, green eyes that watched her every move, nice build good height. "Hi, are you Ava?"

Ava was lost in her thoughts, her mind kept thinking about how handsome he was. Once she realized he had stopped talking her cheeks began to burn bright red. She stepped out onto the deck and closed the door behind her. "Sorry- what?" She asked tucking her hair behind her ear.

He laughed and extended his hand. "I'm Damian, I live across the street."

Ava blinked. He did? How could she have failed to notice a boy so beautiful for all these years? She racked her brain, trying to remember his face. Then it occurred to her, The Jepson's lived across the road. They were an old couple who kept to themselves. Was this their grandson? Ava peered around Damian's muscular figure. There was a moving van outside the house, with people carrying miscellaneous objects into the house. "You just moved here?" She guessed with a coy smile.

"Yea," He laughed. "Your mom came over earlier and introduced herself. She told my parents about you and they suggested I come over here and introduce myself."

Ava couldn't believe her ears. It was like the heavens were singing! This boy was her neighbor! And her mother had been kind enough to tell him to come over! It was almost like a miracle. Ava felt the blood rushing into her cheeks as she stared into Damian's green eyes.

Damian glanced at Ava for a brief moment then smiled. "Uh, okay. Well this is gonna sound really stupid but would you happen to have a schedule for Leon Briar High school?"

Ava blinked, and nibbled on her bottom lip. Dazed by his attractive qualities. Suddenly she realized her had said something to her. "Erm... what?" She sputtered coming out of her trance.

Damian laughed. To Ava it reminder her of a girl giggling, it sounded so sweet. His laugh made Ava feel warm inside. It made her cheeks brighten. All Ava could do was smile at him and gawk at his flawless slender cheek bones. She self-consciously tucked another strand of hair behind her ear and stared at the porch.

"Do you have a schedule for Leon Briar High School? I kind of need one, my dad is going to check out the school tonight and he was wondering if you had one. He just wanted to see what the class times were like and stuff like that. Personally I think he just sent me over here to make a new friend," Damian winked and chuckled a deep laugh.

Ava forced a simple smile and nodded, returning back inside as she went to retrieve a time table for Damian. She walked into the kitchen and over to the bulletin board only to find the one that had been there was gone. With a frustrated sigh she spun around to find Damian standing behind her, smiling. Ava jumped; she hadn't expected him to follow her. "Well, it's not here, but I think it is up in my room," When he didn't reply she added: "I'm just going to go look for it."

Damian was still smiling, he simply nodded. As she climbed the stairs she heard his presence behind her. Oh great, he was following her. Now he was going to see inside her room. He'd see all the pictures of Ava and her cousins, all the pictures of her dad and mom, and the few random pictures of her and Madison. He'd also see her embarrassing heap of dirty clothes overflowing out of the closet. Ava's cheeks grew hot as she reached the top of the stairs. She considered slamming the door behind her and cleaning up, but that would juts be even more embarrassing. Damian walked into the room and looked around admiring the photos plastered on the wall. He stood at the wall near her door with his arms folded behind his back, glancing at the memories captured on paper. Ava chewed on her lip as she frantically searched for the paper.

"Who's that?" Damian suddenly inquired pointing to a picture of Ava standing next to Madison outside a cabin. It had been taken last summer, when Ava and Madison had convinced their parents to let them go to an expensive summer camp.

Ava turned away. "Uh, she used to be my 'best friend,' but we had a big fight not to long ago," Ava felt like she was stretching the truth, they hadn't really had a fight. Ava had just yelled at her for everything. Years of anger had started to spill out.

"Is that your dad?"

Ava's heart stopped. She stopped what she was doing. The words hit her straight in the gut. She could feel the painful emotions crawling back up her body. All she could manage to do was nod; the rest of her body was frozen.

Damian's expression suddenly changed when he saw Ava's reaction to his question. "Hey, are you okay? Ava? What's wrong? Was it something I said?"

Ava looked away, her heart started to ache again. She opened her mouth but she couldn't manage to force any words out. She swallowed and rubbed her hands over her face. She sat quickly on the side of her bed and tried to regain her emotions. Damian walked over to her side and rested his hand on her arm, giving her a concerned look. Ava started to shake, trying to keep from coming apart at the seams.

She opened her mouth and this time she was able to squeak out a few words. "My dad... was in an accident..."

Damian's breath caught. Guilt tore at his insides, he hadn't known. Ava's mom hadn't said anything about it when she had came to visit his parents. Damian rubbed Ava's arm, when he realized what he was doing he stopped. "I'm sorry, I didn't know- is he okay?"

Damian then thought of something that made him shudder. Did Ava's dad survive the accident? He looked over at the picture again, it didn't look that old. It could have been recent. His mind flooded with questions; questions that he couldn't answer. They could only be answered by Ava and he already felt horrible enough for brining it up.

Ava looked him in his eyes. He saw the sadness that flourished behind the tears welling. "He's alive, if that's what you mean... He's in a coma..."