Page 11 of Puck You Not

“Did you need anything besides that?”I asked calmly, clenching my hands into tight fists in my lap.

“Yeah.Did you take mom’s jewelry with you when you left in the fall?”

“No.Nothing besides what I’ve always had.”I actually had precious little of my parents’ things.Since my siblings had been older than me, adults, they’d taken first pick of things and sold most of the rest.

“Do you have her wedding ring?”

“I’ve had it since I was twelve.You know that.You gave it to me because neither you nor Ben wanted it as a reminder.”The way she’d dropped it onto my dresser, after the funeral, depositing it as if it were a piece of trash, would be burned into my memory forever.

“I want it back.”

My breath caught in my chest, and I couldn’t form words past my shock.

“Avalon, did you hear me?I want Mom’s ring.”

“No.No, you—“

“Avalon, you owe me—”

“I don’t,” I snapped.It was all I had besides pictures.After the way she’d discarded it, and I cherished it all these years, I wasn’t giving it up.

“How dare—”

“Goodbye, Mer,” I said and disconnected.Maybe, it was cowardly, but I turned off my phone.She could leave me all the messages that she wanted, but I wouldn’t hear them right now.

Turning to sit on the edge of my bed, I leaned forward, resting my forearms across my legs and dropping my head forward.I may have just burned a bridge with my sister, but that bridge had been on its last legs after I’d returned to school this year.

“Avalon!”My door slammed against the wall as my roommate, Sheena, burst into my room, and I shot upright, seeing her waving around a container.

Jesus, if it wasn’t my family yelling at me, it was my roommate.I was going to be late for class.

“What, Sheena?”I asked wearily.This was bound to be another of what was far too many confrontations we’d had since the end of August.

“Why did you eat the last of my strawberries?”she yelled.

“I didn’t.”

“Well, where are they then?”

“I don’t know.Maybe, you ate them—or one of your friends ate them,” I said.

“They didn’t.Ididn’t,” she insisted.

Annoyed with life, I threw my hands into the air, standing and packing up my things to go to class.Thank God, I had my shift at the library tonight.

“You owe me strawberries,” she insisted.

“I don’t owe you anything,” I replied.“You eat my food all the time.”So much so that I never bought anything refrigerated and kept a small stash of food hidden in my room.Otherwise, I ate on campus.“And besides that…I’m fucking allergic to strawberries.And you know that, too.”

My phone pinged, and I gritted my teeth in frustration.I’d thought I’d turned it off!Hastily, I glanced at it before shoving the device into my pocket.An email from Parrish.Thank God.After this morning, I needed a distraction.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder then stood and stared at Sheena, waiting for her to leave my room.She stared back for a long moment then finally huffed and stormed out.I heard the plastic bowl clatter into the sink in the kitchen, sounding a lot like she’d whipped it into the stainless-steel basin.

“Jesus,” I hissed under my breath.Today was a total avalanche of crap and it was only morning.

I didn’t bother to glance over at her as I marched out, knowing I’d probably bring her a container of strawberries just to smooth over her temper later on.

As soon as I was outside the apartment door, I pulled out my cell and thumbed open my email.

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