Page 5 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Two
Avery
Life sucked. Not that I wanted to die or anything—I mean, in death, there was nothing, so even crappy days were better than that—but it was more thewaymy life was that sucked. Like the hand I’d been dealt.
Being poor was what sucked I guess. And everything that came with it.
People looked at you differently, like you were somehow lesser than because you didn’t have money. Lazy or worthless because you struggled getting by. Funny that I didn’t get bulliedthatmuch for my emo appearance, but I sure as hell did because of being poor.
Running into that big, jock guy in the hall was just the freaking cherry on top of the shit-brownie sundae that was my day. The dude had been huge too, looking like he could squash me with one punch.
He’d tried talking to me, but I’d left, not really caring what he had to say.
Declan was going to be a freshman that year, so he was getting his own schedule and seeing where his classrooms were. Crazy how my little brother was now in high school.
We’d taken the bus there, and we needed to be at the stop in about twenty minutes, otherwise we’d be walking home. And it was alongwalk.
Declan was talking to a group of girls when I approached him. They giggled and looked at him like he was a tree they wanted to climb.
He was fourteen and a total slut. But the ladies couldn’t resist his dark-brown hair, brown eyes, and athletic build. He’d lost his virginity at thirteen and had been with like five girls since then.
I didn’t really blame him for his slutty ways. When you didn’t have anything good going for you in life, why not play the cards you had, you know? Maybe the attention helped him feel better about himself. Helped him cope. Just as long as he was smart about it, I didn’t really care how many girls he screwed.
“Hey, D,” I said, getting his attention.
The girls stopped smiling and looked me up and down. Some of their noses crinkled as if just the mere sight of me disgusted them.
Whatever.
“We need to go?” he asked, ignoring them.
I nodded, and he turned his back to them without a second’s hesitation. Even with his rude dismissal of them, the girls still stared after him and excitedly whispered to each other.
“I think I’m gonna like this school,” Declan said with a grin.
“How can they still be into you after that?” I asked, glancing back at them again before looking at him. He was an inch taller than me, and the kid was still growing. I was pretty sure I’d be this height forever. “That was sorta cold.”
“They’re shallow.” He shrugged. “I have a pretty face, I guess, so it doesn’t matter how much of an asshole I am. Just as long as they can date me and parade me around to their friends like a trophy or something, they don’t care. And as long as I get laid, I don’t care either.”
As we walked, we passed more people, and I couldn’t wait to get away from everyone. It wasn’t that I was introverted—okay, some part of me was—it was more that I just didn’t trust people. They lied, cheated, and used others for their own gain.
The only constant in my life was my family—Declan and my mom. They were the only ones I trusted. Ever since we were kids, me and my brother had been close, and even though he could probably take care of himself now, I still had that protective feeling over him.
He’d always be my little brother, no matter how tall he got.
After the bus dropped us off at our stop, we walked through the surrounding neighborhoods toward home. It felt amazing that day; still summer, but not ungodly hot. As we moved down the sidewalk, I breathed in the air.
Port Haven was a pretty cool place from what I’d gathered.
We moved about a month ago from a bigger city over an hour away. We were used to moving around, and I wished that for once, we could just stay somewhere. And Port Haven seemed like the perfect place to settle down.
As we ventured into our neighborhood, my brief bout of positivity crumbled.
We lived on the bad side of town. Houses and run-down apartment complexes were all crammed together, and it looked like people had pretty much stopped giving a damn about appearances. Trash littered the streets and some of the houses had so much crap outside that it looked like a junk yard.
The smell wasn’t the best either—a combination of fish and garbage.
As the house came into view, I sighed when I saw our mom’s car was gone.
