✓ | 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍, j. hale [1]

VII. Photograph

To say Evelyn's head hurt the next morning was an understatement.

The knot on the back of her skull had thankfully shrunk in size, but the pounding headache still remained. She glanced out the window to see a steady rainfall dripping from the clouds and onto the town below. Evelyn dressed accordingly in a pair of jeans and a Chicago Cubs sweatshirt, throwing her long brown hair up into a messy bun. She shoved her feet into some sneakers and trudged down the steps, not even bothering to look in the mirror.

Marie was sitting at the kitchen table nearly buried in boxes and papers. When she looked up and took in Evelyn's appearance, her eyes widened.

"Woah, Ev. You look like crap."

Evelyn scowled as she turned on the coffee maker and dug through the cabinet for her favorite travel mug. "I feel like crap. My head is killing me."

"Maybe you should stay home today. You had a pretty rough go of it yesterday." She was searching through a stack of pictures on the table. Evelyn noticed that they were all very old, most of them probably from the last century.

"I can't. I have a biology field trip today." She also had to talk to Jasper, but she decided Marie didn't need to know the details of what happened the day before. "Hey, what are you doing anyway?" She poured her coffee into her mug and sat down across from her aunt.

"I'm going through your grandfather's old genealogy research. I'm trying to clean out the storage closet to put all of my shoes in. Look at all this!" She gestured to the boxes and stacks of paper. "He kept such meticulous records of every single detail. Some of this goes all the way back to the 1700s."

"So it's basically our whole family history? That's actually really cool. I can help you after school if you want?" The sound of Bella's truck horn outside interrupted their conversation. "Speaking of school, I gotta go. Have a good day, Marie." She got up and leaned over her aunt, kissing her cheek.

"Take some Tylenol before you go, hon! And take a nap on the bus or something, you look like you didn't sleep at all."

"Love you!" Evelyn shouted as she ran out the door, coffee in one hand and her bag in the other. Her aunt wasn't wrong; she kept waking up the night before because she couldn't calm her mind. Long story short: lack of sleep and a concussion do not mix well together.

Bella seemed anxious too, because as soon as Evelyn's door was closed she peeled out onto the road and sped down the Highway to Forks High School.

"I talked to Edward yesterday, after you left. I confronted him and he refused to answer any of my questions. All he said was that no one would believe me if I told anyone, which I wasn't even planning on doing anyway. Can you believe that? They're hiding something, I just know it."

Evelyn wasn't really in the mood for talking, so she let Bella do most of the speculating on their drive to school, providing hums of agreement here and there so her friend knew she was listening. By the time they arrived, the students were piling onto the buses while Mr. Molina, their teacher, chattered on excitedly about agriculture to anyone who made eye contact with him.

Mike Newton was waiting for them as soon as they stepped out of the truck. Or, more specifically, Bella. Evelyn wasn't surprised; at the moment, she quite literally looked like a zombie. If she was a boy, she would choose Bella, too.

"Hey! Look at you two, huh? You're alive!"

Evelyn smiled at the Mike, but just over his shoulder, she noticed Jasper, Alice, and Edward walking towards the buses. Jasper's gaze met hers for a brief moment before he looked away, his face conflicted.