FIFTY SHADES OF G'DAY

Chapter 7

It had been three weeks since my first attempts at making nice with Ava, and shortly after my failed attempt with Mr Smith, I decided to take a more casual approach. Instead of going out of my way and inconveniencing myself to be nice, I would simply just...exist. My thoughts behind that were that if I began to blend in to what Ava thought were 'nice' people, she would notice me more. And by notice me, I mean notice that I'm her type...obviously.

In the six weeks that Ava had been at Shore Cross High School I had been busting my ass to prove myself, which I had never had to do before. I was always more than good enough for everyone, and I was convinced that it was definitely some sort of Australian cultural thing to not be impressed by my good looks and expensive items, or at the very least, be intimated by me. I was the most popular girl at Shore Cross High, for Gods sake! Why can't that Steve Irwin obsessed, kangaroo loving girl see that?

Besides my change in tactics when it came to Ava, I had also changed my attitude towards my 'friends'. I didn't want them sticking their noses where they don't belong, so I kept them at arms length at all times. The longer I spent apart from them, the more I realised that I didn't miss them at all. Our conversations never ran deeper than what brands we were wearing, how much money our parents had, or bitching about everyone else at school. While I was not opposed to these topics, I'll admit it would be nice to talk about something different for once. I began making excuses to leave the table at lunch time so that I could walk alone, doing laps of the school playground to try and spot the Australian girl.

On one particular Tuesday, I spotted her playing a friendly game of basketball with some of the jocks on the basketball court. Of course, her faithful sheep McKenzie was sitting by the sideline watching the Aussie run circles around all of the boys. She cheered as Ava scored a three-pointer, and Ava turned to give her a wink as the ball swished cleanly through the net.

Another swoop of that uncomfortable and unfamiliar feeling surged through me, and I could feel that ball in the pit of my stomach growing tighter and tighter the longer I looked at their flirty interactions. Why did Ava think McKenzie was worth her time, but not me? What was I doing wrong?

My fists were balled up in anger, my freshly manicured nails digging crescents into the palm of my hand. I couldn't watch them any longer, and instead stormed towards the Biology classroom to wait for the bell to ring.

It didn't take much longer for lunch to end and before I knew it, Ava Freeman was traipsing into the classroom with her jock buddies by her side. They were joking and laughing about the basketball game they'd just played, arguing playfully about who had played better than whom.

"Oh, come on mate!" Ava scoffed at Easton Thames, who had just jokingly claimed that he could beat her in a one on one match. "I could take you in a heart beat. I bet Whitman here could even whoop your ass without breaking a nail."

At my surname being mentioned, I glanced up to see Ava and her friends looking at me. I had half a mind to tell her not to bring my name into her boring, testosterone filled conversations, but instead I just shrugged my shoulders and turned my head back to my phone, continuing to scroll through Instagram.

Seconds later, Ava sat down in her seat and turned towards me, pulling one of her knees to her chest to rest her chin on. God knows that girl couldn't sit in a chair properly to save her life.

"Damn, Marley. What's up?" she asked me, her face filled with genuine surprise at my lack of outburst.

"Nothing," I responded shortly, refusing to meet her icy gaze.

Ava tapped her pen a few times on the desk before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright then," she said, turning her attention to the front of the classroom where Mr Smith had just entered.