“You take Miss Edal’s class, right?” Sadie began, giving the blonde a moment to answer her question.

With a nod from Avery, she continued, “I think her class is super weird. Since my family is Christian, I’ve been enrolled in Catholic schools all my life. She doesn’t teach anywhere near the same stuff that my other religion teachers did” She explained, glancing down at the table with a confused look.

“It’s not like I’m upset about it though, I’ve been taught this stuff all my life so learning new things makes it a bit more interesting”.

At this Avery could only nod, she enjoyed Miss Edal’s class. Especially since the subject seemed to be entwined with her life now.

Avery suddenly remembered the report that was due the following week, if she was honest so much had happened that it slipped her mind. It would make sense that she would do a report about demons, she wanted to learn more about them anyway. Especially the contract kind.

Avery’s eyes were quick to dart to the entrance of the cafeteria when Ethan walked through the door, basketball in hand. He was followed by Hayden, Scott, Paige, and Addison.

“Paige is here” Sadie announced without even turning towards the door, the obnoxious clicking of her heels giving her presence away immediately.

Avery gave Sadie a smile, the exasperated expression that graced Sadie’s features bringing up thoughts of the note that was passed between them in English.

“By the way, you said that you don’t think they like you, why is that?” Avery questioned.

Sadie sucked in a short breath, thinking about her answer for a moment, “I think it’s because I’m close to Ethan”. Avery was quick to wonder whether Sadie had a crush on Ethan just as she did and she glanced down at the table with contemplation.

Perhaps it was the expression that Avery was making but Sadie was quick to add, “I don’t have a crush on him or anything though, that would be super weird!”.

Avery gave the blonde a guilty look as though she had been caught in a lie, “It wouldn’t be weird… you can like whoever you want” Avery tried to encourage.

“Eww… Maybe if he wasn’t my cousin” Sadie laughed, reaching across the table to tap her friend’s hand playfully. Her cousin? “You’re cousins?” Avery couldn’t hide the shock in her tone as her mouth dropped open.

“Yeah, our mums are sisters. After he moved here, we ended up getting super close so we’re really good friends now”. Sadie’s expression changed into one of knowing as she eyed Avery, “Wait… did you actually think I had a crush on him?”.

Avery averted her eyes guiltily, looking down at the lunch table. Sadie burst into laughter as she watched Avery’s reaction, “That’s so funny! Do you really think Paige would let me hang around Ethan if I had a crush on him?”.

Her laugh must have been contagious because Avery found herself letting a chuckle escape her lips as she looked back up at Sadie. She knew first hand that Paige would never let that happen.

“She only puts up with me because Ethan and I were friends way before they had even met!” Sadie explained with a chuckle.

“S-Sorry, I made a stupid assumption” Avery apologised.

“Don’t worry about it… honestly, a lot of people think that when they see us together”. Sadie’s tone was one of understanding as she waved her hands in dismissal of the topic. A wave of relief washed over Avery as the pair smiled at each other.

“So anyway, tell me about yourself. You only transferred here this year, right?” Sadie inquired, beginning to eat her carrots and corn.

“Yeah, at the start of the semester” Avery answered with a half-smile.

“Why Lakeshore? It’s such a small town. I’m sure wherever you were before would have been much more interesting” Sadie probed, looking at Avery with a spark of interest.

“We actually used to live in the city, but my mum got a new job here so we ended up moving” She explained.

“What does she do?”

“She works as a reporter at some news business in the next town over”

“Oh, and what about your dad?”

At this question, Avery felt her heart drop into her stomach. She hadn’t spoken of her dad for a long time. Both her mother and her sister never brought him up, he was taboo in their household.

Avery’s expression must have made Sadie realise that the topic was uncomfortable for her because she quickly continued on with, “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want too. I’m sorry if I brought up something bad”.

Avery shot Sadie a smile, trying her best to hide the dejectedness in her eyes but failing miserably. “You don’t need to apologise” Avery shook her head, taking a deep breath and trying to shove the memories back into the safe that she had been keeping them.

“Let’s talk about something else then! How about your boyfriend. I don’t even know his name”. It was clear that Sadie was trying desperately to cover for her mistake of bringing up Avery’s father.

“Azrael” Avery answered.

“That’s such a strange name... what’s he like?” Sadie smiled at Avery, noticing the sadness begin to fade from her eyes.

Avery had to give some thought to this question. She had only known Azrael for a couple of days. He seemed to have multiple sides. The first being his charming, joking side. He was mysterious and seemed to have a scary side to him that Avery had only seen once. Even though he claimed to be ‘bad’, he seemed kind and caring.

“He’s…” Avery began, trailing off as she tried to sum up ‘Azrael’ in just a few words, “I don’t know how to describe him honestly”. It was the truth. She didn’t know him well enough to be able to contain him in just a few words, but she wanted to.

“Oh, one of those guys, I get you” Sadie exclaimed knowingly. Avery was sure that whatever Sadie meant by ‘one of those guys’ was not what she had meant. She began to speak up but decided it was easier just to let Sadie think whatever she wanted. Come Monday Sadie would meet Azrael anyway since he was ‘transfering’ here.

“What about you?” Avery began, wanting to change the subject, “Do you have a boyfriend?”.

Sadie tried not to laugh at the question shooting Avery a weird look as though the answer was obvious, “No, and I don’t think I’ll be getting one anytime soon”.

“Why’s that?” Avery quizzed.

“Well, my dad is pretty strict with dating. He says I can’t date until I’m twenty and even then, I would have to get them ‘approved’” She answered, using her fingers to quote the word ‘approved’, “There isn’t anyone I really like anyway, so I don’t mind”.

“Oh” was all that Avery could say in response. If Sadie had to get her future partner approved, she wondered if she would have to get approved as her friend. Either way, Sadie’s parents seemed very strict.

“Even if I did like someone, I wouldn’t let my parents stop me from seeing them in secret” Sadie added with a mischievous smile, “What they don’t know won’t hurt them”.

The statement brought a smile to Avery’s face. By the end of lunch, Avery had completely forgotten about what she had seen at the start of the day between Sadie, Paige, and Addison. Whether her decision to trust Sadie was good or bad would be decided in time, and she was fine with that.