Cream Puffs and Courtship

Chapter 37- The Pearls

Evie sat at her small wooden dining room table that was littered with shot glasses, various bills and several tear-stained envelopes. A week after their visit to the hospital, Ella had made almost a full recovery. The antibiotics were doing their job and she rarely used painkillers anymore. And while Evie was grateful that her sister got the help she needed, it had cost much more than Evie was prepared to pay. The end of April was quickly approaching and the rent was due. Not wanting her sister to pick up on their increasingly serious financial struggle, Evie stayed up every night trying to find a solution. She had tried everything.

Not buying any food on campus.

Selling all her old clothes.

Working day shift and night shifts at Carla's.

But try as she might, Evie knew in her heart that she would never be able to gather the hundreds of dollars that they needed to stay in their apartment. And so she started spending her nights looking for cheaper housing. However, living in the heart of Lexia was rather expensive. Even if she downsized significantly, it wouldn't make much difference. The only option left was to move out of the city. But as Evie calculated traveling distance, she realized that it might not even be worthwhile since she would end up paying a lot more for gas.

Feeling defeated, she decided to turn in for the night. She grabbed her phone and left her mess on the table. Sleep came easily and before long she was in a deep slumber.

~

A week later, Evie's worst fears were beginning to become a reality when Ella saw a letter sitting in their mail slot.

"Evie? I think there's a letter from the landlord-"

"Oh, I've got it!" Evie yelled, snatching the letter from Ella before she had a chance to open it. "You have to get to Sara's right? I'll um, look at it when I come home."

"Is everything ok Evie?" Ella asked, noticing her flustered sisters behavior.

"Yup! I just don't think that you need to bore yourself with those bills," Evie said, practically dragging Ella to their car. "Let's get you over to Sara's ok? No need to be late over some boring letters!"

Ella looked at her sister oddly but then shook her head and smiled.

"You're ridiculous Evie. But I suppose you're right."

Evie nodded and grinned at her sister before starting up the car and driving to the McAndrews. As soon as she was sure that Ella was safely inside the premises, she left and sped back home to read the letter. Evie still hadn't managed to get enough money together to pay their rent and she had a sneaking suspicion that the letter waiting at home was her last warning before she got kicked out.

When she finally peeled open the envelope and read the letter, Evie was disheartened to find that she was right. She and Ella had 48 hours to pay their bills before they were evicted from their apartment. As soon as she read the letter, Evie's vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears. She ran a hand through her hair and she slid down against a wall until her knees were tucked into her chest. Finally confident that her sister wouldn't be able to see her break down, Evie sobbed until her throat felt raw and her eyes were puffy. Even though her tears had subsided to minor hiccuping, Evie stayed curled up on the floor.

"I failed," She mumbled to herself. "I failed Ella."

As Evie maneuvered herself to fully lie on the floor, she was about to start crying again but she noticed the sheen of something bright white on the table. She quickly scrambled to her feet and almost smiled when she saw the pearl barrette that Tina had given her. She guessed that it must be worth something but she hadn't been able to bring herself to sell it since Tina had given it to her as a gift.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Evie muttered to herself, picking up the delicate headpiece. She gripped it in her hand and was about to head out the door to go to the nearest pawn shop when something stopped her. She looked down at it again and then reluctantly picked up her phone to call her friend.

The phone only rung for a moment before Tina picked up.

"Tina?" Evie said not even giving her friend a chance to say hello. "It's Evie. I'm so so sorry to bother you but something happened and I need to ask you something. So Ella was in the hospital a week or two ago and then we had to buy antibiotics and well, what I'm trying to say is that I'm short on money. Like really short. Like so short that I can't pay my rent and I'm about to get evicted. So I just wanted to ask if I could possibly sell the pearl barrette you gave me. I'm so so so sorry but I'm desperate Tina! I really need the money. I just know that if I can't even provide Ella with a stable home, they'll take her from me and-"

"Evie stop," A masculine voice said causing Evie to freeze. As soon as she heard her name slip from his lips, she knew who she was talking to. She heard a deep sigh from the other end and swallowed her tears.

"Devon?" She questioned quietly. "Why do you have Tina's phone. That was private information."

"Are you at your house?" Devon questioned.

"What does it matter?" Evie sniffled. "can I please speak to Tina please?"

"She's not available. Just, umm, stay where you are ok?"

"Devon," Evie sighed placing the pearls back down onto the table.

"Please? Just give me a few minutes ok?"

"You've got half an hour before I leave to pawn this thing."

Evie quietly hung up and then pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. She buried her face in her arms and then silently waited for whatever Devon was planning. Part of her hoped that Devon would show up and be a perfect Prince who comforted her and made everything right again. But the other part wanted him to never come back into her life.

When she heard the doorbell ring, she couldn't decide whether to smile or hide under her bed. But he was here.

Whether she was ready or not.

A/N- It's official. I'm a Glee addict.