I get to my house, still piggy-backing Vanessa.
As I walk in, covered in mud, my mother looks shocked. “Oh my
god, Ava… Vanessa… What happened to you guys?”
I put Vanessa down and she looks at me innocently then stares down
towards her feet. I couldn’t tell my mom the truth; that
Vanessa tried to kill herself again. “Oh… um…
Vanessa and I were taking a walk through the woods when it started
to pour and we slipped in the mud. Then Vanessa rolled her ankle
and it hurt for her to walk so I carried her.” I turn towards
Vanessa, “Does your foot feel better?” I ask with a
wink and smile. “Yeah, thanks for carrying me.”
“Oh mom, can I ask you something privately?” I ask.
“Yeah, but let’s step outside I don’t want you
getting everything muddy. Vanessa, if you would like you can go to
the bathroom and take a shower, just borrow some of Ava’s
clothes.”
“Okay, thank you.” Vanessa replies quietly. My mom and
I walk outside to talk and Vanessa departs to the bathroom.
“Mom, since Vanessa’s mom died she has no place to
sleep. The bank owns the house now and has to sell it or auction it
or something and so Vanessa will have to go to a foster home in who
knows where with who knows who. Can we volunteer to be that foster
home? Then, she can live in our guest room?”
“I don’t know sweetheart…”
“Please mom, it’s Vanessa, she cant just live with some
strangers…!”
“Fine. Vanessa can live with us, but you’ll have to get
cleaned up then you and Vanessa will have to go gather the things
she wants.”
“Okay, that’s fine! Thank you so much, mom!”
“Mhm.”
I run back inside and wait for Vanessa to get out of the bathroom.
She comes out in her towel. “What can I wear?” she asks
shyly.
“Vanessa, why are you acting like we’re strangers, if
you’re going to live here then you should start acting normal
around me again. Wear whatever you want, what’s mine is
yours.”
“Okay thanks, wait!? I’m going to live here?”
“Yup the guest room is now all yours and only yours.”
She simply just smiles. I run into the bathroom to shower. Once I
come out she’s in the guest room looking around. The guest
room and my bedroom are connected by a bathroom. My bathroom, which
will now be me and Vanessa’s bathroom. I get into some sweats
and a tee shirt. She’s wearing a pair of my sweats and a tank
top. I decide to give her a little time to herself, but I’m
paying good attention to her. I decide to call my boyfriend,
James.
“Hello?”
“Hey, James…”
“Hey… you know, you rescheduled our date to tonight
because you said you were busy tomorrow night… then you
never showed up.”
“I know babe, and I’m so sorry, but something else more
important came up.”
“More important? What..?”
“I cant tell you, im sorry.”
“Is it another guy?” His voice gets insecure.
“Of course not, James… don’t get all suspicious
and jealous it had to do with Vanessa, I had to be there for
her!!”
“Weird, I thought you guys wasn’t even friends
anymore…”
“We went through a rough patch, but we’re better now
and she’s moving in because of what happened to her
mom…”
“Oh yeah I heard…”
“You can come over and stay awhile if you want, we just got
to run over to Vanessa’s house and get the stuff she
wants… if you want to help?”
“Sure. I’ll be over shortly and I’ll drive you
guys over and she pack stuff into my car.”
“Awesome! Thanks babe, love you!”
“Love you too.”
“Bye!”
“See ya soon.”
I put my phone into my sweatpants pocket and walk over towards the
guest room. Vanessa is just lying on the bed in silence.
“Hey Vanessa, James is going to be over shortly and
he’s going to drive us over to your old house so you can
gather up what you want to keep and bring it here. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay, thanks.”
“No problem, and Vanessa?”
“Yeah?”
“I know a lot has happened in the past week and even though
I’ve been a pretty sh*tty friend lately, I will always be
there for you even if you don’t want to be best friends
anymore.”
“I want to be best friends again Ava, as long as you promise
to never ditch me for the popularity.”
“If being your friend costs me my popularity then
there’s no harm done. But, if the popularity still wants me
then they’ll have to accept you too. Because, we’re a
package deal now, Vanessa and nothing, nothing will change
that.”
I can hear a car door slam shut, then the doorbell rang.
“Oh hello? How can I help you?” I hear my mom question
the doorbell ringer. I’m running down the stairs while
Vanessa follows when I hear James say, “Oh hi, you must be
Ava’s mother, I’m her boyfriend James.”
“Ava has a boyfriend?” My mom excitingly says while
turning to look at me. “Shocking isn’t it mom?” I
say sarcastically as I grab my coat and throw my other coat to
Vanessa. “James is driving us to get all Vanessa’s
stuff, we’ll be back later.”
“James, you can drive? How old are you?”
“Don’t worry mom! He’s only 16!” I assure
her as we walk out the door. My mom shuts it behind us and we all
pile into the car. Vanessa gets in the back. I lean over the center
console to give James a kiss and notice my mom watching. I wave bye
and we start to stroll down the road on our way to Vanessa’s
house, and all the memories.
