𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 is far from perfect. Before starting her senior year of college, she's already guaranteed her position as the black sheep of her once prestigious family. To make matters worse, she took up bedding the rival family's eldest...
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𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 into the drive, Evelyn already began to regret saying yes to Michael. Well, it wasn't him that she wished she turned away. It was the invite to the party. Michael provided her with the address before running off with his student council friends after they burst into the hallway in search of him. Then Evelyn found Mariah amid the backstage area and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in the cramped backseat area of Emily's pickup truck while Mariah and Emily shamelessly flirted with each other.
They were cute, but Evelyn would have preferred hitching a ride with one of the other band members over being the third wheel to her best friend and their driver for the night. With Mariah and Emily too caught up in sharing finger kisses and their little stories from playing in the band for the show, it left Evelyn to skulk alone in her growing worry about their destination.
Westlake Village was only a thirty minute drive away but felt vastly separated from the comfort of Los Angeles. As the clutter of various businesses transformed into rolling hills and thatches of trees that passed by her window, Evelyn could tell that they were getting further away from the majority black populations that surrounded the university and closer to the upper-class suburbs. It should have come as no surprise; nearly all the members of the student council were white, as were the highest positions in the university office. But being aware of the fact before embarking on their little road trip didn't keep an unsettling feeling from churning in Evelyn's stomach.
She thought of Amari and how he must have felt when he ventured into the unfamiliar territory that was the last setting of his life.
"Are you sure it's in Westlake and not Westwood?" Evelyn felt compelled to ask, leaning over the center console to direct her worried stare at her best friend.
Mariah cut her a look that practically brushed her off. "Yes, I can read. Your little boyfriend was nice enough to give us a paper with the actual address on it."
"Call him my boyfriend again," Evelyn warned.
"Whatever. And who cares?" Mariah scoffed, reaching over to playfully flick her forehead. Evelyn winced and slapped her hand away. "Why you so worried about it anyway?"
"'Cause, Ri! It's all rich kids up there! It's a rich neighborhood! Them folks do not like us."
"Yeah, well, they like Michael. Everybody does." Mariah turned slightly in her seat to flash a more warm, reassuring smile. Evelyn pushed out a tired breath. She couldn't argue that, but she wasn't sure if it was going to calm her down or piss her off more, the very same way it had earlier in the basement hall. "Just relax, alright?" Mariah said. "Nothing's gonna happen. You been uptight and sad all damn week for no reason. I need my old Evelyn back."
At that, Evelyn slowly shrunk back against the middle seat, surprised by how much the words had hurt her. Old Evelyn... Though she was tempted to ask if it was the one that had recklessly gotten involved with whoever could give her a moment of pleasure, the one she had lost as the consequence of pouring herself into Jackie Jackson, Evelyn thought wiser of it and bit her tongue, angling her body to face the window for the rest of the ride.
