Ava (A Hart Twins Novel Rx Book 1)

by Charyse Allan

  It was a new day, and I was going to enjoy it. I chugged my water, then put in my earbuds, turning Flyleaf on. My parents told me to be careful when I headed for the door.

  Right when I stepped outside, my heart dropped to my ass and my hands shook. All perky, happy thoughts left me in a rush. I pulled out my earbuds and sprinted for my car, shaking my head. “Please don’t be real paint, please don’t be real paint,” I chanted as I studied what was, in fact, real spray paint, which spelled out horrible words all over my car. “No, no, no, no…” I continued shaking my head, falling to my knees.

  My beautiful car was covered in bright pink spray paint. My eyes focused on the word “WHORE,” which covered the entire windshield, causing tears to streak down my cheeks, my heart pounding. I forced myself to get off the ground and go back to the house.

  “Did you forget something?” my dad called out right when I opened the door.

  Shaking my head was useless since he was still in the kitchen, but it’s all I could muster. It only took a second for his head to appear around the corner with a huge smile that disappeared instantly. My hands still trembled, my heart thudding in my ears.

  “What happened?” He rushed to me, pulling me into his arms, which were always a comfort. I still couldn’t get anything out, since the shock was replaced by sobbing. He pulled back with a horrified look. “Ava, what the hell happened?” The anger and fear in his eyes were magnified by his glasses.

  “M-m-my c-c-ca-r,” I stuttered out around the sobs, pointing a shaking hand out the door.

  With a confused look, he stepped around me to glance out the door. Not wanting to see the awfulness again, I stayed where I was. He shouted a stream of expletives before coming back inside, slamming the door behind him. My dad, who was always so composed and sweet as can be, was angrier than I had ever seen him. His fists clenched and unclenched while he took multiple deep breaths. Then he pulled me back into his arms and kissed my forehead, making me cry even harder.

  When he pulled back, he swiped some of my tears away. “We’ll take care of this, okay?” he assured me, and I nodded while he held my gaze.

  “What’s going on?” Mom’s voice trailed down the stairs, making us look up while she made her way down. When her eyes focused on my puffy, red face, she rushed down the last few steps. “What happened?” she demanded, exactly as Dad had.

  “We need to call the cops,” he told her, making her eyes bug out in horror. “Someone vandalized Ava’s car.”

  “What are you talking about?” She shoved around him to look for herself before he could answer. “Oh my God!” she yelled, making me cringe.

  It was like this horrible circus playing out, titled “Look What Happened to Perfect Ava’s Perfect Life.”

  Oh, God, what would the neighbors think? And my dad, he was a lawyer. Would his clients think less of him because his daughter was now seen as a whore? Would less people go to my mom’s gallery?

  When she stormed back inside, both my parents devoured me in a rib-crunching hug, making a new tidal wave of sobs consume me. They didn’t seem to care that some unknown stranger thought I was a whore. But now everyone else would wonder. Is Ava really a whore? Is the goody-two-shoes front an act? Not that I had time to be one, even if I wanted to be, which I didn’t, but still. My grades would slip if I whored around, and then I would lose my acceptance to Vanderbilt and my life would fall apart.

  My dad kissed both my mom and me on the foreheads, before leaving us to call the police, while I imagined my life falling to pieces. There was probably nothing the police could do anyway because obviously, whoever had done it was long gone. My poor car was already ruined. And everyone would think I was a whore.

  Mom moved us into the kitchen where Dad was on the phone. She started a pot of tea, and Dad moved back to my side once he got off the phone. Mia slept through the commotion, which wasn’t a surprise, since she could easily sleep through the world ending.

  My crying finally stopped, mostly because I was out of tears but also because fury overshadowed the sorrow. I really hadn’t done anything to deserve my car being trashed, and I certainly wasn’t any of the words painted on it, except maybe a bitch sometimes, but that didn’t make it okay.

  “What can the police do?” I croaked to my dad, hating the sound of my voice.

  “They’ll figure out who did this. Hopefully they’ll send Pierce. He’ll care enough to actually help.”

  “I don’t want Pierce to come!” I almost screeched, panic bubbling up in my stomach, while Mom and Dad watched me with wide eyes. “If he’s involved, he’ll tell Kai.”

  “Kai will probably find out no matter what,” Dad supplied, giving me the suspicion he would be the one to tell Kai. “And when Pierce finds out who did this, I’ll make them pay.”

  “Jim.” Mom gave him a look while she poured hot water over three tea bags.

  “I’m not kidding, Keisha,” he growled, crossing his arms. Mom set our tea down in front of us. The sweet aroma of mint cleared my head, my first sip soothing my nerves and sore throat. Dad took a sip of his too before going on. “Whoever did that deserves to suffer the consequences.”

  All conversation stopped when Mia moseyed down the stairs, making me realize it was almost seven. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking in the tension. “Jeez, who died?” she asked around a huge yawn.

  “Mia,” Mom chided, earning an eye roll from Mia. “Someone spray-painted your sister’s car,” she told her in a brusque tone.

  “What?” she shrieked, then bolted for the door. “What the fuck?” her yell boomed through the house, my parents cringing at her word choice. She came back in the kitchen with crazy, somewhat terrified eyes. “Who did that?”

  “How would I know?” I groaned, rubbing my hands over my face, then looked back at my concerned parents and pissed sister. “I have to get ready for school,” I rasped, jumping from my stool. They looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn’t care. “Can I use your car, Mom?”

  “Ava, you can’t go to school today.” She shook her head.

  “But I have stuff to do today,” I panicked. It wasn’t so much I had stuff to do, but if I stayed home I would drive myself insane, wondering who could do such a thing to me, why they did it, if they would do something else. I wrapped my arms around my middle. “And I have to take Rabia to school.”

  “Sweetheart, the police will be here any second.” Dad gripped my shoulders to comfort and hold me up at the same time, since my shoulders slumped, knees weakening. “You’ll have to talk to them, and we’ll have to talk to the insurance company and a body shop.”

  With my eyes closed again, my lip quivering while I fought another onslaught of tears with everything I had. I didn’t want to deal with this, didn’t want to think about why someone would do that to my car, didn’t want to do anything but go to school and consume myself in silly tasks. Dad gripped my shoulders tighter, pulling me into another hug, which slightly warmed my heart.

  “Does that mean I don’t have to go either?” Mia interjected, of course, thinking about herself first, but if I wasn’t mistaken, fear flashed in her eyes. She looked away too quickly for me to be sure. Maybe I was projecting.

  “No, young lady.” Mom gave her a hard look when Dad pulled away from me. “I’ll take you on my way to the gallery, and we can pick Rabia up too.” Mia glowered at her while she cleaned a few things up around the kitchen. Mom gave her another sharp look with raised eyebrows. “You better get back upstairs and get ready.”

  Mia groaned but only put up a little fight. When she was gone, I thought about escaping upstairs too, but the doorbell rang. Dad let the two police officers in. Luckily, neither of them were Pierce. He remained by my side, holding my hand while officers Lawrence and Markson took my statement.

  Lawrence, a slight woman with pale blonde hair tied in a knot on the back of her head, was extremely nice but cussed like a sailor when she spoke about catching the person who vandalized my car. Markson, on the other
hand, appeared indifferent, mostly just nodding his pudgy, bald head in agreement with whatever his partner said. They asked if I had any problems with people at school, which I couldn’t deny I did.

  It could have been any of the people I had pissed off. Sydney certainly didn’t like me—she could have acted on her own. She seemed hateful enough to do something this horrible. And Trent, he was the more likely candidate, especially with how angry I had made him over the prom stuff. This could have been his way of getting back at me.

  Voicing any of this to them seemed so unbelievably silly. Like anyone would put together some grand scheme to ruin Ava’s life. It had to be random. I wasn’t anyone important.

  They said they would look into some things, talk to some people at the school. While Dad did his lawyer thing, asking a million questions, Mia and Mom left. Mom promised she would come back in the afternoon to check on me, but she couldn’t stay since she had a show to prepare for.

  Once the police excused themselves, Dad came to sit with me on the love seat in the family room. My arms were wrapped around my legs, my head resting on my knees. He laid a hand on my shoulder, sighed heavily.

  “I have to go into work, baby,” he told me with what appeared to be reluctance. “There’s a big case we’re working on, but I should be able to come home early. Will you be okay?”

  I only nodded, keeping my head on my knees. Being alone, curling in a ball to wallow for a bit, had to be the cure for this sadness. Doing as much without an audience would be best. He nodded too, giving me a peck on the cheek.

  When he headed upstairs, I stayed curled up on the love seat, watching the slight drizzle through the bay window. Of course, it was starting to rain now, after the paint had dried on my car. The one night it doesn’t rain, someone decides to tag my car. Irony was usually an amusing thing, but this time it made my stomach churn.

  Only a few minutes later, he came back down talking to someone on the phone. He came to stand next to me, putting his hand on my shoulder again. “She’s right here,” he told whoever it was. “She’s okay….” He paused for a second, wherein yelling burst from his earpiece, but I couldn’t make out who it was. “We’re all upset, but it’s being taken care of. I asked that Pierce be put on the case if he has some time freed up.” Another pause. “Yeah. I’ll ask her.”

  He gave me a pleading look I just didn’t get. “It’s Kai,” he told me, making my heart squeeze. I clenched my eyes shut when he held the phone out toward me. It was just like my dad to let everyone know something terrible happened. But Kai of all people? “He wants to talk to you.”

  My answer was a shake of my head while still staring out the window. Of course, I wanted to talk to Kai, but there was no way I could handle a tirade from him when I was already so upset. Dad let out a heavy puff of breath but squeezed my shoulder as if he understood why I was saying no.

  “She’s not doing too well, Kai. I think she needs to get some rest before dealing with anything else.” He paused again, rubbing a hand over his neck. “You do what you feel you need to, I certainly won’t stop you.” Another pause. “Yes, I’ll tell her. You take care and let me know what you decide. Love you, son.”

  After hanging up, he looked at me for a long moment. “He’s worried, Av.”

  “He wouldn’t have even known if you hadn’t called him.” My glare had little heat behind it. A nap was a necessity.

  “Well, he said he’s going to text you.” He shrugged. “I need to finish getting ready or I’ll be late.”

  When he disappeared again, my phone buzzed with a text from Kai. I almost ignored it. Almost. It was so rare to get an actual text from him.

  So, Dad texted me

  to tell me someone

  fucked with your car.

  I called to talk to you

  and you don’t want to

  talk to me????? Here’s

  what I’m gonna do… I’m

  gonna sit by my phone,

  and if I don’t get a call in

  the next ten minutes, I’m

  demanding leave, so I can

  come shake you, then kill

  the fucker who did that.

  Ten minutes… that’s it.

  I pinched my bottom lip, staring at the text. I wanted to talk to him—so bad—but he would be even angrier over the phone. I wasn’t sure I could handle that, but I also wasn’t sure I could handle him wasting his leave on this when I wanted him to use if for graduation. He could usually only called on weekends, since all our schedules were conflicting with the time difference. But it was one of his days on duty, so he probably wouldn’t have much time to talk. My rebellious bone had me waiting exactly eight minutes before finally calling his cell.

  “What the hell, A?” he snapped, answering on the first ring. The circumstances were the worst, but the familiar sound of his rough voice warmed my heart, even with the added grumpiness.

  “Um, hello to you too, Kai.”

  “Don’t, ‘um hello,’ me! Why wouldn’t you talk to me when I called Dad?”

  “Because I have already flipped out enough for everyone. I couldn’t handle you too.”

  “I’m your brother. I get to flip out when some asshole hurts my sister like that.”

  “Well, there isn’t anything else to be done, so there’s no point in anyone getting worked up about it anymore, okay?”

  He stayed silent for so long, I thought he hung up, but then he sighed. “You don’t want me to come?” The way he asked it hurt my chest for some reason.

  “Of course I want you to, Kai. But not for this. This is so lame. It isn’t worth it. I would much rather you come when things aren’t so tense and awful.”

  He sighed again after a long pause. “Fine. I get that. But if this fucker messes with you again, you can’t stop me from coming, got it?”

  “Well, I’m not planning on anything else happening, so I can agree to that.”

  “Good,” he grunted before something crashed in the background. “Look, A, I have to go. I expect to hear from you when you hear back from the police and if anything else happens. I’ll let you know about graduation in a week or so, ’kay?”

  “Okay. I love you, Kai. And just FYI, you can call just to say ‘hi’ too.”

  “Ha, I’ll try. Love ya too.”

  A sharp pain zinged through my chest when the line went dead. I missed him so damn much and would have loved nothing more than for him to be there to give me one of his giant bear hugs. There would be another time.

  After Dad left for work, I thought about taking a shower and getting dressed for the day but realized I still had my running clothes on. Going for a run sounded much more appealing than wallowing for the next couple hours. I put my music back in, switching to The Used, and headed out. When I got down the steps, I saw my car wasn’t there anymore. My dad must have moved it into the garage before he left, so I wouldn’t have to see it if I went outside, but that didn’t make it nonexistent. It was still there, still ruined.

  After five miles into the city, I decided to make my way back home. My legs were Jell-O, lungs burning by the time I got there, but it felt great. Once done with the much-needed shower, it was time for a good wallow. Sweats, a comfy T-shirt, and a pint of my favorite ice cream were the perfect combination for a Teen Wolf binge. My phone was turned off because I didn’t want to deal with the worried texts I was sure to get from, at least, Rabia.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cade

  My plan to get to school early to see Ava was shot to Hell when my mom cornered me on my way out the door. She wanted to know why I reacted the way I had on Sunday. My morning mood made it a terrible idea to get into it so early, so I begged her to let it be until I got home from school. With reluctance, she agreed, but the delay made it so I would be right on time for my first class.

  When I got there, Ava’s car was nowhere to be seen, although I did spot Rabia and Mia getting out of her mom’s SUV but no Ava. A bomb threat couldn’t even keep her from school. The
fact she had ignored my texts the night before on top of skipping school had me jogging to catch up with Mia and Rabia. As I approached them, Rabia shot me a loathsome glare before taking off in the other direction. I wasn’t sure what the hell that was about, but it only made the pit in my stomach grow.

  Mia, on the other hand, smirked with raised eyebrows. “What’d you do to piss her off, Loverboy?”

  My nasty retort was swallowed in order to get answers. Pissing her off right away wouldn’t do as much. “I have no idea.” I shrugged, but went on before she could push further. “Hey, is Ava okay?”

  Anger flashed through her eyes, her nostrils flaring, making dread claw through me. If Mia was upset about whatever happened, it had to be bad. “Some asshole spray-painted her car.”

  I jerked back, my eyes bugging out of my head. “What?” I shouted, causing several passersby to jump.

  “Yeah, it’s really bad.” She nodded, keeping her voice low. Her discretion impressed me, as she seemed the type to enjoy spreading drama, no matter who it involved, but there was something deep in her eyes that looked a lot like fear. “Hot-pink spray paint, horrible words. It’s awful.”

  My vision blurred, hands shaking. “Is she okay?” I growled.

  “Can’t tell ya.” A disinterested look was put in place, making me wonder how many masks she wore in order to hide who she really was. “She was pretty upset this morning and even more so when she talked to the cops. But we left while they were there, so I don’t know how she’s doing now.” She watched me for a long second, seeming afraid of what I might do. Rubbing my hands over my face did nothing to calm me. Before I could say anything else, the bell rang. “I gotta go. See you later, Cade.”

  She waved, heading toward the main building. I stared after her, trying to decide what to do. The need to see her, to make sure she was okay, was overwhelming. There was no reason for someone to do that to her. She wasn’t a mean person. She didn’t deserve to be hurt like that. The all-consuming rage had to be suppressed simply in order to get a text out to her.