The Avery Shaw Experiment

“Grayson.” Cheryl sounded tired now. “I know your brother’s girlfriend is . . . difficult, but would you please refrain from using those kinds of words?”

“Difficult?” Grayson scoffed.

“Yes. She’s . . . she’s . . .” Cheryl sighed and then threw her arms around me. “Oh, Avery, why couldn’t it have been you? Grayson’s right, Aiden’s new girlfriend is . . .” She clearly wanted to use the B-word, but she couldn’t let herself do it. “We all miss you so much.”

She hugged me for a minute and then flopped back down in her desk chair. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so swamped that I haven’t been paying enough attention. I’ll talk to Aiden later, and Kaitlin. I promise.”

“Thanks,” I whispered. “But make sure Mom says she’s sorry to you too. She was out of line with some of the stuff she said.”

Cheryl’s eyes sparkled with humor. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll get an apology out of her. In the meantime, it’s good to have you back.” She glanced up at Grayson and smiled even bigger. “It’s odd to see you with Grayson, but it’s good to have you here.”

Grayson tucked me into his side. “Better get used to it. I’ve taken a liking to the shrimp. She’ll be back to her old visiting hours in no time.”

Cheryl’s smile melted into pure affection. She’d never admit it, but I’ve always thought Grayson was her favorite of the two. “What are you guys up to anyway?”

“I’m going to help Grayson write a paper. Science club took him bowling today and gave him his first lesson in applied physics. If he writes a report about it, he’ll get extra credit.”

All of Cheryl’s affection was suddenly directed at me. “You are too good to my boys, Avery. Grayson told me what you did for him, talking Mr. Walden into letting him do the science fair instead of getting taken off the basketball team. That was pretty amazing of you.”

I felt my cheeks get hot. “It wasn’t that amazing. Grayson is still working hard for it, and he’s helped me just as much. I really wouldn’t have been able to do the science fair by myself.”

“Still. Between my two boys, this family owes you.”

I felt Grayson perk up beside me. “Actually, Mom, if you really want to do something nice for Avery, I had an idea about her birthday next weekend.”

“My birthday?”

I was a little shocked. I hadn’t said a word about my birthday to anyone. I was sort of hoping people would forget it this year since that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t know how to celebrate my birthday without Aiden, and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to learning.

Grayson squeezed my shoulders. “Aves, I know you’re dreading it because Aiden said he didn’t want to celebrate with you, but I’m not going to let you spend it home alone watching Shark Week reruns.”

My face must have looked a

“Mom, would it be cool if we pla

I didn’t have to look at Grayson’s face to know that his I’m-so-irresistible-you-can’t-say-no-to-me smile was plastered there. Cheryl looked at the stacks of paper on her desk and sighed. “Hon, I don’t have time to go up there for the weekend right now.”

“Kaitlin could come.”

I couldn’t help but be touched by Grayson’s persistence. “You’d really do all that for me?”

“Aves, this is your first birthday that will be celebrated the way a birthday should be—all about you. As your first real birthday, it’s got to be epic, but I didn’t think you’d like a big crazy party with a ton of people, so how about just a really fun overnighter with your closest friends?”

“Actually . . .” I started to cry then because that sounded so perfect. I’d been so bummed about my birthday. I’d just accepted that it would suck for the rest of my life. Grayson couldn’t have known how badly I needed this. I needed my birthday to be awesome in order to prove that life really would go on without Aiden.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been so emotional lately.” I took a deep breath and wiped away the tears. “That sounds really nice, Grayson. I don’t have to go up to the condo, though. We could just do something here and that would be good enough for me.”

“Nonsense!” Cheryl said. She was looking at me with pity now, but I couldn’t blame her. I was pretty pitiful right then. “If your mom can go up with you, then you’re welcome to use the condo next weekend.”

The way Grayson jolted next to me, I think he assumed she’d never go for it. “Awesome! You’re the best mom ever!”

“Yes, thank you, Cheryl. I promise we’ll be responsible.”

Grayson jumped forward to give his mom a hug. When he pulled back, she nailed him with a suspicious gaze. “How many close friends are we talking about?”

“Just us, Owen, Pam, Chloe, and the nerd herd.”

“The nerd herd?” Cheryl repeated while I gasped.

“You’d invite the science club? With Owen, Pam, and Chloe there?”

Cheryl finally understood and stared at her son in surprise. “My oldest son mixing social classes?”

“Oh yeah, Mom!” Grayson chirped. “It’ll be an interesting experiment. Didn’t you know? I’m all about social science now.”

Cheryl laughed, but I could still hardly believe it. “You’d really invite Brandon, Levi, Libby, and Tara along with Owen, Pamela, and Chloe?”

All the playfulness left Grayson. The way he looked at me made my knees feel like shaking. Somehow I managed to keep them steady, though.

“Those are your friends, Aves. It’s your birthday. I want you to spend it with all the people you care about, even if half of them are really weird.”

I was too choked up to say anything.

“Well,” Cheryl said. “I think it will be a good experience for all of them. Make sure Kaitlin can go. Boys and girls sleep in separate rooms and absolutely no alcohol. If Kaitlin finds even one drop of it, you will all be murdered.”

“Deal,” Grayson said.

“Then you have my blessing. Now go away so that I can get some work done.”

Grayson dragged us out of there so fast that I thought he was afraid Cheryl would come to her senses and take back the offer. He was so excited about my birthday that it took a while for him to settle down enough that he could focus on writing his paper. It ended up taking longer than we expected.

We were on Grayson’s bed, and when I stretched and lay back on his pillow, he closed his notebook. “I can write the conclusion myself. We can be done now.”

“No, it’s okay,” I said, but as I did, I yawned again.

“It’s getting close to nine. I should get you home anyway.”

“Okay.”

I made no effort to sit up.

Grayson shoved his books on the floor and then lay down next to me. “We didn’t get to work on our experiment at all today. I’m sorry we wasted the whole day on me.”

“That was not a waste, and it’s okay. We don’t really have anything else to work on right now. We haven’t done any kind of test for a while, and we’re still stuck in guilt.”

Grayson chuckled. “Should have let us take on the debate team today. The geek squad was ready. Would have been an awesome field test.”

I sighed. “It goes against my nature to want to hurt him, Grayson. I have no idea how we’re going to reach anger.”

“Well, I don’t understand how you aren’t angry. He was totally wrong, and he hurt you so much. I think you’re afraid of hurting him the way he hurt you, so you’re suppressing your anger. I think it’s there, and if you don’t deal with it eventually, one day you’ll just explode.”

I had no idea what to say. He was probably right. He’d been right about everything so far. “So what do you suggest I do, oh wise, unbiased decision maker of the Avery Shaw Experiment?”

Grayson leaned up on his side, propping himself up on his elbow, and looked down at me with a serious expression. “Honestly?”