Shatter the World

Over and Done With

Evony stared at her laptop, rereading her application for the thirty-seventh time. Her eyes were sore from staring at the screen for so long, however she couldn't bring herself to click send. The email was just three paragraphs, but stood for so much more. It stood for a chance to leave this place, this town, this family, and start again somewhere else, free from all of the ghosts that haunted her here. However, she also just wanted to get it over with, to press send and let it go into the hands of someone other than herself. While rubbing her blurry eyes, Evony looked once more at the email and clicked send. Her stomach lurched, and she quickly drew her hand back from the mouse, but it was already done. She stared at the laptop, and watched as it showed the words 'Sent,' and switched the screen back to her home page. With trembling hands, she put it to sleep, and turned on her phone. Immediately, it started ringing. She checking the caller ID, and then slightly reluctantly answered it.

"What the fuck Evony??? Why have you not been answering my calls??? Have you finally finished that stupid job application???"

Evony rolled her eyes in annoyance as she responded: "Fuck it, Nearly, slow down! Yes, I finished the application, and that's why I wasn't answering your-"Here Evony looked at the phone"-Seventeen missed calls. Seventeen!!! What the actual FUCK???"

"Well, why did you have your phone turned off in the first place??" Nearly asked rudely.

"Because...I...was...working...on...my...APPLICATION!!!" She screamed, and then waited for Nearly's reply. When it didn't come, Evony took a deep breath to calm herself and said, "Well, what did you want?"

Nearly waited a minute, and then said "Anna and I decided we should go out tonight, and we were wondering if you wanted to come. You don't have to if you don't want, you can stay at your house and...work on job applications."

Evony stared at the ceiling as Nearly's voice grew patronizing, and she wanted to throw her phone. She knew that Nearly knew how important this job was to her, how much it could change her life, but Evony couldn't say anything about it without starting another screaming match. She sighed and responded "Sure, I'll go. You want to meet at your house?"

"Yes, Anna and I will wait here for you."

Evony winced at the meaning behind her words, what they would do when they waited, but before she could open her mouth to say something, Nearly hung up.

She was left waiting, staring in the wall, alone but for her thoughts, and she wished that there was someone there that she could talk to, or something she could do to stop thinking.

Suddenly the quiet of her room was interrupted by shouts from downstairs, and she felt the childish urge to cover her ears, but knew that it wouldn't do any good. After a little while, the shouting stopped, and Evony took that as a chance to leave. She grabbed her jacket and crept down the back stairs, but as she reached the door, the shouting started again. She stood still for a minute, and then she quickly opened the door and fled. 

***

As Evony walked into Nearly's house, she was met with a barrage of sounds: the bubbling of a pot from the kitchen, a cartoon playing on the television, and a little boy yelling in delight as he ran towards her.

"Evony!! You're here! Mommy said that you were going to go hang out with Nearly! Can I come?? Nearly keeps being mean to me! When are you going to babysit me again?? Guess what?? My half-birthday was yesterday!! I'm seven and a half now!!!"

When Jacob finally stopped, panting, Evony opened her arms, and he ran into them. She had always adored Nearly's little brother, even though he could be a little hard to handle sometimes, and was at his house every week at least once to babysit him. Then, just as suddenly as Jacob has hugged her, he had released himself from her arms and was calling into the kitchen "Mommy, Evony's here!!"