Wow my first actual story! I hope you like it, it starts out slow at first...anyway...onward!
Avery sighed watching the people at her school gossip, laugh, doing what not. She had not wanted to go to this school; it was after all where her brother went. Besides that and the fact that it was an expensive private school she might have though it was a great school. When she had first arrived however she found that people didn't like her for her lack of funds. When they realized she was Adam's twin sister they hated her even more.
"Avery what are you doing?" asked her one and only friend Blair. Avery shifted in her spot. She was sitting outside on a clear for get me not blue day an apple and book in hand. The grass under her was well kept and the tree's shade long reaching. Blair was looking down at her through blue eyes that seemed to match the sky; her pixie cut black hair behind a headband.
"Oh, just dazing off. What's up?" she asked pulling her lazy thoughts together. Blair's mouth twitched upward as Avery played with her long brown hair.
"I found out that Caden Standford and Lark Wattenburg just broke up last period in class. I was surprised but then again when did his relationships ever work out?" Blair asked her. Avery smiled her friend was a pure gossip who had become an outcast after they became friends, not that she still couldn't find the dirt on someone.
"Well we knew it was coming to an end we just didn't know when." Avery supplied. Blair shook her head thoughtfully then stared at Avery her mouth open slightly.
"What?" Avery asked looking confused. The last time she had stared at her in a thoughtful trance she had tried to get Avery to date Neil van Camp. Needless to say in had been a disaster she could never live down.
"You don't look like Adam at all." she stated. Avery sighed; it was for the best she didn't look like him. Adam was as heartless with woman as his best friend Caden. Upon entering this school their twin bond had slowly been chipped away, she barely talked to him now.
"Well I do were glasses…" Avery told her lightly. Blair chuckled but said nothing more; she knew Adam and Caden were sore subjects with Avery.
"Well I'll see you after break." Blair said as the bell rang. Lunch was the last time they saw each other before going home and as it was the last day before spring break they wouldn't see each other that often. Blair was going away to some country in Europe and Avery would most likely be spending her time baby-sitting.
The last few classes, art, English and Anatomy went by slowly for Avery. She watched as her fellow classmates doodled on the desk. It was hard to wait five minutes before going to her car; she knew that the parking lot would be a mad house thus opted to wait.
"I'm home…" Avery called into the quite house. No one answered but that didn't mean they weren't there. Adam would probably be in his room listening to music, her father was presumably at the office and her mother would be arriving from her job shortly. Avery shrugged and changed into some comfort clothes, basically pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. She walked to the kitchen grabbed some ice cream and headed for the TV room. She flipped through the channels till she found Roman Holiday on TCM, one of her favorites.
The phone rang signaling that Avery should get up. She wondered if she should let it ring, maybe it was her mother telling she she'd be home late. With one finally glance at the TV Avery finally got up.
"Hello?" she asked. She heard a sigh of relief on the other line and hushed voices in the background.
"Sweetie? I'm so sorry." her mother's voice said through the phone. Avery raised an eyebrow even though her mother couldn't see it.
"What's wrong?" Avery asked quite perplexed.
"Well…" her mother began, a slight pause, "we forgot to tell you that your grandmother invited us to spend some time with her. She…"
"Didn't want me to come." Avery finished for my mother. There was silence; she could almost feel her mother thinking.
"Mom?" Avery asked.
"I'm sorry…I, I didn't mean for this to happen. It was last minute and we couldn't say no. You know how she is after all." her mother continued. Avery nodded silently not wanting to interrupt her rant.
"So how long will you guys be gone?" Avery asked staring at the ceiling. She was now pacing the kitchen with the phone to her ear.
"A week at least." her mother's reply came.
"Oh, okay." Avery said after a few seconds.
"Avery, honey…" her mother began but Avery sighed. It would go on if Avery didn't stop her mother's apologies.
"I'll be fine. I'll call you tomorrow." she said, her mother making a whimpering noise, Avery hung up the phone. Not wanting to watch TV anymore Avery sat on a stool in the kitchen. After a few minutes of just sitting she turned off the TV and returned to her room. She pulled a stack of Harlequins and began to read. At two in the morning she stopped to get some thing to eat, then went back to read. She then began to read, after finishing the Harlequins, the rest of the books in her room were next.
Somehow in a haze Avery heard a knocking on the door. She, without looking in the mirror, slowly walked down stairs. The sunlight stung her puffy sleep deprived eyes as she walked into the foyer. She was grasping one of her books not noticing it as she trudged to open the door.
"What?" she snapped. She only squinted at the tall figure that seemed to be smiling down at her. Avery's hair was now in a long braid that reached the small of her back, her glasses forgotten somewhere and her clothes sainted with food. Her skin seemed to have grown paler due to her staying inside for an uncounted number of days.
"Avery your alive." said an amused male voice. The figure came into focus showing Avery that it was only Caden Standford. He was wearing a green polo shirt and a pair of jeans, his shaggy hair fanned around him. In his hands he held a cell phone, car keys and a pack of gum.
"Adam is not here, go home." she said about to slam the door when he pushed past her. Caden laughed softly as if he had known she was not in right state to argue. She closed the door before following him into her own house.
"I'm here for you." Caden told her is voice laughing at her. Avery shifted slightly; never having really like Caden she narrowed her golden eyes.
"Why?" Avery asked. Caden looked down at her for a minute then looked at the clock. He sighed patting her on the head. Before she could demand another answer he headed up the stairs. Even she didn't know how he knew which room was hers, Adam rarely talked about her at school and when Caden was here they always went directly to Adam's room.
"What are you doing? Why are you in my room?" Avery insisted. Caden glanced at her and rolled his eyes whether at her or the piles of books she didn't know. Caden then went to her closet pulling out a box of tampons, a few books and then finally a suitcase. He looked around her dresser draws packing her things, Avery just stood there in shock. He even packed her tampons smirking at her as he did so, that seemed to jilt her. She opened her mouth to speak but Caden cut her off.
"Take a shower, please." Caden told her after glancing at her a sneer on his perfect face. Avery muttered darkly as she washed herself. She wrapped her purple bath towel around her and entered her room, Caden sitting on the bed. She dressed without a word to him not realizing how much backside she'd just relieved. Avery, then, from whatever trance she was in snapped back to reality.
"Answer my questions Caden!" she yelled. Caden stopped and regarded her for a second before rolling his eyes. Grabbing her he pushed through the house and to his SUV, an Envoy, put the suitcase in the trunk and her in the passengers seat.
"Caden!" Avery yelled.
"Shut up." he commanded then started the engine. Avery quieted closing her eyes knowing that she'd have to wait for Caden to answer her.
Avery blinked, out the window were trees, cars and music was playing in the background. Was she dreaming? She didn't really remember much just that she had decided to read every single book she owned without sleeping. Idiot she muttered to herself but then again she always did stupid thing when it came to her paternal grandparents.
"You're awake?" asked a voice. Avery frowned then she remembered Caden kidnapping her. She didn't answer; he hadn't answered her so why should she answer him? She just stared out the window wondering how long she'd been asleep.
"Still sulking?" he asked amusement in his voice. Avery bristled but didn't answer believing in her dignified silence. She grabbed her glasses back from him and pushed then up her nose. Caden smiled at this making Avery wonder what was so funny, Avery glanced at him to see him studying the rode. Where they in West Virginia now?
"Well are you going to answer me?" Avery asked him. Caden laughed then grinned at her before looking back at the road. Caden, she noted with a reluctant smile, had been trained in the art of charm.
"Your mother sent me. She said you hadn't called in days and was worried. I said I go and check on you." Caden told her. Avery pondered this for a second. Her mother would never want Avery in the car with Caden, though she treated him like a second son. She had never really gotten why. Her mother and Caden's mother had been friends since pregnancy with their children, though the Standfords were snobs. Her father on the other hand had made it clear that Caden was not to be in the house with Avery while no one was home; undoubtedly they knew parts of Caden's colorful relationships.
"Then why am I in your car?" asked Avery evenly trying to conceal the anger she felt towards him this second. Caden glanced at her with a smirk. Avery tried to understand why females liked him so much. In her opinion he was an arrogant jerk who made her life horrible. Maybe, yes, maybe if he didn't speak or smirk he be better looking but other wise she was at a lost.
"Because my parents are in Guam and your family gone. I wanted to take a road trip, I even felt a note." he said with a smile. If she were any other girl Avery might have melted but she huffed and glared out the window. She was right; he was good looking but nothing more that a body with an ugly soul.
"Do they know?" Avery asked finally after a few minutes. Her parent certainly didn't agree that she go on a road trip so she hoped. Her father had never really even trust Caden with girls so why would he now?
"Not really…" Caden said with a small shrug. Avery shook her head, she should have known. Caden was famous for his disappearing act. Adam had only gone with him once afterward their parents had ground him for two months. They had never done it, on school nights, again.
Silence hung over the car as they drove. The only noise was music from the radio and the cars on the parkway. Avery wondered if he was really doing this for his reasons, she doubted that he even cared, or for something else. The first time she had met was at a party in which he humiliated her and where she had stopped relying on her brother for support. It had hurt and ever since that day nothing had been the same. Avery wondered even if he remembered what had happened.
"What?" Caden asked. Avery glanced at him then returned her eyes to the scenery. She didn't want to know but then again she did. Avery survived her sophomore year after transferring to the school, which she hated so much; she had a right to know at least. Caden and her brother had made it no easier for her but they could have stopped the harassment that had taken place.
"Do you remember when we first met?" Avery asked five minutes after. If Caden was surprised by her question he didn't show it easily. He seemed to frown for a few seconds before answering her.
"Yeah, yeah I do." Caden said slowly. Avery wondered now how he felt about it, if she had to guess it would be the same as that night.
"Of course you would remember." Avery muttered. She silently wondered if her brother remembered too, how did he feel about it.
"I heard that." he smirked. Avery rolled her eyes and continued to stare out the window. Caden changed the radio station as they turned on to exit ramp 169. It turned from highway to downtown, houses here and there. Avery wanted to ask but didn't.
"We're going to my Aunt's. She asked me to visit." Caden said answering the unasked question. Avery stayed quiet but wondered what had she signed up for.
They kept going down streets that were lined in oak trees and the houses were white with white picked fences. Some had shrubs other had flowers for decoration around their houses. Avery couldn't help but smirk thinking that had entered WASP land. They pulled into the driveway of house 18 on Asbury Circle. She was surprised that they wouldn't have a mansion like Caden's.
"They hate to show off. They're about as rich as my Dad." Caden said when he saw Avery's face. She raised a skeptical brow but got out the car too, Caden rang the doorbell. "Coming" was shouted from the inside and they had to wait a few more seconds before a woman opened the door. She, the woman, was tall and bless with few wrinkles. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun and a classic string of pearls was around her neck.
"Caden…how very good to see you. Do come in." she said with a glance at Avery. When inside she closed the door then hugged Caden, she looked Avery up and down surprise on her face. Caden seemed to be trying to hide a grin and Avery wanted to roll her eyes.
"Not the usual type you bring. I guess even you found love." she said with a slight hint of mocking in her voice.
"Aunt Christine this isn't my girlfriend. She's my best friend's twin, I asked her to help me out." Caden said with a smile. His Aunt raised an eyebrow clearly not believing a word he said.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Avery London." Avery said hold her hand out. She stared for a second her eyes going wide. Avery tried not to smirk she knew what the next question would be.
"Are you David London's granddaughter?" she asked taking Avery's hand.
"Yes, David is my grandfather." she replied a smile on her face. Caden on the other hand was looking at her as though she had two heads. Avery knew not many knew that she was in fact related to David London.
"No your not. Why lie?" Caden asked his Aunt studied her.
"Yes, I am. My father, David Nathanial London III, was disowned after my marrying my mother. Only in the past ten years have they little my little started to talk again. Why else would my brother attend that school?" Avery said puffing herself up her tone was even but the anger in them was heard. Caden looked shocked but recovered to smirk at her. His Aunt Christine lifted an eyebrow as if she wondered why Caden hadn't known this; her smirk was now almost a sneer.
"Then why aren't you with them?" he asked. Avery opened her mouth to speak but it was Aunt Christine who spoke.
"David doesn't want a female to run his empire. He doesn't really care about Avery in that way. She's just a granddaughter nothing more. He wants Adam to take on the family business after disowning his own son." she told Caden in a bored voice. Avery only nodded, it was true after all.
"Is that why you transferred to our school for our sophomore year?" Caden asked. His face was unreadable as he looked at her.
"Why else, they wouldn't want me not to have a good background when I'm force into a marriage for my dear grandfather. My grandmother even asked why I'd apply to college." Avery said hating the fact she would presumably end up unhappy unless she was to be disowned. They stood quiet for a while as his aunt looked at them both, studying them.
"Yes, well, you two go have fun. If you buy anything just put it on my card. Be back around six, dinner is at six thirty." Aunt Christine told Caden. She handed him a credit card and smiled at Avery then without a word she vanished into the house.
Please review! Lilly