The Year of Avery

Chapter Eight: The Best of a Bad Situation

There was a little bit of pride that made its way into my walk the following week at school. I felt taller. Treating Isaac like just another person instead of the massive-four-year-crush that he was to me was a good look for me, and I knew it.

Taking advice from Mr. Harding and from Connor, I chose to treat Isaac as I would treat any other person that I didn't have a crush on and I chose to ignore his advances, until, finally, they slowed down and then stopped altogether.

That, however, didn't change the fact that I still had a very big crush on Isaac. But, I was determined to get past it. I needed to overcome it, and I needed to start liking someone else.

The second of the two tasks was rendered much more easily than the other two, especially because I was now working alongside Mr. Harding. Sure, it wasn't an ideal crush, but it was slightly better than Isaac. Not because I had more of a chance with Mr. Harding, because I didn't, but because he wasn't Isaac. He was someone else.

Someone with a career, with a plan, with perfect tousled hair... If anything, he was a new standard. I didn't want to settle for less than the best anymore. Isaac didn't have a plan. He didn't know what he was going to do with his life. While, yes, we were only seventeen and the future was rocky and unclear, I wanted someone who had a vague idea of what they wanted to do, how they wanted to get there, and why they wanted to do it.

Still, it made class sessions a bit uncomfortable for me, which made me even more nervous about our Thursday meeting. When Thursday rolled around, I wasn't at all ready to meet with Mr. Harding, even though, right after class, he asked me if I was okay to work with him after school. Although I very well could've lied and said that I was busy, I didn't because I was a horrible liar... which made me even more nervous about meeting up with him.

After wishing Angelina a good rest of the day, she narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, and I ran off awkwardly to meet with Mr. Harding. When I got to the classroom, I saw that Mr. Harding had set down a chair by his swivel chair behind his desk for me. As soon as I sat down, however, he jumped up.

"I don't want to work today," he said, pushing himself out of his chair and grabbing his coat.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion because he did ask me if I was ready to work today. I could've just gone home and avoided this whole thing. When he saw my face, he leaned forward on his desk, leaning into me. I felt my heart in my throat.

"Let's go on an adventure."

"I have to be home in an hour," I muttered quietly, looking at the clock on the wall. I actually didn't because my parents wouldn't be home for another three hours, but I was worried about Mr. Harding's definition of an hour. But I was also intrigued, so, with a little more confidence and a lot of courage, I sat up a little straighter and said, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, unfortunately, for L.A. inhabitants, unlike L.A. tourists, there isn't much to do. The closest thing is Universal, and I can't take my student there, so, I guess the second best thing is to get some supplies from across campus."

"Don't we have to do the lesson plan thingy?"

"I was able to get that done last night...," Mr. Harding said, his voice a little less enthusiastic than before. Something was bothering him, and I wanted to know what it was, but I didn't want to push and make things awkward, so I didn't ask.

"Oh, okay, cool. What do we need?" I asked him. His face lit up and he motioned for me to follow him.

It had already been half an hour since school had ended, so the campus was pretty much empty, except for athletes and a couple of skateboarders, the latter of whom ran off when they saw Mr. Harding. I followed him across campus, past a couple of buildings, through the quad, and into the main building, with its tacky, bright, blue colored walls.