#NOPE #nope #noPE #NOpe #nOPe
I could have expanded. I could have mentioned that they stayed on that bench for hours. Stephanie cried quietly and all Avery could do was stroke her hair. I could have mentioned how much older Avery felt in that moment. How sad his eyes got when he saw every last shred of hope vanish from his older sister.
Before then he had a bit of hope as well, it was buried deep, but there was a little boy that used to wait by the window, waiting, praying to God that Natalie would return. That little boy was still there. It's what got Avery through the abuse his mother and step-father inflicted on him. Always the thought that his sister would come back and protect him.
I could have mentioned that after that afternoon those dreams died and that afternoon was what made him grow up. And I could have told you that he never returns to Tuscaloosa.