“You’ll have to forgive me, Mace, for not wanting to become friends with a guy who is a total douchebag to me. In addition to the fact that he assaulted someone who he supposedly liked, a lot.”
Macie pulled me from my seat with a force I didn’t think she was capable of.
“Ava!” she yelled once we were away from Logan and Becca. “What is your problem?”
We were up against a wall in a little alcove. She obviously wanted privacy for her next words, which I was sure weren’t going to be nice.
“Why would you say that? Especially with him right there?” she reprimanded.
I was known to be a girl who spoke her mind, and I liked that about myself. But I was never known to be a mean person. And that was a mean thing to do, even to him. However, there were things going on in my head, things no one else knew about, that were at play here.
“I don’t know, Macie. I don’t know why I said it. He’s just under my skin, ya know? He’s pissing me off on purpose, and I don’t know why.”
She shook her head at me like a schoolteacher would.
“Ava.”
Her hand literally went to her hip. Christ, now I had her and Becca acting like sentries in my life.
“I don’t need another mother, Macie. Please, let’s not do this, OK? I’ve already got Becca on my case about Logan, I don’t need you, too.”
“But you’re not seeing that you’re the one who started all of this between the two of you. You could put an end to it, too.”
I was about to respond. Retort. Retaliate.
Then I realized she was right.
But I didn’t care.
“I don’t want to do this here or now. Can we talk at home, later?” My eyes scanned the room, refusing to look her in the eye. I lowered my voice as I said my next words to her. “I think it’s about time I tell you a little something about me and my past.”
The look on her face transformed from schoolmarm to concerned best friend in a millisecond. She reached for my hand and squeezed it before nodding.
“Of course.” Her arms went around my shoulders, and she pulled me in for a hug. “Is everything OK?”
I nodded and she accepted that.
I guess I was doing this. I’d be sharing a part of me from my past that no one other than my mom and sister knew.
But I think it was time.
As we walked back toward our group, I noticed that Lanie, Xander and Ty had arrived. We were a large, robust gathering of people in the center of the union. Everyone laughed, hugged, and talked over one another as they caught up.
“Ava!” Lanie yelled. She ran to my side and pulled me into her arms. “It’s so good to see you. How was your break?”
I liked Lanie a lot. She was most likely the only reason I agreed to the arrangement of Logan living with us. Lanie had a troubled past, a deeply disturbed ex who hurt her badly.Physically, emotionally, mentally. He’d actually been in jail, but they couldn’t keep him in any longer and he was recently released. Xander, her hot boyfriend, insisted she move in with him. That left an open room in our house. Enter Logan, who needed a place to live.
Win-win in everyone’s mind.
Everyone’s except mine. If I’d spoken up about my concerns of living with him, I’d be the reason he couldn’t return to school.
“It was good,” I told her. “How was yours?”
“It was OK. Xander spent most of it trying to figure out where Max might be, and plan accordingly if he decided to show up at his house. He’s a little obsessed at the moment.”
Her distress came through as she threw herself into one of the chairs.
Hearing that made me feel guilty. I hated that her life was filled with this unnecessary drama. She wasn’t even twenty years old yet and had to be constantly looking over her shoulder for an abusive ex.
