Evermore - Troy Otto

fourteen

Evelyn let out a sigh as she unconsciously chewed at the end of her pen. She had taken up journaling once again, except this time she tried to be less depressing. She jotted down things she had learned throughout the days from her siblings; they had apparently gotten real accustomed to the ranch life while she was gone. She could understand how Carson adapted so well, she'd always tried to be supportive but she never really had much faith in his musical dreams. However, Katie's development had shocked her. Her little sister had never shown any interest in the place she lived in. It made Evelyn feel like she was gone a lot longer, but she really wasn't even gone for four years.

She slumped back against her headboard and shut her eyes, suddenly noticing how tired she felt. The past week alone had welcomed the most stressful experiences of Evelyn's life. It wasn't just the judgmental treatment she would always receive from her neighbors, but also the lingering anxiety she felt when she thought about the world outside the walls of the ranch. It had become very apparent to her that things were not going back to normal. A frown began to form on her tired and sunkissed face.

     Three soft knocks on Evelyn's door made her sigh. She just wanted to be alone, but Ethan and her siblings were always welcome in her room. She missed her siblings, though they now lived together. They always seemed to have conflicting schedules. "Come in!" She shouted weakly, sitting up the greet the mystery person knocking at the door.

     "Hey, Ev," an unusually soft voice emerged from the home's comfortable silence and Evelyn raised her eyebrows in partial surprise.

     "Dad?" Evelyn tilted her head. She felt confused and delighted all at the same time. He never made time for her the way he used to. Nowadays, she would only see him either in passing or showing Katie how to do something like shooting a gun or gardening. It gave Evelyn a queasy feeling, but she knew she had no right to be selfish. Her father was a busy man.

     "Don't act so surprised," Scott offered her a weak, half-smile as he sat at the foot of her bed. He exhaled, taking a good look around Evelyn's room. It had barely changed since she was a teenager. Some of her old posters still hung high on the walls and the little trinkets displayed on every surface reminded him of when Evelyn was a little girl. He felt like he hadn't been in there in forever.

     "What is it?" Evelyn pushed her journals to the side to sit up properly.

     "Just came to check on you, Evvie. How are you doing?" Scott turned to face his eldest daughter. Evelyn found his behavior odd, but still basked in the attention she was receiving.

     She took a moment to respond. What was she supposed to say? Bad? Evelyn couldn't say that to her father, not with how stressed he already was. She didn't want to keep piling things onto his plate full of responsibilities. "It hasn't been so bad, not as much as I thought it would be anyway," she shrugged, playing with her fingers to keep herself occupied.

     Scott hummed. "And how has your day been going?"

     Evelyn felt her mood begin to lighten up. She missed her father. "Good," she grinned, feeling inclined to tell him more. Like she used to. She used to tell him everything. "Mom and I went on a walk this morning. She woke me up early—I was exhausted. She said I couldn't miss the sunrise, and she was right. I almost forgot how pretty it was." Evelyn finally looked up to see her father softly smiling at her. In his eyes she couldn't see the adoration she had once felt. She saw sadness. "Dad, is everything okay?"

"Scott," Michelle's voice broke. "This isn't what you promised Daniel and Sylvie."

     "Daniel and Sylvie are long gone, Michelle. Don't use their deaths to guilt me. The world has changed and it's never going back to the way that it was."

     "Daniel was your friend. You promised him you'd take care of Evelyn. Now you're throwing that all away because some of your other friends can't accept the color of her skin and you want to please them!" She pointed her finger at him in an accusatory way. "What kind of man does that make you? You've told me countless times that they're bad people and they've done unforgivable things."

     "They are the ones surviving, Michelle! Why do you think I made us move here all those years ago? I have a family to protect, even Daniel knew that."

     "Well you're not doing a very good job with Evelyn," she crossed her arms and continued to ignore her tears.

     "Evelyn is right upstairs, alive. She made it down here without my help, she can manage just fine," Scott angrily picked up his jacket, seemingly getting ready to put an end to the heated discussion and just leave.

     "You don't think she's scared, Scott? You don't think she's struggled?" Michelle spat. She was having a hard time believing her husband's stubborn selfishness. "She sees how you're not treating her the way you treat Katie. She needs her dad. I'm not gonna sit around and watch her hide in her room all day, not anymore! You used to stick up for her all the time... why can't you do that now?"

     "If that had been effective even the slightest bit, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now," with that Scott stormed off. Michelle's shoulders dropped. She wiped her tears, a heavy feeling of anger and resentment beginning to bubble in her stomach. How could he be so quick to betray his oldest friend—his daughter like this? This wasn't the man she married.

Scott cleared his throat and shook his head. He felt an unshakable amount of guilt for the argument he'd had with his wife a few nights prior. His wife was partially right—he needed to protect Evelyn. He knew good and well that broken promises never did any good. However, he needed Michelle to see where he was coming from, too. "Everything's fine, Ev. I haven't had much time to spend with you and I just want you to know that I'm still here."

Evelyn knew the words were supposed to be reassuring, but she couldn't help but feel like a huge weight was just dropped on her shoulders. "I know, dad," she whispered, her head stooping low once again.

"Come here, Ev," Evelyn softly glanced up at her father who sat with open arms, inviting her in for a hug. She accepted, the corners of her lips beginning to curl up. She moved towards him and let herself fall into Scott's embrace. She missed this. She missed her father.

a/n
a short oneeee because i
just couldn't wait to get this
one out. this is absolutely
NOT the end of evelyn and
scott's little arc i promise!
hopefully this chapter brings
up some questions and answers
at the same time, i tried to be
as vague as possible lol. also
first scene set in the past!
anyways more ethan and ev
in the next chap maybe?
hope you enjoyeddd
wc: 1226
04.20.23