Chapter One
Avery Quinn Friday, 7:34 am
“We’re going to have the best time ever!” Jackie exclaims. She’s very excited, and I guess I am too. Who am I kidding, all three of us are!
“Hell yea we are!” Marilynn yells over all of the other bus riders. They look at her with disgusted faces. Mari looks around with a face that says ‘Sorry, but not sorry’.
“Front row,” I sigh, happily. “Can you believe it?”
Jackie shakes her head 100 miles an hour and then says, “No, but I have a surprise!”
I gasp. “What’s the freaking surprise, Jack?”
She pouts, but then regains her posture. “I have to wait, sorry.”
“Why do you have to wait?” Mari asks frantically. “I’m not going to be able to pay attention in class now and I’ll get low grades. This will not be good; why can’t you tell us?”
Yea, Marilynn is a bit of a blabbermouth. When she talks it’s either a lot or really fast. It’s her personality; got to love her for it though, right?
“It’s just something that I have to wait for. I don’t even know for sure if we’ll get them. My Mom will figure out by at least three o’clock, kay?” Jackie tells us. She seems nervous, but I have no idea what she’s talking about.
“Okay, I suppose I can wait,” Mari sighs. I nod, agreeing with Marilynn.
Oh, and if you’re probably wondering, WE’RE GOING TO A ONE DIRECTION CONCERT! Woo-hoo! There’s more; we have front row! I’m so excited for it because it’s only in a week. Seven days until I get to see my idols right in front of my eyes.
12:13 pm
I wander around my classroom searching for my orange mechanical pencil. Ew, I think to myself, these floors are so gross! I crouch down to look under the bookshelf when a large hand smacks the back of my head.
“What the heck,” I groan, standing up straight and looking at the suspect who injured me.
“Looking for this, babe?” he smirks. Great, just what I want to deal with right now.
“What do you want, Blake?” I sigh. I don’t want to talk to him. Blake has bullied me ever since he found out I’m into One Direction. Actually, back in grade school we were pretty good friends. Then he turned on me and I have no idea what I did to him. What does he have against One Direction? That’s what I’d like to know.
He cackles ever so loudly. “I just want to have fun! What’s so wrong with that?”
“Lunch is in one minute and I want to eat today,” I respond. I’m not going to play his little game. He’s not worth my energy.
“Do you really want to go to lunch?” he smirks. “Don’t you want to catch up with me? I have a message from the dudes you love so much.”
I swear my eyes popped out from my head and he noticed too because his smirk only grew.
“W-what are you t-talking about?” I stutter. Of course I stutter. He knows One Direction is my weakness, my only weakness at that.
He chuckles a little under his breath. “You know, that one gay boy band that you seem to love so much.”
I give him a puzzled look. “Um, I’m sorry but I don’t really like The Wanted.”
Blake’s face goes to immediate shock but it leaves just as quickly as it came.
I slightly smile and take my pencil back. He just watches me as I walk back to my desk to gather my bag and supplies. Once the bell rings, signaling lunch, I walk out the door to meet my friends at my locker.
12:29 pm
“Avery, why are you holding the back of your head?” Marilynn questions, tilting her head to the side a little bit. Crap, I didn’t even notice! What do I say? Think, Avery, think!
“Because, I um… slipped,” it came out more like a question. I am such a bad liar. Curse you, Mom and… whoever my Dad is.
Jackie eyes me weirdly, but she just nods. She knows I’m lying and she’s going to ask me about it later.
“Oh, okay,” Mari shrugs. Yes, thank the Lord!
We continue to eat our lunch in silence until Marilynn brings up the One Direction concert again. I could tell Jackie got a little overly excited, but who wouldn’t? It’s One Direction for crying out loud! Every time Mari or Jackie asked me a question or just kept trying to invite me into the conversation, I just nodded or shrugged. I’m not in a talking mood right now. That’s a big surprise because it has to deal with my boys! It’s probably because Blake and his stupid abnormally large hands.
Okay, so I’m going to talk about my Dad, but it’s not going to be that detailed because I don’t really know that much about him. I guess he wasn’t the man I thought he was. He left when I was eleven, he left with no warning, no note, no call, no text, nothing.
I remember when I was eight and in Girl Scouts. Dad used to walk around our neighborhood with me and sell cookies. Every time we came up to a house, Dad would wait at the end of the sidewalk and watch me ring the doorbell and talk to the people that would answer. After I sold a pack or few, I would skip back to Dad and he’d hold my hand as we walk to the next house. At the end of the day, when we were all done selling, he’d buy a package of cookies for us to eat. We’d always get the mint kind and sit on the curb, eating our cookies and counting however many cars drive by. One time thirty-two cars drove by just in the time we sat there, then that’s how many more minutes we had of Daddy-daughter time. •
