"Hi, I'm Ava and I'm an alcoholic." she said standing up in front of the AA group.
"Hi Ava." everyone greeted looking up at her.
"Um, I'm 16 years old and I had my first drink this summer when I went on tour with my dad. He's a musician, so after his shows him and his band would party. The first thing I drank was vodka and cranberry and I liked it. I drank every night when we were on tour. I lied to my mom and my boyfriend about it. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but to spend time with my dad, I did it. It made me feel good. I mean, I was missing my boyfriend and then I'd be hanging out with everyone and we were drinking and having fun. When I got home, I told my boyfriend and he made me promise not to drink again, but I couldn't help it. I felt like I needed to drink. Only I didn't do it to have fun this time. I did it when I was alone. I did it to forget about how my dad made me feel. The day my boyfriend found me passed out on my bed from alcohol poisoning is when everyone found out about my drinking. The doctors said I almost died. I didn't want to die. I mean, my mom's not a horrible person and I have the greatest boyfriend in the world who treats me like a princess and great friends who love me, so why would I drink, right? I mean, my dad disappointed me so many times that it made everyone hate him. I hated him too. But he was my dad and I wanted to fit it. Why would it matter that my dad's a scew up when I have all of those people who love me? I didn't know either, but I just felt like I couldn't talk to anyone about him. He's my dad and everyone hated him for how he treated me. I hated him for how he treated me, but I felt closer to him this past summer when I was drinking with him and his friends." she said looking over at Roger with tears in her eyes. "But when I almost died, I realized what I was doing to the people who loved me. I also realized I don't need to drink. All I need is my friends, my family and my boyfriend. They're all there for me when I need them and they won't judge me. They just love me for who I am." she said before sitting down again.
"Thank you Ava. I think that's all the time we have tonight. Why don't we finish up with the serenity prayer?" the organizer suggested as everyone stood up and held hands to say the serenity prayer. As the meeting let out Roger looked down at Ava.
"Are you kids ready for coffee?" Mr. Davis asked looking over at them.
"Um, dad would it be OK if Ava and I walked home from here? I wanted to talk to her." Roger asked looking over at his father.
"Sure Roger. I'll see you at home. You did really great Ava. I'm proud of you." he said looking down at her.
"Thank you Mr. Davis. I'll see you later." she smiled looking up at him. "What's the matter Baby?" she asked looking up at Roger.
"I wanted to get you alone. I haven't been alone with you for a while." he said looking down at her.
"I know. I'm sorry Roger. A lot's been going on and I just..." she started before he but her off with his lips.
"I miss you Avalon." he whispered caressing her face.
"I miss you too Roger." she smiled looking up into his green eyes.
"Can we go somewhere? I mean just you and me." he asked looking down at her.
"I would really like that." she smiled as they began to walk towards the school. "What are we doing here?" she asked looking up at him.
"I just figured I wanted to be alone with you and this would be the last place anyone would look for us." he smiled sitting on the grass in front of the school.
"Roger, when you said you wanted to me alone with me, this was not what I expected." she smiled looking up at him.
"I just want to talk. We have plenty of time to catch up in other ways." he smiled as she sat in front of him between his legs facing him.
"Oh yeah?" she laughed leaning in to kiss him.
"Yeah." he smiled kissing her again. "I wanted to talk to you about something." he said looking over at her.
"What is it Roger?" she asked looking into his green eyes.
"Um... you know I'm graduating this year, right?" he asked running his fingers through her hair.
"I know." she said looking down.
"Well, I wanted to wait a year to go to college so we can go to the same college." he said looking over at her.
"Roger, I don't think that's such a great idea." she said moving off of his lap.
"Why? I mean Baby, think about it. We wanna be together, right? I wanna wait for you to go to college." he said as she started to stand up.
"Roger, I don't want you to put your life on hold for me. You've been doing that since I went into the hospital. I mean, you haven't played with the band and you're too good and smart." she said walking around the grass.
"But Ava, I don't want to go without you." he said standing up.
"You have to go without me Roger. I have one more year until I graduate and if you wait for me, you're never gonna go. You go and I'll go with you when I graduate." she said looking up at him.
"But Ava, what's gonna happen to you when I leave? I don't want to leave you." he said holding her hands.
"I have my mom and your parents. I'm not gonna go back to drinking Roger. We'll still be dating. You'll just be going away to college." she said looking up at him.
"I just don't want anything to happen to you Ava." he said looking down at her.
"Roger, I'm fine. I haven't wanted a drink in 3 months and I have my meetings. You shouldn't have to put your life on hold for me. Especially college." she said looking up at him.
"Are you sure Ava? Because if you want me to, I'll stay for you. I'll do anything for you." he said looking down at her.
"I know you will and I love you for it. I love you for a lot of things. But what kind of girlfriend would I be if I let you put off college for me?" she asked looking up at him.
"I just want to be here with you Ava." he said taking her face in his hands.
"Don't worry Roger. I'll always be your girl." she smiled looking up at him.
"You better believe you are." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.
"Roger, I wanna sing again." she said looking up at him.
"Are you sure you're ready Baby?" he asked looking down into her bright blue eyes.
"Yeah I'm ready. I've never been more ready. I wanna be on stage with you again." she smiled lookig up at him.
"OK, we'll practice tomorrow." he said smiling down at her.
"Yeah?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah, we're gonna perform together again." he laughed leaning down to pick her up.
"Yay." she called out laughing before kissing him.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea Roger? She hasn't performed for months." Mr. Davis asked sitting on the couch in the living room.
"Dad, she's done everything we asked her to do and she's still sober. If she's ready to sing again. I wanna sing with her. I miss being on stage with her." he said looking down at his father as he stood in the doorway of the Davis living room.
"Yes she has Roger and she's making great progress, but do you think her being on stage singing is good for her at this stage of her recovery?" he asked looking up at him.
"Yeah dad, I do. She really wants to do it and I want her to do it." he said moving towards him shoving his hands in his pockets.
"How do you think she's doing Roger?" he asked looking up at him.
"I think she's doing great dad. I mean, she's like the old Ava again. Only she's finally dealing with her feelings about her dad." he said sitting next to him.
"OK then, I'm behind her. But Roger, the first sign of difficulty, she's on the bench again." he said looking over at him.
"Thanks dad. I really appreciate this." he said leaning over to hug him.
"I am really proud of the way you've been there for her. You two haven't missed a meeting in 3 and a half months." he smiled looking over at him.
"I love her dad. I wanna marry her when we get out of college." he said looking over at him smiling.
"You're still going to college?" Mr. Davis asked surprised.
"In the fall, yeah. I wanted to wait another year until Ava graduates but she won't let me. She said she didn't want me to put my life on hold any more than I already have for her." he said looking over at her.
"Well she loves you too Roger. I could always tell that." he smiled looking over at him.
"Yeah she does dad. I'm a lucky guy." he smiled looking over at him.
"Yeah you are Roger and she's a lucky girl." he smiled sitting back on the couch.
"I'm gonna go upstairs to bed, OK? I love you dad." Roger smiled getting up.
"I love you too son. Goodnight." he smiled as Roger rushed up the stairs.