Unraveling

I swallowed nervously, my eyes darting to the cash register before me. My heart palpitated furiously in my chest, and I could feel my palms growing sweaty quickly. My throat tightened as I gave a cut nod, punching in the order.

I quickly stuck out a cup, pushing the tray as far away as possible from me, “Can I help
whoever is next?”

Bentley smirked, standing off to the side as he waited for my coworkers to fill up the rest
of the tray with his order. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time while I waited on the next
couple in line. My heartbeat didn’t slow down, but I kept myself composed.

A few minutes later, Bentley grabbed his tray and walked off to the back corner of the
restaurant. He sat in a booth with his body facing me. I kept my eyes down and away from
him, though I could feel his eyes on me the entire time.

I forced my attention on the awaiting and impatient customers.

~*~

“Avery,” Donavan said softly as he stood by the coffee machine, filling up an order.

“Hmm?” I asked, staring at the screen before me.

Donavan gave a slight jerk of the head, “That guy’s been sitting here staring at you for
the past few hours. Do you know him?”

I dared a peak to see Bentley still in the same spot. His empty tray sat before him as he
relaxed back into the seat, arms crossed over his chest. A pair of shades hid his eyes, but
the curl of his upper lip told me he saw me look.

“Just ignore him.” I whispered back.

“What?” Donavan gave me a strange look, “Look, if he’s giving you a problem, by law, I
can ask him to leave.”

“Donavan.” I hissed, giving him a sharp look. “We have a few more minutes left in our
shift. Just let it go.”

“Fine.” He mumbled stubbornly. Donavan moved away to hand the coffee to the lady
waiting at the window. As he moved back to grab the next order, he brushed by, whispering
in my ear, “But I’m walking you to your car.”

Thank you.

I kept my thoughts to myself.

At around nine that evening, Donavan and I left for the back of the restaurant to grab our
things. I slipped my duffle bag over my shoulder, fishing the keys out of the front pocket.
Donavan led the way to Ronnie’s office to pick up this month’s check.

“Leaving already?” Ronnie asked as we strolled in the small, cramped closet that
substituted as a workplace.

“It’s the end of our shift.” I shrugged, slipping my jacket over my shoulders.

“So it is.” Ronnie sighed, sitting up from his slouched position in the chair to grab our
checks from the filing cabinet. He handed us ours individually, and we left with no more than
a small wave on my part.

Donavan folded it down the middle and stuffed it into his back pocket. I clutched mine
tightly in my hand as we walked out into the cold air of the evening night.

Donavan glanced over his shoulder at Bentley through the restaurant windows. The boy
had stood up and was making his way over to the trash cans to dispose of his garbage.

“I don’t like him.” Donavan said, shaking his head softly. “He doesn’t look like someone
you should know.”

“I wish I didn’t.”

“Next time I’ll say something to him.”

“He hasn’t done anything.” Yet. “Don’t start something, Donavan. Let him begin a fight if
there will be one. You really think any college is going to accept you if you have a criminal
record?”

Donavan chuckled, “Who says I’m going to college?”

“You think any employer will hire you?”

“Yeah—”

“Not a good one.”

He stayed quiet, knowing I was right. We arrived at our cars, standing in the space
between each other’s. Donavan wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. His
warm body felt nice against my cold one.

“I’ll see you later, Avery.” He whispered, “I’m serious though. If that kid starts anything, I’ll
kick his ass.”

“I appreciate the notion, but I don’t want you to get into trouble.”

Donavan rolled his eyes as he pulled back, climbing into his car. He waved at me
through the window before putting his car into reverse and pulling out.

I did the same, getting into my own car.

I sat for a moment, watching in my rear view mirror as Bentley left the building on the
other side. I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that he hadn’t parked near me.

Why had he shown up at the McDonald’s?

What did he want?

Shaking my head, I realized I’d have to stay with someone like Donavan more often if
Bentley continued with his strange actions.

I pulled my belt buckle across my body and turned the engine on.

“Boo.”

A blood-curling scream left my lips at the noise.

Tyler chuckled next to me as he slid his body into the passenger seat from the back of
the car. A grin lit up his face as his eyes took in my horrified one. I took in a deep breath,
trying to calm my racing heartbeat.

“What’s wrong with you?!” I hissed furiously.

“You’re so cute when you’re scared.” He said through laughter.

I gave him an irritated look, “You’re such an ass, Tyler. That wasn’t funny.”

“Awh, don’t be mad.”

I gritted my teeth, and kept my lips sealed as I seethed in my seat. Tyler calmed down
after a few moments, realizing I wasn’t taking light of the situation as easily as he thought I
would. He raised an eyebrow, sliding an arm around the back of my chair.

“Relax, Princess.” He whispered, playing with the tips of my pony tail. “I played a little
prank on you. No big deal.”

I shook my head, putting the car into reverse without another word. Tyler left his hand
draped over the back of my chair, but remained silent as I drove us to my house. As I
approached the intersection, I debated whether or not to drop him off at his home to make a
point that I wasn’t happy. My foot to the pedal proved that I still wanted his company
regardless.

As I pulled into the driveway, I could see the light still on in the living room. My eyes
darted to the dashboard clock, surprised to see her up this late.

I turned the engine off and sat in the car for a few minutes, staring forward.

“My grandmother’s still in there.”

Tyler nodded, “I’ll meet you in your bedroom.” He didn’t wait for a confirmation, opening
the door and disappearing into the darkness.

I waited a few minutes before getting out and entering my house.

“Grandma, what are you still doing up?” I asked, dropping my bag onto the empty couch.
She was hunched over at the computer, her eyes peering through her bifocals to see the
small print on the screen better.

“Is that Avery?” a voice asked from the computer.

“Yes, Avery just returned home from work.” My grandmother responded, turning to give
me a small wave.

“Grandma, who’s that?” I took a few steps over to the computer to see that she had a
blank PowerPoint program running. Her mouse flew around the screen wildly as her eyes
darted back and forth.

“It’s Sylvia.”

“Oh, hey Sylvia.” I said to the computer.

“Hello Avery!” Sylvia’s voice played back, “Can you help your grandmother find the Skype
window?”

“You two are Skyping?” I laughed softly to myself, surprised to see my grandmother
toying with such advanced technology.

“Peter set it up for Sylvia, and she insisted I get it.” My grandmother explaining, “I
should’ve just had you do this. I don’t know what I did.”

“I’m surprised you got this far, Grandma.” I teased, but took control of the computer,
pulling up the minimized Skype. Sylvia’s smile filled the screen as my grandmother jerked
back in surprise. She waved frantically to her friend.

“There you are!”

“Finally!” Sylvia laughed, shaking her head.

Grandma turned toward me, pointing at the computer furiously, “I swear, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make her face appear for at least twenty minutes now!”

“It’s not too difficult.” I giggled, shaking my head.

My grandmother rolled her eyes at me jokingly.

“Grandma, it’s really late. I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up too long?”

“Yeah, Yeah,” She waved me off, her attention on the digital picture of her new best
friend displayed on the screen before her. I smiled gently to myself before heading upstairs
to my bedroom where my boyfriend would be waiting for me.

The lights were off as I entered, but I’d expected that. I could see the silhouette of a man
sprawled out on my bed. His breathing filled the room, much louder than my soft breaths. I
slipped out of my shoes, closing the door tightly behind me, and made my way over to my
bed.

Tyler shifted his body as I crawled on, wrapping his arms around me in the process. His
body was much warmer than mine felt.

“Are you still mad at me?” He whispered in my ear.

I nodded against his chest.

“I’m sorry, Princess.” I felt his lips press lightly at the space just beneath my jaw. “So
sorry.” He kissed a little lower. “How can I…” Another kiss even lower, “…Make it up to you?”
He continued to kiss a trail of kisses along my neck.

I angled my head to give him better access, my fingers curling around the fabric of his
shirt, “Hmm, keep doing that.”

He chuckled deviously, “Anything for you.”

Tyler rolled us over so that he hovered above me, spraying me with kisses. His fingers
slipped down my sides, tickling as he kissed and nibbled on my neck. I squirmed
underneath him and tried my hardest not to giggle too loudly.

“Tyler!”

“Hmm?” He didn’t stop his attack on me.

“Tyler!” I pushed harder, shifting onto my stomach underneath him. He chuckled,
attacking my sides and pressing his lips to my neck. “Stop! My grandmother’s going to hear
us!”

He froze, cursing under his breath. Tyler rolled off of me but kept an arm wrapped
around my waist. I relaxed, trying to focus on steadying my breathing. After a few minutes, I
rolled onto my side to face the boy next to me.

“I hate when you’re right.” He scowled.

“I usually am.” I grinned, leaning forward the few inches to press my lips to his. He
grunted underneath me.

I pulled away with a soft giggle.

“You’re evil.”

“I don’t think so…” I trailed off, slipping my hand into his hair.

Tyler shrugged, his eyes falling on me. He was silent for a few minutes before his lips
parted, “How was work?”

“Hmm?” I looked up to meet his gaze. “Oh, it was fine, I guess.”

“Nothing bad happened?”

I wouldn’t necessarily say that…

For a moment, I debated whether or not to tell him about Bentley’s surprise visit to the
fast food joint. It almost seemed like a good idea, but I knew Tyler too well. He would
overreact. He was bound too.

And Bentley wasn’t banned against coming to restaurants. Surely, I was just making a
big deal over nothing.

“Avery?”

“Hmm?” I asked again, feigning sleepiness.

“I asked you if anything bad happened.”

“What? Oh no, nothing.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

I shrugged, curling into my boyfriend’s side. I could tell he wasn’t buying my lie, “It was
fine. I finally got the same shift as Donavan.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah,” I faked a yawn.

“Sleepy?”

I shrugged.

He chuckled, kissing the top of my head. Tyler wrapped an arm around me as he shifted
his body to blanket mine. His scent filled my nose as I nestled my head into the crook of his
neck. Tyler rubbed his hand softly up and down my back.

“Goodnight, Princess.”

“Night, Superman.”

~*~

The shrill sounds awoke me the next morning. I grunted, pushing past the heavy figure
on top of me to turn the alarm off. I twisted around on my bed to crack the joints in my back
before opening my eyes. The sunlight trickled into my bedroom from the window.

Each day brought in more light than the previous as we neared closer to the summer
months. Downstairs I could hear my grandmother moving about as she readied herself for
her day. My eyes glanced over to the clock.

Three minutes wasted.

My eyes fell down to the sleeping figure next to me. Tyler’s face was smashed into the
pillow with his hair a mopey mess atop.
“Tyler?” I asked softly, nudging him.

He grunted.

“What are you still doing here?”

His eyes snapped open, and he bolted upright in the bed. Tyler’s eyes narrowed on the
door in fear as he realized his situation.

I giggled softly, leaning in and pressing my lips against his. “Relax. No one’s going to
walk in on us.”

“I… I fell asleep here?” He seemed surprised, disbelieving.

“It would appear so.”
“Shit.” Tyler cussed, rubbing his eyes furiously. “I’m so sorry. I could’ve ruined everything

we had. I’m so sorry Aves.”
“Relax.” I rolled my eyes, getting up from my bed and heading toward my closet. “You
made one mistake. No big deal.”

“Avery—”

“Tyler, shut up.” I grabbed a blouse from the hanger, dropping it onto the bed. Grabbing

his hands, I pulled his attention to my face, standing before him, “It’s no big deal. We didn’t
get caught. But I do have to get ready for school, unlike our little drop-out here. Go home, and
I’ll see you later today. OK?”

He smirked at my little joke, “Yes ma’am.”

I watched as my boyfriend slipped from the bed, cracking the window. It would be much
more obvious in broad day light that a boy was leaving my bed room. I crossed my fingers
with the hopes that none of the neighbors friendly with my grandmother would look outside.

As soon as he disappeared, I stripped out of my work clothes and into a fresh pair. With
nothing but a quick look in the mirror, I decided today would be a ponytail day.

Twenty minutes later I was making my way down the stairs. I had the headphones of my
iPod already in and blaring music. My eyes were focused on the small screen of the portable
music player in my hands as I scrolled through the list for another song.

“Avery?” My grandmother called from another room. I pulled out one headphone as I
grabbed a banana and a water bottle.

“Yeah?”

“There’s someone here for you.”

“At seven in the morning?” I muttered to myself, but grabbed my bag and headed to the
front door.

My eyes lit up as Peter stood there, dangling his keys from one hand. My grandmother
laughed at my reaction.

“Peter! What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised.

“Thought I’d give you a lift to school like I promised.”

I blinked, “I didn’t think…”

“Surprise!”

“Oh, alright. Well, I think I’m good actually.” I shifted my backpack onto both shoulders
before making sure I had my cellphone in my pocket.

“Let’s head out then.”

I bid adieu to my grandmother before following the junior out the door. Peter slipped into
the driver’s side of his car as I got into the passenger.

“I was actually going to drive through in Starbucks on the way. Want anything?” He
asked as he pulled out of my driveway.

I waved the banana still in my hand, “I’m good, thanks.”

“You sure?”

I nodded.

Peter drove down the road quickly. I could tell he hadn’t had his license as long as I had
by the sharpness of the turns he took. I watched the water in my bottle shake around as he
drove with a raised eyebrow.

Peter pulled into the parking lot of the nearly full Starbucks. “You want to come in at
least?”

“Sure.”

I took the banana with me, deciding to eat it while he ate his food.