Page 73 of Reaching Avery
“Mav?” a familiar voice called from behind me.
I turned to see Travis with his arm draped around Chelsey, the head cheerleader. She was a huge bitch, and I didn’t understand how a great guy like Travis would stick with her. The sex must’ve been good or something to keep him around.
“Hey, man,” I said, turning my body enough to where I faced him. I made sure not to have my back to Avery, though. “What are y’all watching?”
“The gross movie,” Chelsey answered with a scoff. “I wanted to see the romance, but Travis was all about watching people get their guts pulled out.”
Travis smirked. “I like it, babe.”
“You’re a freak,” she retorted before looking at me. Her whole demeanor changed, going from snooty to flirty in like two seconds flat. She’d been one of the girls that had tried toconvertme when I first came out at school. She’d pretty much left a sour taste in my mouth since then. “How about you?”
Wanting to include Avery in the conversation, I touched the small of his back, hoping he didn’t punch me, and said, “Same. But we like that stuff.”
After zeroing in on my arm and who it touched, Chelsey studied Avery, as if seeing him for the first time. I braced myself for any rude remarks she might toss to him—remarks I’d instantly shoot down because I wasn’t going to put up with that crap.
“Oh,” she said, looking him up and down with a disgusted expression. “You’re the guy who’s started sitting at my table at lunch, right?”
I hated the snarky tone she’d used, and I was about to give her a piece of my mind. But Avery had other ideas.
“Your table?” he asked, scrunching his brow in mock surprise. “Wow. I didn’t see your name on it. The nerve of me to sit there, right? It’s almost as if it’s a free country and I can sit wherever the hell I want. Just crazy.”
His sarcasm was too much for me, and I barked out a laugh before I could stop myself.
I’d never heard anyone put Chelsey in her place before, and it made me like Avery even more. Not so much for his smart mouth, but for his backbone to stand up to bullies instead of buckling beneath their taunts.
Chelsey gawked, and when Travis coughed to cover a laugh, she elbowed him in the ribs. “Whatever. I’m going into the movie now.” She shot Travis a lethal look. “I suggest you follow me or you can forget about coming over later.”
Yep. Definitely for the sex.
“Sorry, guys,” Travis said after she stormed off. He looked conflicted about going with her or staying with us, and I wished he’d just dump her. I knew for a fact there was one girl who’d be perfect for him, and it wasn’t Chelsey. “I’ll see you in the theater?”
“Sure,” I said. Once he left, I faced Avery. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He shifted a little, and I realized my hand was still at his back. I went to move it, but he moved even closer to me, almost to where our chests were touching. I splayed my fingers on his lower back, loving how small he was. “I’m great. And… I don’t know.”
He turned his head to the side and nibbled his lip.
“What is it?” I pressed, way too curious to just let that one go.
“Never mind,” he said, dodging the question. He looked happy, though, and in turn, it made me happy, as corny as it was. “We should probably go or we’ll miss the movie.”
“Good idea.” Before I started walking, I held out my hand to him. He looked at it as a timid smile touched his lips. “You don’t have to, Avery. Only if you want.”
My hand hung in the air, and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do.
When I felt his fingers link with mine, it was like the time I’d run a thirty yard touchdown and won us the game against our rival school. The pride and excitement all rolled into one. That’s how Avery made me feel, but even better.
I wasn’t sure what caused him to change his mind.
“Want some popcorn?” I asked as we left the arcade, hand in hand.
He nodded as a blush crept to his cheeks. Poor guy. He was so pale that it was really noticeable. Not even his hair could hide it.
I didn’t know why he was blushing, until I looked in front of us and saw a group of girls staring at us, giggling excitedly. One even had her phone out and was trying to be sneaky at taking pictures of us. She failed miserably. Something about young guys together really made girls swoon.
After I bought us a large bucket of buttery popcorn and two large sodas—which unfortunately made us stop holding hands to carry—we approached the worker at the podium. She tore our tickets and told us where to go.
Avery was close beside me as we went down the long hallway toward theater nine. Close enough to where his arm brushed against mine, but not close enough for my liking. He kept staring at all the movie posters in the glass cases as we passed by, and I slowed my pace so he could look at them.
