✧

Senior skip day sounded like a dream until Evelyn really thought about it. Did she and Asher want to spend their last few moments as seniors surrounded by a bunch of people who let's face it, they didn't really interact with? Considering, Liv and Spencer were planning something on their own, Enrique and Evelyn were still not speaking to each other and he's been spending most of his time with Layla, the only person they would really be hanging out with would be JJ. Not that they minded. But, did they really want him to be the third wheel all day?

Asher bounced down the steps with his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder and glanced over at his girlfriend who was stretched out on his couch. "Um, you ready?"

Evelyn let out an annoyed groan, thinking about having to go to the beach. "Or we can stay here..." she gestured to his house with a smirk. "And have sex all day."

"Okay, one, my dad's here so let's...shh," Asher chuckled, pointing his finger in the direction of the steps. "Two, we already planned to go to the beach. JJ's probably waiting for us."

"Yeah, I don't think so," Evelyn held her phone up to her boyfriend, watching JJ live from Spencer's cabin. "He's at that cabin. You thinkin' what I'm thinkin' babe?"

Asher squinted his eyes, grabbing the phone from her hands, and watched the video. "I mean, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the beach, either. And if JJ's there then we can assume that everyone else is probably there."

"You'll drive," Evelyn grinned, tossing him her car keys and grabbing the bag she packed for the beach from the floor. "Move those legs, Adams!"

Not informing Spencer, who was the sole owner of the cabin that they were crashing was probably a bad idea. Considering everything that went down when they were all at the cabin the previous trip. In hindsight, having everyone there probably wasn't the best idea. Like, at all. But, the couple made the trip up to the cabin and Evelyn's face fell once she saw her brother's car pulling up to the driveway with Layla in the passenger seat. Then she spotted Patience and Coop emerge from the backseat, clearly, everyone had the same idea and came to the same spot.

Asher grabbed both of their bags, nodding for his girlfriend to get the hell out of the car and stop trying to avoid a run-in with her brother. Who she had still been heavily avoiding. But, she ended up following after her persistent boyfriend.

As Asher and Evelyn walked into the cabin the already silent room seemed to get even quieter once he spoke. "Got room for two more?"

"Sleeping arrangements are gonna be very tricky," Evelyn mumbled, glancing at the full room. She bounced on her toes, clapping her hands together loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Well...let's get this party started!"

Everyone eventually dispersed in different directions, the boys followed JJ out to his porta-party while the girls sneakily grabbed ahold of his water balloon collection. As the boys were too distracted with their conversation, they started a battle, throwing the water balloons at each other and within minutes their clothes were soaked and then they headed into the bounce house that JJ had also brought.

Once they were done having a bit of fun, they crowded around the table and Jordan took a glance at the group of friends, his question killing the fun vibe. "Will it ever be like this, again? I mean, the jokes, all of us hanging out?"

"I don't see why not," Asher shrugged.

"Well, we're all graduating and going off to college soon," Jordan said.

"Okay," Layla sighed. "Way to bring us all down."

"Jordan Baker," Evelyn shook her head. "Been bringing us down since '03."

"Hey!" Jordan smacked her shoulder. "I'm just saying I don't ever want to forget this. Us."

"You know, my mom was saying how, back in the day, the South Crenshaw seniors used to write predictions for where they saw themselves in 30 years, bury it in a time capsule," Spencer said.

"Wait," Liv looked around. "That's actually...like, a super cool idea."

"Yeah," Layla agreed. "Hey, we should totally do our own."

JJ tapped Spencer on the shoulder and grinned. "Your boy will take it from here. I'll record everybody's predictions and put 'em all on a thumb drive. We'll do 20 years, though."

"Alright," Spencer approved. "In 20 years, we can meet up back here and dig it up."

JJ ran off excitedly towards the van muttering to himself the equipment that he bought for filming. The group of friends made comments about how he was about to go all JJ on the time capsule video. Then they moved back inside of the cabin and sat around discussing prom.

☆☆☆

The boys were heavily engrossed in their conversation about their tuxes. Mainly Jordan who was going heavily into detail multiple times about his tux. They were clearly all very excited about prom and acted like normal teenagers for once.

And somehow, the Hernandez twins ended up in one of the rooms in the cabin face to face for the first time since Enrique blew up on his sister. Evelyn was obviously not too happy about being around him. But, her brother had practically pleaded with Asher to convince her to go to the room so they can finally hash things out because let's be honest, he missed his sister.

"Sorry," Enrique spoke first, his sister stood in the corner of the room with her arms crossed against her chest and a glare on her face. "I was a dick."

"You were more than that," she scoffed. "You purposely hurt my feelings and then continued to be childish for weeks!"

"And I'm really sorry, Evelyn," Enrique sighed, remorsefully. "Look, I know I hurt your feelings and I know you were only trying to do the right thing. But I just wish you didn't go behind my back...again! About something that wasn't your business. If you talked to me, you would've known that I made an appointment with that doctor but you snitching on me pissed me off and made me go all...I hate everyone and I'm not gonna listen to what you say."

"But, you made a huge deal when they found out?" she frowned. "You...you stormed out of the house and refused to go. Why would you do that if you made an appointment?"

"Because I was pissed that you didn't talk to me, first," he groaned. "You went to our parents instead of having a conversation with me. Just like you did when you found out Ash and I were doing steroids. You...you didn't even talk to me first!"

Evelyn uncrossed her arms, padding her feet over to the bed, and dropped down beside her brother. "I...I was just doing what I thought was best for you, Enrique. You're right, I should've talked to you first but I just assumed that my usually childish/stubborn brother wouldn't listen to me. So, I'm sorry and I guess I should've seen that maybe you're not so childish after all. Except for running away from mom and dad. You practically threw a tantrum, dude."

"Don't apologize and I know, I threw a fit but I explained myself to them," Enrique shrugged, throwing his arm around her shoulder. "Sorry for being a bad brother. And you know, one thing I realized about us not talking is that despite what you think about not being able to survive without me. We all know I'm the one who needs you more, you're the glue that holds this whole twin thing together, Evie."

"You're so right," Evelyn agreed, wrapping her arms around his torso. "I'm the whole reason you're alive. Don't you ever forget it, bro."

Enrique cleared his throat, pushing her away from him. "Now...can I give some unsolicited advice?"

"Do you even know what unsolicited means?" she retorted.

"Stop letting people walk all over you," Enrique scolded, making her eyebrows furrow together. "I said the meanest shit to you and all you could think of was, "go to hell," and then you still came to my football game to support me. You think the best in everyone, Evie, and it's one of your best traits but, sometimes it can be one of your worst—"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she cut him off.

"What I'm tryna say is you need to put yourself first," Enrique raised his eyebrow. "Stop putting everyone's needs before yours. Including Asher's. He's your boyfriend and yes, he's been through some shit. But, you can't be his mom. I can't even remember the last time you mentioned volleyball in the last few months since everything happened. Hell, you even skipped out on track season this year because you were so caught up in his well-being."

Everything Enrique said had been true, Evelyn had been abandoning all of things she loved and putting all her focus into making sure her boyfriend was okay. None of this had been Asher's fault by any means, but, if she was being honest, she wasn't so sure if this is what was best for her.

She laid her head against her brother's shoulder, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I missed my twin. Ale's not that good of a listener as you are."

"Trust me," Enrique held his hands up. "I know. I tried to get him to listen to my issues and he has the attention span of a—"

"5 year old!"

They let out a laugh at their synchronization.

"Hey, can I ask about Layla?" Evelyn questioned once they composed themselves. "What the hell is going on with you two?"

Enrique cringed. "Uh...we're just friends, that's all. I'm not gonna give you all the details. But all you need to know is that Layla and I are friends."

"That's not what I heard," Evelyn rolled her eyes, slapping him on the shoulder. "But, come on, let's go show everyone that we're still the superior twins in this friend group."

"Liv and Jordan got nothing on us," Enrique scoffed.

The twins emerged from the room and walked out of the cabin spotting the remaining members of the friend group crowded around in the living room. Liv and Spencer had gone home for some alone time and Jordan and Simone had giggled their way towards the spare room in the cabin, leaving only JJ, Layla, Coop, and Patience. Coop had directed Evelyn in the direction of the campfire and told her that Asher was waiting for her out there.

"You and Ricky patch things up?" Asher questioned.

Evelyn happily nodded, planting herself on his lap, and curled up against his warmth. "Mhm. Thanks for convincing me to have a conversation with him."

"I didn't think I could continue being the messenger between you two for much longer," he joked. "Did you do your prediction, yet?"

"Nope," Evelyn sighed. "I told JJ I'd wake up super early to film it. He of course agreed because nobody can say no to this face."

Asher let out a breathy laugh, pecking her cheek softly. "Hey...uh, we're going to prom together, right? You haven't mentioned much about your dress or anything."

Evelyn's lips turned downwards into a frown as she looked away from him and turned her attention to the fire. It's not like she was expecting some extravagant promposal or anything of the sort but she wasn't quite expecting him to ask her...so bluntly like that.

"Oh. Yeah, of course, we are." She turned back to him putting on a fake smile. "But, I can't give you any details on my dress. Sorry."

"Fair," Asher nodded. "Wanna go back inside?"

"You can go," Evelyn shrugged, pushing herself off of his lap. "I think I'm gonna stay out here for a while."

Asher nodded his head, attempting to kiss her but she turned her head just in time for him to press a kiss to her cheek. Asher didn't think much about her actions, instead turning on his heel and leaving her alone.

✧

[Evelyn's time capsule video]

JJ directed the camera right at her face, making the brunette extremely nervous having to think about her future. "Ready...action."

"In 20 years...by then, I, uh, don't know," Evelyn tucked her hands underneath her thighs. "I thought I knew what my future looked like..." she turned her head to the side peering through the glass doors and spotted Asher from afar. "But, right now, I couldn't tell you what the future holds for me."

4x06

—the prom chapter is about to be...🤨🤸🏽‍♀️😅