11| E v e l y n

I just wanna talk about nothing
With somebody that means something
Spell the names of all our dreams and demons
For the times that I don't understand
Tell me what's the point of a moon like this
When I'm alone again
Can I run away to somewhere beautiful
Where nobody knows my name?

-Real Friends, Camila Cabello

11| Evelyn

Evelyn was sitting in her English Lit class. The teacher was rambling on about the fiction they were reading but Evelyn's mind was somewhere else.

Only you can save you. You need to know that. And I believe you are strong enough.

He had said those exact words and Evelyn hadn't forgotten that. She was stunned and at the same time confused. How he could tell how strong she was when Evelyn didn't know it herself. Fighting with their own thoughts twenty-four by seven didn't make anyone strong. Yet, he said that. He said he believed that.

He just wanted to be on good terms with you. He was bluffing.

Evelyn wondered why she was even thinking about him. She cocked her head to her left side and looked at Mason Stewart. He was focused, listening to Mrs. Roland. He was sitting in the corner of the class where nobody would spot him.

Mason had kept his promise. In the morning, when Evelyn went to her locker, he wasn't there. In maths, he wasn't behind Evelyn. Another guy was occupying his place, the same guy who used to sit there. But today, Mason was back to the corner of the class, where Evelyn would not spot him.

Evelyn sure did. Those bright icy blue eyes and those chocolate brown hair that belonged to a tall lean figure were not so hard to find when you look for them.

Evelyn looked away and glanced at her teacher as she tried to catch up. Lunch was after the class and it would only be fair if she kept her distance from Mason's friends too. Evelyn didn't want him not to be with his own friends just because Evelyn didn't want him there.

The bell rang and students sprawled out of the class. Evelyn waited. After the last student got out, she took her bag and left. She went upstairs, straight to the library as there was no way she could join the others in the cafeteria.

Mason was sitting there, a book opened in front of him and the best thing about the scene was he had a burger in front of him, untouched in all its glory.

A smile broke into Evelyn's lips.

Sure I told him that I don't wanna see his face but we do have some unfinished business.

Tiptoeing, she reached near him slowly. He was caught up with the book and looking at it with a scowl, that oh-so-gracious-scowl of his.

He spotted Evelyn as she stepped beside him. Before he could react Evelyn picked up the burger and took the biggest bite she could take. The burger was greasy and cheese was dripping on one side. It was a nice burger.

Mason looked at her, wide-eyed, as he processed the scene in front of him. Evelyn moved a chair with her free hand and sat down. She took another bite and another and another until the burger was gone. Then she looked at the surprised-looking statue of Mason and gave him the brightest smile. She stood up and left as quickly as her feet could take her.

That was smooth. Yay!

Running down the steps of the library she took one last look at the cafeteria, there were Abigail, Jack, Noah, Diana, Rita all sitting there at their table. Evelyn looked away.

They aren't my friends.

She shook her head and made her way outside. Getting the empty bleachers, she sat down.

For the first time in California, Evelyn felt alone. These three weeks were so crazy that she almost forgot where she belonged. She was supposed to keep her head low, only make acquaintances, and made her way through the year without any trouble, and right now everything was falling into the plan.

Evelyn didn't feel happy about it.

"So you're here. I have been looking for you the whole school, " Jack Walters stood a foot away from Evelyn. Seeing her he sat beside her.

"Why would you look for me?" Evelyn said being surprised.

"You were not there for lunch so we wondered where are. Noah said you may be in the library and Abigail said the toilet so she went there to find you and I went to the library."

"Oh, so you guys started a search mission for me?"

"Exactly. But you know, I found Mason in the library looking happy and weird. What happened to him?"

Looking so happy?

"What did you just say, he looked happy?"

"Yes, why?"

"How can he? I ate his lunch in front of him, didn't even spare a bite for him." Evelyn looked up at Jack who looked shocked.

"You kidding me? In the history of mankind, not even me, the famous Jack the Foodholic was able to steal his lunch and you did that?" Jack said with his eyes wide.

"I have some mad skills," Evelyn smirked.

And he kind of let me do that, not like I am gonna say that out loud.

"You starved him and he was, he was happy about it? What's wrong with him?" Jack stroked his chin and that reminded Evelyn of a certain someone.

Can I forget him for a sec?

"Anyways, leave him. He can die alone and starve, but, what are you doing here, sitting alone?" Jack asked.

Evelyn quickly looked away. She could see that they cared and they were looking for her.

"Well, your friend and I, we kind of..." Evelyn said.

"You guys fought?" Jack asked.

"No, not a fight exactly." Evelyn looked down at her hands. She didn't know how to tell him what she did. She could not be friends with him.

Evelyn wanted to deal with her problems all on her own. Suddenly a boy with blue eyes started asking her questions that she never wanted to answer. He started seeing things that she didn't want anyone to see. He had known too much in three weeks and if he were her friends, Evelyn dreaded what would come next. So, Evelyn had to draw the line, simple as that.

So Evelyn lied, "Yes, kind of."

"This asshole can't keep his ass away from fights at all. What was it about anyway?"

"Nothing in particular." Evelyn looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"He thinks I'm trouble and I think he is a jerk so we decided to, you know, stay away from each other." She said. Or maybe I told him that I can't be around him. She thought.

"You did a great job, I see," Evelyn looked up at him.

"By eating his lunch." Jack rolled his brown eyes, "But what did we do? What's wrong with sitting with us?"

Evelyn looked up at him, trying to see if he meant it.

"I am supposed to stay away." She replied in a monotone voice.

"Yes, you can stay a thousandillion feet away from Maple Syrup. But hey, c'mon don't let us down. We're friends, right?"

"Are we?" Evelyn asked. Evelyn had no friends last year and seeing someone stepping out for her to make her friends was a warm feeling all alone.

"That day, when you supported me on that cockroach..."

"No, dude, you are not bringing that up again." Evelyn groaned.

"And then you stole Mason's lunch, and you ask, if you're my friend, Evelyn, I am starting to think you are my long lost BFF." Jack pulled her in a side hug. "The sister I never had who could help me in annoying the shit out of that cold-hearted maple syrup. "

Evelyn kept fiddling with the hem of her shirt and then Jack stood up.

"So, we are gonna egg Noah."

Evelyn looked up instantly, "We what?"

"You and I, we are gonna egg Noah."

"I honestly have no idea what you're -"

"You see, Diana and Noah been smooching a lot lately. So, to keep Diana's egg safe we have to egg Noah. If Noah smells like egg, that will at least keep Diana away from him a week."

Evelyn sat there with her mouth wide open and then she said, "Why are you so gross?"

"I only say the truth. I don't depend on useless metaphors."

"Let me rephrase that for you, you are not doing anything for Diana. You are only jealous that your best friends can do PDA's while your not-yet-girlfriend shoves you off every time you try to get close."

"I am no jelly. Hrmph!" Jack blew air through his nose.

"So how are we gonna egg Noah?" Evelyn asked sighing. It sounded ridiculous. Yet, she decided it was better than being alone and reading books.

"Oh, you'll see."

• • •

Abigail was waiting in front of the mall when Evelyn reached there. Diana was tapping her phone.

"Yo!" Evelyn said as she fell on cue.

"So, you are finally here. What took you so long?" Abigail complained.

It was hard to decide whether Evelyn would say yes to this girls' night at all. When any normal people would say yes if they wanted to come, Evelyn said she would think about it.

And boy how much did she think about it. First, she was really excited about this whole thing but then the voices inside her head warned her. They kept telling her what if something went wrong. Evelyn felt tired. She sprawled on the bed as the clock ticked by. She thought and thought and finally got up from the bed when Abigail called her for the 15th time.

These friends were the actual pain in the ass. They won't let go of Evelyn that easily like someone else did.

I hate him. But why he is still in my mind?

Maybe it's the fact that I am hanging out with his friends. That is the reason.

If there was anything Evelyn hated more than her own soul, it was shopping. She only went to shopping when it became very very necessary.

There were too many bags to carry. Abigail had bought the whole market whether Evelyn had bought a new pair of sneakers, jeans and two t-shirts. Diana was better, she only bought lipsticks and nail polish.

"How are we gonna get home with this?" Evelyn complained. Abigail and Diana hadn't bought cars and neither did Evelyn.

"I called for help," Diana said and they waited in front of the mall.

Minutes later two guys were walking towards them, one with a mop of black hair and the other one blonde.

"Hey," Noah said and hugged Diana.

"Why do you smell like that?" Diana mumbled in his hug and pulled away.

Evelyn looked at Jack who was standing in front of Abigail."Should I hug you too?" He said and winked.

"Try and you will lose your future," Abigail said with her head held high. "I am gonna kick you where the sun doesn't shine."

"Well, you will ruin your future too," Jack smirked and it was war.

Abigail dropped the shopping bags and they were already running inside the shopping mall. Abigail ran after Jack as he ran for his life.

"I smell like that because a certain someone thought it would be a nice idea to cover my bedroom floor with rotten eggs," Noah said and Diana scrunched up her nose. She took a step backward and created some distance between them.

Noah looked at Evelyn who shifted uncomfortably and smiled at him. She knew nothing about it. After school Jack had dragged her to the mall to buy eggs. They had bought at least 100 eggs and then Evelyn had come back home.

"Well, whoever did that would pay."

"Yes, of course," Evelyn nodded. "So, you brought a car?"

"Yes and also we brought tickets. There's a movie show tonight." He said and smiled at Diana.

"So, is this a double date?" Evelyn said with wide eyes.

"We brought six tickets and here, give me the bags, I will keep them inside the car," Noah said as the sweetheart he was.

"No, I'll help you, let's go." Evelyn followed.

"Six tickets, but we are five people. Is Rita coming?" Evelyn asked as Noah kept the bag inside his car.

"No, she is busy," Noah replied.

"Oh." Evelyn nodded and she knew that left only one person on the earth.

"Let's go," Noah said.

Soon they were inside the cinema hall seated in their seats. Noah beside Diana, Abigail, and Jack was beside her. Evelyn sat down and the seat beside her was empty.

The movie started and Evelyn realized she was kind of a fifth wheel of the group. They were watching a very cheesy romantic movie and all Evelyn wanted to do was throw up.

"You don't look good." Someone said and thumped down on the seat beside Evelyn. Evelyn looked aside. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and Nike. His white T-shirt peeked under his black leather jacket. His hair was falling on his forehead like it always did. His icy blue eyes sparkled and looked bluer than ever. They were fixated on the screen.

Why are you raking him?

As if Mason heard her thinking, he looked at her and Evelyn froze.

Oh shit.

Evelyn quickly looked away and waited for him to say something as the jerk he was. One minute passed, two minutes passed. He said nothing.

Why doesn't he say anything? He just caught me checking him out. Damn it.

Evelyn slowly moved her head to her side and looked at him with the corner of her eyes. There was a small dimply smile on his lips. Evelyn turned away.

"You know it's more entertaining to watch your reaction instead of watching the movie," Mason whispered after a while when Evelyn was looking at the screen with pure disgust.

Evelyn glared at Mason and then she looked back at her friends. Diana and Noah were nestled up against each other (Surely the egg smell was no problem). Jack and Abigail were holding hands. Evelyn gulped.

"Wanna get out of here?" Mason's amused voice reached Evelyn's ear. She had no choice. Going out now meant she would be alone with Mason. They were supposed to stay away.

"Let's go." Mason stood up and Evelyn looked up at him. "I will tell the gateman, he will let us out through the side door."

Relief flooded through Evelyn. She stood up quickly. Minutes later, they were out of the hall. Evelyn finally breathed.

Mason glanced her way. "Are you hungry?"

He is acting really nice.

Is it a trap?

Evelyn narrowed her eyes at him. He sounded honest and was waiting for an answer. Before Evelyn could say anything, her stomach rumbled. Mason laughed a little.

"I guess, we have our answer." He said and took Evelyn's hand and started walking forward. His grip was tight but gentle in a way that Evelyn didn't say anything. She followed him silently.

I should've stayed at home.

• • •
Edited.

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