Wallflower

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Chapter 12: Honte

   The pair exited the room and Avery observed as Alex locked the door with a small, golden key. The brunette glanced at the freckled girl and she looked away, giving Alex privacy to stash the key wherever she kept it. She didn't expect, though, for the girl in question to place her fingers under her chin, bringing Avery to look at her.

  "I trust you," Alex said simply, before stepping backwards. Soon her touch was gone as quick as it came, but the sensation was left lingering on Avery's skin. Alex carefully placed the key inside a small grey chest and pushed it under the large chest of drawers that stood next to the right corner of the room.

  A loud noise followed by boisterous shouts made Avery visibly jump in her spot. She put her hand on her chest and exhaled deeply in an attempt to slow her quickening heart rate.

  "Relax, it's just the boys. I need to remind them not to slam the doors," Alex crossed her arms. "You'd think Kaden would care more since it's his house."

  Avery let out a nervous chuckle.

Why did she agree to this again?

    The brunette exited the room, prompting Avery to follow in her footsteps. She found herself doing that a lot lately. The trip down the stairs to the common room felt short as she started to dread the formal introduction that was yet to come. 'Formal' in the sense that when she met the boys, it was at the party almost two months ago and she barely even caught their names before Carson was whisked away from her.

She tried to distract herself from the anxiety welling in her chest by admiring the way Alex's silky and voluminous, dark hair bounced about her waist with every confident stride she took. The sweatpants she wore accentuated her hips and their movement and the observation brought a blush to Avery's cheeks. Maybe her thoughts went a bit too far there.

  As they approached the common room, Alex ran her hand through her hair before swiftly catching it into a ponytail as if she could sense Avery's eyes on it. The freckled girl knew that that wasn't the case, but she couldn't help but wonder why she was putting her hair up now that her guy friends were here. When they were upstairs, after Avery's request for her to leave it down, she seemed so comfortable with her hair spilling over her shoulders and down her back.

  Too caught up in her thoughts, Avery hadn't realised that Alex had stopped in her path at one of the many entrances to the room, causing the freckled girl to walk into her back. If Alex was bothered she didn't show it as she cleared her throat to gain the attention of Kaden and Sam who were bickering over something minuscule and Jason whose eyes were trained on his pocket knife.

  "How many times do I have to remind you about slamming the fucking doors?" Alex narrowed her eyes, her hands now on her hips. If it were any other person, Avery would find herself giggling at the stance and tone of voice as she had only ever seen her mother scold that way. But with Alex, it was intimidating and with the silence that travelled around the room, Avery could sense that she wasn't the only one affected.

  "Hey sis," Kaden broke the silence with a large grin.

"I told you not to call me that," Alex responded, rolling her eyes at her step-brother.

   "Who's that behind you?" Sam asked, pointing towards the shorter, more freckled girl who at that point wished she could blend in with the surroundings.

"Oh," Alex stepped to the side, ridding Avery of a hiding place, "Guys, this is Avery. Avery, that's Sam Earwood, Jason Long and you already know Kaden Aldridge."

  "Is that Freckles?" Kaden wiggled his eyebrows at Alex in a teasing manner.

"Shut up."

  "Hi," Avery waved sheepishly, her voice coming out in a squeak. Her eyes bulged when she saw the knife in Jason's hands, but the smiles on Jason's, Alex's and Kaden's faces brought a soft smile to her own.