Where Life Takes Us

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

W A D E

The entire school year had flown by almost instantly, especially the past few months. Before I knew, it was almost June, precisely one week before my sophomore year was about to end. Since it was days before the school year ended, you could tell how excited students and teachers were for summer vacation.

Another thing that I somehow discovered but never really admitted out loud was how much my bond with Avery had grown. At first, we weren't as close to one another as we were with our own friends; suddenly, everything changed in the blink of an eye. I found myself beside her more frequently and the fact that we began spending time with each other even outside of school only strengthened our bond.

...

"Have a nice day," Avery timidly smiled at the frail old lady, handing over her bag of purchases. As soon as the elderly woman exited out the door, Avery turned to face me, her eyebrows raised in amusement. "Wade, that's not where those shoes go."

It was only two weeks after Avery and I were at the mall to help Mel and Joey with their prom outfits. Long story short, they were both surprisingly pleased with how their outfits coordinated with each other, thanks to a helpful tip from Avery. They undoubtedly savoured one of the biggest moments of their high school years at prom together, especially with them heading to college.

Because I was headed to Joey's place later that day after school, I thought I would schedule myself working at a nearby thrift store in Rochester for my community service hours. I wasn't expecting anyone else there that I would know, so it was unusual to discover that Avery was also at the same cramped thrift store for her community hours as well.

Since the both of us were the only volunteers there, Avery was the one working the cash register and I reorganized items displayed around shelves, while the manager was temporarily handling something down the street.

"I'm putting them with the kids' shoes, where else would they belong?" I confusingly shot back, furrowing my eyebrows as I held the pair of neon pink sneakers, slightly bedazzled with glitter.

Avery walked away from the cash register and over to me, when she held out her hand as if to hand the pair of sneakers to her. I was still bewildered when I handed her the shoes, until she placed the shoes with the pile for grown women. "This is where they should be."

"How?" I questioned, still as puzzled as ever because they clearly seemed as if they were made for young girls. "It's neon pink and has glitter over them."

"Wade, it's a size ten for women," Avery stated, grabbing the shoes and flipping them upside down to show me the shoes' size. As she placed the shoes into the pile once again, I was more than surprised to see Avery place her hands on her hips, with a teasing grin on her face as she faced me. "At least I know what I'm doing unlike someone."

I shook my head, a smirk plastered on my face. "At least I didn't come here and follow someone to do their volunteer hours unlike someone."

She jokingly scoffed, heading back to the register and fidgeting with the ends of her braid. "You're full of yourself if you really think that, Wade Bradley."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Avery Mitchell. I wasn't aware that having various thoughts meant that I'm full of myself," I teasingly apologized, trailing behind her. "You don't even need to be at the register if there aren't any customers!"

"I can do anything I want because this is a free country," Avery stated, as a matter of fact. Her hands were on the counter's surface for support, while she leaned forward towards me.