Falling For A Bad Boy - T.Holland

t w e n t y - s i x

Hours turned into days and days into weeks. Tom hasn't been to school in over 2 weeks and Avery's been going crazy. Every second of every day he's on her mind. Is he okay? Is he hurt? Where is he? Questions like this completely drained Avery from every bit of energy she once had. The feeling of guilt, sadness, and anger taking over every cell in her body. Haz had gone back to school a few days after the holidays but no one ever questioned him about it. Jacob and Kyle left without a trace which left Avery worried and confused. Harper's heart broke every time Avery asked about Tom. She wanted to tell her so bad but knew that Avery would go looking for him and having him pushing her away once again would completely break her. 

After a whole two months of checking to see if Tom would walk around the corner, Avery stopped. She stopped asking, stopped checking, stopped calling, texting everything. She was hurt, yes, but wanted to get him out of her system. For good. 

She spent hours convincing herself to block him on everything. Social media, his number, every form of contact she had with him, she convinced herself to delete it.

It wasn't after she noticed the moving sign months after that her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. She hasn't seen or talked to any of the Hollands since the last time she saw Tom, and she didn't plan to. But her last bit of hope sparked through when she saw Haz walking out the house with a small box, maybe his stuff. He had been avoiding both Harper and Avery during the couple months but now he couldn't get away. He couldn't just walk away from her now.

"Haz?" Avery asks softly, still loud enough for Haz to hear and whip his head towards her.

He set the box down on the top of his car and made his way towards her, as she stood quietly on the other side of the street. 

"Hey..." He says softly, knowing the type of conversation they would be having. He noticed the happiness drain from her face after Tom left. She wasn't herself anymore. She was tired and depressed and it hurt him, knowing why she felt like this, knowing he could've avoided this.

"How are you...?" she asks, not wanting to jump right into the topic.

"I'm doing okay, you...?"

"uh..." she looks down at her feet and she can feel a lump form in her throat. "could be better," she says, forcing a soft smile.

"I'm so sorry Avery..." he says, his voice breaking.

"Where is he?" She asks, begging almost, tears forming in her eyes as she looked back up at him.

"He left...uhm..." he says, trying to push through any kind of emotions he had right now, "he moved away about a week after and uh, they decided to follow," he says, motioning his hand towards the house across the street.

"Why...? I-Is he okay? Is he hurt?" She wanted to ask so much more but knew that it would push Haz away, he wouldn't want to say anything wrong or do anything wrong to make everything worse. He knew how much Tom's decision hurt Avery and he knows how bad of an idea it was now but he can't go back. Even if Tom did come back randomly Avery would be furious, yes she cares and she's upset but after everything Tom's put her through?

"He's okay..." Harrison says, "I should get going, I'm sorry Avery."

And just like that, Haz made his way back to his car and drove off, leaving Avery feeling helpless and lonely. 

Everyone noticed a change in Avery, not only her appearance but her personality. She was late to class a lot more, her style changed, her view on everything in general changed. It became a lot darker, more intimidating. She wasn't the sweet cheerleader anymore she became the 'bad girl'.

Sure, every high school had their 'bad boy' but you never saw a girl scare off a group of guys that often. She would get into fights and make fun of people that were like her, before everything. She stopped talking to both Harper and Haz and became a lot more distant with everyone. She'd scare people off and push them away if they ever had the chance to get one good conversation with her. 

Avery's mom didn't make anything better, worse maybe. Whenever she'd call, Avery would leave or say some comment. Her view of her mother never changed and it was the only thing she really kept from before.

Tom broke her. She was heartbroken every single day and she'd push it in the back of her head until she'd come to school with some new bruise or cut, letting everyone know she got in a fight the day before. People had different rumors and thoughts on why she changed but everyone knew one thing for certain, it all happened after Tom left. They knew it was something to do with him but never wanted to bring it up. It caught everyone off guard cause they were so perfect for each other. Avery made Tom seem less threatening and better in general and Tom protected Avery, putting her first in everything. 

I guess it just wasn't meant to be.