Perfectly Mean

Not Today

Ava restlessly twirled a lock of hair around her finger, staring outside at the rainy Thursday morning.  She was restless for several reasons.  Firstly, she hadn't been outside in nearly a week due to the rain, and second, she hadn't heard one word about how Hayden was doing.  Since she wasn't immediate family, she couldn't get any information over the phone, and her mother refused to let her visit him. 

Gail's reasons for doing so made sense—they didn't even know whether he could have visitors or not—but Ava opposed nonetheless. 

The two weeks of Christmas break had started yesterday, but Ava was hardly excited.  She wanted so desperately to know if Hayden was all right. 

Gail worked at the hospital on Thursday, and had promised Ava that she would call with any news she could find.  But the morning went on and on, and she did not call—yet another reason Ava was restless.  She picked up her phone to check for texts, even though the sound was on. 

Bored and desperate, she opened up her email, wondering if her mother might just have possibly sent information that way.  Ava grew slightly excited as she saw three unread messages, but her face fell as she realized that it was just school notifications.

She sighed and clicked her phone off, her gaze returning to the window.  Her stomach growled, reminding her that it was lunchtime.  She stood up off her window seat and made her way downstairs.  The house seemed strangely empty. 

Ava walked into the kitchen, wondering where everyone was.  The kitchen was just as empty, until Jennie walked out from the side room.  The cook sucked in a gasp as she caught sight of Ava standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Miss Ava!  I was just leaving." Jennie did appear to be on her way out.  Her coat was draped over her arm, and her bag was slung over her shoulder.

"Leaving?  Why?" Ava glanced around the empty kitchen, surprised to find all the appliances turned off. 

"It's Thursday.  Everyone has Thursday afternoons off."

Ava let out a soft "oh." The thought crossed her mind to force Jennie to stay and make her lunch, but she decided against it.  She could make herself lunch.  Granted, it wouldn't be fancy, but she wouldn't starve.  "Well, have a nice day."

Jennie smiled and walked out, leaving Ava even more bored than she was to begin with.  She had no one to talk to, nothing interesting to do—she couldn't even ride because of the rain. 

She could invite Madeline over!  They would have the house to themselves and...and Madeline was out of town.  Ava huffed as she remembered.  The day simply couldn't stop getting more boring. 

Nova's barking suddenly erupted from the living room, and Ava walked around the corner just as the doorbell rang.  Curious, she sprinted over to it and peeked out the window.  The mailman stood outside, holding a package and a few letters.  All of it would fit in the mailbox, so it seemed odd that he would bring it to the door. 

Ava opened the front door, pushing Nova away with her foot.  "Hi," she greeted, struggling to keep the dog away.

"Sorry to bother you," the man said as he passed her the items.  "Your mailbox is leaking, so I brought these to the door."

"No problem," Ava replied, trying out a smile.  This being nice to people business wasn't all that bad.

The man nodded and ran back to his vehicle, Nova continuing to bark.

"Oh, be quiet," Ava growled at the dog.  The package was addressed to Gail, so Ava walked it down to her mother's office while she flipped through the other letters.  It was mostly Christmas cards, a few bills...and one from the DMV.