I wrap my arms around my best friend and let her cry on my shoulder. I meant to find her parents first, but she will be last, if we find them at all.
"Let's go in our room. I want to braid your hair."
"Okay."
She plops down in the chair at our vanity and refuses to look in the mirror. "Avra, are you okay?"
"Not really."
"How is the new medicine my dad gave you working?"
"It's fine. It works a little bit better than the complex medicine. I'm still too weak to go to visit parents though."
"I think the timing has been unlucky for you. You'll be strong on a visit day soon."
"I hope so."
"How are your cooking lessons with Freda going?"
She smiles for the first time today. "Cooking with Freda is the best. She is so nice, and we make the yummiest things ever. Did you like the three-layered brownies we made yesterday?"
"Yes. I ate three of them."
Avra laughs. "Maybe that's why we didn't get snacks in the complex. People like you can't control themselves."
I laugh too. "Yeah, probably. Don't make them so yummy next time."
"Will you paint my fingernails, Elira?"
I think longingly about Garth sitting in the great room for a second, but I want to support my friend. "Okay, choose your color."
•
The next day Mom and Dad bring down hot cheesy sandwiches and smooth red soup for lunch. They seem really happy today. They both hug me and then each other. While they are so close they lean into each other and touch lips. All of us teenagers watch the whole exchange and sort of jump in surprise. I feel intrigued and embarrassed at the same time. It's so weird.
My dad breaks the uncomfortable silence. "What's the matter? Have you guys never seen a kiss before?"
Rocky clears his throat. "We've only seen people try to kiss through a thick plate of glass. What you just did is—different."
Scott speaks up, "My mom kissed me all over my face about 20 times when I saw her again, but she didn't kiss me here." Scott points to his lips.
Father looks at Mother and smiles. "Kissing on the lips is what you do when you love someone more than anything, and they love you back." We all nod, trusting that he knows what he is talking about.
I look at Garth, who turns to look at me at the same time. We both blush and turn away.
After lunch, Avra says she has a headache and needs to lie down. I take her into our room and tuck her in. I lie on the bed next to her hoping that she's not too tired to have a girl chat with me. "Have you kissed Scott, Avra?"
She giggles. "No. I've wanted to, but I wasn't sure how to make it happen. Your parents made it look easy."
I remember their public kiss and blush. "That was embarrassing and educational at the same time, right?"
Avra smiles at me. "How do you think your mom would react if you kissed Garth?"
"I don't know. Sometimes I think she likes him, but sometimes I think she wants to separate me from him."
"I think she knows he's a good guy. She just doesn't want to share you."
"Do you remember what she said when the peace officer was here? Do you think she secretly hates my raccoon eye?"
"She was faking it to get the officer to leave us alone."
"I hope so."
"I know so. I overheard her telling your dad that you are more beautiful and smart than she imagined you would be."
"Really?"
"Yes. She's the kind of mom everyone should have."
I look at the picture of my mom and me hugging cheek to cheek on the wall and sigh. "She really does love me just the way I am, doesn't she?"
"Of course she does, Elira."
"I always felt like I was one of the lucky ones in the complex. Now I know I'm lucky."
Avra sighs as she looks at the same picture on the wall. "I hope my mom is just like her."
"Do you remember your parents at all, Avra?"
She twirls a piece of hair around her finger thoughtfully. "When I try to remember my earliest memory, I swear I remember smiling brown faces and a train whistle."
"A train whistle? Do you remember them taking you on a train?"
"No, I never got on the train, even though I wanted to. I just heard the train whistle all the time. Several times a day."
Why didn't she mention this before? "Uh, that's huge, Avra. You should have told me sooner. We need to check out all the neighborhoods along the train tracks."
She sits up in bed. "Oh, yeah. We should. Well, you can. They are never going to let me go outside, are they?"
"Avra, how do you feel about your health? If you think you can handle going outside, I'll insist that we take you the next time we go out."
"I want to, it's just that outside air is cold and hurts my lungs when I breathe in too hard."
I tap my fingers together thoughtfully. "We won't be chased again, hopefully. That should help keep your breathing even. We could drive a car along the train tracks and look for Avra look-alikes the next time we go out. It would be helpful to have you with us, even if you just stay in the car."
She perks up. "Okay, I think I can do that."
"Good."
"Do you remember what your house looked like, by chance?"
She scrunches her eyebrows together as she thinks. "I know this sounds weird, but I think it was bright yellow."
"Why do you think that?"
"I just have memories with bright yellow in the background."
"The inside of your house might have been bright yellow, though."
She shrugs. "Yeah, maybe."
I am relieved to have a new angle to find her parents. "I will knock on every door along the railroad track till I find them for you."
She grins and claps her hands. "Good. We finally have a plan."
"This is a good day." I grab the sweet-smelling lotion on the bedside table and rub some into my dry hands. "How are things between you and Scott, by the way?"
Avra raises her eyebrows. "Good enough. He is really focused on his family right now. I understand why. I just feel left out sometimes. I'm the only one who hasn't met their parents yet, you know."
I feel terrible. I've been so selfish. "I'm sorry I haven't been sensitive to your feelings, Avra."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Scott just seemed so into me; now he's completely focused on his family. I don't want to be forgotten. How are you and the twins?"
I smile at my hands. "Uh, it's not even a choice anymore. Garth is the one that makes me happy."
"Have things changed since he met his family?"
I nod as I think about it. "It's about the same for us as it is for you and Scott. He is excited and focused on his family right now. But occasionally he does something for me, and looks at me with those clear blue eyes, and I just melt."
"How's Jefrey?"
I shrug indifferently. "I think he has some major issues. He was not nice to his parents the first time he saw them. They had to be in shock; you have to give people time to process things, you know."
"Does he still like you?"
"Supposedly. I am not giving him any encouragement though."
"He seems obsessed with money. I see him eyeing the money anytime your mom gives some to Ernestine."
"Yeah, I've noticed that too. We've never needed money before. I don't know why he is so interested in it."
"Was his parents' house like this one?"
"No, it was nice, but it was much smaller."
"Maybe he thinks that you won't like him unless he has as much as you have."
"That's dumb. Nobody can have exactly the same amount as anyone else. Having a bigger house or more cars
doesn't make you a better person."
Avra looks at me with sad eyes and nods. "I know, but I worry that my parents will have the least of all of them. I don't want you guys to stop being my friends."
I stop and look at my best friend. "I thought we were talking about Jefrey."
She looks at her hands. "I—we are talking about Jefrey."
I reach out and take her hand. "Even if you have nothing and no family, you will always be my friend."
Avra's brown eyes look deeply into mine. "Thank you."
"You're welcome; get some sleep."
I walk to the door and slip out quietly. I don't see Garth standing there, and he startles me. "Ah! Garth."
He looks around and sees no one near us. He wraps his arms around me, which brings me so close to him, I can almost feel his heart beating. I hug him back. My heartbeat quickens with how good he feels in my arms. Then his face that is so close slowly starts to get closer. Is he going to—kiss me? I just wait, hoping he will. My eyes close as I feel his breath tickling my nose. He kisses my cheek. That's getting closer, will he make it all the way to my...
"HEY!" Jefrey comes charging up to us. "What do you two think you're doing?"
"This is none of your business, Jef." Garth says as he pushes his brother away from us.
"I think it is. I have just as much of a relationship with Elira as you have."
"Is that true, Elira?" Garth asks.
I see pain in both of the faces staring at me. "No, it's not. I'm sorry, Jefrey."
Jefrey shakes his head. "I'm not giving up."
"I've tried to give you a chance, Jefrey, but I just don't feel the same for you anymore. I'm sorry. I've made my choice and I choose Garth." I stand up on my tippy toes and give Garth the kiss I wanted him to give me. I meant to be quick, so I could hide from these two in my room, but, wow. I feel like something just awoke in me, and I can't be quick about it. When I pull away from Garth, I can see he feels the same way by the dazed look in his eyes. Our moment is quickly squashed by Jefrey punching a hole in the wall. I look into Garth's perfect eyes one last time before I run into my room and collapse against the door.
Bam. Smack. "You are no brother of mine!"
"She's the one who chose. Don't blame me."
I scoot to the side of the door as I hear the brothers fighting, physically and verbally. I'm pretty sure Jefrey threw a punch at Garth, then Garth wrestled Jefrey to the floor. The walls and the door keep getting kicked and bashed into. What have I done? I just wanted Garth to know that I wanted to kiss him, and I wanted Jefrey to know that he had no chance, so he could get over it. Now they are out there beating each other up. I can hear every word of their fight.
"You always get everything I want. Why are you so special, Garth?"
"I'm not that special, but I'm a better choice than you!"
"You have a messed-up hand, and a messed-up ear. She must like ugly jerks."
"You are messed-up too. Inside and out, so shut up!"
Should I go out there and stop them? I feel like I will just make it worse or maybe I'm just a chicken. Either way, I just stay put.
"I was the first one to ever talk to her at the complex. She fell for me, hard. I could tell."
"Well, even if she fell for you first, your whiny baby-ness changed her mind."
"This whiny baby just put a fist in your face." The rustling sounds stop.
"Yeah, you did. Nice hook. Look, Jefrey, she chose me. That sucks for you, but can you get over it? We are brothers still."
"That's what you think." Bam. It sounds like Jefrey hits the wall one last time and storms off.
I feel tears forming in my eyes, but I do everything I can to keep them from falling. I am the reason that fight just happened. I thought if I made my choice known everything would get better between them. Now it's ten times worse.
I force myself to my feet and turn the doorknob. I gasp as I see Garth doubled over holding his side. He has a black eye and probably bruised ribs. I rush to his side and wrap my arms around him.
"Ow. Not so tight on my right side."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you in front of him. I'm such an idiot."
"Don't ever say that." Then he kisses me, and we can take as long as we want this time.
Chapter 14
The twins look bad today. Garth's eye is black as night, and Jefrey has a fat lip. They are told off by Ernestine and Mom at breakfast for fighting and damaging the walls in the hall.
"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Mother asks.
"Sorry for the holes in the walls, but he deserved it," Jefrey insists.
Garth rolls his eyes at Jefrey. "We'll fix the damage we caused, Mrs. Hamble. It won't happen again."
"Would you like to tell me what it was about?"
The twins glance briefly at me then glare at each other. "No," Jefrey insists.
Garth looks pleadingly at my mother. "It's not something we want to talk about, but it won't be repeated."
"It better not. Elira has a plan to find Avra's parents. Ernestine will be taking the girls out today, but you two will have to stay here and patch the walls."
"Mom, I'm not sure the two of them should..."
"I think the girls and the boys in this house should have some time away from each other."
"But they might..."
"I won't budge on this, Elira. You and Avra get your disguises on. It's time to go."
"Okay, Mother." I bite my lip as I pass the twins with Avra by my side. Garth steals a glance at me before my mother notices.
Avra touches the two holes in the wall before we enter our room. "Did I really sleep through all that?"
I sigh. "Yes, you did."
"It was over you, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. I thought it was time to let Jefrey know that I have made my choice. So I kissed Garth right in front of him."
Avra laughs. "You did what? Ha! It all makes sense now."
I hide my face in my hand. "They hate each other. I really don't want them to kill each other while we're gone."
"That would be a shame. You'd have no one to kiss anymore."
I blush as I remember kissing Garth. "Yeah, that would be a shame."
I squeeze Garth's hand as we walk down the hall in our disguises. I want to hug him, but my mom glares at us, and I don't dare. Scott gets to come with us so we can drop him off at his parents' house for his 12:00 meeting.
Avra smiles as we pull up to the Taylors' house. Scott's little sisters are waiting by the gate. Scott jumps out of the car and whispers something to the little girls. They smile and wave at Avra. She giggles and waves back.
"Why didn't you tell me his sisters were so cute, Elira?"
"I thought I did."
"Well, maybe you did, but wow. I'm in love with them; they're so little." We pull away from the Taylors' house and head to the other side of town by the railroad tracks. Avra seems to feel pretty good. She is awake and attentive as we pull into the first neighborhood by the railroad tracks. The houses are midsized and older, but they are mostly kept-up and respectable looking. Ernestine parks the car and asks Avra if she is ready to go door to door. She shakes her head, "Is it okay if I watch you two do it for a while? I just want to stay in the car for now."
"Okay—Elira, you get the right side of the road, I will get the left. Remember, just ask them if they have seen your lost dog. People are pretty friendly if they know you aren't selling anything," Ernestine tells me.
"Got it, let's go."
I walk to the first house. It's not yellow, so I don't have high hopes. Knock, knock. A chubby blonde woman with a blonde baby on her hip answers the door. I smile sweetly at her. "Hello, have you seen a dog wandering loose around h
ere? Mine has gone missing."
"Yeah, I saw a big black one trotting down the road earlier."
"Oh, mine is small and brown. Thanks anyway."
"No problem."
I continue down the road. No one looks anything like Avra. I see a yellow house coming up, and I am sure I'll find her parents there. When I get to the yellow house, I take a deep breath and knock on the door. A red-headed man covered in freckles opens the door. My heart sinks. I say my dog speech, then I ask, "Do you live here alone? I was wondering if this was a good neighborhood for families. My older brother is wanting to relocate."
"Uh, my wife and I live here. It's all right."
"What does she look like? I mean, I just passed a brunette jogger a few minutes ago. Was that her?" I say, scrambling to think of a good excuse for my curiosity.
"My wife ain't brunette. She's a blonde, and she don't jog. She's working at the gas station all day."
"Oh, thank you for your help. Have a nice day."
He grunts at me as he shuts the door. I go on to the next house, and the next, and the next. No luck. I walk back to the car dejectedly. Ernestine is already done with her side of the road. She says there was only one possibility on her side of the road, but after some careful questioning, she doesn't think they are Avra's parents. We drive to the next neighborhood. The houses are much smaller, and the yards are weedy and run down.
Ernestine takes a big drink from a water bottle. "Okay, Avra. Are you ready to talk to people?"
"Uh, I guess I could do one or two houses by the car."
"Well, that's a start. Let's go."
I watch out the corner of my eye as Avra approaches the house next to mine. The woman who answers has white-blonde hair and pale white skin, so it's probably not her family. I see that the last house on my side of the road is a yellow one. I am not too enthusiastic until I get to that one. Avra is back in the car. She could only do two houses before she was too tired. At least that's what she claimed. I wonder if she's kind of scared of meeting her parents, despite her eagerness. I approach the yellow house and give the door a good hard knock. A man with light brown skin answers. My heart starts pounding like crazy. I do my dog speech. The man scratches his head and says he hasn't seen any dogs wandering around.
The Complex Law: Young Adult Dystopian Page-Turner (The Complex Trilogy Book 2) Page 10