You're Already Mine

Chapter Nine

TW: abusive relationship mention

On Tuesday, my immediate family takes a trip to the art museum. While Sally skips through the halls with Mom and Kenneth, I'm stuck with Lucas at a painting of a girl walking up to a well by a river.

An awkward silence stretches between us.

"I haven't seen you in awhile. I think the last time was when I drove you to your friend's house."

I nod, examining the painting.

"What's been going on?"

I shrug and look down. "Ava broke up with me at the theme park because I ditched our date to hang out with Sernie and she thought he was toxic, and then she went home the day after. And a few days later, I met a girl at the bookstore, who I became friends with, and we kissed at the lodge on Sunday. She hasn't texted since then and neither have I."

A silence falls over both of us. I look down and so does my brother.

"How long have you known Sernie, again?"

"Twelve years."

"And how long did you know Ava?"

"Four months, I think."

He nods, and another silence stretches between us as we wander over to a sculpture in the middle of the room.

"I think you should've listened to her more."

"Before our meetup, she was already acting quite cold toward me. She never opened up to me. When we were around family, she would always be so open and flirty, but cold when we were alone."

"Well, did you-"

"I didn't listen, but only because she never opened up to me. Therefore, I never had the space to listen."

The sculpture is of an eagle perched atop a log. Its eyes stare deeply into my soul.

"How did you meet?"

The question sends me back in time, forcefully flipping through memories like the pages of a book. I can see her clearly, the day we bumped into each other in the school hallway. We were both late for class, and she made a compliment about my outfit. We began talking on our way to class and for the rest of the day. She rode the bus with me to my house, and we became friends. Two weeks in, we had our first kiss, and then we started meeting up at school in the mornings in secret places either nobody knew of or nobody really visited.

I tell him all of this, and he nods slowly, taking in the information.

"Why don't you try texting Clover? Maybe she wants to meet up again."

"I mean, everyone was talking about going to the theme park again tomorrow, so.."

"There you go. Invite her, already."

I take out my phone and open the messaging app. Ava's number is in bold at the top, signaling that she's sent me a message.

Ava: can we talk?

I show the message to Lucas.

"Block her," he says. "The facts that she believed a lie about you, manipulated you into feeling guilty for her choice, and tried to force you away from your best friend are all toxic traits."

I don't want to block her yet, I want to let her talk. I tell this to Lucas.

"No. Not right now. She is toxic."

I give in, turning off notifications on our chat. That's the furthest I'll go until she actually proves that she's not a good person. I still love her, and there's still a place in my heart for her. I'm not sure whether I'm ready to love another person yet. I don't know if I'll ever get over Ava.

I stop my thoughts there, moving to my chat with Clover. I type out a message and show it to Lucas, and he presses Send.

Cameron: hey, so my cousins and I are gonna go to the new theme park tomorrow. Would you like to maybe come with us?

I throw my phone down on the seat, hands covering my mouth. The texting bubble appears, and so does a new text.

"What did she say?"

I creep over, cautiously reading the message.

Clover: I'd love to! <3 <3

A second passes, then Lucas looks at the text over my shoulder, sighing in relief. "At least Clover loves you," he says.

"Shut up!" I reply. "I don't even know if she likes me back."

He throws his hands in the air. "I'm just saying," he says with a smile.

Cameron: What time? We could meet over at the ticket stand or something?

Clover: I can do 11:30am!

Cameron: awesome <3

I smile at the screen.

"What's up? What did she-"

"Come on, slowpokes!" Kenneth says, laughing with Mom at the top of the museum stairs.

He's okay, I guess; he makes Mom happy, and he's kind to her. Unlike Dad.

I shake away the memories. Everything's better now. I hope.

After the museum, we go to a sushi steakhouse in town for dinner. I order teriyaki chicken with cucumber rolls, my mom and stepdad order salmon with wasabi, and Lucas orders clam chowder. I try it and make a disgusted face, which Lucas laughs at. Sally is quite the picky eater, so she just orders tuna.

On Sunday, instead of only taking one vehicle, we take the two vans so everyone has a place to sit. The first van fits every teenager, and the other van has the little kids piling in after each other. Lucas drives the first van and Mom drives the other.

We stop by the cafe to pick up Clover, who gets in the seat next to me.

"I need to talk to you," she whispers in my ear.

"Okay. I'll show you a private place when we get to the fairgrounds."

"No. Let's go on the Ferris wheel first."

I exhale. "Okay," I say.

For the next few minutes, we ride in silence. Finally, we're at the fairgrounds. It's as busy as it was the other day, with teenagers throwing up at the Gravitron, couples lining up for the Ferris wheel and carousel, and kids playing fair games and eating cotton candy.

Lucas parks the car, and Sam pulls up next to us.

After gathering in the parking lot, Lucas and Sam send us off to the fair. I lead Clover over to the Ferris wheel after getting tickets, and when it's our turn, we step into the cart.