#threads: avery.

avery had spent close to forty minutes on the phone with her boss, trying to convince the older woman to let her cover something, anything other than the event she’d been instructed to report on — which, of course, was clara’s engagement party. it turned out clara’s fiancé was sort of a big deal (or his family was at least). but all her wheedling, bargaining, and begging had come to nothing, and she had her notes app sneakily running in the background of her phone as she arrived, feeling both disgusted with herself and nervous that her dress wasn’t fancy enough. and weren’t you not supposed to wear black to weddings? did that apply to engagement parties, too? she spotted clara immediately, eyes finding her in the crowd almost as if by instinct, though she hung back for a while until some of the well-wishers had moved away. finally, champagne flute in hand, she made her way over and tapped the other on the shoulder. “congratulations. you look fantastic. where’s the lucky guy?” 

well, that stings. avery’s brows knitted briefly, trying to fight the sudden wave of sadness that threatened to overcome her at the other girl’s words. because the thing was, she was right. it had been ages since they’d sat together like this — since they’d even been in the same room. what did avery know, really? the thought was painful, hard to accept. but she wasn’t going to deny it — it would be dishonest. “okay, fair point,” she managed, trying to sound light-hearted despite the ache in her chest, “but you did say you’ve only been together for — wait, how long was it?” 

continued.

“yeah, that makes sense,” avery agreed, somewhat unconvincingly. her puzzled expression clearly gave away her lack of understanding about the whole situation. the thing was, she’d known they were serious, but she never expected karina to marry the guy. it had been hard enough sharing her best friend — having to always be second in line to spend time with her, when before she was unquestionably first. avery wasn’t the jealous type, she really wasn’t — she’d barely even been acquainted with the emotion until recently — but she liked being karina’s favorite. sue her. “do you know? i mean, how do you know? i guess i’m just…curious.” avery had never had a relationship that worked out, let alone a long-term one. the thought of marriage seemed sort of like taking a spontaneous vacation to the bahamas — appealing, but ultimately unattainable and a little impractical. 

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“oh, please, you are so not a final girl.” maybe trapped in a barn awaiting a machete wielding killer wasn’t the best time or place for this conversation, but avery was just too on edge to hold back. seeing half of your friend group getting murdered right in front of your eyes would do that to a person. 

focus wasn’t avery’s strong suit, so mishaps like the one alice had just had were fairly commonplace. of course, she was more even-tempered to begin with, and the weed normally made her even mellower, but either way, she didn’t quite understand the other’s irritation. “it’s just a s’more. you can make another one — ” there it was again. a loud snapping of twigs, as if under a giant’s foot. or a bear’s. that was probably more realistic, though no less terrifying. “it’s probably an animal, it’s just…” avery looked around, clearly still anxious. normally she’d laugh it off, but — “the town paper has been getting all these calls and letters about some weird stuff going on, and we all thought it was nothing, just people being paranoid, but then last week…” she gulped. “…they found a body. really — messed up, like — like an animal attack, but the rangers said there are no animals like that around here. i mean, we’re not even really supposed to have bears. coyotes at most, but — this was vicious.” widened eyes found alice’s. “should we wake up the others? just in case?” she was being paranoid. definitely. but she couldn’t shake the odd feeling she had, like they were being watched. 

“okay, another one, c’mon.” avery handed them a freshly-poured shot and watched them, hawk-like, to make sure they drank it. “if you’re not properly drunk, they’ll never fall for it,” she warned, though more for effect than anything. they had been pretty convincing the last few times they’d pulled this stunt: a carefully masterminded tactic to make both their exes jealous. they’d made it happen at every party over the past few weeks, almost always with satisfyingly disastrous results. “oh, look, there they are now!” without a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed the other’s face and turned it to bring their lips together in a sloppy yet passionate kiss.