Page 28 of Reaching Avery
Toward the end of the song, there’s an intense part as the character’s anger at such a tragedy takes him over, but I didn’t overthink it or worry about hitting the higher, more powerful notes. I sang through the anger and grief.
When I sang the last word, letting the note linger in the air a short moment before cutting it off, nothing but silence followed.
And then applause.
Noise from the back of the room drew my attention, where I then saw Sarah jumping up and down, clapping and squealing like a crazy woman. Avery was there too, but he wasn’t being as loud as Sarah. He clapped and stared down at me.
Mr. Lee stood and applauded. “Wow. Well done, Mav.”
Yeah, I knew it wasn’t a perfect performance, but I’d done my best. And when it came down to it, that’s what mattered. I’d given it my all, and regardless of what happened after that, at least I could hold my head up high and be proud.
After thanking the judges for their time and leaving the stage, I approached my friends in the very back. Avery stepped back a little once I was in front of them, and I guessed it was because he had a thing with personal space. Which wasn’t bad or anything; it just made me wonder what had happened to make him so timid.
Sarah attacked me with excited hugs. “Ohmygosh! That was amazing. You made me cry.”
“Is that a good thing?”
She slapped my arm like what I’d asked was the most stupid question ever. We eventually made it back out into the lobby area, where we passed the next girl awaiting her turn. Sarah offered her a few words of encouragement, which made the other girl liven up some.
“So.” I faced Avery and a still exuberant Sarah. “Where are we eating?”
***
After deciding on a Mexican restaurant, we drove there in my car. It was a nice place right smack dab in the center of town, with decent prices and delicious food. Sarah and I’d eaten there together a handful of times, but Avery hadn’t.
“You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a chimichanga smothered in cheese sauce,” I said to Avery as we got out of the car and walked toward the entrance. “It’s deep fried amazingness stuffed with chicken or you can have pork if you want.”
Avery stayed silent, holding onto that awkwardness, but the corner of his mouth lifted.
Once we were inside and seated at a booth in the back of the room, a waiter came to take our drink orders before leaving again. I didn’t bother looking at the menu, already knowing what I wanted, but Sarah and Avery grabbed one to look over.
“So, Avery,” Sarah said, peering up from her menu to study him. “What’s your story?”
Sarah was sitting beside me in the booth and Avery was across from us.
“My story?” he asked.
“Yeah, like, where did you move from, do you have any siblings, in particular, an older brother?” She winked at the last part, and I suppressed a laugh. “Also, do you like it here?”
Rightly so, Avery was taken aback by the onrush of questions. “Um. I have a brother, and he’s fourteen.”
“Darn it!” Sarah said, playfully banging her fist on the table. “I guess in a few years when he’s at least eighteen, I could be a cougar.”
The waiter walked up to the table at that exact moment, clearly hearing the end of her statement by the way his eyebrows shot up. “Have you decided on dinner?”
Sarah, who was blushing furiously, ducked her head and coughed before holding the menu up. “I’ll have a beef taco with cheese sauce, and a side of red rice and beans.”
“I’ll have the chimichanga with chicken and extra cheese sauce, and a side of rice and beans too,” I said before looking at Avery. His shoulders were stiff and the poor guy looked so lost. I couldn’t determine if he was just undecided about what he wanted to order or if there was another reason. When he looked at me, I asked, “Do you want what I’m having?”
Relief flickered across his face, and he nodded. “Yes, please.”
The waiter wrote the order and left.
“Mavy, I still can’t get over how great you were today,” Sarah said after taking a drink of her soda. “What were you thinking about during it?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “I think I just put myself in his position. Thinking of war and how senseless it is sometimes.”
“They’d be idiots not to give you the part,” she said. “Plus, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure I got Belle, so youhaveto be my Beast.”
