✧

Problems seemed to follow Evelyn Hernandez and her ever-so-present relationship issues. Since the night that they spent at the cabin, it had seemed like the couple had drifted further away from each other. Asher was still reeling with his insecurities about having his girlfriend go off to college without him and it seemed to make him push her away.

While Evelyn couldn't help but think about what her brother had said to her the night they had made up. Telling her that she had a tendency to allow people to walk all over her and how Asher's issues had sort of consumed her life recently. Which she hated to admit, was extremely true.

Evelyn walked out of the gym, with her duffle bag on her shoulder bag, purposely trying to avoid a run-in with her boyfriend and his friends. But, Enrique couldn't help but wave his hand in the air at her, catching the attention of literally everyone else.

"Hey," she waved.

"Were you trying to avoid us?" JJ gasped. "You definitely hesitated when you saw us."

"Because she doesn't like you," Enrique nudged him.

"No, I'm just all sweaty," she lied, gesturing to her face. "I need to go to the locker room and shower."

"Woah," Jordan observed her appearance. "Were you playing volleyball? How long has it been, since like your season ended?"

She was taken back by Jordan's observation, although they were back on friendlier terms they didn't really communicate as much as they used to. "Yeah, it has actually."

Asher awkwardly stared at her. "Hey."

Evelyn pursed her lips, slightly rocking on the tips of her toes. "I gotta hit the locker room. See you."

Asher just sent her a wave as she walked away from the group of boys who looked just as confused at her behavior as he did. Evelyn was usually extremely affectionate when it came to Asher and vice versa so them not immediately greeting each other was definitely strange.

☆☆☆

A half-naked JJ Parker was not what any member of the Hernandez family was looking forward to as they heard persistent knocks on the front door. Evelyn was spending time with her youngest brother Alejandro in the living room and pushed the boy in the direction of the door so he could open it.

Which earned a blood-curdling scream from the 5-year-old boy once he spotted JJ half-naked on their doorstep and then Enrique ran down the stairs along with their parents who heard the scream from Alejandro.

"Can someone tell me why JJ is naked in my house?" Jennifer asked, staring disgusted at the teen. "You scared my son."

"Guys, there's been a situation," JJ unbuttoned his jacket, showcasing his very impressive set of abs. "I just came back from the Baker's to deliver this devastating news."

"Son," Joaquin stepped in. "No need to unbutton your jacket. We don't want to see any of that."

"Right," he cleared his throat, adjusting his jacket. "Sorry, Mr. H."

"Dude, spit it out," Evelyn snapped. "Now."

"Okay, okay," JJ held his hands up defensively. "Apparently the fire sprinklers went off tonight at Beverly. For like hours. Our gym is flooded and our prom is canceled. Dudes, it's literally under the sea."

"Well, isn't this just great?" Evelyn snarled as she pushed by the offended blonde and approached the staircase.

"We can't give up that easily!" JJ whined. "Evelyn! Where are you going?"

"Why are you still here?" Evelyn snapped, turning to him with a menacing stare that he would never admit made him pee his pants a little bit. "Your nakedness scared my little brother half to death and then you delivered this very depressing news about prom. You can leave."

"Don't mind her," Enrique stepped in, comforting the blonde. "She's going through some changes in her life. She'll apologize once she's back to being the nice Evelyn."

☆☆☆

Asher slipped his arm around Evelyn's waist, the couple attempted to place fake smiles on their faces as they posed for pictures at Slauson Cafe. Despite the news about Beverly's prom being canceled Spencer James had yet again saved the day and convinced Principal Carter to allow them to combine their proms.

The tension between the couple was pretty thick, having gotten into an argument just minutes before they arrived at the cafe. Asher didn't seem to be in the mood for the event and he definitely made sure that his girlfriend knew that along with telling her that he just couldn't wait for high school, in general, to be over. It's not like she didn't agree with that statement but for some reason, things between them just were...off.

Asher nodded over to the table in the center of the cafe, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I'm gonna grab something to drink."

She sent him a curt nod, swiftly turning around and walking in the direction of her brother.

"Is it just me or do you two hate each other?" Enrique snorted, he laughed to himself before noticing the look of concern on his sister's face. "Wait...did you two break up?"

"No," she sighed. "But it feels like we're getting there. Maybe we're at that point where couples fizzle out and just drop dead."

"Now, you're getting way too ahead of yourself," Enrique scoffed, wrapping his arm around her. "You and Asher are like super in love."

"Okay, but, what if—"

"Please, shut up," Enrique pleaded. "It's prom night and I wanna have fun not listen to you make yourself sadder by the minute. We should probably talk later about this new attitude you've picked up by the way."

"I don't have an attitude," she snapped, causing him to hold his hands up defensively. Evelyn immediately pursed her lips, realizing that she did in fact have an unwanted attitude toward him. "Look, I-I'm just tired of people thinking they can just talk to me however they want, okay?"

"Well don't snap on the people who don't deserve it," Enrique glared at her. "That's definitely not what I meant."

Asher brushed his hand against her waist, sneaking up behind her. "Hey."

"I'm gonna..." Enrique pointed over at Jordan. "Catch you two later."

Asher rested his hands on her hips, raking his eyes over her figure. "Nice dress."

All she did was smile, using her hands to pat the dress down for imaginary wrinkles. "Nice tux."

"Um," he cleared his throat awkwardly as their eyes met, not prepared to go into an in-depth conversation about the awkwardness surrounding their relationship at the moment. "We should join everyone else."

She nodded silently, following after her boyfriend as they joined the rest of their friend group for photos. They took a couple of photos before heading straight for the limousine and making their way over to South Crenshaw High.

As soon as they stepped into the gym, Evelyn had been swept away by Liv and Layla who had dragged her onto the dance floor. The trio had their fair share of issues with each other but when it came down to it they were always the best of friends. The trio danced for a bit before Liv and Spencer eventually moved off into their own bubble, Layla and Enrique were for some reason dancing, who knew what the hell those two were doing. So, Evelyn walked over to her boyfriend who was standing by himself at a table, and grabbed ahold of his arm, dragging him off into the hallway.

"Prom is just so weird," Asher couldn't help but comment as they stood in the hallway by the lockers.

"It's not weird," she bitterly scoffed. "You're the one making everything weird."

"Me?" Asher pointed a finger at himself and glared. "What did I do?"

"All you've done is complain," Evelyn argued. "You've been complaining about prom, senior year, and literally everything else, Ash." She crossed her arms against her chest while a heavy glare came across her face. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for my senior prom?"

"No, I don't!" he raised his voice. "In case you haven't noticed, we've barely spoken in the last week!"

She bit down on her bottom lip, trying her best not to cry. "Look, I-I don't want to argue with you, Asher."

"Neither do I," Asher sighed. "Look, whatever's going on, I'll...fix it. Tell me what do and I'll do it, Evie because I love you."

Evelyn let out a heavy sigh, bunching her dress up and dropping down on the staircase as she stared up at him. "I don't know. I...I'm not sure what you can do."

"This is not how I want things to go," he pleaded, crouching down in front of her. "Just tell me what I can do to fix whatever's going on between us."

"That's the thing," her voice wavered as she spoke to him. "I don't know what's wrong with us. It's like...something happened overnight and now I'm stuck."

"Well, Evelyn," Asher stood up and let out a small breathy laugh. "When you figure it out, come and find me. I can't be here anymore...this entire night has sucked."

Evelyn couldn't help but nod in agreement, prom sucked. And for some reason, she couldn't find any motivation to move off of the staircase and instead, she stayed there, wallowing in self-pity.

"Guess, I'm not the only one who needed to step away from the dance."

Evelyn looked up from the floor, quickly wiping away her tears, and noticed Jordan standing in front of her. His hands were shoved into his pockets and he was giving her a small smile.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, Jordan."

"Hey, Evelyn," Jordan sighed. "How's your night going?"

"Well, I'm crying and I have issues with my boyfriend," she shrugged. "So, it's not going too well. You?"

Jordan walked closer and sat beside her on the steps. "Well, I don't have a date and my girlfriend is across the country. But, hey, could be worse. I could be...crying."

She turned to face him with a glare on her face. "You're an asshole, you know that, right?"

"You used to call me that all the time, I thought it was my name," he joked, attempting to poke her cheek. Evelyn swatted his hand away as a small smile formed across her lips causing Jordan to lightly nudge her shoulder. "Hey...there's that smile. Now, what's going on with you and Ash?"

"I have no idea," Evelyn admitted, truthfully. "I think we're...drifting. I don't know, I...I think I'm just going to leave, this is one of the worst dances I've ever been to. But, uh, nothing beats junior year homecoming." A small chuckle escaped her lips at his reddened cheeks. "That was a joke. We can laugh about that now."

He laughed, shaking his head, and elbowed her in the ribs. "Hey, I can't blame you. This night has sucked for me too. Prom just sucks."

Evelyn nodded in agreement, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"But, you can't leave," Jordan scoffed. "I remember how much you used to talk about prom and senior year when we were younger..." he noticed her amused expression and let out a small laugh. "Oh, yeah, I might not have seemed like I paid attention. But, I did. You always said that prom was supposed to be the best night ever and that you would have the most magical time."

"True. But, I always thought I'd be going to prom with you," she confessed. Jordan's face brightened at her confession, she always focused on the negative aspects of their former relationship, he always wondered if she even remembered the positive ones. "And if I remember correctly, you were just as excited for prom. Maybe even more than I was."

"Well...since we can't leave," a sly smile came across his face. Jordan took a glance at their surroundings, noticing the empty hallways, and hearing the slow song pouring in from the gym, he took a leap of faith and outstretched his hand. "Dance with me, Evelyn?"

She stared at his hand carefully before pushing herself off of the steps and grabbing it. Jordan placed one hand right above her hip while the other had been locked with hers.

"You're wearing 5-inch heels and you still can't reach my shoulder," he teased, glancing at the hand that had rested on his bicep. "God, I forgot how short you were!"

"Hey!" she gasped. "It's not my fault you're 6'2! And if my memory serves me right, you thought my height was adorable."

Jordan let out a soft chuckle under his breath, grasping her hand and twirling her around a bit. Evelyn inhaled sharply, feeling a sense of nostalgia as they danced and reminisced on memories from past years.

"Okay, do you remember our Friday night traditions?" Jordan chuckled. "Not even an argument stopped us from going to Roscoes and getting our chicken and waffles. And we argued 24/7."

She let out a small sound of amusement, staring up at him with wide eyes. "Chicken and waffles sound pretty damn good right now."

"Well, if you were serious about getting out of here," he gestured towards the exit. "No one ever said we couldn't continue our Friday night tradition. Even if it is prom night."

"As amazing as that sounds," Evelyn shook her head finally snapping out of whatever trance she was in. "I should probably go find Asher. He texted me and said he was going to be at Jacob's restaurant and I don't want him to think I just...ditched him. We left things in such a weird place."

Jordan respectfully dropped her hand. "I get it."

"Hey, Jordan?" she stared up at him. "Thanks for the dance...it was nice."

He sent her a soft smile and shrugged. "Anytime, Evie."

Evelyn stepped back, eyeing the boy in front of her before swiftly turning on her heel and running down the hallway. She pulled her phone out of her clutch, ordering an Uber to Jacob's restaurant which she was sure was closed by then. The car arrived at the school and she hopped in the backseat silently hoping that she wasn't too late.

The car came to a stop, making Evelyn quickly unbuckle her heels to get to her intended destination a bit faster. She silently thanked the driver, pushed open the car door, and ran straight towards the restaurant's seating area.

But as she approached the scene in front of her, Evelyn's face had completely fallen. Asher and who seemed to be a waitress were sitting at a table and laughing their heads off. And she couldn't help but feel all her insecurities and emotions that she once felt when Jordan had cheated on her flood her system as she watched her boyfriend and another girl together. Evelyn didn't even have the strength to walk over there and do something about it, instead, she shakily walked off and went elsewhere.

4x07

authors note— not Evelyn, Jordan, and Asher forgetting they're ALL in relationships🤨😳 I know the whole Jordan and Evelyn moment seems like it came out of nowhere but let's not forget these two have A LOT of history and some possible loose ends to tie up👀 but this is not me alluding to them getting back together. this IS an Asher ff🙂