Simply a Greaser

Chapter 52

I was wrong. I would so rather sit with some asshole adults than with little shit kids my age or younger. 

God, at least adults had some taste and tact when insulting you. People your age and younger just really went for the jugular. 

Dallas and I sat at the table for the better side of twenty minutes, both of us stone-faced while a seven-year-old tore into us. Her older sister was, at first, helping the little shit with her takedown of Dal and me, but she was old enough so I could vaguely threaten her and not feel guilty. The older sister shut her trap once I told her about a girl I had beat the hell out of for talking to me almost exactly the same way she had been. That left the seven-year-old to do her worst.

 We had put our elbows on the table. That was it- nothing that would ever hurt anyone. And this little bitch, with more makeup caked on her damn face than dirt on the earth, just let us fucking have it. 

None of the other kids came to our defense. I wasn't sure if they were afraid of the kid's wrath, or just didn't care enough about us to help. Most continued on with their conversations, others watched. 

She finally shut up when more members of this damn family walked in. I could've sworn that they made up at least half of the population of the whole state of New York. 

A boy, looking to be about my age, sat next to me at the last available seat. His parents wandered on over to the adult's table. 

He glanced at me like he was trying to figure out who I was. Which I was sure he was. 

He had light blue eyes and light blonde hair. He was short, skinny as a rail, and had a huge frown etched onto his face.

The table quieted when he sat down, but most of the kids kept talking. I noticed that no one said hi to him which was odd considering that when any other kid had sat down, they had all greeted each other. 

The seven-year-old finally shut the hell up. 

I looked at Dallas and saw the same pain that was surely written across my face. 

"I want to go," he said, not even bothering with whispering.  

I nodded, but I knew we couldn't just split. We had to stay to make mom happy, and we'd probably see them at the wedding anyway. I still wanted to try and make at least a friend. 

But I didn't know how to talk to rich people. I mean, I knew it probably wasn't all too different from how greasers talked, but there was still that little bit of anxiety nibbling away at the back of my mind that it was. 

I sucked in a deep breath, turned to the boy next to me- the one that was late- and said, "Hi, I'm Ava Winston." 

He looked at me and I could feel that he was debating responding or ignoring me. 

After a few moments, just as I was about to turn back to Dally, he said, "Art Bach. You're Carol's kid, right?" 

I nodded, now unsure why I talked to him at all. I didn't know how to talk to new people, much less continue a conversation. 

Luckily for me, Art smiled and said, "I'm sorry." 

"For what?" 

"My family," he explained, shrugging. "Most of them... won't treat you or your brother well." 

"Trust me," I said, "I know you can't help what your family does. " 

After that, we fell into casual conversation, Dallas eventually joining in. 

I was happy that I would have at least one person to talk to at the wedding, in case I got too annoyed with Dallas. 

After dinner, Art invited Dal and I, along with a few other of our new relatives, to go hang out with. He said we would probably have a few drinks and just mess around for a while. 

He had a nice car that Dal, another girl and I piled into. The other kids all had their own cars to follow Art in. 

We pulled up to a nice house- not as nice as James' dad's mansion- and got out of the car. 

"This is Dave's house," he explained. "He's a friend from school whose parents happen to be out of town." 

We went inside and were greeted with an already wobbling Dave, who had a bottle of half-drank champagne in one hand. 

In all, there were about ten of us. They all seemed pretty cool, especially for socs. 

After a few beers, they decided it might be fun to play 7 minutes in heaven, which I chose to sit out of.  Dallas ended up taking the girl upstairs after their turn. 

I went back to the mansion after that, barely even buzzed. It just didn't really feel right without the gang there. It was maybe eleven when I got back, having hitched a ride from a girl named Sunny. Her name was a good match for her personality. 

When I walked in, I could hear quiet talking, the sound traveling because of the echo of the house. It sounded like mom and James. 

I wasn't interested until I heard my name. 

I could guess where they were- his bedroom, which Carter had shown Dal and me. 

I crept up the stairs, sure to be as quiet as possible. 

Their bedroom door was shut, so I pressed my ear against the wood. 

"-think she'll be happy." It was mom, her voice tense. 

James spoke, his voice in return comforting, but stern. "What did Dallas say earlier? You didn't get the chance to tell me." 

Mom sighed heavily, and I could imagine her running her hands through her hair, something she did when stressed. "He- he didn't say much, but... I can't blame him. I've- I let- I let bad things happen to them. I should've never made them leave, James. Never." 

"You were in a terrible place, Carol. They know you're sorry. You're reaching out to them now. That's all you can do." 

"Dallas said-" mom paused as if she were collecting her thoughts- "not said. Implied heavily, that their father was abusive." 

I blinked, wondering why Dallas would ever say anything to mom. I sure all hell didn't want her to know. It wasn't her business at all. 

"It's too late to un-invite him," James said softly. "He's already in the city, after all." 

I stepped back, not wanting to hear anything else. He couldn't be here. He couldn't be coming to the wedding.

I was shaking as I took another step back, stumbling loudly. 

I didn't care if they heard me. I took another step back, then turned around just as the door opened. 

"Ava?" James asked, stopping me in my tracks. "What did you hear?" 

Y'all... I know I promised this last night but it really just didn't happen. I am really, really sorry and don't have an excuse besides my own procrastination... so please just don't be too mad, I promise I'll have the next chapter ON TIME Sunday.