A Beautiful Fate (5 page)

“So Ava, other than the incident with your toe this morning, how is your first day treating you?”

Oh, pure wow
, he said my name.

“Um, fine I guess. I’m sorry again about waking you.”

“It’s fine...don’t worry about it.” He ran his hand through his hair and gave me another crooked smile. He walked away towards class but not before I heard him hum the tune of the song I was singing this morning in my room while I got ready for class. My cheeks burned white hot with embarrassment.

Since everyone one else had already been paired up, I was not given a chem partner, but I was okay with that. I had scanned the text the day before and had seen that I had already covered most of the material the previous year. A partner would only slow me down.

The rest of the day went smoothly. DPI is a paperless school, and is intent upon reducing the world’s carbon footprint, so all notes have to be taken on a laptop and all quizzes and tests are done online. I found myself liking the system and was thankful that I had saved money the year before to buy a MacBook. Without it I would have been screwed.

I had been looking forward to independent gym– a whole hour to work on my own at what I loved best – running. I got a little turned around by the campus and arrived late, but no matter. I was free to move at my own speed in the class and do whatever I liked. I checked in with a gym coach, Coach Zellie, and I threw my ear buds in and walked towards the track. I saw Ari leaning against the rail talking to Rory. They were laughing about something and then they hugged and Ari gave Rory a pat on the back.

I did my best to ignore them as I walked passed. Rory, of course, would not allow that to happen. I heard him shout my name with his booming voice and I pulled my buds back out, turned around and shot them both a quick smile.

“Hey Ava, how’s it going?” Rory asked, seeming genuinely interested.

“It’s good,” I said, trying to answer briefly and move on quickly, but he wasn’t letting me off the hook that easily.

“I looked for you at lunch,” he said with a small frown.

“Oh, yeah, lunch. Um, I had some things to get caught up on,” I said, offering the lamest of excuses and taking another step toward to the track.

“Ari, this is the girl I was just telling you about. Have you met Ava?”

“Uh,” he stammered a bit, “yeah, I have. Nice to see you again, Ava.”

I nodded and tried to walk on to the track, but Rory spoke up again.

“Ari, you have got to see Ava run man; I’m telling you, I have never seen anything like it.”

“Oh yeah?” Ari said with a megawatt smile and the tummy thing happened again. “I’ll have to take your word for it, Roar; gotta get going.” He looked down at his watch and left without saying another word.

Rory must have noticed my disappointment even though I tried like hell to hide it. Having Ari watch me run would only have made me feel stupid anyway. My worry was about the way I felt around him, about how the sight of him filled my insides with butterflies and then made them do little flips...and how my palms got sticky and my heart picked up the pace. I didn’t even really know him and yet, more than anything, I wanted to go to him and find comfort in his arms. I had never felt that way about anyone and I had no clue how to handle my confusion. My first thought was call mom – then I could dish on all the details and get her advice. The impossibility of doing so stabbed me suddenly and I bit back tears as I said a quick goodbye to Rory and set off down the track. I played
The Xx
’s as loud as my eardrums would allow.

The rest of my first week at DPI passed by in a blur – I arrived only a few weeks in to the first semester so I was not too terribly behind the rest of the students. I got used to my classes in no time and quickly caught up on most of my classwork. I had decided not to show my face in the horrible lunchroom; instead, I packed my book bag with granola bars and kept a bottle of water handy. Dinner in the cafeteria is mandatory at DPI, as it is at most boarding schools. Because board is paid as part of tuition, the school monitors students who consistently don’t show up for meals so that parents can know their money is being used appropriately. But I made sure to arrange to go with Rory or Emily whenever I could. Both of them knew just about everybody and I felt more at ease having them near me.

Evenings were hard. I hated sitting alone in my dorm. My mind invariably drifted to thoughts of my mother. So I used the commons area for reading and then began to spend as much time as possible in the library.

Mia and I were still having a hard time reaching each other by phone. She tried calling me as soon as she got out of school but I was still in class at that hour. Then I tried calling her as soon as I was done with classes, but she was already at work by then. Next, she started calling me from the “L” on her way home at night – at that hour I am actually in the dorm. Finally, a time match!

“So Ava, how’s it going, are you hanging in there?”

“It’s fine, I guess. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too; nothing is the same here without you.”

Mia was careful not to bring up my mother. I think she felt uncomfortable to talk about a subject that made me so sad, and really I wasn’t eager to talk about Mom either. I could not stop the tears that flooded my eyes and my voice...

“Have you met anybody yet? Tell me about some of the people there.”

“They are all actually really nice, aside from a couple of snotty rich girls. You would love my suite mate Emily; you two are exactly alike. I hang out with her and her friends sometimes. I met this guy Rory. He’s great. He showed me around the campus and the town.”

“And?” she said, drawing the word out a little longer than necessary.

“And nothing, that’s it.”

“Oh, Ava please; it sounds like he likes you. Is he hot?”

“He is hot, actually, but I don’t like him like that.”

“Bummer, are there any other guys?”

“Of course, Mia; I live in a co-ed dorm.”

“Whatever, Ava; you know what I mean.”

“I dunno… there is one guy, he lives right next door. He is absolutely gorgeous...and nice, too.” I whispered into the phone, remembering the thin wall Ari and I shared.

Mia squealed, which is rare for her. “Details! Now!”

“I just gave you details. That’s it. He could have any girl he wanted. I’m me, so there’s no chance in hell he’ll give me a second thought.”

“Ava,” Mia sighed, “you don’t see yourself clearly. You are drop-dead gorgeous and the most intelligent person I have ever met. Honestly, you are probably too good for him.”

“So what about you?” I said, changing the subject. “Any new guys in your life?” This question could keep Mia busy for hours.

“Well, yes, actually there is. Oh, my gosh, Ava, he is so perfect. His name is Jack; he is super cute and funny. We’re just texting right now but I think it may go somewhere. He’s friends with a guy I work with, but he came in one night just to see me!”

“Aw, Mia that’s great. I am happy to hear it.”

“Thanks! I haven’t told you my good news yet.”

“You mean Jack isn’t your good news?”

“Not this time! My mom got me a plane ticket for my birthday to come see you!”

I actually screamed in to the phone. “No way!”

“Way! Figure out a good weekend and let me know. Mom says I can miss only one day of school, so make it count.”

I was smiling into the phone. This was the best news I had had in weeks. Mia hung up to attend to a new flirty text from Jack that needed her full concentration and I had studying to do. But the good news stayed with me, front and center in my brain.

On Thursday night, I headed back to the dorm later than usual from the library. When I got off the elevator, I found the commons was packed full of people and music was blaring from the speakers. Emily bounced up to me and linked her arm through mine. “Where have you been? It’s Thursday! Remember our party?” I unhooked my arm from hers and took a step back.

I had completely forgotten that our floor partied on Thursday nights. I didn’t really care about the parties, but they would help keep me pre-occupied. I apologized to Emily and promised that I would be out as soon as I took a shower and changed. One quick glance at the people already in the commons had told me my jeans and shirt wouldn’t cut it. I took a fast shower and opted for one of Margaux’s more casual, shorter dresses – navy with a little white bird print. The dress was perfect with my favorite pair of flats. I spent a little more time than usual putting on makeup and then finally came back out of my room.

Emily was talking with some of the girls from the floor; I walked over to join them. They were planning a group-shopping trip to Los Angeles for Friday and since I had no homework and no home to go to, I agreed to tag along. One of Margaux’s largest stores is in L.A. and she had told me I was welcome to go there any time to shop with her. I sent her a quick text letting her know I would be in on Friday with friends. She actually texted me back staying that would be great. Every time Margaux had come to Chicago, she had insisted on taking Mia and me to
baio
for a girls’ day out. I always suspected she planned the girls’ day because she really likes Mia. Mia worships Margaux’s every move, and if there is one thing Margaux loves, it is flattery.

The party was picking up. I tried as hard as I could not to care about Ari. I refrained as long as humanly possible from looking around the room for him. As soon as the shopping plans had been made and our conversation died down, I allowed myself one quick glance around the room. I saw him right away leaning against the back wall, looking as good as ever, but this time he had a girl hanging from his arm saying something in his ear. The girl was tall and skinny and she had jet-black hair that came to a sharp angle right at her jaw line. It was perfectly straight without a hair out of place. She had dark eyes but pale, crystal-clear skin and big, full, naturally red lips. She was perfect for him and my heart came crashing down to earth in a million little pieces.

Ari noticed me looking and I was extremely thankful that at that very moment Rory came up to steal my attention away.

“Having fun?” He asked, holding a beer in his hand.

“Yeah, sure, I guess,” I answered somewhat honestly. This party wasn’t the most fun I had ever had but it beat wallowing in a pool of my own tears.

“Oh, come on, this is great; here let me get you a drink.”

“No, no thank you, I don’t drink.” I said, looking around and noticing that I was one of the very few people not drinking at the party.

Rory continued talking to me and I listened for a bit and then zoned out. I felt like a jerk for not listening, for not being as good a friend to him as he had been to me, but I couldn’t help being seriously bummed out. After a bit, I excused myself from the group and started walking back to my room. I allowed myself one more glance at Ari, but he was nowhere in sight and neither was his pretty friend.

I went back to my room, put on a tank top and a pair of boxers to sleep in, and crashed hard. I quickly found myself back in a nightmare. This time I was in the dimly lit hospital, a nice reprieve from reliving my mother’s death. I walked the halls and listened to the cries of all the people behind the doors. I did my best to drown out the insults some of the people were throwing at me and through the din, I heard someone calling my name, not in a begging way, but just saying it to get my attention. I stopped at the door and read a name that I did not recognize, Maya Xenos. I could hear her in there calling to me. I could hear monitors beeping in the background.

I hesitated for a long moment. I nearly turned to walk away until I heard a quiet “please” call out to me from the other side of the door. I turned back and opened the door out of curiosity. In the room, I found a tired, lovely older woman sitting up in bed. She looked incredibly ill. She was defying an obvious need to be lying down, her eyes were shrouded in dark circles and her skin seemed too loose for her frame. Her face lit up when I walked in and that surprised me a bit. This woman was not recognizable to me, but she clearly knew exactly who I was. She beckoned me forward; I took a few steps, and then stopped, standing at the side of her bed.

She held me in a long hug. When she finally spoke, her words were quiet and breathless. She asked me to help her, to save her and allow her more time. She motioned to a little boy, who could not have been more than two years old, curled up on the bed next to her, asleep. I looked around the room and it was far different from the room Perry was in when he visited my hospital nightmare. The room was old, but still beautiful. The walls were made out of large stones and were accented by charming, handcrafted furniture. There was a window that peered out into a garden, but my mind would not allow me to focus on anything beyond the garden.

The little boy was darling, his cheeks chubby and round and his little fingers were so delicate. The backs of his hands had little round dimples for knuckles. I had an unbelievable urge to scoop him up, hold him to me tight and kiss his little, creased forehead. I looked back at Maya, not understanding what she was saying or what she meant. I could tell that she was dying, and I gathered that she was the only person the little boy had left. Maya gestured to a clock. It showed the year, month, day, hour, minute and second. It was off by an hour. I looked back at her puzzled.