Darkest Secrets [Avery]

It was late afternoon, and Avery was already exhausted and completely ready to plop down onto his queen size bed covered in fluffy pillows. He had picked up a shift at the shop today, deciding that it was better to make the money than go to class. It wasn’t like it really mattered though. Two of his teachers were out today meaning the only thing the substitutes had to do was put the movie in and press play. Whew, a lot of learning there, let me tell ya. Besides, Avery’s savings account was almost up to $5000, still not nearly enough to get the hell out of Midnight Harbour.

Avery wiped the sweat off of his forehead, realizing a little too late that he probably had grease on his jumpsuit sleeve. ”Lovely,” he said aloud as he headed through downtown. Eh, it was whatever. It wasn’t like he was trying to impress anyone. Not many people bugged him anymore. After the fifth time of trying to get close to him, they must have realized he wasn’t interested. Or maybe he was but knew it wasn’t a good idea. A life that Avery was still trying to get used to. A life of solitude.

Avery cut in front of a fire hydrant, glanced both ways, and crossed the street to wait by the bus stop, which he did fairly often when he just didn’t feel like walking the rest of the way home when he worked at the car shop. No one was usually there this late in the afternoon, but today was a bit different. There she sat, a brunette who blew smoke from her mouth, allowing for a white cloud of fog to seep into the air around them. Avery cleared his throat as he approached, the scent of the cigarette fumes itching at the back of his throat. He stood by the empty end of the bench, digging his hands into his gray jumpsuit pockets. The bus probably wouldn’t take too long to get there. It was already 5:50. No more than a few minutes, Avery thought, glancing down at the girl. She looked to be having a bad day which wasn’t an inference only made because of the cigarette that she held between her fingers. This girl looked rough.