Change (Published under The Change For Her)

Forty-Five

"Hi Ava," I sat down across from her in the library. My literature class got canceled today so I decided to come here because I knew this was where Ava came to study and classwork until her next period instead of going back to the dorms. "I have a question for you?"

"What's up?" She looks up from her notes waiting for what I had to ask her. Even though from the outside Ava looks like she doesn't care about her grades and likes to skip but that's not true. Yeah, she does skip sometimes but Ava is one hundred percent focused on graduating College because she wants to be the first in her family to have a college degree. What's she trying to be? A math teacher. I know, that's comical. Trust me, I laughed when she told me.

"Do you know anyone named Drew?" I pull out my small bag of Fritos and start munching on them.

"Yeah, why?' She raises a brow at me.

"Don't tell Maria but last night while you were gone, she was taking a shower and I saw something lighting up on your bed so I went to check it out. It turned out to just be Maria's phone and a guy named Drew texted her," I explained to her.

"Oh, yeah Drew was at the Halloween party. Maria and him hit off, I guess they exchanged numbers before I dragged her away to hunt you down," She tells me before writing something in her notebook. "What did the text say? OMG! We're they sexting?"

I burst out laughing causing everyone to glare and shushing me. "Ava!" I try to calm myself.

"What? I'm just curious." She softly laughs. "But for real, what did it say?"

"Nothing really juicy, just that he wouldn't let anything harm her if she transfers here," I shrug my shoulders.

"That's so sweet, I didn't think Drew was such a softy." She smirks while highlighting what she just wrote down. "I didn't know Maria was thinking about coming here."

"Yeah, I didn't know until last night when she told me," I told her. "She seemed off."

"What do you mean?" Ava looks up at me with concern on her face.

"She's hiding something and I have a gut feeling something horrible happen."

"Did she say something?"

"No," I answer. "Maria was texting happily on her phone but as soon as I asked when she was going back, that smile vanished. She told me that she wanted to transfer here rather than going back. After that, she vanished to take a shower. That's when her phone lit up. Drew did say one thing that confirmed something happened."

"What did he say?"

"Drew actually texted her that he's so sorry that happened to her and he promises when she comes here that he won't let anything like that happen to her again."

Ava leans back in her seat, nibbles one her pen. "Why would she tell Drew but not us?"

I fiddle with my bag of chips, "That's what I want to know," I say softly. Maria has been my friend for ages, why would she open up to someone she just met and not her long-term best friend?

******

    Sitting in Starbucks repeatedly clicking backspace on my laptop while taking a drink of my pink drink. I can't focus on what I want to write because my mind keeps going back to Maria. "Focus," I whisper to myself, beginning to type away on my keyboard. I groan and shut my laptop, run my hands over my face in frustration.

"Seems like someone having a rough day," A familiar voice that I grew to love appears. I remove my hands to see him place his drink down and pull a chair to sit beside me. "What's bugging you?" He looks at me with concern in his eyes.

I rest my elbows on the table to lay my head on my hands, "It's nothing serious, just girl stuff," I say softly to him.

He runs his hand gently up and down my back causing me to slowly relax, "Babe, if it's stressing you out then it's obviously something. Talk to me."

I look over towards him, just so I can stare into his blue ocean eyes that are currently softly dull. Liam's eyes are magical, after the locked door behind them open, they now change to match how he feels. They're no longer a mystery. "It's Maria."

"What about her? Is she okay or did you two get in a fight?" He stirs his drink before taking a sip as he waits for me to explain.

I sit up in my chair to shift my body to face him, Liam lifts my legs to place them on his lap. "We didn't get in a fight but I don't know if she's okay," Liam raises his eyebrow as a way of saying 'How do you not know?' and begins running his hand along my leg just like the way he did on my back. "Something happened to Maria at her school that makes her want to transfer here. The only reason I know this is because I saw a text on her phone from some guy named Drew, reassuring her that he won't let what happened to her happen here when she transfers." I pick up my drink to take a sip before continuing my rant. "And it bugs me because she told some random guy she just met what happened but not her long term best friend."

Liam grabs one of the legs of my chair and pulls me closer to him. He drapes his arm over my shoulder causing me to lay my head on him. "Have you tried talking to her instead of hiding out here?" He asks me softly before kissing my temple. I shake my head no the best I could. "Maybe you should."

"Maria would probably be pissed if she knew I read her text message."

"Then leave that part out and try asking her why she wants to come here."

I raised my head and started fiddling with my sweater. "I already tried that, she just ignored it and left the room."

"You have to talk to her, Love. It'll just keep bugging you if you keep it in."

I couldn't help but to laugh softly, "When did you become so wise," I poke him.

He shakes his head as he chuckles and pulls my closed laptop towards him to open it. "What were you working on before I showed up?" He changes the topic.

I shrug my shoulders, "I was rewriting a writing assignment for one of my classes."

"Can I read it?" He looks over at me.

I pull my laptop towards me just to shut it again. "Yes, when it's finished."

"Come on, just a peak."

"No Liam," I push my chair away from the table and get up. "Now,  get up because you're taking me back to my dorm," I smile sheepishly as I put my things back into my bag.

~~~~~~~~

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