Page 82 of Reaching Avery
“Awesome,” Ben replied, nodding. “Glad to make your dreams come true, buddy.”
Sarah giggled so hard she snorted. When we all looked at her, she covered her mouth and looked absolutely mortified. “No one say a thing or I will throat punch you.”
“I didn’t hear anything,” I said, playing dumb. “Did you guys?”
“Nope,” Ben lied before whistling and looking everywhere but at Sarah.
Avery grinned and shook his head, causing more of his dark hair to fall into his face.
Instead of fighting the urge like usual, I used my free hand to softly brush the strands aside. He tensed at the contact, but relaxed once he looked at me.
And in his eyes was a look that made my chest tighten. A look that screamed desperation; as if he was trapped and begging me to set him free.
If only I knew how.
So, I did what I could for the time being: held his hand.
“What time is it?” Avery asked.
I checked my phone. “About ten minutes until the first bell.”
“I didn’t get to eat breakfast yet, so I’m gonna head to the cafeteria.”
He started walking off, and his hand slipped from mine. I didn’t like the feeling.
“Wait!” I jogged after him. “I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to,” he said.
“But I want to.”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Once we were inside, we were able to go right through the breakfast line without having to wait because everyone else had already gotten their food. They were serving a breakfast corndog, which was a pancake wrapped sausage, served with a small cup of maple syrup.
I wasn’t hungry, but I grabbed a tray too.
When we sat down, Avery devoured his in a few bites, and I remembered what he said before about him and Declan not having food in the house sometimes. Did they still have that problem?
“Want mine?” I asked, once he was finished with his. I hadn’t even touched my food yet.
His cheeks reddened, and he shrugged. I moved his tray to the side and slid mine in front of him.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, clearly embarrassed about something.
“Are you not eating at home?” I couldn’t hold the question back. If he wasn’t eating, I wanted to know so I could help him.
“I am,” he answered, and thankfully, he didn’t seem annoyed that I’d asked it. “Mom got a sort of promotion at work, so we’re doing okay. Way better than we’ve ever been. I just didn’t eat dinner last night, and since I woke up late this morning, I didn’t get to before we left.”
“Why didn’t you eat dinner?” I asked. Crap. I should’ve bought us something before dropping him off at home.
“Fell asleep early,” he said way too fast.
I nodded, accepting his answer. But then…
“Didn’t you say earlier that you had a hard time sleeping?” I pointed out, studying him.
For just a split second, his eyes widened, and then he brushed it off. “Oh, I meant later on in the night. I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.”
He was lying. But I couldn’t understand why.
