Page 24 of Shelter
“Fuck,” I bit out, squatting by her side. “Ava? Wake up.” I shook her shoulder, and her eyes fought to open.
“M-m just… tired,” she murmured, pulling back from the toilet to lean against the wall.
“Ava… Ava…” I repeated her name, still trying to be quiet, but Ava just waved her hand clumsily to silence me.
“Just let her sleep, Cole,” Bree said, lifting the filled bucket out of the tub. “At least she’s not puking.”
I looked at my sister. She had sick in her hair, down her shirt, and on her legs. I didn’t see that a break in her puking was all that great a triumph, but I said nothing. Instead, I dunked the mop into the bucket and got to work on the floor.
Bree turned to Honey. “We need to get her cleaned up. She can’t get into Cole’s car like that.”
Honey gave her older sister a disgusted look. “I’m not touching her. She was trying — I meanreallytrying to get herself drunk.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “She got exactly what she deserved, and I’m done babysitting her.”
I felt a stab of guilt at Honey’s frustrated words. Ava was my responsibility, and I shouldn’t have pawned her off on Bree’s sister.
“Honey—” Bree had begun to scold, but I interrupted.
“She’s right,” I said, stopping the exchange before it could start. I turned to Honey. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry. I should have kept an eye on her.”
At my apology, Honey blinked in surprise, the fight leaving her. She bit her lip. “I didn’t mean it like that, Cole. Ava’s just…” She sighed. Then her eyes met Bree’s before she looked at her feet. “Sometimes she can be a lot to take.”
I just nodded, putting my attention back on the mop. I knew exactly what she meant. Ava had never gotten drunk before — as far as I knew — but given the way she made decisions, it was almost a surprise it hadn’t happened already. At home, her emotions got the better of her, but she didn’t dare put a toe out of line. But away from home, away from the shadow our father cast over the house, she was reckless, wild, always running headlong into trouble and talking her weaker-willed friends into stunts girls her age should avoid.
Like last year when she was in eighth grade. She’d talked a group of girls at a friend’s sleepover into sneaking out and going skinny dipping in the neighborhood association’s pool.
They hadn’t been caught, but I’d heard about it. And not from Ava. From guys at my school who’d heard it from girls. Who’d heard it from Ava and her friends. I’d wanted to wring her neck for being so stupid.
What had happened tonight, I knew, had been inevitable. All Ava had needed was the opportunity. I halted my mop and looked back at Honey.
“Where did y’all get the booze?”
Honey’s eyes shot to Bree’s, and her chin dipped. “You know how I was taking care of the Jacobs’s dog last week while they were out of town?”
Bree’s eyes widened. “You didn’t,” she said on a gasp.
Honey’s mouth crinkled, and she shrugged. “They had whole case,” she defended. “Ava said they wouldn’t miss—”
“Avasaid?” At the edge in my voice, Ava lifted her head from the wall for a fraction of a second before dropping it back again.
I watched Honey visibly swallow, and she nodded. “She came with me last Tuesday to feed Max, and she started looking around, and…” Honey shrugged again. “…I told her I’d get in trouble, but she said they’d never know, so…”
Bree’s face had hardened as Honey told her story. “I’ll make a deal with you,” Bree said. “Get Ava a clean shirt, and all of this stays between us.”
Honey’s nostrils flared as if she was about to fire back at her sister, but then she must have thought better of it because she turned and left the bathroom in a huff.
Bree, Louis, and I all exchanged glances. I put my eyes back on the task of cleaning up. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, low enough for only their ears. “Maybe Ava and I should keep to ourselves for a while.”
Beside me, Bree made a noise of protest. “Uh, no. They’re both to blame for this,” Bree said. “Honey’s not as innocent as she looks. Trust me. If she didn’t want to take those bottles, she wouldn’t have taken them.”
I sighed. “Yeah, but Ava has a way of finding trouble wherever she goes—”
“So, why not at least find it with friends?” Bree said with finality.
I looked at Louis and raised my eyebrow at him.
“I know,” he said, nodding. “I’m not going to screw this up.”
Chapter 6
