𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓-𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐃; arthurtv

twenty one

Evelyn could hear members of the England team shouting in protest. "Are you joking?" She heard Arthur yell, hands splayed wide to convey his frustration. Even the girl in the stands groaned beneath her breath before she made the final decision to grab her bag, shove her book inside, and quickly jog down the steps towards the pitch.

The game continued on as she dropped her bag in the hall leading onto the grassy field, the girl walking through to the opening where the sun shone down on her glistening eyes, bright cheeks, and twisted-in-confusion features. Immediately, she approached Chip, who'd been classed as the manager for the English team. He was standing on the sidelines, inches away from the white line itself, as he shouted at the players on the field.

"Chip," Evelyn said quietly as she walked up to him. Nobody else was there, so he was surprised when he turned around and saw the familiar blonde walking towards him.

"Yo, what's up, Evie?" He asked with a grin, his eyes crinkling at the sides as his dense, curly hair hung over his forehead.

"I know I don't know anything about football, but is that ref extremely bad at his job or something?" She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the man with the flag distracted in the distance.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on with that, but he's shitter than me. And it seems that he's targeting your boyfriend." He nudged her shoulder, looking down at her with a knowing smirk. However, she barely smiled as she leant forward, peering in front of the man to take a good look at the referee causing so much confusion. Immediately, she froze, eyes subtly widening. She knew that man.

"Hey, how did you find these guys?" Evelyn asked, continuing to stare at the man with the flag further down the sidelines as Chip reconnected with the game, the ball flying down the centre of the field.

"Theo put a thing up on Twitter asking for refs, turns out he picked the worst ones," he snickered to himself before clapping loudly at his team members. "Almost, Spencer! You're doin' great, buddy!"

Evelyn left his side. "Hey, where you going?" Chip asked. The girl looked back at him, surprised he even noticed, before softly smiling in his direction.

"Bathroom. I'll be back in a minute," she said before turning back around and swiftly walking inside. 

As soon as she walked into the bathroom she slammed the door shut behind her, instantly stopping in front of the mirror standing above the sink. She placed a hand directly over her chest, feeling her heartbeat speeding up and her breathing becoming more sudden. Within her head she counted to ten, tightly squeezing her eyes shut as she leant against the sink with her spare hand. She parted her lips, letting breaths pass in and out. 

She hated how a stranger who wasn't a stranger could have that affect on her. That man, that one man, who seemed to be everywhere she went, was there. Visiting her store, refusing to lend her a towel at his bar, then becoming a linesman for a youtube football match? She should've been all over him, pushing the man who'd walked into her store and scarred her all those weeks ago away, but what did she do? Run away and lose control of her breathing - the one thing she knew she could actually good.

Her first thought was to call Arthur, because he'd know what to do, but he was in the middle of playing a football game. Then Leona struck her mind, but she'd say the same thing. Tell Arthur, Evelyn could hear her say, tell him to sort it out. He'll know what to do. She refused to call or text or even look at her friend's name and number on her phone, because she knew she was right.

The blonde looked back up at herself in the dusty mirror. It was bordered with smudges, dirty fingerprints leaving the unforgettable marks of desperate people clawing at their reflection in an attempt to make it disappear. Hoping that if they could just reach through and tear it apart everything would be fine, okay, perfect. Evelyn had felt that before, and as she stood in that bathroom, cheers sounding in the distance and her heart racing beneath her shaking hand, all because of one creepy man who wouldn't leave her alone, she felt a flicker of it again. And again. And again. Until it sparked into a raging wildfire within the bottomless pit of her stomach. A fire that could only be extinguished by relief. Evelyn left the bathroom.