Finding Everett | ✔️

Chapter Sixteen

Stopping at Everett's door, she rapped her knuckles against the wood several times. Inside, she could hear rustling, mumbling and a few choice words being released as the person inside rushed around his room.

"Hold on!" Everett shouted breathlessly.

Lizzie stifled a giggle and waited patiently for him to open his door. In seconds, the door was flung open and Everett said with a scowl, "Jesse, you said I had at least twenty minutes ... and that was only five minutes ago! We can't be ready to go yet!"

"Someone is stressed out for their party," Lizzie teased, poking him in the side.

Everett yelped as he jumped back. Lizzie erupted into a fit of giggles and leaned against thedoorway. "Not the humanoid you were expecting?" she asked innocently.

Frowning playfully, Everett shook his head at her. "Very rude, Lizzie. Very, very rude."

He turned and Lizzie watched as he made his way to his closet, opening the door and sticking his hands inside. "Would you judge me harshly if I said I was rather concerned about my appearance tonight?" he asked her sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just don't crave the feeling of looking like a dolt around other people and ... well, I'm nervous," he confessed.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I stared at my closet for a good twenty minutes before deciding on what I would wear," Lizzie replied with a shrug as she folded her arms across her chest.

As he returned to thumbing through his clothes, Lizzie looked around Everett's room (with him mumbling about the shirts in his closet as the background noise) and noticed that it had a very ... childish feel to it.

She tried to think of why it would be that way still. His bed had obviously bed switched out for something to fit him, but still held a few things that were obviously from his childhood.

Lizzie just assumed that due to his lack of sight, nobody took the time to just freshen up the appearance of his room, as if time could just be frozen despite the many years that passed since Everett's sight left.

Walking across the floor, she stood in front of one shelf, one packed with pictures, toy cars and books.

Smiling, Lizzie stretched out her arm and picked up a frame that contained a picture of three little boys, arms around each other as they smiled at the camera.

It didn't take Lizzie long to realize that the snapshot was of Everett, Jesse and their oldest brother.

She couldn't quite remember his name, but she giggled when she realized all three boys had curly hair. Everett's seemed to have naturally straightened out, but Jesse still had a good bounce on his head.

"Okay, which one?" Everett finally sighed, exasperated. Lizzie looked at him from across the room as he held up two shirts. Smiling a little, she put the picture frame back down and studied the two pieces of fabric hanging in the air.

Finally, she spoke up, saying, "The one on the left. It's got little dots on it and it's awesome."

He nodded and made a shooing motion with his hand, which she took as he was about to change so make a break for it. Noticing a black tie hanging on the back of the door, she snatched it off and grabbed the handle.

"See you in a minute," Lizzie called out over her shoulder as she shut the door behind her

She entered the living room, pushing up the sleeves of her jean jacket up to her elbows and leaning against the doorway. Jesse was sitting on the fluffy chair in the corner with his head set in the palm of his hand.

Huffing out a breath of air, Lizzie marched up to the seemingly pouty teenage boy and thumped himk on the top of his head. Startled, Jesse threw himself backwards and looked up at her wide eyes.