One Day At A Time

Chapter Forty-One: According To Plan

The following Friday, after school, Lilly and the entire friend group had wished Ava, "good luck" with coming out to her mom.

And before dropping her off, Lilly had held both of Ava's hands in hers and told her that she loves her and that she knows everything will be alright.

The love and reassurance stuck in Ava's mind as she tried her best to fall asleep.

While falling asleep was definitely a hard thing for her to do, she eventually quieted her racing thoughts and drifted off.

Saturday rolls around the next day and Ava wakes up to the faint sound of the twins laughing at cartoons on the TV in the living room.

Ava stirs awake and blankly stares up at the ceiling for a minute.

She has Odin The Dragon tucked under her arm and she gives him a tight squeeze.

She plans out her morning in a straight-forward order, get up, have breakfast, get dressed, then talk to mom.

So, she sets her plan into action and sits up in bed, reaching over to pick her glasses up from her nightstand.
She cleans them with her shirt for a brief second, puts them on, and pushes herself out of bed.

When she walks out into the kitchen, the twins are still in the adjacent living room, watching Nickelodeon with syrup-covered plates from breakfast sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Ava takes longer than usual to make herself breakfast.
She is slow to place two pieces of bread in the toaster and she takes her time with pulling out a plate and cup from the kitchen cabinet.

It's like she's subconsciously procrastinating telling her mom all of these big things.
She desperately wants to, but there's something inside her that's delaying it.

Ava becomes aware of her procrastination when Anne drops Andy and her's plates into the sink a few minutes later and asks abruptly,
"Your toast is done, why are you just... staring at it?"

Ava blinks hard and looks at the toaster.
She didn't even hear it pop up.

"I wasn't staring at it." She states quickly, putting the pieces of bread on her plate.
"Yes you were." Anne remarks.
"No, I wasn't."
"If you say so."

She isn't in the right mindset to explain why she is moving so slowly this morning.

Throughout breakfast, she mentally focuses herself on her plan, thinking about her friend's good luck wishes and Lilly's reassurance.

"Everything will be fine" is what she repeats to herself as she gets dressed a little while later.

When she's done, Ava gives Odin a tight, good luck squeeze and she does the same to the yet-to-be-named, "Hug Me!" Valentine's Day bear.

She goes outside, where her mom is sitting on the porch swing, writing, what she's assuming to be, a grocery list for the week.

Donna looks at her from across the porch.
"Do you need anything from the store? I was just finishing up my list."
"No, I don't need anything. Can I, um, talk to you about something?" Ava asks her, feeling an anxious lump form in her throat.

"Can it wait until I get back from the store?"
Ava's hand finds itself holding into the hem of her shirt, she tugs it the slightest bit.
"I would, I would prefer if it, if it didn't."

Donna taps her phone that's on her lap, checking the time. She sets down her list and pen, saying with a soft smile,
"I understand that. It's only ten, I've got some time. Come sit down."