Chapter 12

He snored. Avery ran her hand in a circle over David’s chest. He gargled and snored quite louder than he sometimes did. She smiled. She slid out of bed.

She lifted her t-shirt off of his nightstand and pulled on her flannel pajama pants. She slipped into her beaten and untied sneakers. It was almost a routine drop out the window. The back lawn had grown wet over night and she wiped her hands on her shirt as she walked back home. A few orange leaves were spiralling down but just as many trees remained green. Sh caught a leaf, couldn’t help but smile. One more night and she’ll have had sex more with David than she had with any other guy. It was a great night. All the lights were off in the Shannon home.

Avery walked around to the front, the back door was noisy. She froze. Her dad froze. He was dressed for work with his lab coat draped over his arm.

“Avery! What the--Where the hell are you coming from?”

“I, uh,” She froze shivering. She was flushing beet red mid-panic. “Don’t you have to get to the hospital?”

Her father growled. He moved in front of her and leaned down to look her in the eye. Luke Shannon was a big man. Over six feet tall and well muscled. He had dark blue eyes and Avery almost stepped back from him.

“You didn’t answer my question.” He said and Avery shrank down feeling a fear of being reprimanded that she hadn’t felt in over decade. He reached down and picked the leaf from her fingertips. “David? Why because he started dating your friend and you weren’t willing to give up your starry eyed lap dog? Go inside. Get cleaned up. Go to school. Your mother will have to deal with you afterwards.”

Avery watched her dad walk down to the driveway and climb into his car. Avery tried to smile and wave good-bye. The reflected disappointment and impatience chilled her guts solid. He pulled away. She let out a giggle. She dug her fingernails into the heel of her palms but she was laughing in such frightening relief. She should have been miserable and terrified all day. Her dad wasn’t magically compelled to involve himself in her life. He had passed the buck and moved on.

Natalie’s wish hadn’t made everyone hot and Eiko’s wish hadn’t realigned all their dads! Right! She almost let the door slam closed behind her as she went inside. Quietly, quietly up to her room. She wasn’t in love with David, she was just having fun. Right?

The 4 bus arrived at 7:30 in the morning. Gia, generally, had fifteen minutes before Avery arrived but since she started riding with David, it was closer to an hour. Her brother ditched her, still interminably high from fucking Natalie of all women. She walked down to Mrs Granger’s drama classroom.

Silas Corkwood - Romeo Sloane Marcus - Juliet

Lame! These idiots have not sense of theatre! Gia’s finger started to shake as she ran down the list of characters and found she didn’t have a role. If she wasn’t on the list ... Her hand ran over her uterus in fear. She remembered. She just need to show the other girls that her wish was on track. She was going to be rich and famous in Hollywood. She wasn’t going to be some gross teen mom.

Juliet Granger - Director

Gia laughed to learn the school drama teacher was herself named Juliet. Her finger moved down to the last name.

Gia Carpenter - Stage Manager

Of course that devil bitch had found a way to twist it! What a stupid bitch she was! She wished for fame and glory. People knew the names Spielberg, Cameron, and Kubrick as well as the actors. Gia skipped away to find some corner and finish out her math homework. She wouldn’t get anything done. She’d be daydreaming about what her grand vision was.

She’d be famous as a director! Obviously! And she had made such a fool of herself at the auditions! That’s one for you, The Devil.

“He is a teenager, sweetheart.” Shaylee Corkwood sat in the car with her eldest daughter. It was a beautiful sunny mid-autumn day. By lunch, her kids probably wouldn’t even need their jackets. Getting asked to give Leanne drive to school called for much more than a little bit of time and a little bit of gas. “It’d help if you told me what he did.”

“He--” Leanne thumbed her eye. She wasn’t crying but she was emotional. She was certain she was going to look a wreck by the time she walked into the school. She didn’t dare tell her mom about David and Natalie. “Last week at a party, he went with Avery to keep her out of trouble.”

“Avery?” Shaylee asked with mild surprise.

“No! Avery couldn’t do that kind of thing! It was Gia...” Leanne brushed her hair from her face. “She was drunk, stupid. He said she kissed him.”

“Well...” Shaylee shook her head. “He told you? He didn’t hide it from you?”

“No,” Leanne actually warmed to that thought. “He was sorry and, he said he froze, he said didn’t know how to react.”

“Gia’s a very pretty girl.” She ran her hand through her daughter’s hair. “He got overwhelmed and he’s sorry. Do you think it’s going to become a habit?”

“I don’t trust those girls.”

“Do you trust David?” She asked her daughter.

“I don’t how to!” Leanne wailed. Her mom pulled her into a hug.

“It’s not easy.” Her mom agreed. “This is the first boy to ever ask you out and I know you liked him forever.”

“Eddie actually asked me out a bunch of times.” Leanne countered. “Plus a few of the gross hockey guys.”

“OK. How about, the first guy you ever went out with?” She chuckled. The daughter slipped out of the hug. Leanne looked much better than she had only a week ago, though her daughter had seemed so radiant since David had asked her. Well, one kiss from a pretty girl and the boy had frozen like a deer in headlights. Shaylee preferred that. She knew her daughter would take it slowly. So long as she got this competitive streak under control.

“That’s them pulling in now.” Leanne pointed to the Mazda turning into the parking lot. The Corkwoods watched as David pulled to a stop closer to the school. Avery popped out of the passenger seat while the other two Shannon’s winged out of the back. Victoria gave one look to David, turned a little red and bolted to the school. Curtis took a book bag from a fifth passenger.

“Who’s that?” Shaylee asked of the redhead who climbed out of the back seat.

“That’s Kristina,” Leanne grumbled out her full name. “She’s dating Curtis.”

“If that’s the case,” Shaylee leaned over and whispered into her daughter’s ear. “Maybe, it wouldn’t hurt to check in with his friends. If they like you, then you’ll have more than just Avery in your corner, yeah?”

“I guess...” Shaylee could tell her daughter disliked Kristi.

“If you’re being jealous for the wrong reasons, you’re just going to hurt him.”

“I trust David.” Leanne grew confident in a way Shaylee was a bit rattled to see. She hoped her daughter wasn’t too starry eyed to be let around by the nose by this boy.

“And I trust you, sweetheart.” She leaned and gave her daughter a quick hug. “Go, you’ve got school.”

“Thanks mom.” Leanne smiled brightly and reached for the door latch.

“Look, Eiko’s not into David. My dad’s not going all crazy. None of us are trying out to be actresses---” Avery, Eiko, Gia, Leanne, and Natalie had gathered for lunch on their normal benches in the A-Wing. Natalie laid out across hers and Eiko’s with her head on Eiko’s lap. The Japanese girl was looking for another way to say “Get off! Please!”

“Stars!” Gia beamed giddily. “I shouldn’t have simply wished to be famous. That let the demon screw with us, huh?”

“The book said it’d give us the wish we most imagined,” Eiko murmured. She would’ve pushed Natalie’s head but she just rubbed her friend’s hair. She cleared her throat and spoke up. “I think mom might be laying off of me a little. Natalie’s was first. Leanne’s was second. Mine’s coming third.”

“I better not have to wait until your first movie makes a billion dollars before I get my wish.” Avery shook her head. “I’m sick and tired of having to put up with people getting in my shit.”

“You probably should’ve wished for your own room.” Gia countered. “I don’t know how you and Leanne keep from murdering your family if they’re that close every night.”

“Candace is fine, most of the time.” Leanne shrugged.

“Eh, I could do without Victoria,” Avery nodded. “But it’s never been just her.”

Persephone sat on the floor not too far around the corner. She slowly, angrily, chewed her lunch. There was something. Curtis hadn’t worked but something did happen and why had he insisted he drag along Kristi and David in the first place. Persephone climbed to her feet and stalked off. Wishes? Seriously. Her boots thundered away.

Kristi caught Curtis’s eye when she stepped out of her afternoon English class. They had planned to be discreet, unseen, clever. Kristi burst into a girlish bright smile to see Curtis.

“Curtis’s hot,” Eiko said to herself. She really mulled that thought over. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Wait, Eiko!” Curtis skidded across the hall room tiles. The little Japanese girl turned. Curtis had to admit, those huge tits of hers, squeezed together by her school bag straps, jiggling hypnotically with her swinging body, 8/10. “Kristi wanted to tell you something.”

“Yeah!” Kristi stopped scowling when Curtis turned away from Eiko’s chest. They were great tits though. Kristi was a little bit jealous. Out of her, and her two best mostly male friends, she had the best tits. She wasn’t looking for giving up that point of victory. “What are you doing on Wednesday?”

“Uh...” Eiko considered. She had stopped blushing. She just couldn’t maintain the ongoing embarrassment for having her tits ogled. Every day it was more and more. She shook her head. “I don’t have plans. I used to hangout with Leanne but she’s got her date night with David now.”

“Fuck.” Curtis laughed. “Forgot about that.”

“Yeah, good point...” Kristi nodded. “Tomorrow?”

“Your mom made us plans remember,” Curtis frowned.

“But Dee...” Kristi stuttered on David’s girl name.

“Will be with her dad.” Curtis reminded the redhead.

“What?” Eiko wondered. “I’ve got math and...”

“No, it’s OK.” Kristi shook her head. “Dee’s coming by on Wednesday. Come join us after school.”

“Really?” Eiko bloomed. “Yeah, um, I guess.”

“But what about?”

“Same as last week,” Kristi shook her head, “There’s a few hours to test the waters.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Eiko asked.

“It’s not important. I’ll have Dee text you.” Kristi declared. She waved between Curtis and herself, “We’ve got History.”