The Game Of Love

Prologue - Part I - Bittersweet

Packing up again was probably the worst part of the whole situation for Ava Stevenson. Ever since childhood, she had been looking forward to getting away from the life she knew and the faces that she saw on a regular basis. Once she had finally found a life she was comfortable with, she was moving again, this time back to place she had once furiously wanted to escape, back to Oshawa…why had she agreed to it in the first place? It was because it was expensive to have a higher education in the US. The acceptance letters were there and everything was set…

*****

“Alynna, toss me Princess Pookie!” Ava called out from one end of her bedroom to one of her friends who were helping her pack.

Alynna tossed a white teddy bear dressed in a ballerina outfit, wearing a tiara. “There!”

Camryn, another friend who decided to help Ava pack, was putting a bunch of books into a box when she said, “It’s so cute that Kevin brought you Princess Pookie yesterday.”

“Yeah…” Ava let her voice trail off as she put some more of her clothes into a suitcase.

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t go out with him,” Alynna commented as she helped Camryn with the books remaining on the bookshelf.

“It doesn’t matter because I’m leaving,” Ava pointed out firmly, “Why do you guys keep insisting we have this conversation?”

Camryn shrugged. “Sorry, A, we didn’t mean to upset you,” she apologized quietly.

Ava’s expression softened as she continued her packing.

“What are you wearing tomorrow night for the big party?” Alynna asked as she peered into the nearly empty closet.

Camryn dropped a random DVD into a box and turned to face Ava with a look of sheer curiosity.

Ava pulled out one of the remaining outfits hanging in her closet. “This.” She held up a hanger holding up a little black leather dress.

“Wow…” Camryn said in awe, “I could never pull that off!”

Alynna nodded in approval. “Girl, you will have it going on tomorrow night!”

“Yeah, that is, if I don’t die of boredom at the grad ceremony!” Ava commented with a laugh.

Alynna rolled her eyes at her friends. “Come on, we have to get the last of this stuff packed!” she exclaimed as she threw a pillow at Ava.

Camryn rolled her eyes back at Alynna while Ava laughed and threw the pillow back.

*****

“You know this is the logical way to go about this, right?”

Ava’s thoughts were interrupted by her mother’s voice. They were at Kyoto Sushi at the Valencia Town Center, doing a whole sushi dinner. ”Yeah…I guess it’s the price we have to pay for living it up for four years,” she replied quietly.

“Being back home’s not gonna be so bad, Ava. I thought you’d be thrilled to be able to see your dad more.”

Ava just shrugged. She didn’t want to have the same discussion with her mother. It only managed to make her more upset.

“Are you going to eat the eel?” Nicollette casually asked after a moment of silence.

Ava shook her head.

“So you’re going to Sophie Arden’s beach house for the grad-slash-going-away party, huh?”

“Yes, mother, I’ve told you this a month ago,” Ava said with a slight edge to her voice.

“Maybe we should go shopping for a new outfit!”

“We went shopping two days ago. Little black leather dress, leather boots, sunglasses.”

“Oh.”

Ava finished the spicy hand roll on her plate and then she said, “I know we agreed to this a long time ago but I feel like this place is my home more so than Oshawa ever was.”

“I know,” Nicollette said quietly, “and I’m sorry you have to leave…but we have to.”

“I know.”

“Listen, finish this last piece, I’ll get you cake and then we’ll do whatever you want.”

“Deal.”

*****

The next day, Ava was up at 8am because she had a 9am private karate lesson, her last one at the Rising Sun Academy. She was at the McBean Transfer Station, waiting to transfer onto the bus that would take her to Stevenson Ranch when she saw someone familiar coming out of the Seco Canyon bus so she decided to approach the bus.

“Kevin!” Ava squealed with sheer delight when she saw him.

Kevin smiled brightly as he walked up to Ava and hugged her. “This is it, huh?” he said, a subtle hint of sadness coating his usual calm, quiet voice.

Ava bit her lip as she pulled away from the hug. “Yeah, I know.”

Before anything else could be said or done, the Stevenson Ranch bus pulled up and the pair got on it.

There was a slightly awkward silence in the air between the two friends as they sat at the very back of the bus.

Finally, Ava decided to break the silence. “Hey, so what are you wearing tomorrow?” She bit her lower lip as she thought, Oh great! I can’t believe I just said that!!!

Kevin chuckled as he replied, “The red shirt probably. Black jeans.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Ava asked playfully.

“Maybe.” Kevin stuck his tongue out at Ava, who good-naturedly punched him. After a pause, he went on, “So yeah, last class…why did you decide to take a private class for your last class? Thought you would have been done after that last Black Belt club class.”

“Yeah…I wasn’t ready to say goodbye then. This is officially my last go at it and Kyoshi Frank is making time for me this morning.”

The ride towards the Valencia Marketplace was silent for the most part after that. Kevin wasn’t exactly sure what to say to Ava, who was in one of her more reflective moods.