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CHAPTER FIVE Coming Home
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(ONE MONTH AGO)
Sheriff Peterkin woke up on that Wednesday morning expecting the day to be like every other.
"Morning, Sheriff" A officer happily greeted the woman as she walked through the station. She mumbled a greeting back before slipping into her office.
The day rolled on and she had spent most her time in the small room, flicking and signing through papers and files. Things had becoming rather uneventful after the town was faced with two missing people. Peterkin was kind of glad that nothing else had gone wrong since, not sure if she could handle anymore tragedy.
There was a knock on the door, making the woman call out, "come in!"
Her brown eyes peeled away from the papers in front of her and flickered up at the door. She frowned as it slowly opened to reveal a figure she couldn't quite recognise under the grey hat on their head. They awkwardly stepped into the office and closed the door behind them, suspiciously peeking out of the window besides them. Luckily Peterkin's had closed the blinds for privacy and confidentially.
"Hello, what can I help you with?" She voiced, noticing how the girl jumped slightly and turned her attention towards her. Her blonde hair was falling in her face under the cap, making it harder for the sheriff to identify her. Peterkins sighed and leaned back in her chair, "I'm going have to ask you to remove the hat, please"
Reluctantly the girl reached up and took off the cap. She kept her head low, making Peterkins roll her eyes. She was about to speak up again when the blonde finally chose to look up, her hair fall away from her face and rested at her shoulders. Her hazel eyes stared back at Peterkin's wide brown ones.
"Oh my lord, you've got to be kidding me," Peterkin's breathlessly said, pushing her fingers against her temple and closed her eyes for a brief moment. Her eyes fluttered open and she pointed at the teenager, "you better have a good explanation, Miss Creed"
"Trust me, I do. I'll explain everything" Avery innocently said, rushing to take a seat in front of the desk. The blonde let out a heavy sigh and placed the hat back on her head, ignoring the pointed look the sheriff gave her.
For the next ten minutes, Avery explained everything to Peterkin. It was the full truth. She couldn't lie as it was, her friends would always pick on her for having a weird tick when it came to lying. They said she would twitch her nose when telling a lie, immediately giving it away. There was no way she would be able to fib her way through the local authorities.
"I need your help, please. I know that this sounds damn right crazy and I have probably caused so much mess. But I told you the truth, not to make you feel like you have to help me because you don't. I can just leave again and we can pretend–"
"If I agree to helping you, will you shut up?" Peterkin raised her eyebrows, deadpanning at the rambling teenager.
"Yes, definitely" Avery quickly said, almost jumping out of her seat. Her lips spread into a wide smile as Peterkin nodded and stood up from her seat.
"This isn't going to be easy, you know that right? And yes, this is down right crazy. But you're a kid, and without you, that Maybank boy is hopeless and has been driving me insane. I will see what I can do but don't do anything stupid, and definitely don't make me regret this, you got that?"
"Yes, ma'am, roger that. Thank you, thank you, thank–"
"Sorry boss, we have JJ Maybank back in" An officer ambushed their conversation.
Luckily he didn't notice the girl scrambling to pull down her cap and sink into her seat, looking in the opposite way and out of the window. She silently cursed at herself as soon as she realised that the blinds were closed and she probably looked even more awkward.
"Okay, I'll be out in a moment to deal with that. Keep him there, and shut the door behind you" Peterkin forced a smile, nodding her head towards the door. The officer mumbled something and stepped out, closing the door behind him like told to. She looked back at Avery as she was wiggling up in her seat, "you kid's make me want to retire early. But okay, well, what is your plan from here?"
"Uh, I don't know. I didn't exactly think this far, honestly" Avery admitted, shrugging her shoulders as she fiddled with her hands.
Peterkin sighed, "Great. Uh, how about stay low and close, okay? Come back tomorrow and we'll discuss this further"
Avery nodded and pushed herself up from the seat, following the woman out of the room. She bowed her head and watched Peterkin's feet, letting her guide her way out. With her head down, she didn't notice the blond boy poking fun at off the officer behind the counter. He was too busy clicked the pen and teasing the unattractive moustache on the man's top lip to notice her.
"Stay safe, kid, alright? Please" Peterkin's gaze was soft, almost pleading her to listen.
Avery saluted with a goofy smile, making the sheriff struggle to resist a smile, "yes ma'am, I'll be back tomorrow"
With that, Avery twirled round on her heels and walked away. Her smile stayed on her face, glad that her plan wasn't foiled and she had some hope to hold onto, holing on to the possibility of coming home. She had no idea what her next move was but quite honestly, in that moment, as she walked away from the station, she didn't care, nor was she thinking about it.
"Maybank, my office now" The sheriff pointed at the boy as his laughter died down and he looked up, watching the woman pace past him. He followed like a lost puppy.
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AUTHORS NOTE! don't know how this one came out shorter than the previous chapters but it's fine bc i really like this one actually. again with the significant relationships, peterkin is probably going to grow to be important to avery :)
