Chapter 3 #2
“Well, hey, thanks for giving me an excuse to leave my annoying friends.” He spoke in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, like Avery was supposed to know what he was talking about.
But she didn’t. She must have been tanked last night if she’d met his friends or otherwise involved herself in a guy’s life in a semi-meaningful way.
There was no way she’d have done that sober.
“Oh, sure,” she muttered. “Happy to help.”
“Maybe you could let me know how you’re doing in a few days.” Pete took out his phone and offered it to Avery. “Can I get your number?”
He sounded so sincere that Avery thought it was a prank.
Her lips were horribly chapped, and alcohol seeped through her pores like she was a dirty sponge festering on a kitchen sink.
The fact that any of this appealed to Pete—who, for what it was worth, looked somehow cute, clean, and sprightly after a night spent in the hospital with a stranger—was mind-boggling.
“Oh, I, uh …” Avery scrambled for an answer, though as soon as she started speaking she had no idea where her sentence was going.
There was clearly something about him that she liked, and her distrust of men made that hard to come by lately.
She should just give Pete her number. Was it so shocking that someone would care about her well-being after a trip to the hospital?
It wasn’t like he was trying to date her.
But he was looking at her so intensely and curiously, like he was interested in more than just checking up on her, like he was trying to figure her out.
No way was that happening. What man would honestly want to deal with this?
To deal with her ? And then there was the fact that she had no idea what impression Pete had of her from school, what he may or may not have heard about her from his proximity to her friend group.
She’d rather not start off with a guy on that foot.
The prospect of spending so much time with her college friends during Morgan and Charlie’s wedding events this year already filled her with dread.
She didn’t need to add another person from Boston to that mix.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Pete cast his eyes down, dissolved his face into a nod. He looked embarrassed now. “Don’t worry about it,” he said quickly. “Hope you feel better. Nice meeting you.”
He made an about-face and bolted toward the door, practically leaving behind a cartoon cloud of dust. For a moment, Avery felt bad and considered calling after him, but then she tasted leftover booze on her tongue and her head throbbed, and she immediately dismissed the idea.
“What time is it?” Avery asked as Morgan handed her a manila folder of discharge papers.
Morgan yawned as she checked her phone. “Four in the morning.”
“Ugh, it’s so late. I’m sorry.” Avery wrapped her arms around Morgan’s waist and gazed up at her, pouting. “Thanks, Mom.”
Morgan met Avery’s eye and tightened her lips into a smile.
Despite probably being exhausted, Morgan was trying to be a good friend, and for that Avery was grateful, even though she knew she didn’t deserve it.
But that was Morgan. The most compassionate, sympathetic person Avery knew, the kind who’d put a bowl of water outside her apartment to feed stray animals and who cried when she saw old people eating alone at restaurants.
“Listen, don’t worry about it,” Morgan said, rubbing the back of Avery’s head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Avery nuzzled her face into Morgan’s soft and worn-in buttery denim jacket.
This was her going-out jacket from college, and its familiarity both filled Avery with warmth and made her pulse quicken.
This jacket had been around for everything.
Avery remembered Morgan was wearing it when she hugged Morgan and Charlie goodbye the night of that party at Viraj’s house senior year.
If only Avery had left with Morgan when Morgan wanted to leave.
She could have ended her night in the dining hall eating mozzarella sticks with her best friend, not with Noah holding her wrists down behind her back as he fucked her frozen, unprotesting body from behind.
Avery and Morgan exited the hospital, where outside it was dark except for a row of street lights flickering down on them from overhead.
The only sounds were the fizzle of a fly bumping into a light bulb and a homeless man snoring on a bench next to his overfilled cart of belongings.
Avery’s limbs felt heavy with exhaustion; it took quite an effort to stay upright, let alone walk.
She fantasized about how late she was going to sleep in tomorrow. Or, rather, later today.
“Well, I was gonna text you about this tomorrow, but I guess that’s technically now,” Morgan said. Thankfully she didn’t sound pissed about this fact. She was merely stating it. “Are you free to get dinner tomorrow with me and Charlie and his best man? We want to celebrate the engagement.”
“I’m down. Who’s the best man?” Avery tried to act casual, but the concern in her voice was obvious. She just hoped she had some time before she’d have to see her old friends again, before she’d be subjected to their sneers and hatred for what they thought she did to Ryan.
“One of Charlie’s friends from the lacrosse team. He wasn’t in our friend group. I hardly know the guy, actually, but he and Charlie have gotten really close.”
Excellent start . “Sounds good,” Avery said, at ease now. “I’ll be there.”
Morgan leaned forward and smelled Avery’s shoulder. “But make sure you shower first. You smell like onions.”
Avery sniffed her armpit and recoiled. “Ewww.You’re right.”
Morgan laughed. “I’m, like, half joking. But also half not.”
“No, you’re right. It’s not good.”
Morgan laughed again and looped her arm around Avery’s shoulder, and they held each other tightly as they crossed the street. Tomorrow night’s dinner, Avery vowed with a yawn, would mark a brand new, freshly showered beginning.