Page 37 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Ten
Avery
Maverick didn’t seem like himself that Friday. In class he didn’t talk to anyone, and when Mr. Jones called on him to answer a question about the Civil War, he just shrugged and said he didn’t know. Which was a lie.
From the small conversations we’d had, IknewMaverick liked history and we’d even discussed our current chapter the other day before class started. He’d said he loved this time period and that Lincoln was his favorite president. So, him saying he didn’t know the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation was a tell-tale sign that something was wrong.
When the bell rang, he stood and was out of the room before me. I trailed behind him on the way to biology, trying to catch up with him, but his legs were longer, and he moved too fast.
Our eyes met when I entered the classroom, but then he looked away.
That one glance spoke wonders, though. He was usually so upbeat and smiled through his eyes in a way I’d never seen another person do. But that day? That cheerful attitude was absent, and in its place was something sad.
I wished I could approach him like he did to me most days, but as I stepped toward him, I chickened out.
Reaching out to people was difficult for me. My comfort level had increased around Maverick, but that nagging thought in the back of my mind that warned me to be cautious was still present sometimes.
“Hey, Avery,” Ben said as he took his seat beside me. He slung his messenger bag to the side of the desk before opening the top flap and pulling out his class notebook. “Did you finish your homework?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t that hard,” I answered, focusing on him instead of Maverick.
Of course, that didn’t last long. Once Mrs. Brown began her lecture, I started zoning out. My attention drifted back to the sad-eyed jock to my right, and I studied him.
Maverick’s gaze remained on his notebook, and he didn’t look up at the teacher not once from what I could tell. Something was bothering him—obviously—but I wasn’t sure if we were close enough as friends to where I could ask him about it.
At lunch, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I finally approached him. He was sitting at his normal spot, and I sat down next to him with my tray. Thankfully his friends weren’t there yet, so he was alone.
“Hey,” I said.
His eyes widened a fraction when he saw me, as if he couldn’t believe it was actually me. Well, I couldn’t really believe it either honestly. Stepping out of my bubble was unheard of.
“Hey, Avery.” Maybe I was wrong, but his mood seemed to lift when he saw me. “What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” I answered, feeling ten kinds of awkward. “I hope it’s okay that I came over here.” My gaze shifted throughout the room, searching for his jock buddies, before settling back on his much livelier face.
“It’s totally cool,” he said with a smile. “Where’s Ben?”
“Still in the lunch line,” I answered, nodding to my friend who was making dramatic faces in the long line of students waiting to get their food. I grinned at him, and then looked at Maverick. “Is everything okay?”
At the question, his eyes seemed to become guarded, reminding me a lot of how I behaved when asked a personal question.
However, unlike me, that look faded, and he answered, “Not exactly, but it will be eventually.”
His gaze lowered, and I watched the side profile of his face—taking in the slightly pouted bottom lip, the sharp jawline, and his perfectly sloped nose. His sapphire eyes lifted and met mine, causing the breath to momentarily leave my lungs.
Even when taken over with sadness, he was beautiful. The slow-building crush was gradually building into something bigger, and I didn’t know how to stop it.
“Chris cheated on me,” he continued as his forehead creased. “I found out last night.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling my own heart ache a little. I’d never been in a relationship, but I knew what betrayal felt like, and it was the kind of feeling that could eat you up inside. “Are you guys going to try to work it out?”
Maverick shook his head. “Nah. He made it clear we were over, and I could never stay with someone who betrayed my trust like that.”
I felt like the worst person in the world by how my stomach fluttered at the news. What kind of friend got happy at their friend’s breakup?
“He’s an idiot,” I said before I could stop myself.
Maverick gave a short laugh. “Thanks for saying that.” His smile faded and his brow narrowed. “Is it weird that I’m more upset at the breaking of trust than I am about losing him?”
