Avilyna
LATE AGAIN
I’m late.Again.
Nothing surprising there, I'm always late. We’ve been in this town for a year and a half now. With my dad’s job, that’s pretty decent since he’s always on the move. As a trucker, he’s either on the road for long periods of time or at home for shorter ones. Thankfully, I’m independent and responsible. I’m not bragging; it’s just a fact, it comes from raising yourself.
And it’s a good thing I am, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to keep that stupid job. Which I wouldn’t be mad about, but I know Dad would be miserable if he had to stay put. A free spirit, they call it, and for that reason alone, I keep my mouth shut.
What’s the point anyway?
It wouldn’t change a thing.
It used to bother me to always be the new girl, to never be somewhere long enough to have friends to invite to my birthday. I don’t know where I would be without my aunt Ruby; she’s always looked out for me. But as the destinations took us farther from her town, it got harder for her to keep up.
I don’t blame her; travelling is brutal when you’re paralyzed from the waist down. She told me that herself, the summer I begged her to come to the cottage.
But she texts me every week to check in, and I do the same. Ruby’s technically the mom I never had. She taught me everything my dad couldn’t, or was way too clumsy to even try. I’ll never forget his one disastrous attempt at “the talk.” I was thirteen, and he stood outside the bathroom holding a box of pads as it might bite him.
“Alright, kiddo,” he said, “time to talk about… the monthly thing. The... uh, shark week?”
I just stared at him, completely mortified.
“Dad,please.”
“What? I am just saying, it’s like the ocean, you’re gonna want to make sure you’ve got your lifeguard on duty.”
I almost died of embarrassment, as he chuckled at his own joke. Ruby had to step in. I could’ve stayed with her, but that would’ve meant seeing my dad even less. I already don’t know my mom; I didn’t want my dad to become a stranger, too.
I finally reach my locker as the bell rings. Letting my school bag fall from my shoulder to the ground, I attempt to unlock it. Frustrated, it's already my third attempt, and with a grunt, I slam my hand into the metal.
“For fuck’s sake, are you kidding me!”
Bending down, I look into my bag for my phone. A deep chuckle interrupts me, spinning my head around. Victor Allen is standing right next to me.
With his football jacket making him look a bit broader than what I know he actually is, and his curly, light brown hair… Damn, he's hot.
“Well, I see that you still have trouble with your locker. Need some help?” He says with a smile dancing on his lips.
“Yes, please, I can’t deal with it any longer!” Moving out of the way, I display the combination on my phone. He barely needs ten seconds to open it.
“What the fuck, I’ve literally been trying for ten minutes.”
“I noticed. I should give you my phone number, in case you're having trouble again,” he says with a wink.
Smooth.
He clearly knows what he’s doing, unlike me, who lost my virginity drunk at some lame party my aunt insisted I go to, with a guy who lasted five minutes. Total letdown, but hey, it’s part of the whole ‘living the life’, right?
“Sure,” I say, handing him my phone. “Hopefully I don’t get detention for being late…” I sigh, knowing very well that Miss Lavoie isn’t impressed with my last year’s attendance records.
“Hold up, we’re both starting in French. I’ll add your name to my note; it's no big deal.” He grabs a pen from my locker and starts writing, “ A-V-I-L …”
I can tell that he’s struggling, which doesn’t surprise me; my name is a mouthful and certainly unique. But my mom chose it for its meaning.
Which is ridiculous to me.
Stubborn, okay. Honest, absolutely, even kind, I would have agreed with, butstrong?
