Tradition Comes Third

Late Night

Author's Note: Sorry it took me awhile to update! I worked three jobs this week and literally have had no time to write. Hope you enjoy!

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 My lips were spread into a wide smile when Ava pulled away from me. She hooked her finger in her hair tie, and let her blonde hair spill down her back. She pulled my shirt tighter around her body. She crossed her legs, and I saw her dress raise up and exposed more of her thighs. She saw me staring at her legs, and I looked down at my fingers.

"Can I ask you more about your family?" she asked.

"What do you want to know?" I asked. "I don't know much, and my mom has told that most of what people say is wrong."

"So your grandfather didn't kidnap girls?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "My mom says that he kidnapped my Aunt Carrie."

"You think she's your aunt?"

"That's what my mom always calls her. She says they were like sisters before Tommy killed her."

"That's interesting."

I looked over at her clock to see that it was almost midnight. I cleared my throat and rubbed my hands on my jeans. The sweat was building up in my palms.

"I should get going," I told her. "It's getting late."

Ava giggled and put her hand on top of mine.

"It's not even tomorrow yet," she said. "Is your friend still at that party?"

"I'm not sure." I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Adrian.

I couldn't leave until I knew where Adrian was. I couldn't try to sneak home in the middle of the night. Mom would interrogate me about why I did not spend the night at Adrian's.

"Stay," Ava said. "You're the only interesting person I've met since I moved to this town."

"I can't like stay the night," I told her.

She rolled her blue eyes at me.

"My Aunt will be knocked out all night, and she work early in the morning. She'll never know you're here."

"But like -."

"Hunter, don't worry," she cut me off. "I'm not going to make some crazy move on and steal your innocence."

I let out a nervous chuckle. Ava leaned in and gave me peck on the cheek before getting up off of the bed. She walked over to her dresser and opened up one of the drawers.

"I would offer you something to wear, but I doubt the rest of my clothes would fit you," she said.

She pulled out a few pieces of clothes and set them on top of her dresser. She grabbed the hem of her dress and began to pull it up. I looked down at my knees and squeezed my eyes shut. Who was this girl? Who just gets changed in front of a stranger?

I felt the bed dip, and her hand was on my arm. I looked over at her to see that she had a large T-shirt on, and a pair of shorts. She had tied her her back up into a bun, and many of the pieces had already begun to fall out.

"You're so nervous," she said. "It's adorable. Lie down."

I looked over my shoulder at the stack of pillows she had at the head of her bed. I pushed myself back so that my head was resting on one of the pillows. I wiggled over so that she would have room to lie down beside me. She slid her arm over my stomach and rested her head on my chest. My breath caught in my throat. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do in this kind of situation. I raised my shaky hand and placed it on her back. The movie she had put in earlier was still playing on the television.

"Why did you move here?" I asked her.

"I had to move in with my aunt. My mom had died," she said.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. We weren't very close, and she was sick for a very long time."

Ava nuzzled herself into my chest. My heart started beating faster, and I was sure she could hear it.

"When does your Dad get out of prison?" she asked.

"Wednesday," I said.

Her head popped off of my chest and her eyes were wide.

"Your Dad is getting out on Wednesday?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's what my mom said."

"How do you feel about that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't visited him in a few years. I just hope he doesn't bother me too much or try to boss me around. Like, he can't come back into my life and try to take complete control."

"Do you think he'll want to move you guys out to a farm?"

"I hope not," I said. "I'll be gone to university anyways."

The movie ended and the credits began to roll on the screen. Ava groaned and rolled out of the bed. She turned off the movie.

"Give me your glasses," she said.

I pulled my glasses off of my face, and handed them over. I squinted as I watched her blurry body set them down on her nightstand, and then walk over to her lightswitch. The room went dark, and I listened to her footsteps as she walked back over. She crawled into bed, and settled herself in next to me.

Ava's breathing became deep and rhythmic. I tried my best not to move so that I didn't wake her up. I was awake for awhile before I managed to fall asleep.

--

There was music playing when my eyes fluttered open. Ava had her windows wide open, and the sunshine was flooding in. Ava was sitting in front of her mirror. She had her make-up spread out in front of her. Her hair was braided, and she had on a pair of jeans covered in rips, and a blue tank top. She had music playing from her phone.

"Good morning," she said when she saw that I was awake.

"Morning," I mumbled.

I reached out for my phone, and saw that I had a string of messages from Adrian asking where I was. I sat up and combed my fingers through my hair. I sent him a message asking him to call me later.

"Is your aunt gone?" I asked. "I should get going."

"Yeah. She's at work," she said. "Just give me a few minutes. I'm heading to the library anyways."

My phone buzzed. It was Adrian:

Where the hell are you?

I answered:

I'm at a girl's house. I'll be at your place in 30 minutes.

I sat on the edge of the bed and yawned. Ava chuckled while she finished her eyeliner. She turned around to face me and smiled.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did. How about you?"

She nodded her head, and her smile grew larger. Ava laced her fingers through mine and I got up off of the bed. I followed her as she pulled me out of the house.

"Let me see your phone," she said. I handed her my phone and she entered in her phone number. "Can we hang out again soon?"

"Of course." My face lifted into a smile.

Ava leaned up and pressed her lips against mine. I could taste her lip gloss and the smell of her perfume filled my nose.

I walked to Adrian's with a smile.