Dear Ava

Chapter 17

Leaving Liam's apartment Ava exited the building in a haze. Mason's death seemed to have affected Liam the worst. She had never seen him so broken down. Mason had always known how to handle Liam but this was not what Ava was used to.

'Why did someone do that to Mason? Who had been wronged by him?' Ava thought as she sat down on the sidewalk. A lone tear escaped her eye as she thought about Liam in hysterics, how a few days ago, she had broken down, how Noah had apologized, how Oliver was acting so distant. Why was Oliver behaving so distantly, why was he blatantly lying to them? What was going on with him?

'The key clue, could it also mean, could it also mean that it was Oliver?' Ava's thoughts shifted back to being suspicious. 'But, why would Oliver, why would anyone do that?'

She was now slowly shifting from mourning to anger. She got up from the sidewalk.

'Still not the time for mourning, Ava' she warned herself. She headed a very known way. 'I've got to check with Oliver.'

Oliver was once again many minutes late to answer the door. He stood in the doorway looking disheveled and distraught. Seeing him like this, Ava's resolve almost broke, the keyword here being almost.

"Ava?" came his soft whisper once he had opened the door that brought Ava back from her trance.

"Oliver," she said and went inside the apartment, "Why?" she couldn't hold her question in.

"What, Why?" Oliver for the first time looked confused. To Ava, it looked like he was just starting to recover from all the mess but could she trust this conviction?

"Why did you do it?" her voice was still a whisper. Did she fully believe Oliver was guilty of all that?

Her thoughts came to an end once again with a 'What?' from Oliver.

"Oliver, why did you lie about the party?"

"What party?" He looked extremely confused.

"You told Mason that you went to Chloe's party but you weren't there."

"Who's Mason?" and then realization flashed on Oliver's face. "How do you know Mason?"

"That is not the question here!" Ava was getting frustrated with the lack of information he was providing and the question he was asking her. She was here to confront him, not vice versa.

"Oliver, I asked you something, why did you lie?" she stated once again with a resolve.

"I.... " he hesitated, looking at Ava as if he was in pain. "I didn't lie," the words came tumbling out of his mouth.

"Confess up, Oliver," Ava was on the verge of tears. Why was he not telling the truth? "You are making me believe- more and more- that you killed him, Oliver, you did it!"

A minute passed with no reaction.

And another.

Then, one more.

"What? What are you....." Oliver's words were cut down.

"Stop, Stop feigning innocence, Oliver. Just stop. You lie, you fit into our theories, you go all silent on me, you never respond to any texts, you don't meet and most of all YOU LIE."

"I don't think you are ok..."

"NO, You Lied Oliver, Why did you lie? Do you have any justification for what you did?" Ava was furious.

"Are you implying I killed Mason? Are you saying that Mason was killed? Goddammit, Ava, he committed suicide, he left us, he left us all alone. And you come here saying he was killed? That I killed him? Are you kidding me!!?" Oliver asked in shock as if he had just heard the sentence. At the end of his outburst, he looked extremely panicked and scared. A tear slipped out of his eye which he quickly dried with the back of his hand.

He was hysterical like Ava had never seen him before, it shocked her, "Confess up you, you....."

"Are you?" Oliver almost warned.

"Yes.." the word had not left her mouth when she heard, "Get Out."

"What? Oliver, you are an....."

"Get the heck out of my house, right at this moment or I'll have to throw you out. Do you understand?"

"Go to Hell, you..."

Her swear words were eaten up by the loud bang of the door and she found herself outside, once again.