Discovering Me *Discontinued*

Chapter 2

The next morning, when Ava's alarm went off she leaped out of her bed, full of energy. Last night Ava and her dad had stayed up practically all night discussing her move to Maine, and his concerns with her moving so far away. In the end, they decided that if Ava could successfully go a day without breaking down, including going to that friend's dinner party with her parents, then she would be able to move with her father's blessing.

"Good morning Meredith," Ava exclaimed with a smile at her step-mother, who jumped in surprise, almost spilling her plate of French toast everywhere.

"Good morning sweetie," Meredith said with a smile as Ava rushed over to make sure none of the toast had fallen off of the plate, "You seem to be in a rather good mood this morning."

"I️'m sure Dad told you about my plan to move to Maine, probably this morning due to how late we stayed up last night talking about it, and it's given me a lot of hope that my future will get better," Ava rambled, helping Meredith set the table for breakfast.

"He did. I'll admit, I'm nervous about you moving so far up north, but like Johnathan said, it is your decision and we'll support you either way," Meredith said softly, patting Ava on the shoulder before heading towards the fridge.

"What would you like to drink," Meredith asked as she grabbed a tea for herself and a coke for her husband.

"Water please," Ava said with a smile as she pulled herself up on top of the kitchen counter, letting her legs dangle off the edge, "Wait, no. Milk!"

Meredith laughed as she poured Ava a glass of milk, "I really don't understand your obsession with milk. Not even chocolate or strawberry milk, just normal, plain milk." Ava just grinned as she leaned back, using her arms to prop herself up and laughed.

"It's good to hear you laugh again," her father's voice caused Ava to look over her shoulder and give her dad a beaming smile.

"It's nice to be able to laugh again," Ava replied, getting solemn for a second before shaking her head, and forcing her beaming smile to return. There was a moment of silence before Johnathan chuckled, sitting down at the head of the wooden table that sat in the middle of their dining room.

Ava hopped off of the counter and followed her Dad into the dining room, admiring its homey, yet extravagant feel. Ava's family had never really struggled for money since her Dad was the CEO of Kids With Toys, a very successful company in Mississippi, and her father's wealth was shown almost constantly throughout their small house.

"How's work Dad," Ava asked as Meredith placed a cup of milk in front of her before disappearing into the kitchen once more, most likely to grab the last plate of food, which would complete the breakfast spread of french toast, sausage, eggs, and biscuits. Ava's mouth began to water as she thought about all of the food she was about to consume.

"Stressful as per usual. I'm going to have to fire one of my most loyal general managers because the camera's caught him stealing well over a hundred dollars out of the registers. I don't even know why he would do it either, especially since he gets paid by the hour and is there almost constantly," Johnathan replied with concern, running his hands through his brown hair, which was just starting to grey.

"Maybe he's just going through a really rough time," Meredith suggested as she walking into the room with a plate full of sausage in her hands. Ava watched with anticipation as Meredith set the plate down on the table before sitting down in her own seat, which was to the right of her Dad. Meredith, noticing Ava's stare, smiled and gave her a dead, letting Ava know it was okay to eat. Without any hesitation, Ava piled her plate full of food, suddenly famished since she hadn't eaten a full meal in days.