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Chapter 1: Un Peu de Soleil et Beaucoup de Pluie

Avery cursed inwardly as she trudged through the rain. She narrowly avoided being splashed by an oncoming car as she pulled on her hoodie strings, and consequently felt her hair stick to her face.

She had carpooled with Carson this morning instead of going on her own as she usually did and now that he had football practice, she was left to walk home alone. Luckily, her home wasn't too far away, but it was raining cats and dogs and her distaste for dirty water prevented her from just running to her house. She contemplated it for quite some time but then decided that getting out of the rain quickly was not worth the yucky and itching feeling she would endure in the process.

The air was cold and the wind against her wet clothes made her shiver. Her home wasn't much far left to go. If she squinted, she was able to decipher the outline of her average-sized house.

"I swear if I end up getting a cold," she sighed to herself, "I'll rip Carson to shreds."

Avery's immune system wasn't the greatest and she knew this. She probably spent about 50-60% of her eighteen years being sick. If you were wondering why she didn't at least have an umbrella: she did, but when she had looked for it she only realised it was in her car.

The car she didn't take.

Because Carson offered to take her.

Okay, maybe Avery wasn't the best at planning things out and being organised. She could be a bit scatter-brained at times and easily flustered as a result. But she was just human like the rest of us.

A couple of minutes had passed and Avery had finally reached her driveway, much to her relief. A grateful sigh escaped her lips but it was then that the rain had decided to ease to a slight drizzle. She rolled her eyes as she removed the hood and fixed her fuzzed-up hair. The weather just couldn't have better timing, could it?

Avery liked rainy weather, but not when she was caught in it. She preferred it when she could curl up in her reading nook and stare out the window, accompanied by a cup of tea and a great novel. It made her feel as if she was the main character in an indie film.

She used her keys to unlock the door, opened it and walked inside. Greeted by the scent of freshly baked cookies, she took a deep breath and allowed the smell to calm her annoyance at the previous weather.

"Maman, papa! Je suis ici !" she announced her presence at the doorway, removing her sneakers and placing them on the mat. "I smell cookies!" {Mom, dad! I'm here!}

"Bonjour, Doux-Doux. The cookies are for after dinner," her mother stuck her head out from the kitchen, her expression donning her usual cheery smile. "Oh my goodness! Avery Toussaint, you are drenched!"

Her mother rushed over to her, a concerned look etched on her face. Her apron was spotted with flour as she attempted to help Avery remove her hoodie. "You know you'll get sick! Go run upstairs and take a warm bath. I'll tell your papa to pick up some medicine on his way home."

"Alright, alright," Avery muttered as she was being shooed by her doting maman.

Mrs Toussaint watched her daughter hurry up the stairs, curls bouncing wildly. She put a hand to her head and sighed.

"What am I going to do with her?" she asked herself.

****

Around the table, the small family ate their dinner in comfortable silence. Avery sniffled, quickly drawing her parents' attention to her.

"Tu as oublié ton parapluie?" her father tilted his head to the side. {You forgot your umbrella?}

Avery pulled at the itchy, thick scarf her mother wrapped her in. "Oui. I left it in the car and Carson brought me to school this morning." {Yes}

According to Avery, her family was the only interesting thing about her, despite its size. They had moved from France when she was a toddler because Southern France wasn't the most inviting place for interracial couples like her parents. Mr and Mrs Toussaint were used to the comments, treatment and looks that came with being together but decided they didn't want their young daughter to grow up in such an environment. Maybe the opinion there had progressed through the years, but the Toussaints had established quite a happy life where they currently lived and wouldn't dream of moving.

Mr Toussaint squinted, "He didn't return you home, that boy?" It had been fifteen years since France but his accent was still as strong as ever. Avery had started to believe that it would never change.

She shook her head, "No, he had football practice. You know how committed he is to it and I didn't want to wait on him."

"Or maybe your cookie senses your twinkling. It's like you knew they'd be here, huh?" her mother teased with a light chuckle. Avery and her father laughed along, knowing her love for chocolate chip cookies. Mrs Toussaint's eyes shone with sympathy afterwards, "Well, unfortunately, you won't be getting any tonight. You can't have dairy when you're sick."

Avery's eyes widened, feeling betrayed by her own mother who claimed to love her.

"Papa dites quelquechose," she pleaded with her father to change her mother's mind. She was aware of her father's soft spot for her and pulled her 'puppy' face by widening her eyes and pouting her lips. {Dad, say something}

He stared at her and tried hard to resist.

They stared at each other. Her pleading, and he fighting.

After what felt like five minutes, but was really five seconds, he sighed in defeat and looked at his wife, "Mon ange, just one? You know her love for them." {My angel}

"Philippe, you know dairy leads to mucus and with her track record of being sick-"

He pulled his 'puppy' face at her. Looking at both her daughter and her husband pouting at her, she could see the obvious similarities between them. She rolled her eyes, giving in out of annoyance, "Just one- the smallest one from the batch. Do you hear me, Avery Toussaint?"

Avery grinned in victory without a response, knowing she was going to take more than that.

****

Avery decided to drive to school today. She had given Carson an earful over the phone last night while knowing he wasn't completely to be blamed. He was simply doing her a favour when he offered to drive her to school and he had only hoped she would stay behind to watch him practice. That's the kind of person he was anyway- considerate and caring.

As she carefully pulled into the school parking lot, she could spot her best friend standing up anxiously, waiting for her. When she parked and stepped out of the car, Carson ran up to her with worry etched on his features.

He ran his hand through his dark and tousled hair, "Are you really sick? When you told me you were actually coming to school I thought it wasn't that bad but, look at you, your nose is all pink." He felt her forehead and continued rambling, "I really didn't mind taking you home yesterday. I just thought you would want to watch me practice."

Avery slapped his hand away, sniffling. "Good morning to you too," she mumbled, "Watching you practice sounds exciting and all, but I'm not really interested in watching people kick around a ball."

He ignored her playful jab towards the sport that defined his life and together, they walked towards the school building, Carson sending worrisome looks to Avery every now and then. She sneezed violently and felt her whole world shake. The intensity of the sneeze was so high she instantly felt disoriented.

"Should you even be here? You never come to school when you're sick," Carson handed her a tissue from his bag. She took it with while muttering a 'thank you'.

"Maman forced me because-"

Avery's sentence was interrupted by one of Carson's football friends calling to him in the corridor.

"Sorry Aves, I'll catch up to you in a bit, okay? Don't die while I'm gone," he rushed over to the other boy, and they both erupted into an animated conversation.

Avery kept walking. She was used to things like this happening. Carson was significantly more popular than her, not that she minded. She preferred not being noticed. Why would she be anyway? She wasn't apart of any special sport or clique. She didn't go to school in fabulous clothes and heels, she put effort into her outfits but, not a lot. Just enough to blend in. She also didn't engage in drama or have relationships.

The school population was too big for her to be well-known without reason. Her main best friend was Carson and she had the occasional acquaintance in each of her classes, but that was good enough for her.

Avery's thoughts drowned out the noisy hallway as she made her way to her locker. Classes were about to start, so the corridors were crowded with the hustle and bustle of students. During this time it was expected to brush a couple of shoulders here and there with different students, but what she didn't expect was to roughly bump into another person.

This snapped her out of her mind and her body switched off its autopilot as she looked up at the taller girl in front of her. When the realization set in that the person looking down at her with a scowl on her face was none other than Alex Rivers surrounded by her small group of very intimidating friends, her body tensed.

"Can you watch where you're going?" Alex glared. Avery was struggling to find her voice and her eyes shifted from the floor and back to brunette, nervously.

"Cat got your tongue?" Alex smirked at the shorter girl's silence. Her smirk was soon replaced with disgust when Avery opened her mouth to respond, but let out a sneeze instead.

On her.

On Alex.

When Avery looked back up and noticed what she had just done, she froze.

She got spit on Alex Rivers in front of a whole crowd of students who had stopped to observe the altercation.

So much for not dying.