Why Me?

Chapter 4 Trouble in Paradise

Beckett

      When I accepted Miss. Summerton’s invite to the cookout, I figured that there would only be elderly people there and there were, but seeing that girl there was just, shocking. I mean when she said that her niece moved in with her daughter, I thought the daughter would be younger, but when I saw Evangeline I was just blown away. She was just beautiful. Her hair was dirty blonde, slightly curled, and her eyes reminded me of the ocean. And oh God that dress she had on made her look amazing. When I shook her hand I felt like there was electricity running through my body. I was going to try and talk to her but she ran off so soon. Now I’m stuck sitting alone in the corner of Miss. Summerton’s back yard.

     I’ve said hi to a few of the neighbors but other than that I’ve kept to myself. My dad on the other hand, he’s just a social butterfly. He’s said hello to about everyone at the party and right now he was flirting with some blonde bimbo on the other side of the yard. Suddenly feeling thirsty, I got up from my spot and walked into the kitchen to get some soda. As I was pouring my drink I felt a tap on my right shoulder. Thinking it was my dad I took my time with my drink, but when I turned around the only person I saw was Evangeline.

     “Sorry that I interrupted you.” She said, her face all red and her right hand clutching on to her left arm. Her arm seemed to have a bandaged wrapped around it.

     “Oh no sorry, I just thought you were my dad, that’s why I didn’t turn around sooner.” I said. God I felt like an idiot right now.

    “Oh well I just wanted to apologize for running off. I had an emergence.” She said.

     “That’s totally fine. I understand.” After I said that there was a few minutes of awkward silence and just glancing at each other, then I decided I should start some type of conversation before she decided to walk away.

     “So, where are you from?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t being too cheesy with that line. But I guess I wasn’t because she looked towards me and smiled.

     “I came here from New York City. How about you?” She asked.

      “I’m from California. Los Angeles to be exact.” I said smiling at her, her smiling back.

     “That’s cool. Do you want to go sit outside? It’s a bit stuffy in here.” She did have a point, it was a very small kitchen. That’s when I noticed how close we were to each other. We had to be at least four inches away from one another. I nodded my head but I just wanted to stand there with her forever.

     “Ok let’s go.” I followed her lead but as we passed by her aunt they gave each other this big warm smile. I just shrugged it off thinking it was just a women sort of thing. We finally got to this big apple tree that was towards the end of the yard. She sat down first and I was a bit shocked.

     “Aren’t you worried that you might stain you dress?” I asked because back in Cali girls wouldn’t even step foot on the dirt if they had something nice on.

     “No it’s just a dress. Are you afraid to get your jeans dirty?” She retorted. After she said it she laughed and patted the ground next to her. I just smirked and sat down next to her. Again we fell into an awkward silence but before I could ask her a question she spoke up.

     “So Beckett, that’s a very interesting name. Who gave it to you?” Honestly that was the first time anyone had ever asked about my name. I’d sometimes get “Dude cool name.” or “Aw, that’s such a cute name.” But I never had someone ask where I got it from.

    “My mom actually picked it. She said it was unique.” I smiled at her and she was already smiling back at me. “And how about you, Evangeline. I’ve never heard of a girl with that name.”

     “My grandmother gave it to me.” She looked down when she said it. “She said a beautiful girl deserves a beautiful name.” She looked back up and smiled at me but I could tell she was sad about something. And then it clicked in my head but before I could say anything she continued. “She died when I was fourteen.”

     I went on to say I was sorry and told her about my mother passing and from there she went on to talk about her mother and I talked about my dad. We both discovered that her mom and my dad were almost the same. Her mom was a hussy, my dad was a player. Her mom thought she was the center of attention, my dad thought he owned the world. As I sat there listening about her life, I felt something strange in my stomach. It was like there was something fluttering. Every time she smiled at me, my stomach leapt. And when she would brush up against my shoulder, I couldn’t help but hold my breath. Just when I felt like the conversation would never end, I heard my name being called and reality crashed in on me.

     “Beckett come on, we got to go home!” I looked straight ahead to see my dad talking to Miss. Summerton and that same blonde chick still hanging on to him.

     “Well I guess I’ll see you around.” Evangeline said looking a bit disappointed. Truth is, I was disappointed too because I liked her and I liked hearing about her life.

     “Yeah but would you mind if I asked for your phone number?” I said. ‘Please say yes! Pleases say yes!’

   “Yeah sure.” She said with a grin on her face. So we exchanged numbers and then we said goodbye to each other. I slowly walked away from her with a huge smile on my face. My dad and I said goodbye to Miss. Summerton and he said goodbye to the blonde. As we walked back to our car, I turned around and waved at Evangeline and she returned it.

~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~

     When I got home I didn’t say one word to my father, I just went straight up to my room. For a while I just laid in my bed, thinking about tonight. I was happy and I hadn’t felt this way since my mom’s death. Then I decided that I just had to tell someone about it.

     “I have to call Drew.” I said aloud, fishing through my pocket to get my phone. Drew was my best friend back home and we told each other everything. I finally found my phone and went to my contacts to find his number. As the phone rang I just kept getting anxious. Finally…

     “Yup, Drew here.” I was relieved that he picked up because he normally doesn’t.

     “Hey man its Beckett.” I said sitting up a bit.

     “No way! Beckett, man how you doing out there in the countryside?” He asked.

     “Great man, great. I actually called cause uh I met someone.” I said as images of Evangeline floated around my head.

     “Dude no way! Wait don’t tell me you got laid already cause you’ve only been there for like two days.” I laughed as he said that.

     “Na man. I met a girl but she’s nice and she’s really cute.” I said drifting off into my fantasy world.

     “Dude you’re so whipped and you’re not even dating this girl.” He said laughing hysterically. “And Beck, what about Sarah?” He asked, slowly starting to calm himself down. I suddenly snapped out of whatever trance I was in and began to remember my old life in Cali, with Sarah.

     “What about her man?” I asked getting a bit pissed off. I asked Drew never to talk about Sarah ever again after what she did to me.

     “Whoa man, you didn’t hear what she’s been saying about you?” he asked sounding confused.

     “Drew I just moved into another time zone, of course I haven’t heard anything.” I said now sitting up completely straight. Why would she be saying things about me?! After what she did to me.

     “Beckett you might want to be sitting down when I tell you this cause you’re sure as hell not gonna like it.”