Avery's Friend

3

Avery tried to focus on her notes from class, but found the burn mark on her arm was too distracting. There was a knock on her bedroom door, and she quickly pulled her sleeve down before saying "come in" her father opens the door walking in with a small plate of cookies, "comfort food" he chuckles placing it on her desk and taking a seat on her bed. "Want to talk about what happened today?" he asks softly trying to prompt an explanation from his daughter, Avery shakes her head no bringing her knees to her chest curling herself into a ball. "Maybe at dinner then" he sighs softly, patting her knee and leaving her room closing the door behind him.

Avery doesn't want to lie or disappoint her father but right now her mind was in a knot and she didn't know how to unravel it. Staring back at the mark on her arm a shaky breath escapes her lips, what exactly did he mean by "Now you belong to me" those words went round and round in her mind. Maybe she has to do his homework, or she must carry his things in between classes. Avery didn't dare venture towards the seemingly irrational ideas, but the numerous rumours didn't help ease her state of mind.

She must have sat there for hours thinking, when her father's voice snapped her out of her daze "Avery, dinners ready come and eat" he said from down the stairs, she took a deep breath and walked down knowing full well she'd have to explain at some point during the meal. She took a seat across from her father, seeing her favourite food dishes out on her plate she felt even more guilty about what she was about to say next.

"I started smoking because schools been stressing me out lately with having to keep up my grades and smoking seemed to help calm my nerves," she said it fast and quietly hoping he wouldn't be able to tell through her lie and just think it's guilt from her wrong actions. Avery waited for her fathers face to change from concerned to angry, but it never did awkwardly she picked at her food as he sat silently watching her, making Avery feel uncomfortable. She heard him sigh before clearing his throat indicating he wanted her to look at him, "you know how I feel about smoking, I don't need to tell you that again do I?" He gives her a pointed look to which she nods her head.

"I'm just concerned about you, more than anything else in this entire world, as long as you are healthy and happy" he gives her a soft smile tears coming to his eyes. "And to only just find out how much school has been affecting you makes me feel like I've failed as a parent, as your father we're close I should've seen it" he mutters on about not being able to see the signs, to which the ball of guilt in Avery's stomach begins to grow so big, she almost confesses.

Almost, but she doesn't, she lets her father take the blame and the guilt, knowing full well it's hurting him. Her heart wanting to know why her brain deciding protecting that boy over her father was a good idea, with the reasoning that said boy has enough money to make her fathers life worse. He embraces her in a hug, mumbling his sorry as tears flow down from both their faces. They're interrupted by a loud cough, which is revealed to be Avery's exhausted mother as her father rushes to her mother she watches on as if she's a stranger to them, unsure of how to act. "Avery dear, can you serve your mother a plate of food," her father asks softly and she nods her head quickly serving a plate and putting it in front of her mother. Avery goes to excuse herself before her mother says something that depresses the atmosphere even more.

"I lost my job" those words send her father into a silent look of grief, it was if today couldn't get any worse. Avery's mother was a neurosurgeon, one of the reasons why she's hardly home and why her father is able to stay at home. Avery excuses herself from the table, she told her parents that she was going to study and left them to discuss financial matters. Probably not the best time to tell her mother and father that she was taken off the scholarship list, she numbly walked back to her room and flops onto her bed. Her eyes immediately drawn towards the glow in the dark star-shaped stickers scattered amongst the ceiling, the memory of her seven-year-old self and her mother dancing around the room while putting them up comes to mind.

Avery begins to wonder when her relationship with her mother became so distant and stranger like, it's when she remembered her mother beginning to spend less and less time with her, the even hours between work and family slowly became less balanced and tipped the even scale to a point where she hardly ever saw her at all and it was rare that her mother would come home when she was still awake. Maybe, she thought to herself that this was a blessing in disguise from God and that maybe this was his way of bringing them closer as a family. Avery nodded to herself in satisfaction at this idea of hers before she remembered that she didn't believe in a God and that she was an Atheist. She never really believed in a God or a Devil, nothing her parents tried to change anyways. Her father believed in everything being possible and her mother, she believed in science and facts. Two people on the complete opposite sides of the scale, she thought that she'd soon ask how they met later on. But for now Avery needed to study, something to keep her mind off the weird turn of events from today.

She looked back at the burn mark on her arm and thought oddly that it looked like some kind of ancient symbol.

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So what did you think of chapter 3 did you enjoy it?

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Until next time

-Renée