Day 30

I walk out to my car, a grin plastered onto my face. I open the car door and slide in before starting it. I back out and start driving back to Avi's parents' house. As I pull out onto the main road, I grab my phone and call Tyler.

"Hey there, sis!" he answers. "What's up?"

"I have some news that I just couldn't share over the Voice," I say, trying to hide my excitement.

"What is it?" Tyler asks anxiously.

"I GOT THE JOB!" I practically shout into the phone.

"You did?!" Tyler says, matching my excitement. "I knew you would! Is this the one at Avi's school?"

"Yeah," I say, "Avi decided to stay. She felt like she needed to keep something the same and because she needed to put her all into her students, she felt like work was the first priority in that."

"Makes sense," Tyler says. "Has she made a decision on keeping the apartment yet?"

"No," I say, "but now that I have the job, she officially has the option to. It's just up to her now."

"I gotcha," Tyler says. "Well, I'm so proud of you! My sister, executive secretary of James A. Long Elementary School!"

"Shut up," I mumble. "But thank you. Feel honored because you're the first to know! She stayed at the house while I went so I'm on my way to tell her now."

"I got to know before Avi?!" Tyler exclaims. "I'm going to hold that over her head forever now."

"You better not," I say. "I'm almost to the house, I'll call you later, alright?"

"Okay, love ya sis! Congrats again!" Tyler says.

"Thank you! Love you!" I hang up as I pull into the driveway. I furrow my brow, noticing Avi's car missing. I put my car in park and walk into the house.

Mrs. Portia looks up from her spot in the living room. "How'd it go?" she asks.

"Where's Avi?" I ask concerned.

"She didn't text you?" Mrs. Portia asks. I shake my head and she says, "She went up to the apartment."

"The apartment?" I question. "Do you have any idea why?"

Mrs. Portia shakes her head, "She didn't tell me. How did your call back go? Did you get the job?"

"Avi will kill me if I tell you first!" I call out, walking back toward the door.

"She doesn't have to know you told me first!" Mrs. Portia calls back as I open the door. I hear a muffled, "Alyson?" as I shut the door and walk back out to my car.

"Avi?!" I call out as I enter the apartment. Silence greets me in return. "Avi?!" I call out again, a bit more frantically.

"I'm in here," I hear her call back, her voice a bit strained. I follow the direction of her voice to the bedroom where I see her sitting on the floor; eyes red and boxes surrounding her.

"What are you doing?" I asked worriedly.

Avi chuckles a little, "I knew you were getting the job. I mean I didn't know, know, but Mrs. Hedstrom told me the other day that she loved you and how stupid it was that she had to wait for the window to close and at least a few days after that before she could submit who she chose for the position so I figured it was safe to say you were getting the job."

"Well, you were right," I say. "I got the job. But what does that have to do with all of this?"

"With you getting the job, I knew that meant you were staying here, at least for a while if not permanently," Avi says. "So I knew you needed a place to put your stuff and my parents' place just doesn't have enough room for both of us. So I thought I would come clean out a place for you."

I give Avi a small smile, "So you've decided to stay?"

She nods, "It is a reminder of Chloe, but in a good way, you know? I realized how comforting it is to being around memories of her at this point. Especially if I have someone to share it with me. It…it definitely wasn't something I could let go. I just didn't realize I guess how much it was going to hit me actually packing all her stuff away."

My eyes soften as I kneel down on the ground in front of her. "Av, this is why I'm here," I say, putting my forehead against hers. "You don't have to do this alone. The whole reason I stayed was so that you wouldn't be alone in your grief and healing. This is the stuff I'm here for. So let me in, let me help." Avi nods, a couple tears trickling down her face. I wrap her in a hug as she sobs against me. I feel my eyes fill with tears as I hold her tight. "I love you, you know that?" I ask, resting my head on top of hers.

"I do," Avi says, holding me tighter. "I love you too. More than you know."

I smile as I let out a content sigh. "You might want to text your mom and tell her I got the job. I don't think she appreciated me walking out of the house without telling her."

Avi chuckles, "Probably not. I'll text her later."

We sit in our embrace a few more moments. Finally, I ask, "Are you okay, now?" Avi nods and I give her one last squeeze before releasing her. I stand up and bring a box over and ask, "Where do we begin?"