Her mind flickered to Trevor. She used to fawn over him. He was probably still in juvie right now. Other girls had come clean in private about him, and they'd extended his sentence. Evelyn and Amelia used to stay up at sleepovers, talking about boys. Sometimes Viktor would come in and offer them snacks. Sometimes he and Camilo would kick back and listen just to get a laugh out of it later. Maybe all those times, he'd been waiting in hopes to hear his name spill from her lips, anticipating a future only he'd ever imagined.

Five years? He'd been into her for that long? Her birthday present was one of her favorite colors. The box, too. He'd remembered that. Guys didn't remember that sort of thing unless they cared. Even if they did care, they forgot things like that all the time.

He rescued her from Trevor. After seeing Justin's state in the paper, she could only assume that Trevor hadn't looked very pretty after his beatdown, either. He did that for her, to protect her innocence, and save someone he cared for when she was in fear, and defenseless.

He was never creepy or obsessive. He was just playful, and supportive throughout their lives. He still had his own beliefs and visions about things that were totally different from hers. He was still his own person.

Maybe it started off as a physical thing when they were younger, and he'd begun to develop real feelings for her over the years. Perhaps this was the way out of her problems. It couldn't have been a total coincidence that he'd carefully learned how to take care of someone in a skewed mental state right before she went off the handle, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Heck, even when he'd had the recent opportunity-of-a-lifetime, he valued her morals and her own decisions more than temptations he must've had when she wasn't thinking so clearly. He hadn't taken her up on her offer. He'd rejected her.

Maybe he wanted something real. Maybe he sat down with her after she'd sliced his cheek, even though he knew he'd be shunned too, because he wanted to be with her. Perhaps Viktor didn't have any ulterior motives at all, like her father told her all guys her age had. Ten years of knowing each other and five years of being interested in her might have caused him to actually fall in... love with her. Could it be? Was that even possible? The serial killer's daughter still had the chance for someone to love her..?

The girl who had lost everything. Maybe it was possible she could attain the one thing she needed. The one thing everybody in the world needed. To be loved.

Evelyn smiled at the ceiling, hands both over her heart. What an impossibly glorious feeling. Nothing could ruin this moment. Not a hurricane, not a tornado, or an earthquake, or the fiery plumes of an active volcano. Nothing could ruin the way she felt, in this moment. "A boy likes you? Really? Who is it?" Except for that.

"Ah... good morning, aunt Pepper." She looked over at the woman who waddled in her direction. "Good morning, pumpkin. Now, did I hear that right? A boy?" She clapped her stubby hands in rapid, excited motions.

The cat was out of the bag now. "It's Viktor. The kid you thought was Vincent." She tucked a few blonde strands behind her ear, her smile beaming just as it used to when the family was still together. "Ooh! How exciting. We'll set you up on a wonderful date, sweetheart!" Her aunt reached out, her rings pressing coldly onto Evelyn's skin as she dragged her niece into the downstairs bathroom.

"Wait, I'm not going out on a date with him, aunt Pepper. I don't even know how I feel about the news, myself." Evelyn yipped, trying to escape. Her aunt locked the door, and sat her down on the counter. "Now honey, don't be so self-conscious. If he likes you, he already thinks you're beautiful. So you don't need to be afraid about being seen." Was this old bat even listening to her? She supposed not, since Pepper pulled out about ten pounds of makeup to place on the counter beside Evelyn. This was going to be a long day.