Ava's Wishes Read online

  Ava’s Wishes

  By Karen Pokras

  Ava’s Wishes

  © 2014 by Karen Pokras

  All Rights Reserved

  Published by Grand Daisy Press

  Digital Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please go to www.karenpokras.com.

  Disclaimer: The characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.

  Digital Edition, License Notes This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For more information, please visit

  http://www.karenpokras.com

  Edited by Melissa Ringsted of There For You Editing

  Cover by Najla Qamber Designs

  Models: Courtney Boyett and Willis Totten

  Model Photographer: Casey Boyett

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  End Notes

  Other Books by Karen Pokras

  About Karen Pokras

  Chapter 1

  Ava took a step back and admired her sketch. You’d seen one naked body, you’d seen them all. In the three and a half months since she’d been enrolled in Wolfenson College’s Figure Drawing class, she really had seen them all: tall, short, thin, fat, male, female. She was getting tired of drawing the human form and was ready to move on to something else ... anything else. The models were mainly other students looking to make some extra money. She couldn’t blame them. She was tired of being broke herself, although you couldn’t pay her enough to pose nude. It’s not that she was ashamed of her body or thought she was bad looking. She considered herself on the better side of average and had been told so more than once. She just thought that some things were meant to stay private.

  Drawing live nudes had been awkward at first, especially when it was someone Ava knew, but after a while, it was just a body—no different really than a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers. She supposed that’s how doctors felt after their first few patients as well. Still, she preferred to remain on her side of the easel and counted the days until the class was over.

  The men were the worst. Ava hated to be judgmental, but the guys were full of themselves. They were okay in the looks department, however she’d seen better. She’d have liked to tell them so, but figured that would have gotten her kicked out of a class she needed in order to graduate. Luckily, this was the final model of the semester. His name was Mark, or maybe it was Matt. She couldn’t really remember, nor did she care. The only thing that mattered was finishing up this class—one of the many required for her dual art and business degrees. Her big dream was to open up an art gallery one day.

  “Ava!” Ms. Senaca snapped, pulling her out of her daydream. “A little less gawking, and a little more sketching, please.”

  Feeling the heat rising to her cheeks, she returned to her drawing. The snickering from the other students in the class didn’t help.

  “As if,” she mumbled to herself.

  Matt or Mark, or whatever his name was, looked straight at her and winked. Oh great. Her eyes darted back to her paper. The end of class could not come fast enough.

  “He likes you, you know,” whispered the voice next to her.

  Ava knew better than to take her eyes off of her sketch to answer Carly. She’d already gotten in enough trouble for one afternoon. “Gross,” she whispered back.

  “Are we looking at the same guy?” Carly asked quietly. “He’s by far the best looking model we’ve had all semester. It’s about time we got someone good. Why do you think I took this class?”

  “Um, to develop your craft?”

  “I’d like to develop something with him,” Carly teased, smiling at the model.

  Ms. Senaca deliberately coughed and looked pointedly at the girls. They quickly turned their attention back to their easels.

  Ava first met Carly Cater last year in her Introduction to Watercolors class. She had already set up her supplies when Carly came rushing in to class late, like a bull in a china shop, dropping her paper and paints everywhere. Once she collected herself, she chose the only open station, the one next to Ava. Carly made snide comments every five minutes, and even got Ava in trouble … much like she was trying to do today. Yet, somehow, they’d become friends. Not best friends; those slots were reserved for Ava’s sisters, Holly and Tessa, but decent friends nonetheless.

  “Oh! He’s looking back over here. Quick, take that scowl off your face and try look sultry,” Carly remarked.

  Ava glanced over at her. Carly stared right at him and slowly ran her tongue over her lips. Ava’s eyes gradually moved to the model. She was afraid of what she was going to find. “Ugh,” she growled in disgust, more over the fact that the guy was too busy staring at her to notice Carly’s actions.

  When he finally turned his head away, a smug smile on his lips, Carly whispered, “You should totally go for it.”

  “Who does he think he is? He’s something else.” She’d had more than her fill of this guy’s inflated ego.

  “Well, I think he’s quite good looking, and his face isn’t bad either!” A louder than probably intended combination snort and cackle escaped Carly’s lips.

  “Girls!” Ms. Senaca bellowed. “What on earth is so funny? This is a serious art class!”

  “Nothing, ma’am,” Carly offered. “We were actually commenting on this model’s extraordinary physique. He’s been a pleasure to have in class, and a great honor to sketch. We’ve learned so much about the human form just from observing him. In fact, Ava was just commenting that his body was something else.”

  “Carly!” For the second time, Ava could hear snickers and feel heat rising to her cheeks. “Ms. Senaca, that’s not what I said.”

  “Well, Ava, what did you say, exactly?”

  “I wasn’t talking about his ... I really didn’t say anything about his ... I’m just trying to finish up my sketch, ma’am.”

  “Please do and without comment, if possible, hmmm?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ava replied, glaring at Carly. “Sorry.”

  “Good. In fact, everyone needs to finish up their sketches today. It’s our last day with this model, and class is almost over. Tomorrow, you will sign up for studio time to work on your final exam projects. I’ll e
xpect five of your best sketches from the semester in a portfolio handed in to me by Wednesday.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Ava whispered.

  “You’ll thank me later.” Carly smiled, but abruptly looked at her easel with a serious expression when Ms. Senaca cleared her throat and walked by.

  Chapter 2

  Ava was furious, and didn’t speak another word to Carly for the remainder of the class. Even if it was only ten minutes, it was an extremely self-satisfying ten minutes. She finished her sketch and packed up her supplies as soon as Ms. Senaca announced, “Time’s up!”

  Carly tried to apologize, but Ava just ignored her. She had gone too far, and Ava wasn’t ready to let it go just yet. She was the first one out of the room, practically running, without so much as a good-bye … to anyone.

  Once outside, she found a bench in the courtyard and sat with her head in her hands. It was a cold December afternoon on the east coast, but Ava didn’t care. She needed a few minutes. She pulled out her phone. Tessa or Holly? Tessa was only sixteen and would probably find the entire situation hilarious. Ava was usually the one dishing out advice where her baby sister was concerned. In fact, as the oldest sister, Ava was usually the one dishing out advice where both of her sisters were concerned. She needed to talk to someone. At least Holly, only two years younger, would be able to relate. Ava began to text:

  Hol, you around? Crud of a day. Need a friendly voice.

  While she waited for a response, she tightened the scarf around her neck. Why couldn’t she have picked a school in a warmer climate? She knew why. Initially, she hadn’t wanted to be so far away from her family … her sisters in particular. Back in high school, when it came time to choosing colleges, her sisters were as involved in the decision making process as anyone. Wolfenson was only a two hour drive from home, although she could count the number of times her sisters had actually visited her at school over the past four years on one hand. Tessa was in high school and immersed in her own activities, and Holly was two hours in the opposite direction at the state university. Despite that, they spoke nearly every day. Thankfully, distance made no difference in their relationship.

  As far as colleges went, Wolfenson was one of the finest for liberal arts. Tucked away in a beautiful New England town, bursting with magnificent stone buildings, it was originally an all-girls school until it opened its doors to the male population back in the 1930s. Its undergraduate student population was modest at only twenty-four hundred students, but Ava preferred the more intimate setting to the massive university Holly had chosen.

  “How humiliating,” Ava whispered to herself, remembering the scene in class with a shudder. She was grateful she’d never have to draw another live nude model. In fact, she never understood why Figure Drawing was a required course to begin with. She didn’t want to be an artist, she wanted to be the person who displayed and sold the art that other people created. Yet, for some reason, she’d chosen to be an art major. She supposed halfway through her senior year was too late for regrets. For the most part, she’d enjoyed her art classes—she wasn’t half bad either—and if she had to choose between art and business classes, she’d choose art classes any day … hands down.

  Ava knew her business degree was just as important, though, maybe even more so, if she wanted to run a gallery one day, but the classes were brutal. Most of them she’d barely passed, and one of them, Statistics 101, she wondered if she’d ever pass.

  Finally, her phone buzzed:

  In class, will call you later. Love you to pieces xo - Hol

  Tucking her phone back in her pocket, Ava shook her head. If figured Holly would be busy when she was having the worst day she could remember in forever. Slouching back against the bench, she pondered her situation. On the whole, she found college to be pretty much a waste of time; she learned much more from her weekly internship at the Main Street Gallery. Ava worked there every Friday night and Saturday afternoon, and even more when there was a special event, like the Images in Flight exhibit coming up next week. She had already told her parents she’d be staying up at school an extra week to help out with that exhibit before coming home for winter break.

  Seeing Carly come out of the building, she twisted her body to hide behind some branches from an overhanging tree. Ava was in no mood to deal with more of her antics. Luckily, Carly didn’t appear to be looking for her anyway. She was deep in conversation with a girl Ava didn’t recognize. Her next victim, she thought, ignoring the tiny voice reminding her that Carly was her friend.

  Ava, deciding the coast was clear, took a quick glance at her watch, grabbed her backpack, and headed toward her next class.

  “Hey, wait up!” a masculine voice called out behind her.

  Ugh. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the model walking toward her. She’d forgotten about him. She picked up her pace. Between Ms. Senaca and Carly, it was no wonder this guy thought Ava had the hots for him. The last time one of the models from class asked her out, it didn’t end well. She wasn’t in the mood to give it another try, especially with finals week quickly approaching. Maybe he was talking to someone else.

  “Hey! You from the class! Can you slow down a little?”

  She was wrong. Damn. She reluctantly stopped walking, allowing him to catch up to her. Now that Mark/Matt was fully dressed, she noticed his face for the first time. Really noticed it—the green eyes, sexy stubble, and full lips. In class they only sketched the nudes from the neck down. She could feel the heat rising to her face for the third time in one hour. He certainly was good looking, but she’d never admit it. Not to him at least. It was more than obvious he already knew it. His ego seemed to be as big as his ... nope, she wasn’t even going there.

  “I’m going to be late,” she said, “and I wasn’t gawking, either. If you must know, I was thinking about something not at all related to you, or ... this.” Ava motioned her arm up and down his body as if he was some sort of prize in a game show.

  “O ... kay,” he replied, his dark brows arching. “Actually, I was only trying to catch up with you because you left your portfolio behind. You ran out so quickly, you forgot it. Ms. Senaca spotted you still in the courtyard and asked if I could run it out to you. Everyone else was gone by the time she noticed, but I was still in the studio getting dressed. You know, trying to cover up all ... this.” He motioned his arm in the same fashion, smirking. “Anyway, she thought you might need it with finals coming up. So, here you go. See you around.”

  “Oh.” Ava was too shocked to get the words thank you out of her mouth before whatever his name was turned around and walked away.

  Chapter 3

  “Pay attention, will you?”

  The silence in the room Ava had reserved at the student center to study in was deafening. She took a big gulp of her coffee, hoping the caffeine would somehow instantly infuse her brain with the power to both stay awake and suddenly understand Statistics … the most ridiculous class she was required to take. This was the third time she’d taken the class. The two previous times she failed, so she hired Suzanne—a graduate student recommended by her professor—to tutor her through her third attempt.

  “Yes, got it,” Ava replied. “So … um … the probability is one-fifth.”

  “Not even close, Ava,” Suzanne sighed. She put her head down on the table in frustration and defeat.

  Ava didn’t blame her. Tutoring Ava in Statistics was no easy task. Her brain just wasn’t wired to handle all of those numbers and logic, or at least that’s what she had convinced herself. She was a creative type, and years ago she’d overheard her father say you were either a numbers person or a creative person, not both. Since her father always spoke the truth, she took that to be her gospel. It’s no wonder she was having so much trouble. Still, Wolfenson College didn’t care about any of that. In order to graduate, she needed to pass this class; it was that simple. Even if it wasn’t going to be the slightest bit simple for her.

  “Let’s try again. I promise to pay attenti
on this time. It’s just been a really long day. Besides, why do you care? You’re getting paid either way.”

  Lifting her head, she looked at Ava quizzically. “My reputation is at stake. Do you really think someone else is going to want me for a tutor when my success rate is zero?”

  “Well, that’s my fault, not yours. I just don’t get this stuff,” Ava pointed out. “Besides, it’s not zero yet. We’re still working, so there’s hope, right? I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding other students to tutor. I’d be happy to put in a good word for you.”

  “You won’t need to,” Suzanne said. “Someone else already hired me.”

  “That’s great, Suzanne. More money in your pocket, and just in time for the holidays! I sure do hope you’re planning on getting me something nice.” Ava giggled, but suddenly stopped, noticing Suzanne was not laughing; not that she usually laughed at Ava’s attempts at humor. Suzanne was generally all business. Ava wondered if she was like this all the time or if she had a softer side when she wasn’t tutoring. She was hard to read and never answered any of the personal questions Ava tried to squeeze in amidst the math problems. In any event, Suzanne’s serious look seemed even more serious than usual.

  “You’re not understanding, Ava. What I mean is that someone hired me to tutor them in place of you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m firing you.”

  “You can’t fire me,” Ava stated matter-of-factly. “I’m the one who hired you! If anyone is going to be firing anyone, it’s me firing you!”

  “Fine,” Suzanne replied flatly. “Then fire me already. I clearly have failed to teach you anything.”

  “But, I can’t fire you, Suzanne. I need you! If you leave, I’ll fail again!”

  “I hate to break it to you, Ava,” Suzanne stated, “but you’re going to fail this class with or without me. You might as well save your money at this point and cut your losses. I honestly don’t know what else to do for you. We can’t even get past the basics, and the final is a week away.”