The Devil is Marvelous

Chapter 45

Thursday, November 1st - 9:00am

I woke up on the couch in Daphne's house. At first I was groggy, so it took me minute to realize that Ava was laying next to me, sound asleep. We were both drunk as shit last night, so I figured that we crashed on the couch sometime during...or after the party? I couldn't actually remember.

Both of us still had our costumes on, and Ava's makeup was smeared around her eyes. I glanced around and noticed that Gray was passed out on the floor. He was surrounded by a plethora of trash, including crushed beer cans, open pizza boxes, torn party decorations, and a whole lot of candy wrappers.

Ava shifted in her sleep. I looked down at her, noticing how peaceful she looked while asleep. This is how I wanted her to be at all times, at peace.

"What a night" Gray groaned. I watched him sit up in my peripheral, muttering about this place looked like a pigsty.

"This is going to be a pain in the ass to clean up" I responded.

"Jaxon, you better wake Ava up so we can get started" Daphne announced as she strode into the living room with Kim and Gina following behind. "My dad just called, he said he's on his way home from his business meeting. If he sees that we had a party my life is over"

"Your life is over? He expects this from you!" Kim shouted, scrambling to pick up the trash. "I'm supposed to be the golden child!"

I rolled my eyes "For fucks sake. Wasn't his meeting like 4 hours away? We have plenty of time."

Daphne shrugged, whipping open a garbage bag. She handed it to Gray, telling him to start with the living room.

"Yes ma'am" Gray yawned, slowly standing up. I carefully sat up, giving Ava a little shake. "Angel, it's time to get up" I murmured. Her eyes fluttered open, immediately meeting my mine. "Morning" she whispered, giving me a smile.

"How come no one woke me up?" Lucas entered the room, rubbing his eyes. Ava stood up, and I followed. "You're still here?" she asked.

"Of course. I wasn't going to just take off and leave you here" he answered.

Ava played some music while we cleaned. She started jamming out to "Blessings", and I couldn't help but dance along. What can I say? It's a good song, and I was feeling extra blessed to have Ava in my life.

"Well look at you!" she exclaimed "You aren't half bad!"

"Don't get used to it" I winked.

We finished picking up the house around 11:45am, so I asked Ava is she wanted to go out to eat. "I don't know, I told my friend i'd check up on her today. She's been sick, and-"

"Oh for gods sake Ava, go out with the guy!" Lucas shouted from across the room. A fierce blush spread across Ava's face. "I-i well um o-okay" she stuttered, biting her lip. I suppressed a laugh, mouthing a thank you once Ava was turned around. He smirked, giving me a thumbs up.

It's weird how high school cliques work. I hate that shit, it's pointless and stupid. Because of it, I only now gotten to know Lucas even though we'd been in the same classes since elementary school. The guy was really cool, and I knew Gray and the twins thought so too. And he clearly cared about Ava, which I appreciated. I trusted him to be there for her when I couldn't.

Ava and I left shortly after Gray did. Daphne of course had to suffocate her with a hug before we left. I drove us to Delia's, and we grabbed seats at the bar.

"I can't remember if I told you last night, but holy fuck you're an incredible singer."

She was beaming. "Why thank you, Marvel. I am quite the performer if I do say so myself" she flipped her hair, giggling.