It was raining heavily that night when Ava Sinclair decided to relocate to Manning, a town that had fallen below the word "civilization" into old age. She didn't care about where she was being sent; she believed something amazing would happen during her time in that miserable town. Yet, little did she believe; she thought it was to happen.
Her crazy, short red hairstyle gave the citizens who were looking through their windows a first impression of an easily commanded stranger in town. Driving through the road in her highly printed truck, with the car windows lowered for a view, looking at her map for directions.She arrived at her cottage, a rather miserable house near a small bush where she was supposed to stay by herself, as she assumed. Very distant from the other homes. The presentation of the house was extremely discouraging to her sight: a leaking roof, a broken door, dirty water, and a messed-up room overall. She had to mend a few things as fast as possible in order to get some rest because the next day was school.Her father was very available when it came to discouraging her sexuality but never cared about her whereabouts, what she ate, or where she went. Her mother was the actual opposite but so much of a submissive party when it came to obeying her husband, Daniel Sinclair.After a scandal of Ava kissing a girl in the newspapers, Daniel did his best to cover up every story written about his name, and in a few days, no one was talking about Ava's romance. Then he took the liberty of finding a secluded place to keep Ava from damaging the Sinclair name. Brenda tried so hard to keep a positive image of her daughter in the family, but she wasn't enough. She couldn't stop Daniel from sending Ava away, a thousand miles from home.Ava did well at the cottage, handling everything like a handywoman for a surprise. She fixed every inch of the house until it looked welcoming to guests. For a moment, she sat to think about what kind of impact this change would have, with her bottle of beer. She considered all possibilities but not that of dropping out of school.The Sinclairs were quite a wealthy family, too blessed to have Ava so far in a less civilized place. No phones, nothing, just the people, the homes, their different behaviors, and beliefs.Ava woke up late the next morning, as expected. She had her breakfast and got into her truck to get to school, which was about a mile away from where she resided. It took her about ten minutes to get there.Manning University was very impressive, very ancient and conducted in a military way. All students were in their respective classes according to the regulations. A first day guaranteed Ava's exemption from detention tickets.She arrived at the principal's office, greeted by a fine-aged gentleman with slightly grey beards and hardly any grey hair on his head. He knew exactly who she was and welcomed her to Manning University with a smile that few had given Ava. He handed her the class timetable, the school regulations, and tried to show her to her first class lesson when he called Kara."Excuse me, Kara, can you help out the young lady?" The principal called as Kara was passing by."Sure, principal. Andrews," Kara replied with a stingy smile on her face."Should I say she is now your responsibility?" Andrews headed back into his office, leaving Ava in the care of Kara."Welcome to Manning University, Ava Sinclair," Kara said with a smile, staring at Ava's serious, cute face."Thank you. Um... how did you know my name, Kara?" Ava inquired."So you don't read the paper, do you? Well, Stuart drops a paper every morning at each house's door, and today's headline read, 'DANIEL SINCLAIR SENDS HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER TO A SMALL TOWN AS PUNISHMENT.'" She gestured in joy. "You should come from a very wealthy family to have your photo on the front page of every newspaper.""Yeah, that defines me clearly, doesn't it?" She sarcastically replied to Kara."So, can I call you Red?" Kara excitedly asked."Well, Ava has three digits, just like Red. I would prefer Ava, don't you think?" She turned, looking at Kara closely in the eyes."Well, I will call you Ava, as you wish," Kara smiled, approaching a classroom door. "This is your classroom. Better yet, we share the classes, and I have an empty seat right next to mine if you would like it.""You've done quite a lot in the past few minutes, and I appreciate it, but I will pick up from here. I'm rather a preferred loner if you don't mind." Ava opened the classroom.Everyone was looking at her from the front to where she took her seat next to a young man. It was obvious they had read the paper. Immediately when she took her seat, the teacher had spotted her."Miss Sinclair, it's better to keep a low profile in this school. No one is above the law," she said, pointing back at the board."Don't mind Mrs. Andrews's temper. She gets jealous at times," the guy next to Ava whispered.Later, about five minutes after Ava entered the classroom, Kara came in as well. Everyone kept an eye on her; it seemed like they couldn't get enough of her, despite knowing her for a long time, or it was just their way of welcoming anyone into their class, evidently after they stared at another girl who came in later on."Well, nice to meet you...?" Ava puzzled at the guy next to her."Manuel Dante. Nice to meet you too, Ava Sinclair," he flirted."Does everyone here know who I really am?" Ava whispered to Manuel."Yes, we read the paper," the whole class, including Mrs. Andrews, replied excitedly."Oh yeah," Ava spoke through gritted teeth, having Kara chuckle from the back."You will find that everyone here is nosy," Kara said as they walked out of the class after Mrs. Andrews' lecture, clutching her book. "Are you hungry?" "No," Ava replied, fixing a ring on her pinky finger. "Well, I'm not hungry either. Should I give you a tour around?" Kara asked eagerly, looking Ava up and down. "I never noticed at first, but your clothing style is a clash, you know." "I'll take the tour and quit the talk about my clothing style. I appreciate the compliment, though," Ava responded, trolling Kara and quickly walking away. A few steps behind, she was announced to be needed in the principal's office. Kara crunched into her, complying with a warning. "I don't mean to bother you, but I wish to tell you this. Um... well, get you prepared for that call," Kara scratched her arm. "What?" Ava asked seriously. "Nothing. Nothing... nothing at all. You can proceed with what you're about to do, and I'll just mind my business. Okay?... Bye," she turned around, making it look
"The tour ends right here. The school library. My favorite place." Kara took a seat at the top of a table. "Hello, Mr. Clement," she said. "Hello, Kara." "So the library is your favorite spot, huh?" Ava said, sitting next to her. "Well, yeah. Mostly because it's quiet. Few students come around here. It's peaceful and mostly private." "Okay, then. Since the tour is done, can we should head back? I need to do some shopping for my house early at the town market, which I don't know where to find." "I can help with the shopping. I can help with directions. I'm good at that, and I think I've proven myself already, haven't I?" "I don't want to bother you anymore, Kara." "No!" snapped Kara. "It's not a bother at all. On the contrary, I will be able to lessen the time of reporting home like a ninth-grade kid." "Alright. I see you've got yourself an excuse. Thanks anyway." They both walked back to school. Before evening dark, they were already at the market. Kara picked up a few amazing
"How often does this happen?" Ava asked as they both took a seat. "No, forget about it." "No... no... I heard you clearly, Kara. You said 'not today.' That means it's often. I guess it's the reason why you weren't in class yesterday when I arrived." "No!... how do the two things connect. No," fumbled Kara. "Well, I'm not stupid, and your face says otherwise, so," shrugged Ava as she continued whispering. "I can't stand their kind, and I won't turn a blind eye if I ever learn he's done something to you." "Wait, are you my boyfriend?" Smirked Kara. "No... of course not, but this is me, and I take care of my friends." "So now we are friends?" "Well, I can chuck you right now and call Dante over to my seat so I can take his." Joked Ava. "Oh... so I'll take the friend you offer." "Yeah... I see he scares you. He should be scared of you?" "Well, he has his reasons, so. Let's stop talking about this. Mr. Alfonso is already here." "For now, yeah... but later we'll talk." Whispered
"Will you wait for me to take you home?" inquired Ava as she got out of the car. "Maybe. It will depend," replied Kara. She hurriedly reached the car. Brenda, though, was looking overwhelmed. Her gray eyes were fixed on her daughter, ready to tear up, and Audrey, with chocolate skin and crazy curly hair and very brown eyes, seemed quite upset and appeared to be forced to be there in the first place. Brenda slowly got out of the car and went straight into the arms of her daughter. "Oh, sweetheart," she sobbed. "It's alright, Mom. I'm okay. Thank you for coming. Audrey?" replied Ava, keeping her eyes on Audrey, who was still seated in the car. "I will give you space," whispered Brenda in Ava's ear. "Shall we talk inside the house? Please, Audrey?" requested Ava as Audrey untied her seatbelt. "Please, Mom, help drive Kara home. I know it's silly, but please do." Continued she walking to her car. "Hey, Kara. My mom will drive you home. See you tomorrow?" "No! I can get home myself
"Hey. Open up already," loudly knocked Kara, who had been standing there for about five minutes. In a beat after, Ava cracked the door open for Kara to head in as she proceeded to cover herself in the sheets again. "Good morning," said Kara sarcastically. "Morning? Is it?" responded Ava, sniffling. "So, last evening. It was bad, wasn't it?" questioned Kara. "Is it so obvious?" "No. Nooo. Not at all. That's why I was asking." "Really?" "Of course it's obvious. Look at you. I can't see you like this," snapped Kara. "Why?" "It's just that well... I don't know who this is now," pointed Kara at the saddest Ava. "I've not known you yet to be so emotional and very... um... what's the word? Yeah. Chicky." "What do you mean?" inquired Ava. "I've seen you so manly, strong, but not like this. Uh... forget my explanation. Just get out of bed now." "I don't want to," grumbled Ava, nearly banging her head. "Ummm... ha. Just get up. Let's have lunch together." "Is it already lunchtime?
"You disrespected me. Me? Miguel Dante," he chuckled annoyingly. "This is my town, Miss Sinclair... I don't play hide and seek with dogs. You can't just arrive here and undermine me." "So, you're the dog?" inquired Ava. "See, guys! I should teach her a lesson, right? So she doesn't play with her superiors. Or him because she literally is a boy," he gestured with his hand, leveling Ava, as his boys cheered in the back. "Yeah. Since I'm a boy, I believe we're a match. Aren't we?" replied Ava when Kara rushed out of the car, standing in front of her. "You don't get to disrespect one of my friends, Dante. Haven't you had enough fun with me?" questioned Kara. "What?" snapped Ava. "Okay, that came out wrong," replied Ava. "You can hit me then, Dante. I dare you." "Are you sure? Because I literally don't care about you helping one of your friends. I guess I'm lucky. Doubled my punching bags." "I'm sure. Go ahead. Hit me." He had raised his hand to slap Kara on her cheek when Ava grab
I've reviewed your document and made corrections for spelling and grammar while keeping the content and meaning unchanged. Here is the edited version: "I know it for a fact. I've known your father before, and he has never been a fan of me, so," explained Ava. "Yeah, I don't care what he thinks about who I hang out with, you know. I'm done having my life controlled. It's just so frustrating." "See, you do have something you're keeping from me, and I've been blabbing about myself all this time, forgetting to ask how you're doing." "I don't wanna talk about it, please?" "Really? Okay. I can tell you anything about me. Ask me anything, and I will tell you the truth, and in return, you tell me what's bothering you so you can get it off your chest." "Why? Why would you do that?" "I love carrying people's burdens," replied Ava, chuckling. "Seriously, I just want you to feel at ease talking to me. I don't want you to be an open book, obviously, but if we are friends, then I would love t
Early the next morning, it was a Monday. Manning, as a city, was getting into the Halloween mood, which was three weeks from the Sunday special. People were all around the town, with a few stores having decorated the night before. Everywhere was packed with scary designs. Manning University had not yet gone through the changes. Everything was as normal as it had been the previous day, except those students who were mischievous had already planted scary decorations in their mates' lockers. Dante, in particular, had placed one in Ava's locker. He had passed her locker, taken out her stuff, and replaced them with dry leaves and a scarecrow. She didn't find out about it, but Kara, who was helping her pick up a textbook from the locker, got to experience what wasn't meant for her. Ava was standing seven lockers away from hers, waiting for Kara to finish, when suddenly, a scream startled her, and she rushed back to where Kara had fallen from the scare. Kara was already on the floor with