“Fine. For that, I will sacrifice my manly dignity and suffer through some of the sappiest movies ever made.”
Wow. There was no end to how much the nerds continued to surprise me. Owen, either, for that matter. He was staring at Libby like she was an unsolvable equation.
“There,” I said, turning my attention back to Avery. “Libby’s all taken care of.”
“Yeah, sounds like she’ll be in good hands.” Owen snickered.
Libby grinned at Owen. “If you’d rather I be in your big, strong, capable hands instead, that can definitely be arranged. I wouldn’t need Ryan to get me hot with you sitting next to me.”
The nerds all snickered, as if this statement didn’t shock them at all, but Pamela and Chloe gasped. Owen floundered for a moment and then snorted. “You are insane if you think I am ever going on a date with you.”
Libby rolled her eyes. “Your loss. I happen to have the spirit of a wildcat. I could take you places sexually you never knew existed.”
This time even the nerds gasped.
“Libby!” Avery cried.
“What? When a girl knows what she wants, she should go for it.” Libby waved a hand at Owen. “Look at those abs! Libby definitely wants.” She glanced up at Owen. “Can I feel them?”
“What?”
Libby didn’t give Owen the chance to say no.
Owen was too shocked to stop her as she placed her hand on his chest and slowly dragged it down his six-pack. She let out this tiny squeak of excitement, which sent Owen scrambling from the hot tub so fast I wondered just how low her hand had gone.
“Whoa! Avery!” he yelled as he snatched up his towel. “Tell your crazy cat friend to stop objectifying me! I’m not a piece of meat!”
That sent Pamela and Chloe into peels of laughter. “Karma, Owen,” Chloe gasped, clutching at her stomach from laughter. “Maybe next time you start to objectify a woman you’ll think twice!”
After that, we all went back upstairs. I caught Avery’s hand and linked our fingers together before she could take off ahead of me. “So?” I asked her. “You never gave me an answer. Will you go to the dance with me?”
“I’m sorry, Grayson, but I don’t think I’m up for a Valentine’s dance this year. Actually, I’m quite positive I want to forget the holiday entirely.”
I was surprised she turned me down. She’d seemed okay all night. This was the first sign that she was struggling with what happened.
“You sure?” I asked. “I think we could have some fun despite everything with Aiden.”
“I’m sure. Sorry. But I know you won’t have a problem finding another date.”
Sure. If I wanted another date. Which I didn’t.
That was the beginning of an endless string of rejections from Avery. She didn’t go to the dance with me. I tried several more times that week to get her to say yes and then just ended up going stag. On the actual day of February fourteenth, she wouldn’t even answer any of my texts.
After that, she stopped coming to my basketball games and said no to hanging out on the weekends no matter what I suggested we do. Pulling the experiment card didn’t even work anymore.
I’d never been more frustrated in my entire life. I got that she’d been through a lot and that she was trying to cope, but I was losing my patience. I could deal with her stupid mood swings and insecurity when she was trying to get past them, but she wasn’t trying anymore. As adorable as I thought the girl was, her wallowing in self-pity was not attractive. Nor was it any fun to be around.
By March, I was so fed up I just stopped trying. For two weeks, I didn’t see or talk to Avery outside of lunch and science club. I had way too much else on my plate anyway. The basketball team had made it all the way to the state championships, so we were holding extra practices. It was also the last week of third term, so all of my classes had major tests that week. It was a cruel twist of fate, really, and it left me absolutely no time or desire to deal with a mopey, depressed, cranky Avery. Especially not when she didn’t want to hang out with me anyway.
I didn’t really have time to think about Avery’s current stage of grief. Depression was something I’d never understood. Anger and guilt made sense, but I’d never felt depression. I didn’t get how someone could just be sad all the time.
I figured that when Avery was ready to get over it, she would. It didn’t occur to me that she might be unable to pull herself out of it until her mom came to my house the morning after the state championship.
We’d lost the game, which was okay—second in the state is still awesome—but it was one of the biggest games of my life, and Avery had blown me off when I asked her to come. I honestly wasn’t in the best mood that morning, and seeing Kaitlin sitting at my breakfast table only reminded me how much Avery’s brush-off had hurt.
Kaitlin and my mom had made up, but she was still really mad at Aiden, so she hadn’t been to the house as much.
I looked around for my mom, but there was nobody home.
“Morning, Kaitlin,” I muttered awkwardly as I went in search of some juice.
“Afternoon,” she corrected. There was a nervousness about her that didn’t make sense.
“What’s up? Where is everyone?”
“Your parents went to Home Depot. Something about re-tiling the upstairs bathroom?”
I rolled my eyes. My parents were obsessed with remodeling. Real Do-It-Yourselfers. A strange hobby, if you ask me, when they could afford to hire someone to do it for them.
“I haven’t seen Aiden,” she added.
Not surprising. “Not many do these days. He’s been pretty pathetic since Avery’s birthday.”
Kaitlin suddenly sent me a desperate look. “I actually came to see you. I’m really worried about Avery.”
“Don’t know what I can do to help,” I grumbled.
Kaitlin’s face fell in disappointment. “I know you’re frustrated, but try not to be too upset with her. Please. I need your help, Grayson.”
She had my attention instantly. She’d been walked out on by her husband when Avery was four. She’d become quite the independent woman since then. Asking for help was something Kaitlin Shaw did not do.
“I know she’s been sad and a little depressed lately, but I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“It’s more than a little,” Kaitlin whispered. “She sleeps most of the day. She’s losing weight because she’s not eating. She failed her math test this week. Failed! Avery! Several of her teachers have called me, concerned about her. I tried to ask her about it, but she won’t talk to me.”
Kaitlin started to cry. “I think Avery has a serious problem. Libby’s been over a couple times, but nothing seems to work.”
I could hardly believe what Kaitlin was telling me. I’d known Avery was having a hard time, but none of that sounded like her. I couldn’t imagine a world where Avery Shaw failed a test and blew off Libby. I knew she was blowing me off, but I figured that was just because of Aiden. It’s what she did when she felt guilty. I suddenly felt awful for giving up on her.
Kaitlin’s hand came down on top of mine. She was shaking. “Grayson,” she whispered. “Please.”
I was shocked at the swarm of emotions that swept through me right then. I think that one word caused me to go through my own stages of grief all at once. Shock, anger, depression, frustration, and even grim resignation overwhelmed me in mere seconds.
“I tried,” I said. “I tried everything I could think of, but I can’t help her. You should talk to Aiden.” My voice dripped with bitterness.
Kaitlin gave me a heartbroken smile. “Don’t give up on her now. She needs you.”
It actually hurt to hear her say that. It hurt because I wanted it to be true, but it just wasn’t. “She doesn’t want my help! She wants Aiden! She’s always wanted Aiden!” I took a breath. I shouldn’t be yelling at Kaitlin. None of this was her fault.