Page 130 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Thirty-Two
Avery
My assignment for English was due that Friday, and I hadn’t started it yet. There were still a few days to go, but I’d put it off long enough. The procrastination hadn’t been out of laziness, but more so out of fear.
I didn’t want to face my demons. Telling Declan and Mav about them had been hard enough.
How was I supposed to write them down for some teacher to read?
“You could always lie,” Maverick said, leaning down and resting his chin on the top of my head. I was staying the night with him, because he had a laptop and I needed to write my paper. Of course, homework wasn’t the only thing we’d be doing, but still. “Like write about your ailing grandmother and how it’s affecting you.”
“I don’t know my grandma,” I said. “If I’m going to lie, it needs to be better than that. I don’t want to lie, though.”
“Okay.” Mav plopped on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. Histhinkingface was on. I suppressed a smile. “Write about your fear of the ocean. It’s not a lie, but it’s not exactly the real truth.”
Sitting in the computer chair, I stared at the blank word document. “Maybe. I mean, it’s not a completely awful idea.”
Maverick scoffed and tossed a pillow at me. “My ideas are awesome.”
I grabbed the pillow and put it behind my back, cuddling more into the chair. It was one of those huge extravagant chairs that I could curl my legs up into and still have room.
“You want some pizza rolls?” Mav asked a few minutes later. He flipped on his stomach and hugged a pillow beneath his head, looking at me with big sapphire eyes.
He looked like a puppy.
“It’s like nine-thirty,” I pointed out. His gaze lingered on mine, and he started moving his legs in the way a bored kid might. “Fine. Go make some pizza rolls.”
With a grin, he hopped off the bed and left the room. I rolled my eyes, but felt my heart warm.
I loved him. I hadn’t told him yet that I did, but I’d realized it when we were cuddled on his couch watching a show calledPlanet Earth.
Mav loved all things science, and he was really fascinated with biology and earth science. The episode we’d watched was about caves. Honestly, I’d been a little bored, but then Mav started talking about how caves were mostly formed in limestone, caused by water eating away at the rock over time.
Something about the way his face lit up as he talked tugged at my heart. And as he told me about a cave that was full of crystals, I’d looked into his eyes and justknew.
I’d known in that moment that I never wanted to know a life without him—that past his jock exterior there was a science nerd with a heart of gold and I loved him with everything in me: mind, body, and soul.
I was zoning when he came back into the room, and I jumped when he sat a plate in front of me.
“So the Prince of Darknesscanbe startled,” Mav said, giving me a smug grin. “Interesting. And here I thought you were fearless.”
“Shut up.” I fought a smile as I reached for a pizza roll. When I bit down into it, the sauce squirted out like lava, and I winced before dropping it back on the plate. “Holy crap those are the devil. I can’t feel my tongue.”
“Do you need resuscitation?” he asked. “I could suck it back to life. Hey, don’t give me that look. You know your eyes will get stuck like that one day, and you’ll have to walk around for the rest of your life looking like theExorcistgirl.”
“Will you shh so I can work?” My words didn’t come out as serious as I intended because I couldn’t hold back my laugh.
Mav was crazy. But he was my crazy.
“Okay. I’m shutting up.” He zipped his lips before reclining on the bed, holding his plate of pizza rolls on his lap.
He was scrolling on his phone, so he should be engaged for a while in the world of social media.
Taking a deep breath, I focused back on the screen. I typed out an opening sentence and immediately deleted it. I tried again and did the same thing. All I could think about was the teacher reading it and what he’d think—the things he’d critique, things he’d hate or would think was dumb.
How could I open myself up and spill all my inner thoughts and demons on the page when the only thought in my head was how I’d be judged for doing so?
“Babe?” Mav asked. “Sorry to interrupt, but you look like you’re in pain over there. What’s up?”
