As to the reviewer that asked about Forest, my intent was that the wolf was known only by his last name, which was "Forest". Avery decided to give that as her son's first name. I actually never really planned much characterization for that wolf, other than the fact that Infinite killed him and Avery decided to honor him by giving her son his name. As to your question about his fur color, no, I never thought of it as green, but normal wolf colors. The name "Forest" is actually the name of a very loose acquaintance of mine IRL. It was the first name that popped into my head.

CHAPTER 20

"No, I don't know and I don't care. Fuck my foster parents!" Avery yelled into her phone. Amy had called her up again only a few hours after leaving her apartment. The pink hedgehog was still curious about Avery's past, so she called her up and asked if the dog knew if her foster parents were still alive. Amy was silent for a moment and spoke again.

"Wow. Sorry that you feel that strongly about them. Don't you want to know if they survived the war?"

"No. No I don't. That's a part of my life that's done," Avery explained. "I don't give a fuck if they died. They were some of the worst people I ever knew, not counting Infinite and most of the kids at my high school.

"See? Like you said. They were at least better than your classmates." Amy said in an attempt to reassure Avery.

"True. You do make a good point," Avery agreed. "I mean, during my junior year, a teacher was raped by one of her students. It was so crazy. Her rapist was a 14-year-old freshman-"

"NO! No more details on that. Please!" Amy yelped in horror. Avery had no intent to. She went back to the main topic.

"So, no. Even if my foster parents are still alive, I'm never gonna see them again. Ever." Avery stated.

"Okay. I'm sorry I asked," Amy said softly. "Do you wanna go for a walk around town tomorrow? Maybe we can talk more about my situation with Shadow."

"Sure thing. Good night." Avery said and she turned off her phone.

The next day came. Amy and Avery were currently walking through a local park. Avery sighed and then spoke.

"Since you're so curious, I will tell about one of the few crushes I had in high school."

"You had some crushes in high school? I thought you hated it!" Amy gasped.

"Don't be too impressed. They were only surface-level crushes that a teen would have," Avery replied. "Yes all of my crushes did look cute on the surface, but once you actually got to know them...blegh!"

"Did they notice you back?" Amy inquired.

"Obviously not. I was known among the guys as the 'ugly thottie.'" Avery answered. She began to cringe at those memories.

"That's crazy! You're not ugly!" Amy blurted out.

"I was by their standards. I guess it's because my ass wasn't big enough or something. I dunno. That didn't stop me from crushing on some of them back," Avery took a breath and continued. "As I was saying, there is one crush I feel like telling you about."

"Why do you want to tell me about this crush?" Amy asked.

"Because he was...rather interesting. He was a coyote named Scott. I first noticed him when I was a freshman. He was a sophomore. Other than his good looks, the first thing I noticed about him was his ankle monitor." Avery explained.

"What was that for?" Amy questioned.

"He was awaiting trial for a home invasion that he apparently participated in," Avery said and began to grimace. "I was literally crushing on the worst types of bad boys imaginable." Hope that isn't why I felt that way to Infinite. I can't have a...thing for dangerous men. Can I?

"What happened to Scott?" Amy asked.

"He dropped out in November of that year. Like most of the students at school, he was failing all of his classes. Even gym."

"Failing gym. How does that even happen?" Amy stated.

"Scott was a very lazy kid. After he dropped out, I didn't hear about him again until January." Avery replied.

"Did he do something bad?" Amy inquired.

"He sliced off his ankle monitor and went on the run. He actually managed to make it about 2000 miles to another city before they got him," Avery said. "When they finally caught Scott, they slapped a new charge on him: Homicide."

"Oh God." Amy muttered.

"He shot an old guy in the face while on the run because...reasons I guess. Scott got sent to juvie and I haven't heard of him since."

"You...had an interesting taste in boys." Amy remarked, trying not to sound insensitive.

"Yeah. But my attraction to boys who could easily put a bullet in my skull anytime they wanted? That's kid stuff and I'm not a kid anymore. I wouldn't crush on Scott or any of them if they were still around." Avery finished.

"But. What about your relationship with Infinite?" Amy asked. Avery began to tremble. Oh God. She's gonna ask if that has something to do with Infinite. I know it.

"Sorry I made you uncomfortable," Amy had noticed her trembling. "How about we go back to what I was asking you over the phone yesterday. Why do you hate your foster parents so much? It seems like there's more to it than just the religious stuff." Avery gulped and sighed loudly. Maybe I should tell her. Amy's a friend.

"My foster parents...they were fans of corporal punishment...even in public." Avery said. Amy's jaw dropped so far, it seemed like it would hit the floor.

"You're kidding!" Amy cried out.

"Nope. Whenever I did something 'wrong', I'd get slapped, spanked or something like that. Even in public places where everyone could see me," Avery's eyes began to get watery. "It was so fucking embarrassing. They didn't even stop when I hit puberty. They still did it well into my teens."

"Hey. It's alright. It's over now." Amy said reassuringly.

"Yes. It's over now and I'm glad it's done. They hit me for the most ridiculous reasons." Avery said.

"Such as?" Amy asked.

"When I was a teen, I had an interesting in dressing alternative. I mean, that's typical for a teen girl to be interested in certain subcultures. But my parents didn't think so," Avery said, slightly hesitating for a moment. "They called me a whore, accused me of sleeping with the boys at school and actually burned a lot of my clothes. It's like they didn't want me to try to fit in anywhere but their lifestyle. In a way, the war actually helped me escape from them. At least that's one thing I can thank Eggman for..."

"Anything else you want to say?" Amy inquired. Avery felt nervous, but that feeling went away quickly. Might as well purge my deepest and darkest thoughts.

"Almost every night when I went to bed, I fantasized about killing them." Avery confessed in an oddly blunt manner. "I wondered what it would be like to grab them by their quills and hold them underwater in the bathtub until they drowned. Or what it would be like to steal a gun from one of my classmates and pump 'em full of lead. Or burn my whole foster home down with them inside."

It took a couple minutes for Amy to process what she just heard. She didn't exactly know how to respond at first. She eventually gazed up at Avery and spoke.

"Have you thought about seeing a counselor?" The pink hedgehog asked.

"I knew were you gonna say that." Avery said. "What can I say? I obviously wasn't a very happy kid." Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion not too far away from them. There was some angry yelling going on, but Avery couldn't exactly make it out.

"What's going on over there?" Avery barked and began to head on over, Amy tailing her.

Some more backstory for the Avatar. I already mentioned in an earlier chapter that Infinite isn't the only mentally unstable character in this fanfic. The Avatar isn't exactly an ambassador for a healthy mind either and I decided to show that some more.