Chapter 30
I pondered my options as I went outdoors to breathe in a fresh breeze that smelled like independence. That was my first free weekend I ever had of the two lives I had lived.
After sixty minutes, Ava and I were standing next to each other in a local clothes boutique.
A delighted expression on Ava’s face, after I had knocked at her house to see whether she was interested in hanging out with me or not, was the reward for skipping from Luna’s lessons.
Although I didn’t especially want clothing or to make an impression on anybody, it proved nice to enjoy moments with someone who had good energy. It appeared nice to watch her flit through the various costumes, as raving over how great they would appear. It could make me unwind and block out whatever happened poorly the previous day.
But once visiting multiple stores, I began to see a pattern concerning Ava. She was going to put on many outfits, a lot of those appeared lovely, but she simply left the shop empty–handed.
After we arrived at the fifth store, I saw her emerge from the dressing room wearing a stunning red dress. It fit her hair and body stunningly.
“That’s amazing Ava, I absolutely adore this one,” I exclaimed.
“Definitely! It’s really lovely.” Ava rotated in the reflection to examine the dress from every perspective.
Ava walked again to the dressing area and changed to her clothes,
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after becoming happy with the way she appeared.
“Prepared to head toward the following boutique?” she said after changing.
I observed her returning the outfit onto the display of apparel with no buying it, again.
“Won’t you purchase it? You actually looked beautiful in it.”
She gave a tentative smile. “Yeah, I won’t.”
I scowled, wondering the reason Ava was unwilling to purchase anything, since I thought the entire purpose of going shopping was to shop.
“Honestly, I believe you ought to purchase it. That is going to be excellent for formal attire occasions.”
Her face started to flush and she nervously turned her head aside.
“Well… the fact is,” she nervously remarked. “Clothes in shops around here are expensive for me.”
”
I looked into the clothes‘ selling cost yet simply became more perplexed. I decided on a local town’s shopping area since it usually seemed to offer more affordable prices. Furthermore, the price of the items was affordable for me. Even though I was aware that I was from a rich background, I nevertheless understood what was considered to be pricey. Yet this outfit wasn’t really that expensive.
“So, in what shop do you typically buy?”
“In the downtown. You’ll find some pretty great thrift stores there that often have some stunning dresses.”
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I froze when I realized how different she appeared to me at this point. Naturally, that wasn’t based on the reality that she only had a little extra money; but since she had always been charming and energetic to others, regardless of her living conditions. Ava had never disclosed her situation differed from the other students.
“You should inform me first,” I eventually responded.
“Hey, that’s not an issue,” she giggled. “Genuinely, I’m quite content with the way things are in my life. Since my family runs the local orphanage, we give a large portion of the money we earn to help the kids under our supervision.”
I thought that was perhaps the most inspiring tale of life I ever witnessed. It simply increased my desire to keep Ava safe and ensure that she was never harmed. She was too valuable to this
universe.
“Wow, it’s truly remarkable of you as well as your family to go through with,” I stated.
“No! That’s really nothing. Oh, anyway…” she muttered, placing an index finger to her lips in consideration, “If you like, that really means so much when you come to our big annual charity event, which we’re going to be throwing in the near future. The kids will undoubtedly be thrilled to get to know you. A couple of them obviously admire you.”
Admire me? Such as a good example? I had certainly never wanted to identify as such or even though it was conceivable. I wasn’t able to comprehend why someone would be interested in being like me. They would certainly become afraid of me once they discovered who I really was.
As soon as she noticed my troubled look, Ava retreated. “I’m sorry, I’m too excited. You aren’t supposed to feel forced to undertake an
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event you weren’t inclined to.”
“No. It’s not like that,” I responded with a blushing cheek. “I would like to go. I am going to be there for sure, let me get the specifics.”
She screamed with joy as her complexion lighted up, grabbing me with a bear hug. Her quick hug absolutely caught me off alert, so it took me a couple of moments until I managed to wrap a hand over her in response.
Ava surely sensed my unease, so she instantly withdrew.
“I–I’m sorry Winona,” she stated, “I’m just too…excited…”
I gave her a smile while headshaking to let her know that everything was alright. “Don’t worry.”
To be honest, I did not care. Considering my previous life, I was not precisely an incredibly loving person, yet I was quite certain that Ava represented one among the most sincere souls I had never encountered.
I believed that part of myself was constantly aware of this. Unconsciously, I began wearing the moonstone charm Ava had gifted me daily and I felt calm each time I reached it. Although I didn’t want to admit it, it served as a reminder knowing I was competent at being something positive and still there were plenty of sincere individuals around the world. Perhaps similar to Bash, I ended up depending on Ava at all times.
My eyes were focusing on the red dress beyond her, I became somewhat annoyed in my brain. Then I grab the dress and fold it around my hand.
“Why are you carrying that out?” Ava questioned in a shocking
tone.
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“I think you are required to dress pretty if you’re going to hold a big annual charity event.”
Her mouth fell open. She appeared as though I had just informed her that she had been dismissed from school.
“No need, Winona. It’s excessive.” Ava attempted to yank the dress from my hand, though I took it away from her.
“Ava, that’s alright. Really.” I chuckled at her exaggerated response to such a little matter.
“Then I’ll make an effort to repay you. I’ll keep my word.”
I laughed wryly. “I won’t mention it since I don’t intend to brag, also the cost of such an outfit is almost nothing for me, Ava.”
She took a moment to halt arguing and considered.
“Honestly, I want to pamper my… bestie.”
That was quite challenging to put it that way. ‘Bestie.‘ Even though it was only a single word, I was afraid of it because of the potential for fragility it would lead me into. While it was certainly accurate that my mind maintained my doubts, I was forced to acknowledge that Ava was undoubtedly the most truly wonderful girl from the inside out.
Keeping Ava around felt good, though I had to admit that I had no intention of completely reaching up to anybody. Actually,
friendship made you desire to be near someone since they made you joyful on both sides.
She had not once indicated me different from other than she loved interact with. In fact, she had chosen to invite me to spend time together with her from the first place. Ava had not witnessed me
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sobbing in the presence of Bash or having a breakdown in sight of Benjamin. I realized Ava didn’t ask me to hang out with because she felt empathy for me. Her intention was good, she even engaged with me before having really rescued by me.
She required a moment to really comprehend what I meant by that, yet right away, her features brightened as she realized I had just referred to her as my bestie.
“Winona, I’m so grateful to have you as my bestie!” Ava hugged me once more, yet I couldn’t give her a bear hug in return since I was holding the dress. Her enthusiasm nearly caused me to trip and tumble to the floor. “I’m grateful.”
As Ava totally knocked me down, I chuckled and retreated from the overly excited Ava. “Alright, don’t even bring it up.”
The truth was I could purchase her outfits in this boutique and it would not have affected my funds. I was already making trades that had been absurdly profitable due to the fact that, I had previously known which companies would have a sharp increase in revenue. Although there was something on me willing to pay any dress to Ava, I was afraid she would think I was simply displaying my money to her. I shouldn’t pamper her too often, so she wouldn’t feel that way.
As we would head to another shop after I had purchased the dress, Ava immediately gestured her fingers over someone she noticed outdoors.
“Winona, isn’t that Bash?”
Then my pulse paused, I swore. My entire body began to stiffen up as Ava mentioned Bash’s name.
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