Chapter 3

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" I hear Mom call from downstairs. I groan as I rub my eyes and stretch. I feel a body shift on top of me and I almost forgot there was someone else in bed with me. "Avi?" I whisper. I look down and notice her eyes still closed and her arms still wrapped around me. I need to go talk to Mom, I think to myself. I carefully wiggle myself out from underneath her and gently slide her onto my pillow. I wait a moment, seeing her eyes still closed, before turning around to stand up.

"Where are you going?" I hear a groggy voice say from behind me. I turn around and see Avi rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Hey," I say softly, putting a hand on hers, "My mom called for breakfast. I was going to run down and talk to her for a second. Give yourself a chance to wake up and go pee or something and then head down, okay?" She nods and I give her hand a squeeze before standing up and walking out the door and down the stairs.

I walk into the kitchen as Mom flips the pancakes she's cooking. I notice she has two extra in the pan. "Well, this is a first," Mom says without taking her eyes off the stove. "I've never had you come down the first time I called you."

"I was awake anyway," I say a bit sheepishly.

"I saw your note," Mom says. "What's going on? Did you bring someone home last night?"

"Yeah," I say.

"Is this someone I would know?" Mom asks.

I shake my head. "You won't believe how I found her either."

"Found her?" Mom asks as she turns toward me.

"I went to the junkyard last night," I start. "I heard some talking and found Nathan Prescott and his entourage dragging her some place and I got her away from him and brought her here."

"Nathan Prescott?!" Mom says with an angry tone. She pauses for a moment as she turns back to the stove and flips the bacon. "You know for sure you weren't followed?"

I nod. "They weren't going anywhere anytime soon after I was done with them." I give a smirk before frowning. "She was in really bad shape. He's had her for two weeks and hasn't done anything but beat her. She hasn't eaten, showered, or slept. She is so far away from home and she needs help getting home…she needs me, Mom." Mom turns to me and I look up at her, feeling my throat clench with emotion. I haven't cared about another person this much in four years…

Mom lets out a sigh, "If you really feel you need to help her, then I will support you and help you in any way I can."

I look up and give a small smile, "Thank you, Mom."

She smiles back before her face turns stern, "You do need to be very careful. This is Nathan we're talking about. Everything you do needs to be planned out carefully."

"I know," I respond. I let out a sigh as I hear footsteps walking down the stairs. I look through the hallway to see Avi nervously looking around. She makes eye contact with me as I gently grab her hand and pull her through the archway into the kitchen. "Mom, meet Avi."

"It's very nice to meet you," Mom says as she extends a hand to Avi. "You can call me Joyce."

"It's nice to meet you too," Avi says with a nervous smile. "I'm Aviana, but you can call me Avi. And your breakfast smells amazing!"

"Well thank you, Avi," Mom says. "Chloe told me you were probably pretty hungry. Why don't you help Chloe get the table set the table while I get this food on plates for us?"

"I can definitely do that," Avi says with a smile.

"Here," I say as I hand her some napkins and lead her to the table as I grab the silverware from the kitchen. "Make sure David is kind to her," I whisper to Mom before walking back to the kitchen table to set the silverware down. I open the fridge and grab a bottle of water for each of us as Mom walks in and starts setting plates down on the table. Mom finally sits down at her place and I sit down across from her and Avi sits next to me.

"David didn't get home until late last night so we can go ahead and eat," Mom says as she picks up her fork. We all begin to eat in silence for a few moments. Mom is the first to break the silence, "I hear you had a crazy night last night."

"To put it mildly," Avi says with a weak chuckle. "Thank God Chloe was there. I don't know what would have happened otherwise…"

"Chloe says you're not from around here," Mom says to change the subject, "where are you from?"

"Florida," Avi answers.

"Florida?!" Mom responds. Her eyes widen before shooting me a look and asking, "What part of Florida?"

"I'm from this tiny little town in Northern Florida. I've lived there most of my life since moving from Maryland when I was six."

Mom nods, "Do you still live with your parents?"

Avi nods, "Yeah, I just graduated from college last month and I hadn't found a job yet. And then getting kidnapped threw a bit of a wrench in the plan."

"You graduated from college?" I ask almost sheepishly.

"What did you study?" Mom asks.

"Elementary education," Avi answers. "I'm trying to get a job as a teacher, preferably something between 2nd and 3rd grade."

"That's really something special," Mom says. She starts to say something before she hears footsteps coming down the stairs. I turn to notice David starting to walk towards the table. "Good morning, David. Your plate is in the microwave to keep warm."

"Thank you," David responds. He freezes, eyes locked on Avi who still has her back turned to him. I notice Mom shoot him a look as he walks away to grab his plate. He walks back to the table and sets his food down. "So, who's this new face at my table?" he asks as he sits down.

"David, this is Avi," Mom says. "Chloe saved her in the junkyard last night from Nathan Prescott."

"Nathan Prescott?" David asks. He looks to me and I nod and his face immediately softens. He stands and walks over to Avi and extends a hand. She shakes his hand as David says, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you know that you're safe here, and we all will do whatever is necessary to keep you safe."

"Thank you," Avi says. "It's nice to meet you too." David puts a hand on her shoulder before standing up and walking back to his seat. Mom whispers something to David before her clears his throat and asks, "So, what's the first thing on the agenda for you, Avi?"

"We need to get her some clothes," I say as I scrape some eggs onto my fork. "My clothes won't work."

"Why don't I run to the store and get some?" Mom says as she dabs her mouth with her napkin. "The dinner gave me the weekend off for once so I have some free time today."

I smile and nod before saying, "I need to make sure my truck is all tuned up if I'm getting her back home." I look over at Avi who smiles at me.

"Well," David begins before swallowing a bite of pancakes, "if any of you need anything, call me. It's my turn for the weekend shift at Blackwell but I have my phone on me if you need anything." He looks over at me and for once, I give him a genuine smile.

I finish my last bite of bacon and glance over at Avi who has cleared her plate already. I look up at Mom and say, "Could I go ahead and go upstairs and change so I can get started on the truck?"

Mom nods, "Sure hun, just go ahead and put your plates in the sink and you can go." I smile and hop up, grabbing mine and Avi's plates and taking them to the sink.

"Thanks for breakfast, Mom!" I say as I run back to the table. I tap on Avi's shoulder and say, "Come on!" as we race up the stairs.