A?N: Hiiii! It's been a while! But I'm back with another chapter and Ava makes a new friend :)

Chapter Sixteen:

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" Peyton greeted her fiancé as he trudged out of their bedroom and into the kitchen with a pained look on his face.

"Not very well." He squinted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Someone hit me with a magazine."

"Ouch." Ava smirked, sipping on some coffee she knew she wasn't allowed to have.

But that was Ava. She was always doing things she wasn't supposed to be doing. She loved the thrill.

"I'm sorry. I was reading an article in 'B. David Magazine' and I had a bad dream. It was about moving in together." Peyton confessed.

She had a freakish dream that night where Lucas didn't treat her the way she should, and woke up in a frenzy before whacking him with the magazine on her nightstand.

"What's so scary about that?"

"Well." Ava opened the magazine and began reading the article Peyton was referring to. "Once you move in, expect to find out you don't know each other as well as you think."

"That's ridiculous. Everybody says we're like twins."

"Nobody says that, Luke. Gross."

"I'll take that, thank you." Lucas stole her cup of coffee and took a sip, cringing at the amount of creamer his sister put in the beverage. "This is all sugar."

"Well, it wasn't yours to start with." Ava deadpanned. "I never said you could have a sip."

"Havana, are you supposed to touch my coffee pot?" He looked down at her.

"I plead the fifth." The fifteen year old smiled sweetly.

"Okay, you're right." Peyton conceded to his point, ignoring their petty banter. "And to make up for the magazine attack, I'm making your favorite breakfast."

"Oh really?" Lucas grinned. "French toast?"

"Pancakes."

Ava threw her head back and laughed as hard as she could.

Lucas' favorite breakfast food was definitely not pancakes and she wondered how Peyton had ever come to that conclusion.

"What?"

"That's my favorite!" She managed to get out between breathy laughs.

"Don't you have school to attend?" Peyton put a hand on her hip.

"Don't you have French toast to make?" Ava retorted, but made her way to the door, swiping some pancakes before she got there. "You guys are hilarious, really. You should take this and go on the road. You'll be rich."

"School, Ava."

"I guess I'll be sleeping at Haley and Nathan's tonight to give you two time to…you know." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Get to know each other."

"School!" Peyton shoved a pancake in the teen's mouth before pushing her out the door.

Rumor has it, Ava could be heard laughing for miles.

"A haiku is a Japanese poem, which consists of three lines of five, seven and five syllables, respectively." Haley spoke to her English class. "A good example of this would be—"

She had to stop short when Brooke barged into her classroom, marching straight over to Sam, who was sitting in the back of the room.

Brooke had recently taken Sam in to live with her, but things weren't going as smoothly as she'd hoped they would.

Apparently, Sam had stolen a few things from her, and now she wanted them back.

"My friend, Brooke Davis." Haley smirked once Brooke stormed out, having gotten everything she came for. "Blowing through my class like wind. Sam in trouble, no?"

Ava hadn't spoken to Haley since she blew up at her, but she couldn't help but laugh at the haiku she made up.

She wasn't upset with her or anything, she just kind of felt ashamed of the way she had been acting and she wanted to give Haley and Nathan the same space they had given her.

And she was afraid they might be mad at her. They had every right to be, she was nothing short of difficult in her grief, but Ava didn't function well when the people she loved were upset with her.

"We have about ten minutes left of class, so I want you all to take out a sheet of paper and create your own haikus."

This might have been the perfect opportunity to help break the ice.

So, Ava got to work.

She wouldn't proclaim herself to be a good writer. Lucas was the writer in the family. But she was decent enough to get by.

You were right, Haley.

No need for the dramatics.

Life is not a soap.

She knew her feelings were real and they were valid, but writing that would take up too many syllables.

Besides, this was a comedic apology, not a letter from Dr. Phil.

And this had more to do with her behavior, than what had caused it.

"Alright." Haley clapped her hands together as the bell rang. "Hand me your haikus on the way out. No homework."

"Are you coming to study hall?" Maddie asked as everyone flooded out the door. She, Ava, and Carter were partners for a history project and they needed to get started on it as soon as possible.

"Yeah, I'll be right there…..I just need to take care of something."

"Alright. See ya later."

"Ava, the bell rung." Haley set the haikus down on her desk once it was just the two of them.

She was confused as to why Ava had willingly stayed behind in her classroom when she herself had already tried to get the girl to talk her problems out with little to no success.

"I know."

"Have finished your haiku?"

"Yes."

"Here." Haley walked over to the teen's desk and reached for it, immediately reading it.

Ava just looked at her with doe eyes, hoping her joke would land.

And lucky for her, it did.

"You're so cute." Her sister-in-law cupped her chin. "And you're lucky I'm not grading this."

"I'm sorry." Ava nervously chewed her bottom lip.

Whenever she did something wrong, Haley was never afraid to let her have it. Ava was hoping that this time, she wouldn't have to sit through the woman's scolding and skip to where she was in her good graces again.

"I know." Haley kissed her cheek. "I love you, you know that?"

"Yes."

"Good. Get outta here, Trouble."

"I didn't know you'd be here today." Dan smiled politely at his daughter as she walked over to the entrance of Jamie's school. "How was school?"

"It was okay." Ava pumped out the generic answer to the overused question. "I got an A on a test." She added.

She actually never planned on going over to Jammie's school, but since she really didn't have anything else to do, and deep down, she really wanted to see her dad, she went.

"What subject?"

"History."

"Nice. You've always been a bright kid. I remember when you came into my dealership and recited the thirteen colonies for me."

That got a little chuckle out of the teen. She remembered it, too. She had been so proud of herself for memorizing all thirteen colonies and prattled them off to her father so that he would be proud of her, too.

She was going to say something in response, but she saw Jamie approaching them, so she dropped it.

"Hey, Jamie."

"Hi, Grandpa. Hi, Ava." He greeted glumly.

"Bad day at school, huh?" Dan asked, leading them to his SUV.

Ava hesitated, but with an encouraging look from Dan, she hopped in the front seat. His SUV was very nice and spacious.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"That's okay."

"Hey, you know….." Ava looked at her nephew's sad face in the rearview mirror. "When I have a bad day, I like to get ice cream."

"That's not a bad idea." Dan caught on.

"Yeah, what do you say, Jimmy Jam?" She tried to cheer the boy up.

"Okay."

The car ride to the Riverwalk was a silent one. Jamie, who usually did all the talking, was deep in his thoughts, and Ava didn't really know what to say without making things awkward.

She was trying here.

And obviously, so was Dan.

"Okay, you two." He broke the silence once they made it to the ice cream parlor. "Order anything you want."

"Can I have chocolate ice cream? In a bowl?"

"Sure you can. How about you Ava?"

"Cookies and cream, please?"

Ava loved the combination of Oreos in ice cream and just couldn't get enough.

"Coming right up." Dan ordered everything and handed the treats to the kids as he paid for them.

She noticed that he hadn't ordered anything for himself, but didn't comment on it. It was a little odd considering that he was the one she inherited her sweet tooth from. Maybe he just didn't feel for ice cream right now.

"I hate school." Jamie opened up once they sat down.

"School was never my strong suit either. It's a good thing we're both handsome." Dan joked, but stopped chuckling when he saw that Jamie wasn't laughing. "What's wrong?"

"I got in a fight with Chuck Scholnik 'cause he teased me about my cape."

"He's an idiot." Ava said with no restraint.

Haley has gotten on her case several times about watching what she said in front of Jamie, but Ava really didn't like having to censor herself when she never really said anything very colorful to begin with.

"I know the Scholnik family. You should tease him about his alcoholic mother."

"Don't do that." Ava gave her father a look to which he shrugged. "That's bad advice."

"I just want him to leave me alone."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. I was teased when I was in prison."

Ava snorted as she put a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth to cover it up. She couldn't imagine a man as big and strong as her father being teased.

"About what?" Jamie asked.

"The point is, that, as a Scott man, people are always gonna be jealous of you. It's a burden we have to live with. Scott men are inherently better than most people."

"Daddy, too?"

"Especially your Daddy."

"Mind if I play with you?" Ava sat down on the couch next to Jamie, who was steadily playing a video game.

Ava could admit, that when she hit her teen years, she played video games less and less. She didn't see an appeal in sitting down in front of the tv with a remote in her hand for several hours. She would much rather read a book.

But sometimes she would play if it made Jamie happy.

"Sure." He smiled and handed her a controller.

"I wanted to talk to you, actually." Ava opened up the conversation, keeping her eyes on the screen as they began to play against each other.

Basketball, of course.

"About what?"

"About how I've been for the past few weeks."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Ava sighed. "I haven't been the most friendly person in the world, have I?"

That was an understatement. Sometimes, she had been downright mean.

"Nope." Jamie popped the 'p'. "You were always so sad."

But Jamie was very understanding and he knew that for his aunt to behave in such a way, she had to be going through something.

"I was."

"It's because of Q, isn't it?"

He was a smart kid.

"Yeah, Buddy. I didn't take what happened too well…..and I lashed out at the people who love me, and I'm really sorry."

"I forgive you." Jamie smiled at her. "Are you still sad?"

"Sometimes. But I'm getting better."

"Good." The five year old stood up and gave her a hug. "I don't like it when you're sad. I love you."

"I love you, too, Jimmy Jam."

"And I'm gonna beat you." Jamie grinned, sitting back down to play the game.

"Not if I win."

"You won't."

"Wanna bet?"

"Two bucks says I win."

"You're on."

"Hey, Buddy." Nathan and Haley interrupted their impromptu match, sitting down on the couch with them. "Your mom and I would like to talk to you for a second. Think you could pause the game?"

"Not if I'm in trouble."

Ava giggled and paused the game for him, getting up in the process, but Jamie grabbed her arm and pulled her back down next to him.

As if there was anything she could do to get him out of trouble. Well...sometimes she did talk Nathan and Haley into being more lenient, but that was if she was lucky.

"You're not in trouble. We just heard you got in a fight at school today."

"A kid grabbed my cape. He wouldn't let go of it. He said it was stupid."

"Sounds like that kid is stupid." Nathan scoffed. "I mean, a man should know never to grab another man's cape."

"Nathan." Haley sent him a pointed look as Ava snickered. "Your cape, kiddo, is not stupid, okay? When I was younger, I had a poncho, that everybody else said was really ugly, but I really liked it, so I kept wearing it. And that's what you should do. If you like your cape, you should just wear it whenever you want and ignore what everybody else says."

"Did people ever tease you?" Jamie asked his aunt.

"Yup." She nodded. "Apparently, it's a rite of passage."

"Why did they tease you?"

"A few things." Ava was definitely not about to tell him that she was teased because she was the illegitimate child of Dan Scott. That was too heavy a subject for this situation.

"Ava used to wear two different colored shoes everywhere she went." Nathan smirked, outing his sister.

"Uh, if I recall correctly, Nathan, you were the one who teased me about it the most." She gave him a look.

"Yeah, but that's completely different." He tugged on her hair. "I teased you because I'm your brother."

"It was cute." Haley added. "She was so proud of herself."

"What did you do when people teased you?"

Ava cringed at the question. She was sure that Haley wasn't going to like her answer, but she wasn't going to lie to the kid.

"Well, funny you should ask. I got into some fights."

It was true. Ava had gotten into a lot of fights during her elementary and middle school years. She was shy, but she didn't allow people to take advantage of her or make her feel bad.

If Karen had a dime for every time she got a call from the school about her daughter fighting, she could probably invest that money in stocks or open up a new cafe.

"Like me?"

"Like you…but that doesn't mean that it was right." She tried to save herself.

"Did they stop teasing you?"

"Sometimes."

"See how fighting isn't the answer?" Haley swooped in and keep Ava from putting her foot in her mouth.

"Well, what if they keep picking on me?"

"Oh well, I can teach you how to deal with bullies." Nathan was on the exact same page as Ava.

The two shared their father's fiery temper and tended to solve their problems with aggression.

It's what got them into so much trouble.

"And what your father means by that, is, if somebody's picking on you. You should just walk away. Right, honey?"

"Yes." Nathan nodded reluctantly. "Yes, she's right."

Ava chuckled at how hard that must've been for her brother to say with a straight face, but yelped when Haley pinched her thigh. "Ow! Walk away!" She only finally got Haley to let go when she told her what she wanted to hear.

"But I wanna be tough like Daddy." Jamie was so used to those two and their antics, that little display of tough love didn't bother him.

"Why? If you can learn to walk away, you'll be tougher than I ever was."

"What about Ava?"

"Jamie, I'm not the best person to teach you about 'walking away'. Did you see that last fight I was in? It takes a lot more energy to walk away from a situation than it does to fight."

Ava didn't believe that for a second, but that was obviously what Haley wanted her to say. If it were up to her, she'd be teaching Jamie how to make a real fist and where to hit where it really hurt.

But if she did that, Haley would kill her.

"This is what you do at night?" Nathan raised an eyebrow at his sister, who was standing up in the kitchen, eating some left over mac and cheese out of a dish.

"Sometimes." Ava shrugged. "Why are you up? It's late."

"I could say the same for you."

"I couldn't sleep."

"Bad dreams?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Some nights, Ava would get very vivd nightmares about Nanny Carrie. She knew that the woman couldn't hurt her or Jamie again, but it didn't make the dreams any less scary.

"Carrie?"

"Bingo." She nodded, allowing her brother to grab a spoon and share the food.

"This is cold." His lips curled in disgust. "How do you eat it like this?"

"The microwave makes too much noise." She deadpanned as if it were obvious.

The whole idea by sneaking down to the kitchen for a midnight snack, is so that she wouldn't get caught doing it. The microwave drew unnecessary attention.

"Maybe you should see your psychologist again."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Because. I don't need to see her. The dreams aren't every night and talking about it isn't gonna make them disappear. It is what it is."

"Alright, but if this gets any worse, you're going."

"Fair enough….hey, I'm really sorry." Ava stared at the pasta in front of her. "You were right."

"Don't worry about…I'm sorry I brought up Keith…..that was pretty low." He swore he regretted it the second he said it. He was trying to get her to understand the point he was making, but it didn't come out right.

Again, Lucas was the one who was good with words. Nathan and Ava were good with their fists.

"Like I said, you were right." She waved him off.

"Still, it isn't something I should've said."

"I went to visit him right after."

"You did?" Nathan, like the rest of the family, knew that Ava hadn't been to see him at all. So this was a shock.

"Yeah…..I talked to him and I don't know, it made me feel better. I can't bring him back, but talking felt nice."

"I'm glad." Nathan smiled, pausing for a few moments. "Havana, I know you have the art of stealth down, but we really need to heat this food up. It's disgusting."

"Fine, go ahead." She giggled. "But if we wake Haley up, I'm blaming you."

"I can live with that."

"Wow, you guys really went to town in here." Ava raised a brow as she entered the kitchen.

The whole house was divided in half by a long piece duct tape.

What else do these to chuckleheads do while she wasn't home?

"What is this, 'Full House'? You guys are strange."

"Would you like some breakfast, Ava?" Peyton smiled, ignoring her soon to be sister-in-law.

"Yes."

"Stir the batter."

"Yes!" Ava pumped her fist and did as she was told right before Lucas came out of his room.

"Well, your stuff is unpacked. I just need to pull the tape up and the house is officially both of ours."

Ava gave him a look and cleared her throat.

"And Ava's." He amended.

"Perfect timing. I made waffles."

"I love waffles."

"I do, too. Plus, I got the recipe from 'B. Davis Magazine', so you know it'll be good." Peyton spoke just above a sultry whisper as Lucas put his arms around her.

"You guys are like bunny rabbits. Save some for the honeymoon." Ava cringed.

"Did you hear something?" Lucas asked, cupping his ear.

"No, I didn't hear a thing." Peyton played right along with him.

"Funny." The teen rolled her eyes, pouring some batter in the waffle iron, along with some chocolate chips and marshmallows while the couple was distracted.

"You'd better enjoy your magazine, because I cancelled your subscription." Lucas leaned in for a kiss that was not received.

"What?!"

Peyton's shock was cut short by a knock on the door.

"Holy cow. I forgot there was a world outside the house." Lucas mused, opening the door.

Ava had no idea what they had been doing for the past couple of days, but she didn't feel she really wanted to know. Some things she just didn't need to know.

Her brother was weird and Peyton was weird, that's all there was to it.

"Hey, Luke." Fergie held up his cellphone. "I got your text."

Peyton burst into uncontrollable laughter and Ava took this time to grab her waffle as soon as it was finished.

"I'm going to school, you guys are nuts."

"Don't stay out too late." Lucas told her. "I don't want you coming home after dark."

"Yeah, whatever….just make sure you solve all of this….." She waved a hand. "Before I come home. You guys are like teenagers, geez."

"Teenagers, huh?" Lucas exchanged a look with Peyton before the two trapped her in between them.

"Get off of me!" She squealed when they kissed her cheeks. "Ew! I don't want to be in the middle of this! Fergie, help!"

"No one can help you now."

"No!"

"Hey."

"Hi." Ava smiled when Preston jogged over to slow down and walk beside her.

She was a little confused, considering she and Preston didn't really know each other. It would've been no surprise if it was Carter, Sam, or Maddie, but she never expected Preston.

"How are you doing?" He asked, dodging what must've been a freshman who was late to class.

His backpack was stuffed to the brim and he was sprinting as fast as he could go.

Definitely a freshman.

Ava had study hall, so she didn't really need to rush. But she knew Preston had English class with Haley, so she wasn't really sure why he was risking detention just to talk to her.

"I'm okay." She answered politely.

"Good. I'm glad." He smiled.

"Don't you have class to get to? Haley hates it when people are late."

"I'll risk it." He shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright."

Well, that was nice of him, but he still needed to get to class.

"I'm fine."

"I know we're not really friends or anything...but if you need something, don't hesitate."

Ava almost stopped walking entirely, but pressed on. "Thanks...I appreciate it."

"I'll see you around."

The conversation really couldn't have been any more awkward, but when Ava got over that embarrassing feeling, she thought it had been really sweet of him to reach out to her like that.

After all, making new friends never hurt anyone.

A/N: No, making new friends never hurt anyone, but keeping ones you shouldn't does...