Page 63 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Seventeen
Maverick
With the arrival of October, several things were happening in my life.
One, the production ofBeauty and the Beastwas coming along awesome. We’d had several line rehearsals and were starting to practice the songs and dance numbers. We hadn’t done full-costume and set yet, because they were still being made, but it was only a matter of time until we did.
Two, me and Avery were officially friends. Ever since the night by the water, we’d started sitting together at lunch every day, and he’d even started hanging out after school for theater rehearsals and helping out with set design.
Nothing romantic had happened—just strictly friends—but I’d catch him looking at me in a certain way sometimes that sent my heart into chaotic palpitations. There was something between us, even if I was unsure of what it was yet.
And three, I was happy.
Not that I’d been depressed or anything before, but I just felt happier and more like myself. Dad had stopped hounding me about the musical, and I could tell he was trying to do better as a supportive parent. He’d sat down with me one night, and we’d looked up science programs in nearby colleges, because I didn’t want to move away after graduation.
Port Haven was my home. My life was here. Family, friends, the park I used to go to every day when I was a kid, the slide I fell off of and busted my nose, the rock I loved to escape to, and Avery—who was in a category all of his own.
“Dude, where’s your head?” Garrett asked, waving a hand in front of my face. “That pumpkin spice isn’t gonna make itself.”
Blinking, I focused on him.
He was wearing a green beanie that day, and his wavy, blond hair stuck out at the bottom. He’d switched out his usual stud lip ring for a hoop, and I tried not to stare at it too much.
Avery would look sexy with one of those.
“Mav!”
“Sorry! On it.” I put my hands up in surrender before starting the latte. It was a Thursday evening at work, and it wasn’t too busy, but it was busy enough to where I needed to get my head out of the freaking clouds.
Garrett smirked and watched as I made the coffee. He’d already made the other three drinks in the order. That’s how behind I was. Once I finished the pumpkin spice, I set it on the counter and called it out for pickup.
“What’s up?” Garret leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “You’ve been out of it all day.”
“How do you know if you’ve been friend zoned?” I asked, studying him.
“Ah, man.” He shook his head as he exuded a drawn out sigh. “That’s tough.”
I spent the next ten or so minutes explaining to him everything that’d happened with Avery: the brief conversations in the beginning, the nights spent together at the train tracks, the one time I’d kissed him and how he’d reacted, and the past few weeks of pretty awesome friendship.
“Okay. Has he showed any interest?” Garrett asked, bobbing his head to the music playing through the overhead speakers.
“We’ve held hands a few times,” I answered, remembering the night on the rock, and a few times since then when we’d met at the railroad tracks.
A smile crossed Garrett’s face, and it seemed a bit mocking. “Aw, how cute. You guys held hands.”
I pushed his shoulder. “Screw you.”
He chuckled. “You wanna know what I think?” I opened my mouth to tell him where he could shove his opinion, but he continued, “Ask him out. Don’t go in all hormone driven like the time you kissed him, but ease into it. Take him to dinner or a movie. Or both. Give subtle hints that you want more. Then the ball will be in his court and you’ll figure out what he wants.”
I bit back my former retort and nodded. “Thanks. That’s actually good advice.”
“Actually?” he questioned, raising his brows. “You say that like I never have good ideas.”
“That’s because you don’t a lot of the time,” I teased, bracing myself for the incoming list of all of hisbrilliantideas.
“Remember when I combined the mocha and the peppermint latte? That was a kickass idea.”
“Dude,” I said, trying not to laugh. “There’s already such a thing as a peppermint mocha. All you did was make one and call it original.”
