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“That’s not how we talk to women. Keep walking.” The officer stands firmly, pointing down the sidewalk. When he disappears around the corner, I close the space between myself and Avery.
“Are you okay?” I ask, as I notice a red mark on her arm from Cory’s grip on her. “He left a mark on you.”
“If you want to press charges, I’ll go get him.” The officer says to Avery, eyeballing her arm. He sounds almost excited to cuff Cory.
Avery uses her hand to rub the red mark on her arm. “I’m fine.” She rolls her eyes. “Nothing will happen anyway besides him getting more pissed off at me. It’s not worth it.”
The officer and Andrew exchange a look.
“I’ll walk them home. Thanks, Derek.” Andrew leans in to shake his hand.
“Call if you need me.” Derek tells Andrew. “And Avery? If you change your mind, call up to the station and we will do a report.”
She nods. “Thanks, Derek. I’ll be fine.”
Chapter 15
“Are you sure you don’t want to just stay with me tonight?” I ask Avery as we cross the street and step into her yard. “I don’t like the idea of you being home alone after that scene downtown. What if Cory shows up?”
“I’ll be fine.” Avery answers in the darkness. “As soon as I get inside, I’ll lock my door and go to bed. I don’t think Cory will mess with me after running into the cops, anyway. Derek probably scared him off.”
I exchange a look with Andrew. “Okay,” I tell Avery, “but you seriously better call me if you have any problems.”
“Promise,” she says, holding up her pinkie.
I interlock my finger with hers. “Do not break a pinkie promise.” I say in a grumble, attempting to sound as intimidating as possible, but falling short, as usual.
Avery laughs. “Goodnight. And Andrew, thanks for walking us home.”
“No problem.” Andrew says, shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking at a piece of gravel on the ground.
We stand quietly in the yard and wait for Avery to disappear inside before we finish the two-block walk to our houses.
“So.” Andrew interrupts the silence. “What brought you back to Fawn Creek?”
“How did you know I ever left?” I laugh nervously.
“Well, I’ve heard things around town.” He trails off.
“Of course you have.” I mutter with a roll of my eyes. I can only imagine the things that he’s heard about the shit show that has become my life.
“That’s the beauty of a small town.”
“Something like that.” I let out a sigh. “Well, long story short, at the beginning of this week, my boyfriend of three years and I split up, resulting in me being without a place to live. Of course, this was the week after my grandma passed away.”
“Oof.” He breathes out. “That’s a hell of a couple of weeks.”
“The worst.” I agree. “Hazel left me her house, so at least it gave me somewhere to live in the meantime. I’m going to clean it up and get it ready to sell. Hopefully, by the end of summer.”
“Where are you going next?” Andrew asks as he quietly strolls along next to me, shoving his hands into his jean pockets.
I pause for a second to think about my answer. “That’s the fun part. I have no idea. Honestly, I haven’t had time to think about much this last week.”
“Why not stay in Fawn Creek?”
We step into my yard and I lead Andrew to my porch by motioning my head in that direction. “I don’t know. I just… I never pictured myself back here.” I say, plopping down on the porch swing as he moves to sit beside me. “When I left this town as soon as I graduated high school, it’s because I had always planned to live in the city and that’s what I’ve been doing. Until this week, anyway.” I shake my head. “I thought this place was a part of my past.”
He nods quietly. “That’s understandable. It’s almost like a rite of passage, you know? Like it’s ingrained in all small town kids to want nothing else but to get out of their hometown. To see the world.” He looks at the sky wistfully for a second. “But few actually get the chance to do so. And most of those that manage to get out end up coming right back.”
