"Hey. Open up already," loudly knocked Kara, who had been standing there for about five minutes.
In a beat after, Ava cracked the door open for Kara to head in as she proceeded to cover herself in the sheets again.
"Good morning," said Kara sarcastically.
"Morning? Is it?" responded Ava, sniffling.
"So, last evening. It was bad, wasn't it?" questioned Kara.
"Is it so obvious?"
"No. Nooo. Not at all. That's why I was asking."
"Really?"
"Of course it's obvious. Look at you. I can't see you like this," snapped Kara.
"Why?"
"It's just that well... I don't know who this is now," pointed Kara at the saddest Ava. "I've not known you yet to be so emotional and very... um... what's the word? Yeah. Chicky."
"What do you mean?" inquired Ava.
"I've seen you so manly, strong, but not like this. Uh... forget my explanation. Just get out of bed now."
"I don't want to," grumbled Ava, nearly banging her head.
"Ummm... ha. Just get up. Let's have lunch together."
"Is it already lunchtime?"
"No... I don't know. Is it? Do you have a wristwatch? Wall watch perhaps?"
"Okay now, I think I'm letting you take advantage of my vulnerability," stated Ava.
"I hoped you notice. Now get up already."
"Alright. Where are we having lunch?"
"Right here."
"Ha. You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. I'm not."
"I'm not cooking for you," clarified Ava, folding the covers.
"I know. So, I came with lunch. I bet you can't cook tomatoes, so I can't trust you cooking for me," giggled Kara heading out of Ava's bedroom. "Hurry up. Lunch is served."
Ava headed into the bathroom while Kara laid out their plates to serve.
She had the place cleared from the previous night and then headed on to serve them both. It was a while before Ava joined her as well.
"You look um... stupid," said Kara, watching Ava dressed in her pajamas.
"This is exclusive," giggled Ava. "What I'm trying to say is that after lunch. I'm going nowhere."
"I can tell. But if that's what it takes to have you come out with me. Then I will drag you with your pajamas."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then go change."
"Oh... you're so persistent."
"Thank you," smirked Kara.
It was then, after a while, when she returned, changed into a black long-sleeved t-shirt and army-green trousers with black boots.
"Alright. You look cute."
"Thank you," responded Ava. "Wow, this looks good."
The noodles, spinach, and chicken soup with vegetable rice were well-dressed in a bowl.
"I made it myself."
"Oh yeah... so you love cooking. You can make a good wife, I see."
"Hmm. Hmm. Ha. What do you mean?" chuckled Kara.
"Well. If you get a man who loves food. You can be a good wife," explained Kara.
"A man. Oh yes, a man. Yeah."
"What?" chuckled Ava.
"Nothing. What? Is there something?"
"No... just go on with your lunch."
They both dug into the bowls quietly, then headed for dessert. The cold ricotta and berries. After they were all done, Kara washed the dishes, which took her a while, as Ava sat on the couch, distracted.
"So, what do you think of this cute couch? Do you think I should do a Feng Shui?"
"What's that?" inquired Kara with curiosity.
"Huh... never mind. Can you help me choose some stuff for the house?"
"Sure... you should change the couch. Your bed... hahaha! Your bed is silly. There is someone I know in town who can help with this place."
"Alright... but you choose the furniture? I love your taste so far."
"Okay. I will help out with that," concluded Kara.
After they were done with cleaning up the mess, they both headed out to town.
The place was fully packed, lots of elderly people passing through the corners that separated the different shopping buildings. A few of various ages, and teenagers in their different opposing cohorts.
As they drove to park at the gas station, Dante stopped their car with his maroon Ram 1500 truck.
"What does he want now?" whined Kara.
"Trouble. He wants trouble."
"Get out of the truck, Tom," shouted Dante.
Slowly, Ava let the seatbelt loose and headed out of the car, crossing her arms below her breasts, cross-legged, with her back propped against the truck.
"How are you, Dante?" teased Ava.
"Yeah. How are you?" growled the guy, getting close to Ava. Both his hands held Ava's car as he stood defensively, keeping Ava between his two hands.
"Yeah. How are you, Dante?"
"Look around you, Tom. You are misplaced, boy-girl. And here, this is my place. My territory."
"Oh... okay then, keep calm, and I will leave already?" inquired Ava, trying to go loose from the guarding arms which held tight.
"Not so fast. You need to pay for what happened at school yesterday."
"Oh, that. You should learn to keep your place, boy. I guessed you took the liberty to understand, but you didn't, I see."
"You disrespected me. Me? Miguel Dante," he chuckled annoyingly. "This is my town, Miss Sinclair... I don't play hide and seek with dogs. You can't just arrive here and undermine me." "So, you're the dog?" inquired Ava. "See, guys! I should teach her a lesson, right? So she doesn't play with her superiors. Or him because she literally is a boy," he gestured with his hand, leveling Ava, as his boys cheered in the back. "Yeah. Since I'm a boy, I believe we're a match. Aren't we?" replied Ava when Kara rushed out of the car, standing in front of her. "You don't get to disrespect one of my friends, Dante. Haven't you had enough fun with me?" questioned Kara. "What?" snapped Ava. "Okay, that came out wrong," replied Ava. "You can hit me then, Dante. I dare you." "Are you sure? Because I literally don't care about you helping one of your friends. I guess I'm lucky. Doubled my punching bags." "I'm sure. Go ahead. Hit me." He had raised his hand to slap Kara on her cheek when Ava grab
I've reviewed your document and made corrections for spelling and grammar while keeping the content and meaning unchanged. Here is the edited version: "I know it for a fact. I've known your father before, and he has never been a fan of me, so," explained Ava. "Yeah, I don't care what he thinks about who I hang out with, you know. I'm done having my life controlled. It's just so frustrating." "See, you do have something you're keeping from me, and I've been blabbing about myself all this time, forgetting to ask how you're doing." "I don't wanna talk about it, please?" "Really? Okay. I can tell you anything about me. Ask me anything, and I will tell you the truth, and in return, you tell me what's bothering you so you can get it off your chest." "Why? Why would you do that?" "I love carrying people's burdens," replied Ava, chuckling. "Seriously, I just want you to feel at ease talking to me. I don't want you to be an open book, obviously, but if we are friends, then I would love t
Early the next morning, it was a Monday. Manning, as a city, was getting into the Halloween mood, which was three weeks from the Sunday special. People were all around the town, with a few stores having decorated the night before. Everywhere was packed with scary designs. Manning University had not yet gone through the changes. Everything was as normal as it had been the previous day, except those students who were mischievous had already planted scary decorations in their mates' lockers. Dante, in particular, had placed one in Ava's locker. He had passed her locker, taken out her stuff, and replaced them with dry leaves and a scarecrow. She didn't find out about it, but Kara, who was helping her pick up a textbook from the locker, got to experience what wasn't meant for her. Ava was standing seven lockers away from hers, waiting for Kara to finish, when suddenly, a scream startled her, and she rushed back to where Kara had fallen from the scare. Kara was already on the floor with
"What are you going to do about your father?" inquired Kara. "He won't call him?" replied Ava. "You think so?" "I know he won't call him. He will be getting my mother." "I'm so sorry." "It's nothing. My only worry is how I'm going to spend two weeks in the cottage with no phone, no nothing." "I could keep you company some days, maybe bring you books to read?" "I could do with the company. I'm not really into reading. I'm no professor, but anyways, bring them over so I see what I will do with them," replied Ava, and they both chuckled. "Alright. I could also get myself suspended for some days," chuckled Kara. "Yeah, that's not a nice joke. Leave those only for me." "Who said I was joking? I'm not. I'm weighing my options." "Okay. You get suspended, don't come to my place. Stay home and keep sobbing," responded Ava. "Alright, alright. You don't need to threaten me." Dante had already left school and was heading home as Ava and Kara stayed until the classes ended. It was abo
Ava had slept on the couch that night, so she had to sleep lightly. By morning, she took a bath, made breakfast, and then brought it to Kara in bed, who was still sleeping. "Hey, Kara. Wake up. You have to go to school," Ava said, knocking and shaking Kara from her sleep. "Hey, morning. Am I late?" "No, you have an hour and a few minutes. You should take a shower and have your breakfast." "You made me breakfast in bed?" "You don't want it? I can throw it away." "No, I was appreciating the effort. I feel like I have my mom with me." "Yeah? But I'm not," replied Ava, placing the tray on a drawer and heading to pick up her clothes, then walking out. "Get ready. I will drive you to school, then pick you up so we can go buy some groceries." "Thanks for the breakfast. I love it." "Hurry up. You don't want to be late." Kara got out of bed as Ava was dressing in the living room, made the bed, and then headed to the bathroom. "Oh! I put some hot water for you. I thought you might nee
"So, what do you think? Can a few of these get done before the end of the day?" "Yeah, if you give a little hand. My friend here and I can get a lot done before the end of the day." "Well, okay. Tell me what I will need to do, and we can get started," asked Ava. "Well, not too much. Can you just take a seat on the couch? You would be of great help if I kept watching you as I work," explained Ben, smirking. "Oh, yeah. Alright. I can sit right there on that couch," pointed Ava. "But you don't get paid for your work. You gaze at me all the time, and after you're done, you just snooze off. Does that work for you?" "I will take the pay." "Well, good then. You can start in the bedroom. And please don't touch where you're not supposed to." "You've been clear, miss," replied Edgar as they both headed inside Ava's bedroom. They moved a couple of things out of the way, cleaned and patched up the tiny holes. Ava, however, was in the living room, sipping a beer as she watched them work thr
"What do you think of the maroon?" asked Mr. Bradley. "Nah, maroon is like old, right Ava?" replied Kara. "I don't know. Whatever you choose, I'll go with it." "Then how about the black? It's cozy," explained Bradley. "It's too big. I don't think we need that," responded Kara. "So, it's for her house," Kara explained to Bradley. "Okay. I think the white one, five by six. It's movable, comfortable, and lasts long no matter the strength that rests on it," Bradley suggested. "I will take a look," said Kara, heading over to where the bed was. She examined it and then said, "How expensive is it?" "It's three hundred fifty dollars." "Should we take this?" Kara inquired from Ava. "Yeah, I guess. Who helps with delivering it, Mr. Bradley?" "Oh, my nephew can." "Oh, Edgar. Sure," Ava said, and Kara looked at her in surprise. "You've met Edgar?" Kara asked. "Yeah. He's a lovely guy." "Where did you meet him?" "At the cottage. I didn't want to tell you. I wanted it to be a surpris
"Wow, this looks delicious." "My mom taught me how to make it. I don't know what she called it, but I call it dinner." "What? Hehe." Chuckled Ava, taking a seat on the couch as Kara passed her a plate of food. "Are you planning on heading back home? You need to make amends with your father." "I don't want to talk about that, please." "Alright. Then this Martha friend. Who is she?" "Oh, she's my friend. We went to kindergarten together. We've been friends forever." "Yeah. Have you ever thought of her as a woman, like someone who attracts you?" Inquired Ava. "No, never. She's very pretty, quite a catch, but not my type." "Is she interested in women?" "Why ask so much?" Questioned Kara curiously. "Just want to know." "Yeah, she is interested in women. She came out and got into trouble, but now she's a lesbian, out of the closet." "What happened when she came out?" "The next morning, she appeared beaten up." "Who would do that?" Inquired Ava in worry. "We all thought her mot