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Chapter 17: Les Conséquences

Avery had had to be removed from her position on the floor of the school hallways, where she sat and stared at the tiles. She had run out of tears to cry and the only thing that came out was the occasional hiccup. The bell had long rung and the corridors were so silent and empty, she could hear a pin drop.

She had heard the approaching footsteps after the second bell had rung, but did nothing to fight off the hands that carried her to the nurse's office.

And there she sat, Alex to one side and Jason to the next. Her hair was wild from previously running her hands through them and her stare was blank. It was like she had shut down completely and was almost unresponsive to what was happening around her.

"Do either of you two know her personally?" the nurse asked, words drawn out and tone uncaring like she had done this millions of times before.

"I do," Alex spoke up. Her fingers were itching to intertwine themselves with Avery's but she didn't know how the shorter girl would feel about the public display affection, especially in her state.

"Does she have any sicknesses or illnesses I should know about?" the woman looked up over her clipboard, a bored expression adorned on her features.

"She has General Anxiety disorder, but she's taking Zoloft for it."

The nurse scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to the brunette, not giving the curly-haired girl on the bed a second glance. She pointed to the nurse's pass now in Alex's hand, "Here, take her home."

"That's it? Is that even allowed? Shouldn't you do something like give her a check-up? See what's wrong?" Alex asked, voice raising as she clutched the note in her hand.

The grown woman turned her head to face the brunette on her way out to another section of the office, "Since when do you care about what's allowed, Alex Rivers?"

****

"I can't believe he would do that to her," Alex gritted out as she gripped the steering wheel tighter. Jason only shook his head in the passenger seat, eyes focused on the road ahead. The brunette was close to passing the speed limit due to the rage that pumped through her body.

"In front of the whole fucking school, no less. He knows she hates crowds," she continued, "We weren't even there, but yet we heard about it right after it happened. Can you imagine the emotional trauma she went through? That asshole was her rock."

Alex's eyes flitted up to the rearview mirror to get a glance at the freckled girl. Avery's eyelids were closed now, it was unknown to the brunette whether she was sleeping or whether she had just decided to tune everything out.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him," she gritted out in lowly, her knuckles were now white and her fingernails were pressed into the leather coating of the steering wheel.

"No," Jason spoke, "If you hurt him, you hurt her. He may be upset, but she still cares about him."

When Alex pulled into the Toussaint's driveway, she let out a deep sigh and turned towards her best friend in the seat next to her. "Thanks for coming with me. Could you stay in the car while I bring her up? You might give her mother a scare," she said, hinting towards Jason's intimidating nature and abundance of tattoos, "You can run the heater while I'm gone. If I take too long you can always head to my house or yours, I can pick up the car later."

The well-built young man gave a quick nod and started the car again once Alex stepped out. The tall girl walked towards the backseat and opened the door.

"Freckles," she nudged her shoulder before picking up a caramel hand and pressing it to her lips. Avery slowly opened her eyes in response.

"I'm gonna carry you into your house okay? But you have to wrap an arm around my shoulder," she said with a comforting smile, adjusting the smaller girl in her arms in preparation to carry her bridal style. Avery sluggishly followed her instructions after giving a hesitant nod. Alex was just happy she had received some type of response.

After the freckled girl was securely in her arms, she walked to the front door and used the finger of one of the hands that gripped her to rap on the door. Only a few moments later did it open to reveal a dishevelled Mrs Toussaint with flour in her coily hair. The woman had a smile on her face which had now disappeared with a gasp once she saw her daughter in Alex's arms.

"Mon Dieu! Come in, come in," she gestured hurriedly with one of her hands, using the other to open the door wider.

"She's more or less fine...physically. She had a very emotional morning," the brunette decided to fill in the doting mother who nodded in understanding.

"Would you be able to put her upstairs in her room? You look like an athletic young lady. Once you've done that, come down and let's talk. I'll put out some cookies for you."

Gently, the brunette brought the freckled girl to her bedroom upstairs. During her ascent she occasionally looked down at her face to see if she was alright, only to be met with the same blank stare. After she had opened the door, she gently placed Avery on the well-made queen-sized bed. She adjusted the covers so that the shorter girl was wrapped up underneath them, just in case she got cold and placed a small kiss to her forehead.

"I'm just gonna be downstairs, okay? I'm still here," she said in an attempt to reassure her. Avery nodded faintly in reply and mustered up enough energy to send the brunette a quick smile.

Alex gave Avery's hand one last quick squeeze before she headed down the stairs, making sure to leave the bedroom door ajar.

"What happened?" Mrs Toussaint's concerned voice sounded from the kitchen once she heard the tall girl's footsteps approach her. She exited soon afterwards with a tray of cookies in her hand and placed them on a small round table. Using her hand, she gestured for Alex to sit across from her, only the white glass table separating the pair.

"Oh I almost forgot, would you like something to drink? Avery usually has her cookies with milk. Should I get you the same?"

The brunette shook her head and stopped herself before Mrs Toussaint could notice. Where were her manners? "No, thank you. Water should be fine, please."

Soon enough, the ebony woman returned with a glass water and placed it on the table. She folded her arms expectedly on her lap and looked at Alex, waiting for her to reveal the details of the morning's occurrence.

"I wasn't there to see it all go down, but she and Carson had a very public... falling out. He told her off a bit and the school turned against her. Armani's the golden boy, so of course, the school population would rally behind him. I guess it was too much for Avery to handle and I found her on the floor in the same spot by her locker where everything happened."

Mrs Toussaint let out a deep sigh and shook her head, "She shut down. She used to do that when she was younger. All the emotions are too overwhelming and so her brain finds a way to protect her. It's like she dissociates." When she saw the concerned look on Alex's face as she twiddled with her thumbs she continued, "It doesn't last long, don't worry. Normally it takes about an hour or two for her to be back. It happens with the anxiety; it's a way for her to cope."

When the brunette didn't comment, the woman pondered to herself, "Those two are as thick as thieves. I wonder what could have happened between them to cause this."

Alex had to bite her tongue before she spewed some indecent choice words about Carson, so she took a deep breath in. "You'd have to ask Avery about that, madame."

An awkward silence settled quickly between them and the tall girl was itching to get up and check on Avery. Mrs Toussaint stared at the glass table and Alex instinctively bit into a chocolate chip cookie.

"This is very good," Alex complimented in an attempt to ease the tension. The grown woman nodded in acknowledgement.

"I think you make her very happy," she said silently, almost in a whisper. If Alex was a bit more distracted, she doubted she would have even heard the words that left her mouth.

"I hope so. She deserves happiness."

"I think so too," Mrs Toussaint paused before deciding to address the elephant in the room, despite Alex's not knowing that there was one. "Yesterday she told me she likes you. I don't think she meant to say it so I didn't comment on it. But tell me, are you in a romantic or platonic relationship with my daughter?"

Alex shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes darting to the corners of the room. This was not the conversation she thought she would have been having at this moment. She knew she couldn't say the whole 'you'd have to ask Avery' thing again. That would leave Avery's mother feeling annoyed and she could be rather intimidating.

"I mean..." she trailed off, not knowing how to answer. "Things are very new."

"Things are new, but the feelings are not," Mrs Toussaint chimed in intuitively. The brunette only nodded. "I guess I should allow her to come out to me and her father first before I ask any more questions. I just hope she trusts us enough."

"I'm sure she will."

"What was it like when you came out to your parents?" the woman asked, leaning forward with interest. Her eyes went wide before she tried to correct herself. "If you came out to your parents." Her eyes went even wider, "Mon Dieu, if you even have parents."

Alex was left chuckling lightly at Mrs Toussaint's fumbling, it reminded her so much of her freckled girl. She could tell that the woman wasn't used to conversations like these. "Yes, I have parents," she reaffirmed, "My mom handled it pretty well when I came out, but my dad didn't. So he left. The reality of having a daughter who's a lesbian was too surreal for him to hang around his family, so he bounced."

"I'm sorry to hear."

"Yeah well, we don't really miss him much and for the past two years my mom has been in a way happier marriage."

"Hm," she hummed in thought. "Phillipe is pretty openminded, so there won't be any problems there. In regards to Avery shutting down, I might have to call Dr Rosenburg and ask him to move up their next appointment."

"Sounds like Avery is in good hands then," Alex said with a smile, finally feeling like she could breathe again once she knew that her Freckles would be okay.