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Chapter 14: La Connasse

The start of the school week had Avery's head in a frenzy. So many things had changed and she felt anxious as she walked down the hallway to her locker. She had to avoid Sam who, like Alex and the others, was popular and it proved not to be an easy feat. Plus, she and Alex had recently kissed and Avery had no idea where it left them in regards to their friendship, but she knew she still had to keep it a secret from Carson who had now become increasingly overprotective.

Maybe she was being irrational, keeping it from him? She wished nothing more than to gush to her best friend about her first kiss but found herself unable to and it was her own fault. What had started out to be simply an omission of information had now become a web of lies and fabricated stories including the events from the weekend. One might recall that Avery was not the best at planning things out and frankly, the fact came to bite her in the ass.

"Hey," a voice sounded next to Avery's ear. Avery reluctantly looked over, anticipating it to be one of the many people she was trying to avoid. She figured that maybe if she just evaded Sam, Kaden, Jason, Alex and Carson everything would be okay...temporarily. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she saw that the person walking next to her was only Marigold.

"Hey."

"I just wanted to thank you for talking to Carson," Marigold smiled warmly at the freckled girl. When she took notice of her confused expression, she elaborated, "Carson asked me out over the weekend. I've liked him for a while now and I know that he wouldn't have made a move without asking for your blessing. So, thank you."

"Oh," Avery replied simply as she stopped in front of her locker, causing the redhead to do the same. "I think you guys would be good for each other," she added with a shaky smile, trying to push away the negative thoughts that came forth as she said those words. Her subconscious was trying to remind her that when Carson finds out she's been lying to him, Marigold will be her replacement. She could only attempt to postpone that future as far as possible.

The athletic redhead placed a hand on her shoulder, evoking a startled jump from the freckled girl. If Marigold had noticed her strange reaction, she didn't show it as her face turned serious, "I just want you to know that I don't hold it against you, the way you treated me. I understand that you're just looking out for your best friend."

Avery frowned. Maybe she was just paranoid because of what's happening in her life, but Marigold's words seemed almost accusatory. Like she did hold it against her. If she hadn't then she wouldn't have brought it up, right?

She plastered on a smile. "Carson and I always have each other's back. It's what we do."

Marigold patted the shoulder that her hand still rested on and smiled brightly once more, "I've gotta go. I'll see you at lunch."

After she waved goodbye to Marigold, Avery quickly put the books she needed into her backpack and closed her locker once she remembered that Carson was her locker neighbour. It would explain why Marigold knew where to find her. The redhead's locker was nowhere close to that area and she had never shown any real interest in Avery anyway. That was most likely the freckled girl's own fault. Not only did she screw up her chances with her current best friend, but she screwed up her chance at making a new one too.

Avery pulled her sweater's hoodie over her head and drew its drawstrings, tightening it around her face. She just wanted to disappear at the moment. She had become less and less of a wallflower lately and wished she could just revert to the way her life was before. Everything was so complicated now. Before, the most she had to worry about was homework, whether her mom was baking cookies, whether she brought her umbrella with her as to not get caught in the rain and avoiding anxiety attacks. She wasn't built for drama.

Her first class of the morning was Physics and she briskly walked towards the direction of the designated classroom. Her path was constantly obstructed by the many students who attended her school and so she found herself winding and swerving to get around them, occasionally brushing shoulders with one or two people.

While rushing to her classroom she bumped into a soft chest, head-on. The coconut smell that enveloped her was a telltale sign as to who it was and she felt her heart rate spike. She shoved her hands in her pockets and ducked her head down, attempting to sidestep Alex. Before she could walk away, the brunette grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Freckles," she called to her, but Avery remained silent and looked to the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Alex tried again, "Freckles."

The taller girl was surprised and though she hated to admit it, kind of hurt. She had always been the one to ghost the girls she hooked up with but never had she herself been ghosted. Especially by someone she had actual feelings for and hadn't even hooked up with.

"I have to get to class," Avery mumbled under her breath, trying to pry herself from Alex's grasp. She didn't want to but she felt like she had to. Being around Alex now made her feel guilty and reminded her of her current situation with Carson; the fact that she was lying to him. Her attempts were to no avail as the brunette kept an iron grip on her arm, firm enough to keep her rooted in the spot but gentle enough not to hurt her. For a brief second, Avery's mind wandered to what Alex possibly does to get so strong before snapping herself out of her thoughts.

"The bell hasn't even rung yet." Alex's voice was soft as she spoke to her. She placed her fingers under Avery's chin and loosened the drawstrings before tilting the shorter girl's head upwards, forcing her to look her in the eyes. She didn't know if she should bring up the fact that Avery was blatantly avoiding her and hadn't responded to her messages since the day everything happened, but it was bothering her.

Using her free hand, Avery swatted away Alex's hand from her chin once she noticed that other students had stopped to view their encounter. The brunette narrowed her eyes at the freckled girl who felt guilt nip at her.

"I have to go," Avery muttered quickly, trying once again to free herself. She didn't expect Alex to pull her by her arm, dragging her as she walked hastily through the hallway. Her actions drew the attention of many of the students that they passed and Avery felt as if she wanted to die, cheeks turning pink from embarrassment. It probably looked as if she was a child, about to get scolded by her mother.

Once they had reached what Avery assumed was their destination, Alex lightly pushed her, making her stumble inside an empty classroom. The taller girl stepped inside after her and locked the door.

"What are you doing?" Avery asked, voice sounding tired.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" Alex rebutted, frustration evident in her tone. When the curly-haired girl didn't respond, her eyes softened. Alex sighed deeply, deciding to cut to the chase, "Why are you avoiding me, Avery?"

The use of her actual name stung and Avery flinched. Why was she messing everything up?

"I'm not," she started and then paused, "Okay, I am."

"Did I do something wrong?" Alex took a step closer, causing Avery to take a step backwards.

"No."

"I'm finding that hard to believe," Alex deadpanned.

It was Avery's time to sigh before she confessed, "You didn't do anything wrong and that's the problem. It's me. I'm doing everything wrong." She felt her throat getting tight and stopped talking.

"I don't understand," the brunette took a step forward again, and this time Avery let her.

"I like you, Alex. If it wasn't obvious," the freckled girl confessed, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. "But now that my feelings are clear to me and after...what we did... I feel guilty. I feel guilty about lying to Carson, but I can't tell him now. He'll hate me. I feel like une connasse. I just want things to go back to normal. I don't even know if you and I are friends anymore, something more, or if that what we had was just a pity kiss." {Bitch/Shithead/Asshole}

"Trust me," Alex took another step forward, "it wasn't a pity kiss."

"It wasn't?"

Alex rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, "I feel the same way about you, actually. I have ever since you sneezed on me."

If Avery wasn't feeling so terrible at the moment, she would have teased her about the blush that twinged her ears and cheeks.

Alex continued as she took another step forward, "And remember what I told you- no matter what, you won't lose me. I don't know what to say that will ease your mind about Carson, but I want you to know that I'm here for you."

She was right, her words didn't ease her mind but they at least brought a smile to her face. She took this moment to tease her, "What happened to the bad person I used to know?"

Alex smirked down at her, "She doesn't like you very much so she tends not to be here when you are."

Avery put a hand to her chest and pouted, "I'm wounded."

The brunette used a hand to cup her cheek as they continued to banter, "Coincidentally, she had just wanted to stab you to solve the problem but I convinced her not to."

"My hero."

Alex finally brought their lips together in a tender kiss and once more, Avery felt her heart soar. It was crazy that someone could make her feel like this without doing much. The two embraced each other as they both tried to express their emotion in a way that words could not.

Tired of standing on her tiptoes to meet the taller girl halfway, Avery wrapped her arms around her neck in an attempt to pull her down further as the kiss became more passionate. Not willing to bend so far down, Alex gripped her thighs and lifted her up effortlessly before walking them over to the nearest desk. Her actions evoked a squeak from Avery which was quickly muffled by the brunette's mouth. She placed Avery on the table to sit and stood between her legs, still gently cupping them.

Avery had never done anything like this before in her life, but she loved it. Reluctantly, she pulled away from Alex to catch her breath.

"This is not how I saw my morning going," Avery joked, almost panting. Seeing her freckled friend so flushed and with swollen lips made Alex lick her lips and dip her head down, once more capturing her lips.

Suddenly, the bell rang startling Avery and bringing her to part from Alex once more.

"Merde," she clutched her chest, heart pounding. The taller girl internally groaned at their parting, wanting to bring them together once more. She bit her swollen bottom lip as she looked down at the girl in front of her who was still trying to steady her heartbeat. Avery's use of French was not helping her case.

Her hands still rested on Avery's thighs and she used them to draw the shorter girl closer. Alex's actions did nothing for Avery's quickening heart rate as she wondered to herself whether or not it was possible for someone to be so attractive. But she definitely wasn't complaining. She couldn't even wrap her head around the fact that she was seated on a desk in an empty classroom, legs wrapped around the school's bad girl after just making out with her. It was so out of character.

"Skip class with me," Alex pleaded, but her now raspy voice and natural suave made it seem more like a command.

"To do what? More of this?"

"Only if you want to, but that's not what I had in mind," the brunette's intentions weren't to sleep with her so quickly. She genuinely found Avery to be a fascinating young woman and wanted to spend more of her time with her. She was also very respectful of Avery's boundaries.

Avery looked dubious, "I don't skip class."

Alex's thumb brushed over her bottom lip before giving it a small peck. She then shifted her head to Avery's ear and whispered sending a shiver down the shorter girl's spine, "Come on Freckles."

"Okay."

Avery cursed herself for giving in so quickly. Sure their feelings were now out in the open but she didn't want to make it seem like she was thirsty for the first girl that walked past.

"Okay?" the brunette smirked.

Avery nodded, "Okay," she confirmed.

Alex stepped backwards and offered the freckled girl a helping hand in getting down from the desk. She waited patiently and observed as Avery adjusted and smoothed out her sweater, removed the hoodie from her head and fixed her hair.

"Are you ready?" she asked now that the shorter girl had finished.

"Let's go."

~~~

A/N: Much thanks to my faithful readers :).

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