The Awakening

5 - Neighbours

The wind swept Avery's auburn locks around her head in a broken halo. They curtsied to the branches and glowing moon yet irritated their owner. Avery pulled the elastic from her wrist and used it to tie back her hair. It gave one last slap announcing its displeasure before being confined. 

Avery turned her face to the coming moon, watching as it arched through the sky to take its helm. Waitressing typically led to odd hours, Avery never knew if her evening would end at eight pm or three in the morning.   She never took issue because there were more times than not she would be woken in the early numbers as her mother fell out of bed in one of her fits.

It was much easier just to stay up and wait for it. The job meant it also allowed for more flexibility, she barely got any flack if she called in sick for a shift here and there throughout the month. For most of the staff, it was a transitory income, with the turnover being high. Avery was good at her job and she knew it. Years of taking care of her mother had made her quick, she was always running about doing something in the house while preparing for something else in the back of her mind. Customers appreciated that. Avery learned early on that they would rather their food fast than the pleasant chit chat. 

Waitressing also allowed her to stay close to home in case her mother needed her. Proximity had become a factor in choosing her profession, along with the life choices she had made prior to that. She had taken distance education courses in high school that allowed her to study at home and excel orate her to graduation.

Her mom had wanted to go to the ceremony, but truthfully she didn't. As a nineteen-year-old girl, nothing would be more embarrassing than a crazy mother who could barely stand without trembling. So she had made up some excuse and they mailed the diploma in the mail.

She had done the same thing with college. It had led to a rather simple social life, but at least she had Cassie. They had met the first week they moved into the condo. Cassie's father had died a few years earlier and so the girls had bonded over their mutual state.  People always seemed to look at them with pity, and the moment they found out they were fatherless, the conversation always changed and for some reason voices got two octaves higher.

Cassie never seemed to even acknowledge it, and so Avery pushed the anger it caused her down until one day it didn't really bother her much anymore.

Cassie's mom was always there for her. She was the one to teach her to cook when she came over one day after learning about the seizures. The family never treated her any different for what she went through and Georgia Baston even went through the motions of forming a friendship with her mom.   Life had been very lonely before they had entered their lives.

The four of them had each other for the longest time and now with Cassie getting married Avery knew that soon she would be the one walking across the hall with a cup of coffee to keep the older woman company. It was the least she could do after all she had done for her. 

They felt like family often spending the holidays together, sharing Christmas Dinner, Thanksgiving and Easter usually at Cassie's house. Georgia loved to cook and usually more than the four of them could manage so sometimes Cassie's friends would come over as well. There was never anything wrong with them, and they were friendly but for some reason, Avery just didn't connect. She felt just a tad awkward and it was just one of those things.  Maybe it was the fact, she was always on edge in case her mother had another moment.  

With Cassie and Georgia she always felt she didn't  have to hide anything or be embarrassed, from day one she felt completely at ease with them but with anyone else, there was always the stares, embarrassment or pity looks, that always made Avery feel awkward and what made friendship difficult for her.   

Avery rounded the corner making her way to work, the sun had just crested the ridge up ahead and the light the earth basked in cast odd shadows. Avery pulled her spring jacket tight becoming aware of the inappropriate clothing choice considering the weather. 

Avery could not allow herself the comfort of re-thinking her apparel;  it was her first shift of the week and she hoped the short skirt and low cut shirt that showed a little extra skin, would help cover the cost of a new prescription for her mother.

Heading towards the downtown corridor, Avery passed a group of college students returning to their dorms. As she approached Avery could make out the flush of their cheeks and as she judged by the gait in their walk it had nothing to do with the cold. She was forced to side step off the curb to avoid a collision. When one of the guys made a crude remark, Avery pushed out the white noise and buried her head as far into the confines of the fur lined hooded jacket as it would allow. 

Even in riding boots, her feet ached.  The day had started early. as she had arrived at the office early hoping to catch up on some paperwork she had left behind from the day before.  Being Friday she didn't want to think about the added workload on a Monday - it would just ruin her weekend. 

So she had spent most of the day jogging about the office and now she felt it.  Six additional hours on her feet wouldn't help.  The knowledge that her mother had had a good day helped to push her forward.  Avery had come home to dinner on the table and soft music playing throughout the condo.  The aroma of fresh baked homemade cookies -filled their home - peanut butter with peanut butter chip, her absolutely favorite made by her mother as an added treat. 

Together they had sat at the table, eating parma chicken and gossiping about celebrities as if they knew them. It had been the single most simple exchange of her week and it was the best. The vial the drugs seemed to usually hold had lifted and her mother had been completely lucid. She had even remembered small details about their lives and gone an entire conversation without drifting away once.

A movie date had even been arranged and unlike all the times before in this last year, Avery had agreed, pushing the doubt away. 

Warm thoughts pushed the cold of the night out, as she walked along with a slight skip in her pace.   Avery smiled as she paused to reach into her pocket to answer her vibrating phone.  Her expression changed and her complexion grew pale as she heard a voice on the phone.

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