Page 46 of Shuttered Hearts

I frown at her tone of voice. “Everything okay?” I ask concerned.

Ave turns to smile at me. “There you go, sounding like my brother.”

The bell rings, signaling the end of fourth period. “That’s lunch,” I tell Ava, hopping down from my desk and grabbing my lunch from the bottom drawer. “Did you bring something with you?”

“Yeah.” She holds up the bag I didn’t see her carry in. “Where do you normally eat?”

“Your brother normally meets me here, but we can head to his classroom,” I tell her, coming around my desk.

“Okay, I’ve calmed down, but it took way longer than—” Declan stops talking when he sees Ava in the room with me.

“I’m sorry?” Ava asks, a look of confusion crossing her face, and I burst out laughing at the look of horror that passes over Declan’s.

“Nothing,” he mumbles. “I didn’t know you were coming to the school today,” he says louder, pulling her into a hug.

“Yeah, I finished writing the return suit and filed it this morning, so I thought I’d come bug you for lunch before I look for something else to occupy my time,” she says a little flippantly.

“You wrote and filed a court document all in one morning?” he asks in disbelief.

“Well, I wrote the brief last night, but I had to wait for the courthouse to open this morning to file it.”

“You wrote it last night? You must have been up all night.” I can see the concern growing on Declan’s face.

“I haven’t been sleeping well, so I figured I would just get it done.” Ava looks at Declan, trying to communicate something silently to him.

“Ava, I don’t?—”

“Big brother, I told you yesterday I didn’t want to talk about it,” Ava interrupts him.

I can see the struggle on Declan’s face. He’s clearly concerned but also trying to respect her wishes. I walk quietly to his side and place my hand on his back. He startles slightly, glancing at me before turning back to Ava. “You’re right.” He turns to me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “Let’s sit.” Declan walks over and sits at the table in front of my desk, and Ava and I follow suit.

“How’s your morning been?” I ask Declan, giving Ava the distraction she seems to need.

“It was good. Nothing out of the norm to report.” He glances at me out of the corner of his eye, and I can’t help but laugh, thinking about how he left my classroom this morning.

“What am I missing?” Ava asks from across the table.

“Nothing,” Declan rushes to answer. “How was your morning?” He throws back at me. “Anything else from Tyler today?”

“No, he wasn’t in class. I checked, and he was marked absent from school today.”

“Weird. I don’t think he’s ever missed a day of school.”

“Tyler’s the kid you told me about?” Ava asks Declan. “The one who acts out a little in class?”

“Yeah. It’s normally not serious, but on Friday he was a little more disruptive than normal,” Declan answers her.

“Why not write him up?” She looks between us.

“He’s so smart, and doing well in his classes, but his behavior has him on the cusp of being expelled. I don’t want to be the reason for that,” I tell her. “I don’t want to ruin his chances of doing whatever he wants after high school.”

“Not everyone is worth saving,” Ava mutters under her breath, but Declan and I both hear her and share a look.

I reach over and squeeze his thigh under the table, giving him the little bit of comfort I can offer at the moment. It’s clear something is going on with Ava, but I don’t know her well enough to press her for information, and it seems she and Declan have already talked about it.

“Do you know what you want to do with your time in town since you’ll be staying longer?” I ask Ava, trying to find a safer topic for us, and get back to eating my lunch.

“I honestly don’t know.” She shrugs.

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