Chp. 12 "Oops"

That night had sucked after I had left Avery’s. I had expected her to give me some sort of sign to let me know she liked me but nothing happened.

Maybe this whole crush is just a waste of time. Maybe she didn’t even like me like that and I was just making a fool out of myself.

I had lain in bed thinking about how that day had went from pretty ok to shit and it depressed me. I had tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep because my mind was wide awake. I had also been thinking about everything Blaine had told us and I was tempted to try to get more answers out of him tomorrow.

And possibly my parents.

But first I would go through the old photo albums, just to see if there were any holes in anything. I mean, if I was really their kid they would have those hospital photos everyone had from the hour they were born. There was no way you could fake a picture like that.

And if there wasn’t one or if I had any doubt I would confront my parents.

I was just unsure of how to approach it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Friday morning came soon enough and I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to face Avery or my parents and possible the ugly truth. I just wanted to stay in my bed the entire day, but I knew I couldn’t do that.

Avery needed me there in class.

I had picked up Max but ever since yesterday everything had been kind of weird. We were both freaked out over the information we had heard from Blaine and we didn’t know how to deal with it.

Max sighed, “Look, I know everything is getting weird and we’re finding out stuff that’s just a bit weird but… that doesn’t mean we can’t deal with it. We’re a team Andy, we’ve always been a team... and we can’t let this stuff scare us away.”

I glanced at him, wondering where this had come from, “But Max, it’s not you they want to capture and torture… it’s me.”

“And? Doesn’t mean they’ll ever catch you Andy. We’re a powerful team.”

“I just… I don’t know how to go about this.”

“You don’t have to go in alone.”

I smiled, knowing that Max would always have my back no matter how crazy our lives would get. He was right, we were a team, and we were a damn good one.

I nodded, “You’re right, it’s not like anything has to happen now, just whenever we’re ready.”

“We need to start somewhere Andy.”

“Like where?”

He shrugged, “I was thinking about speaking to Blaine again today. God, knowing that he’s really 40 really freaks me out though…”

I laughed, Max was right, it really was weird… but I knew that’s what my fate would be.

I pulled up into the parking lot, seeing that Avery’s car was in the space right next to where I always parked. I felt my heart hammer in my chest as I pulled up next to her, wondering if she was as bummed out about last night as I was.

But she probably wasn’t.

I looked over towards her car and saw her texting, her hair falling down over her perfect angular face. Then she looked up and locked eyes with me, giving me a weak smile and a little wave.

And I returned it shyly.

Max must’ve seen the tension because he commented on it, “Jeez, what happened? She rejected you?”

I sighed, “Not necessarily… I just don’t think we’re on the same page.”

“Ah, I understand.”

I glared at him, “Yea, so don’t say or do anything stupid.”

He winked as we exited the car and I walked over to Avery’s side of the car, “Hey, want some help with the project?”

She nodded, “Yea.”

I still felt a little bit of tension between us but I knew it could all be in my head. Maybe last night had gone exactly like she wanted and we were ok, and I was just being stupid.

I opened the door and hauled the project out of the back seat carefully, knowing that the wire couldn’t come undone. Max had joined us around the other side of the car and got a good glimpse at our project, huffing in the process.

“Well, your project definitely blew ours out the water.”

I was too busy watching Avery to even respond to Max, allowing Avery to speak to him, “Thanks, it took us a lot of time to do this.”

I smiled, “It was all her idea anyway.”

Avery’s glowing eyes looked at me, knowing I was trying to break the tension between us that was still left over from last night. I didn’t know where exactly she and I stood but I was trying to let her know I still wanted to be more than friends.

And maybe she was thinking the same thing.

So we finally got to the class in time to drop it off and take our seats, knowing we would have to present our projects. I stared at ours, wondering why I hadn’t tested the electric current out before we sat but now it was too late.

The class was starting.

Avery leaned over to me, “You think it’s gonna work?”

It was weird how she had been thinking the same thing I was but I nodded, “Yea, it should.”

“We should have checked it.”

I sighed, “Yea, we should’ve.”

The teacher took his position at the front of the class and sighed, “So any volunteers?”

I looked at Avery, secretly asking as she nodded and raised her hand, “We’ll go.”

He nodded, “Ah, eager, I like it. The fast you guys volunteer the faster we can get this over with.”

We made our way to the front as Avery spoke, “I’ll present most of it if you want?”

I shrugged, “That’s fine.”

We pulled our project to the middle center of the classroom and Avery began to present it, reading over the history of electricity while I checked our connection. I made sure the bulb had been plugged in and ran my fingers over the wire, listening to Avery’s voice the entire time.

Then I realized the wire had pulled out of the battery, damaging the connection.

I cursed to myself, looking up at Avery who was still pointing to the board and going through her lecture. I tried to shove the wire back into the connection but it was no use, the wire was broken.

And the most important part of the project was ruined.

I rolled my eyes, wanting to curse out loud because we had worked so hard on this for the most important part not to come on.

Then Avery nudged me, “You can flip the switch now.”

I nodded, not really knowing what to do while her eyes were on me. She was waiting patiently as I just looked at the switch, knowing it wouldn’t turn on if I flipped it. I sighed, “Avery, the wire’s broken.”

She squinted, “What?”

“The wire is broken, the connection won’t work.”

Then I heard the teacher’s voice bellow, “So Andy you can turn the light on now.”

Avery’s annoyed eyes looked at me, knowing that we wouldn’t be getting the grade me deserved. I sighed, knowing there was only one way to fix this.

I grabbed the wire connecting the bulb to the outlet and ripped it out of the connector, holding it between my fingers. Avery’s eyes were staring at the bulb which I knew lit up because her face lit up as well.

I heard the class clap as I knew we were finished, but that only gave Avery enough time to look back at me and see what was going on.

And her face changed from happy to completely confused.

I stood, feeling my heart begin to hammer in my chest as I walked back to my desk with Avery. We sat and she didn’t even look at me, which let me know that she was either completely freaked out or she was trying not to completely freak out.

Either way I was still uncomfortable.

The class passed slowly, and when the dismissal bell rang Avery left without a word. I was sad and I didn’t understand how to make this better but I knew I couldn’t. I had left and gone to class, wondering why I hadn’t just taken the points off for the stupid project. Why had I jeopardized exposing my powers to Avery in the first place?

No one else saw but her though, and that’s all the mattered.

Soon the bell rang and I trudged back to my car in the parking lot, knowing Avery’s car would probably already be gone. She wouldn’t want anything to do with me anymore because of this. She was freaked out, she knew what I had done and she knew that I was a freak.

I pictured her appalled face in my mind, causing me to cringe as I slowly walked to my car. I was embarrassed but I was also depressed.

Avery wasn’t going to talk to me anymore because of this one stupid mistake that got me exposed.

Then when I made it to the parking lot I realized Avery’s car was still there. Maybe she hadn’t made it from class yet?

I got into my car, waiting a few minutes for her to show but realizing she probably wasn’t going to. I would need to text Max and ask him about that Blaine kid to and see if he got anything out of him.

I just couldn’t believe Avery was already out of my life just as fast as she had entered it.

Then I heard a loud knock on my window, making me look up into Avery’s angry eyes. My heart bolted to my stomach as she spoke, “We need to talk.”

I opened my door, only to have her step away from me slightly, as if I was some kind of disease. I held my hands up, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She pointed her finger at my face, looking as if she was about to cry, “How the fuck did you power that bulb without the battery?”

“I’ve told you this, I can’t tell you,” I was referring back to our conversation we had last night when I had thought she was trying to get me to talk about what was hurting me.

But now she knew.

She threw her hands up, “Andy… please… I saw ok? Just… be honest with me.”

I knew she was pleading for the truth but I just didn’t know how to show her. I didn’t want to but I knew I needed to, she needed to know the truth. If I wanted to be anything to her I needed to be honest with her, and if I wasn’t I would lose her trust completely.

And I didn’t want that.

I shook my head, “I can’t show you here.”

“So when and where can you?”

I shrugged, “I have to wait for Max.”

She leaned next to me and sighed, “Well, I can wait.”

“Great.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Soon Max was joining us outside after I had texted him I would be in the parking lot for him. I told him we would be going to our secret spot again today also.

What he didn’t know was that Avery was going to be tagging along.

Avery spoke, “So where are we going?”

“Somewhere private.”

She sighed, “Are you going to kill me?”

I looked at her, smirking, “Avery, you’re too beautiful to kill.”

She wanted to be mad at me but I could see the red on her cheeks, letting me know I had made the right move.  I was hoping Blaine would also tag along with Max but when I saw him coming over alone I knew he probably didn’t feel comfortable.

Max opened the door, not even noticing Avery in the back seat and looking dead at me. Instantly I knew something was off as soon as he opened his mouth.

“Blaine transferred out of the school system this morning. He’s gone.”

 ***A/N**

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