LOGINIvyMy mum's name is Ava. She was young when she ran. Pregnant with me, scared, and convinced everyone back home had turned their backs. That's the story she gave me on her good days. On bad days she didn't talk at all, just drank until she passed out. We moved around a lot in the beginning. Cheap flats, sometimes shelters when things got really tight. I learned early how to stretch a pack of pasta for three days. How to lie to teachers about why Mum wasn't at parents' evening. How to rock Jadenne to sleep while pretending I wasn't terrified.By the time I was fifteen Mum was in and out of institutions. Rehab places that cost money we didn't have. She'd come home clean for a month, all smiles and big plans. "You girls are gonna be doctors. Save lives. Make me proud." Then the cravings would hit and she'd disappear for days. I'd skip school to look after Jadenne when I was only 7, stealing formula from shops when I had to, hating myself but doing it anyway because what choice did I hav
Twenty years later.Ivy I shoved my hips forward on the pole one last time, letting the lights catch the sweat on my skin so the idiots below would think it looked sexy instead of just sticky and exhausting. The music thumped so loud it vibrated in my teeth. Bills rained down around me like confetti from cheap wallets. Some guys clapped like they had done something impressive by throwing money at a girl half their age. I gave them the usual fake smile, the one that never reached my eyes, and slid down the pole slow enough to make them forget their own names for a second."Damn, baby, you move like that and I'll empty my account tonight," one guy yelled from the front, waving a fistful of notes like it made him special.I ignored him and kept working the stage until the song ended. My legs burned. My arms felt like they might fall off. But rent was due and Jadenne needed new shoes again because the girl grew like a weed and refused to stop. I stepped off the platform, scooping up the
Riley I pushed open the front door with my shoulder, arms full of stupid grocery bags Mom had made me carry like some pack mule. The house felt off right away. Too quiet. No clinking dishes, no TV humming in the background, no Ava shuffling around trying to clean everything like she had to earn oxygen. I dropped the bags on the kitchen counter harder than I needed to. "Ava? You alive up there or what?"Nothing. I yelled again, louder this time. "Ava! Come on, I got those weird healthy crackers you like. The ones that taste bland but apparently won't murder your fetus."Mom walked in behind me, keys jingling, and started unpacking like this was any normal afternoon. I watched her for a second, waiting for her to say something. She didn't."Mom. Where's Ava?" I asked, already feeling that twist in my gut.She shrugged, pulling out a carton of milk. "I haven't seen her since we left. Maybe she's resting upstairs. That girl needs it after everything."I took the stairs two at a time, hea
AvaI finished the dishes and moved to wiping the table, my head down. Riley kept glancing at me like she wanted to say something but the words with her mom kept spilling out faster. It was chaotic and loud and I felt this sick mix of grateful and embarrassed and angry all at once.Later after things calmed down a little and Riley's mom went to make some calls in the other room I finally asked Riley about the thing that had been eating at me since last night. We were back upstairs sitting on the guest room bed again. "Still talk with Chloe?" I said it fast before I could chicken out. "I heard you on the phone last night. You sounded different with her. Happier."Riley froze for a second then rubbed the back of her neck. "Shit. You heard that." She let out a long breath. "Chloe is... she is my person. My pillar I guess. I still love her. Not like in love in love anymore but she gets me. When things get heavy like this she is the one I call. It is easy with her."My chest hurt so bad I
AvaI woke up disoriented in the guest room with the sunlight hitting me straight in the face. My hand went right to my stomach without me even thinking about it, just this automatic thing now like I had to check if the baby was still there after everything that happened last night. The house smelled like breakfast, eggs or bacon or something normal that made my stomach twist because I did not know how I was supposed to eat after all that yelling and crying and the almost kiss that Riley shut down. Downstairs I could hear the muffled arguing already going, Riley and her mom round two, voices rising and falling through the floor like they had not even waited for me to wake up before starting again.I sat up slowly , my head fuzzy, and rubbed my eyes. My arm still ached where the bruises were turning that ugly purple color. Everything felt heavy like my body knew I was not supposed to be here but my brain had not caught up yet. I pulled on the same clothes from last night because what e
AvaI stood there like my feet were glued to the floor the second Riley’s mom said it. “She needs to leave.”Riley jumped right in, voice loud and sharp. “What the hell, Mom? You talked to her mom for five minutes and now you’re kicking her out? Top-tier adult decisions tonight, really loving the support.”I tried to shrink back, my shoulders curling in, bag still hanging from my fingers like it weighed a ton. My throat felt tight and I could barely get words out. “I… I can go,” I whispered, but it came out so small nobody even heard me over them.Riley’s mom sighed, hands on her hips, trying to sound reasonable but her face said she was done. “Ava’s mother called me right after you left. She said Ava has been difficult for months, skipping school she just got into, lying about where she goes, and now this pregnancy story. She thinks Ava is making bad choices and needs to face consequences.”“Making bad choices?” Riley cut in fast, stepping half in front of me like some chaotic shield
Ava His mouth stayed glued to my left breast, sucking so hard and deep it felt like he was claiming every inch of me. The pull was steady, strong, making my whole chest throb in this sweet, aching way that sent heat rushing straight down between my thighs. He wasn’t teasing anymore. No light flick
~Ava~He sat up, stretching, muscles flexing in a way that made me want round two already. "Room service? Or we brave the restaurant looking like we just fucked?""Room service," I said quickly, "I'm not putting clothes on yet. And order something greasy, burgers, fries, the works. Romance over, fe
AvaThen the door burst open, some hotel guy with the spare key finally showed and Calder charged in like a bull, eyes wild, grabbing the waiter by the collar and yanking him off me, slamming him against the wall with a thud that shook the pictures. "You motherfucker! Get your hands off her!" Calde
Ava I woke up that morning with this knot in my stomach that wouldn't quit twisting, still replaying last night's cold shoulder from Calder on the couch, him snoring like nothing happened but I knew better, both of us too stubborn to bridge that gap, and fuck, I hated it, hated how I'd made him fe







