The Avery Shaw Experiment (18 page)

Aiden sighed. “It’s not just that, Aves.” He raked his hands through his hair in frustration. “You’ve been so vulnerable lately.”

“Tell me he did not just say that,” Libby said.

I think it was Owen who chuckled and replied, “She’s going to tear him a new one.”

I couldn’t be bothered with the commentary. I felt my face turn red, and for the first time in my life, it wasn’t because I was blushing.

“And why might I be feeling vulnerable lately, Aiden? Whose fault would that be?” Aiden flinched. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Grayson hasn’t been trying to take advantage of me. He’s been bending over backwards to help me.”

Aiden’s hands clenched into fists. “Yeah, I saw how he was trying to help you.”

That was it. I just snapped. “You have no idea what you saw! That kiss was a dumb science experiment! Grayson agreed to be my partner for the science fair after
you
quit on me!”

“An experiment?” Aiden scoffed. “What kind of experiment would require you to kiss somebody?”

I marched over to my backpack and yanked my science journal from it. We’d turned so many things into experiments that I’d taken to carrying the book with me everywhere. Without giving it a thought, I chucked the stupid thing right at Aiden’s head.

“This one you jerk! I’m trying to find the stupid cure to a broken heart!”

My journal plastered him right in the face. He stumbled back, shocked. He picked up the book, leafed through a few pages, and then popped like a balloon—his anger completely gone.

He might have been finished yelling, but I was just getting started. “You
broke
me, Aiden! Not just my heart, but every single part of me! Grayson just happened to be there when I shattered and was kind enough to pick up the pieces. He’s been there for me every step of the way! He’s just trying to help me get over you!”

For a minute it was so silent that I think everyone in the room must have been holding their breath.

“Aves . . .” Aiden whispered in a strangled voice.

The intimacy in the way he said my name felt like another stab wound. “Don’t call me that!” I hissed. “Only people who really care about me can call me that!”

“Aves, I do care about you. You’re my best fri—”

“Don’t you dare say that! I am
not
your best friend! I have been
nothing
to you since winter break.”

“That’s not true.”

“You cut me completely out of your life! You’ve barely spoken two words to me in weeks. You made me feel guilty for trying to support you. You forced me to sit away from my friends at lunch!”

“I did not! You left with Grayson!”

“Because you were going to ask me to leave! Weren’t you!”

Aiden shrunk back like a puppy being scolded for chewing shoes.

I managed to lower my voice a little. “You couldn’t even stand to be near me. I was your best friend for seventeen years, and just like that, you got a girlfriend and forgot all about me.”

“No!” Aiden shook his head frantically. “I didn’t, Aves. That’s why I broke up with Mindy. We got in a huge fight after you came to my debate. She told me I had to choose, so I did. I chose
you
Avery.”

It was everything I’d wanted to hear since he dumped me in almost this exact spot six weeks ago. Funny how now that he’d finally said it, it didn’t make a bit of difference. “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s way too little, way, way, way too late.”

“Aves, come on. Don’t do this. I know I screwed up—I screwed up huge—but we can get past it. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you. You’re not nothing to me. You’re
everything
. I was just so close to you that I couldn’t see it.”

And finally, my anger was gone too. I was done. Probably for the rest of my life.

“That’s real sweet, Aiden,” I said in a dead voice. “But you shouldn’t have come here. I think it’s upsetting Grayson, and you’re kind of ruining my birthday party.”

Aiden sucked in a breath, no doubt recognizing those words. They were more or less the same ones he’d said to me at his debate. Now he knew what it felt like.

“I’m sorry, Aiden, but I’d like you to leave please.”

I recognized the look of a person’s heart breaking. I’d never seen it from this perspective before, but I was familiar with it enough to know that’s what was happening to Aiden right then.

He didn’t say another word to anyone. He just got up and quietly left. The moment the door shut behind him, I graduated from stage five and spiraled straight on into depression.

Grayson

I thought it would feel good
to watch Avery finally tell off my brother, only that wasn’t the case at all. In reality it sucked. He totally deserved it, and, yes, part of me was more than satisfied when she’d thrown the book at him—literally—but I knew it hurt her to do it, and
that
I didn’t like watching.

The only way to describe Avery after her fight with Aiden was tired. I’d expected one of her stress attacks. I thought she’d break into hysteric sobs the minute he left, but she just seemed exhausted. She didn’t shed a single tear. I was proud of her for that.

Her body sagged against mine, and for one long minute she buried her face in my chest, soaking up my comfort while I held her. Just about the time I expected one of her anxiety attacks to take over, she pulled her face back just far enough to look up at me and asked, “You don’t really expect me to wear that swimsuit, do you?”

I was shocked, but I felt the smile creep across my face. All this stuff we’d been doing really was helping her. There was no question. The old Avery wouldn’t have been able to deal with this, especially not with a room full of people still watching her.

“Hell yes, I do,” I answered. I’d paid good money for that swimsuit after all.

She sighed. “Fine. But if I do, will you
please
refrain from perverted comments at my expense? I know you’re not very good at that, but I seriously cannot handle it right now. I just want to go have some fun with my friends tonight, and I won’t be able to do that if you make me feel completely self-conscious.”

It was a reasonable request. I wasn’t sure I’d be capable of it, though. “I’ll try my best.”

When the girls all emerged in their swimsuits ten minutes later I about had a heart attack. Pamela was on the girl’s soccer team and Chloe was on the dance squad. I knew from personal experience exactly how in shape they were. Aside from Chloe’s lack of chest, they both had utterly perfect bodies. Pretty much every girl I’d ever dated did.

Then there was Avery. She wasn’t like them. Her body wasn’t perfect. You’d never call her chubby, like Libby—who really didn’t look too bad in the tasteful tankini she wore—but you wouldn’t call her skinny like Tara, either. Poor Tara was so thin she looked like a sixth grader in her bathing suit.

Avery was what I would call soft. She had shape to her—waist, hips, a chest I’ve raved enough about already that I don’t think you really need me to tell you exactly how perfect it looked tied up in that top—but you couldn’t see every muscle beneath her skin. Nor were her bones showing. Add to that her flawless, cream-colored skin, and you got a very inviting, smooth, soft body that practically begged for you to sink your fingers into it.

Avery was something new for me. I wanted to know how a body like hers felt. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to explore every inch of her. I wanted it so bad that Owen chucked a towel at me with a meaningful look.

“Your weeks of celibacy are starting to show.”

“It’s not the celibacy that’s doing it.”

Owen looked over at the girls all gathering by the door. After a minute he said, “Little Miss Crazytown doesn’t look as horrifying as I expected.”

My eyebrows flew up at that, even though I’d just thought the same thing about Libby.

“Actually . . .” Owen chuckled. “Geek One and Geek Two over there are the sorest on the eyes. Twenty bucks says neither of them has ever kissed a girl before.”

I followed his gaze to Brandon and Levi. Impossibly, they managed to fit the nerd stereotype even more perfectly in all their gangly glory. They had their shorts pulled up dangerously high on their waists, and Levi even had on prescription goggles.

No, I am not kidding. Prescription goggles.

They were elbowing each other and whispering as they both tried to discretely check out Pam and Chloe.

I laughed. “Same twenty says they’d both have asthma attacks if they ever got close enough to a girl to try it. Come on, dude, let’s go. I need to hit the pool.”

Owen smirked. “I hope for your sake the water’s really cold.”

Down at the pool the strangest thing happened. Once we were all in the water, Chloe dunked Owen and started a massive water fight. The weird part was, the fight instantly turned into boys verses girls, and somehow the lines of social status were blurred. For a while we weren’t cool kids and geeks. We were all just friends of Avery having a good time. Never tell anyone I said this, but it was kind of cool. The science nerds can be pretty entertaining.

Eventually the girls raised the white flag and suggested we move the party to the hot tub. I squeezed in next to Avery, of course, and laughed when Libby pushed Brandon out of his spot in order to be by Owen. The fearful look on Owen’s face was classic.

When everyone settled into the crowded space, the differences between the cliques slammed back into place. Before the silence could get awkward, I exaggerated a stretch and dropped my arm over Avery’s shoulder. It got the laugh I hoped for.

“I know you said you weren’t ready to be my girlfriend, Aves, but would you still be my sweetheart?”

“What do you mean?”

The Valentine’s dance was next weekend. No doubt Pamela and Chloe had been talking about it for at least two weeks, but being asked to a dance was so far off Avery’s radar that she didn’t recognize what I was doing.

I smiled at her confusion. “Will you be my date to the Sweetheart Dance next weekend?”

“Oh!” Avery gasped. Her eyes got really big, and her face flushed bright red. No doubt she was remembering our last dance and imagining what a whole night together could be like. I know I was. I wasn’t sure I could survive that much torture, but I was looking forward to trying.

“Oh, um, actually Libby and I were going to go to the revival theater this weekend. They’re doing a Nicholas Sparks movie marathon.”

I didn’t see how that was appealing, but before I cold say so, Libby said, “No, it’s okay. Go to the dance. I’ll just make Brandon go with me.”

“No way, Libby,” Brandon immediately argued. “I can’t subject myself to such rubbish.”

“I’ll let you put your arm around me in the theater,” Libby negotiated.

“Will you let me feel your boob?”

“Are you serious?” Pamela asked, offended on Libby’s behalf.

“You cannot ask a girl if you can touch her boob!” Chloe added, disgusted. “It’s so degrading.”

Owen and I both choked on laughs, but Libby ignored Pam and Chloe. She took a moment to seriously consider it. “I won’t rule out the possibility,” she finally said. “There is a chance that with Ryan Gosling on the screen, I will be in the mood to make out.”

“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.”