Upside Down

Twenty Nine

I stand in the bathroom mirror and examine my outfit. Is this good enough for a first date?

I'm not even sure. But I think it looks nice so that's what I'm going with for tonight.

Kara has been in and out of our bedroom, curious about my date tonight. As soon as I told her, she started jumping up and down. She hasn't shut up about how excited she is for me. It's cute. Her and summer whisper about my 'Prince Charming' as they call him. They think I can't hear them. But I can. I can hear every word.

Logan walks past the bedroom with his new bride. He quickly retracts as she continues down the hall to his bedroom. "What are you all dressed up for?" He asks, leaning in the doorway.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have a date tonight." I say without looking at him. I want him to know that I am completely done with him and his crazy behavior. I've moved on with my life and I'm not afraid to show it.

"Wow, you moved on fast." He laughs.

"Says the person who slept with Leigh the day he thought he killed me."

"Touché." He nods, admitting that I won this little argument. "What's his name?" He leans forward in the doorway as I continue fixing my hair.

"Tyler."

I glance over and see Logan nodding. "And how do you know him?"

"I met him in an alleyway at midnight while buying drugs from my dealer who just got out of jail." I scoff. "It's none of your business so stop with all of the questions. You're not my father."

"I know I'm not. I'm just concerned about you." He seems sincere. I wish I could say that I cared how he is worried about me. I don't.

"Maybe you should have been concerned two weeks ago when you skipped town after letting me seize on my bedroom floor." I suggest. It is a little late for him to be worrying about me now.

Logan nods and wipes his mouth before standing up straight. "I'm sorry that things turned out this way Avery. But I'm with Leigh now. And I think I'm happy. Really, really happy."

The doorbell rings.

"I don't need you to try to fix things between us Logan. There's nothing left to fix. Had you shown up at the hospital that day instead of screwing some other girl, there would have been nothing to repair and it would be us going on a date right now." I push past him in the doorway and hop down a few steps before firing back to look at him sulking. "And for the record, I don't give a shit who you are with now and you don't get to give a shit about who I'm with either. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." He says before disappearing into his bedroom with Leigh.

I go down the remaining steps and open the front door so that Tyler does not have to wait any longer. I immediately see him standing on the front porch with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. "You look fantastic. Wow." He covers his mouth. "Astonishing." He smiles and hands me the flowers. "These are for you."

"Thank you. They are gorgeous, Tyler." I grab them and examine them closely. "Let me just go put these in a vase really quickly. Come inside for a minute. Please. Oh, and don't be startled by all of the kids who will start to appear any minute now. They haven't quite figured out yet that staring is rude." I warn him as I hear Kara running down the hall upstairs. She sounds like a pack of elephants up there.

I put the flowers in a vase and set them on the counter.

Hillary sees them and winks at me. I smile at her in return before returning back to the hallway to see Tyler. "Hey. You ready to go?" I ask, noticing that all eyes are on us.

"You bet I am!"

I make eye contact with Leigh and Logan on the stairs. Logan can't help but stare Tyler down. "Let's go then."

I quickly usher him out the door and shut it behind us to shield us from their furious eyes inside. He runs around the car and opens the passenger side door for me.

Authors note: thoughts?

What do you think Avery and Tyler will do for their date?