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Monday, October 7th
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First period was halfway over when I noticed that Evangeline wasn't in her seat yet. Usually she tends to do this when her morning meetings with Mr. Vince takes a long time. She's always excused for them so it's not a problem with the teachers.
Once the second period was over, Evangeline still hadn't come to class. It wasn't like her to skip class and the only reason for her to not be here would be if she was sick. Lunch finally rolled around and her friends sat at their usual table.
Tiffany looked like she was trying too hard to get Ethan to pay attention to her conversation while Ethan looked bored out of his mind. He was looking everywhere but at her and sitting where Evangeline usually sits. I guess her absence wasn't odd to them.
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Tuesday, October 8th
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By the end of the day I realized that something wasn't right when she didn't show up to school again. I had convinced myself that I would go over to her house to see if she was home and alright, but Ethan had beat me to it when I was about to head to Evangeline's driveway.
Ethan looked irritated, furious even. He rings the doorbell and Evangeline's maid opens the door.
"Where's Evangeline?" He demands.
I furrow my brows at the question. I thought he knew well why Evangeline wasn't at school.
"Ms. Evangeline is sick right now. She's not feeling well," I hear Varushka's voice say, "she's turned her phone off and needs to be alone right now."
"She's my girlfriend! Let me see her now!" Ethan yells.
Why was she refusing to let anyone see her? Would Varushka deny me from letting me see Evangeline too?
"Evangeline is sick. She can't be bothered right now," a familiar deep voice says.
I couldn't see who it was since Ethan's car was blocking my view, I could make out Ethan's back to me.
"And who the fuck are you?" Ethan asks, "You can't forbid me from seeing her."
"Varushka asked if I could bring extra medicine for Evangeline's stomach bug. She was afraid to leave Evangeline alone here since her parents aren't home." The voice clicked and I was able to put it to a face. "When Evangeline wakes up, Varushka will let her know to try to get back to you."
My blood runs cold and I immediately look around me to see if his older brother was around. There was no way that they found out where I lived or that they're using Evangeline to get to me. How did Varushka let them in?
"You better tell her or else I'm making my way up there now!" Ethan yells.
"She'll get back to you when she can. Now let her rest," Roman says.
I hear the door shut and Ethan curses to himself. He gets into his car and drives off manically. Then about a minute later, I see Roman come out of the house. I make sure that the bushes don't reveal me as I see him enter a black truck. I watch him drive off on the opposite side and I quickly rush back into my house.
Evangeline had a lot of explaining to do.
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Wednesday, October 9th
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I see Maya at her locker putting her books away and I march up to her. I felt more comfortable approaching her rather than her blonde friend. I tap Maya's shoulder and she turns around with a look of surprise on her face.
"Oh, Ambrose, right?" She greets me cautiously. "Are you looking for Evangeline?"
I nod. I pull out my phone to quickly write down something, but she puts her hand on my arm. I look at her with a puzzled look.
"You sign, right? I've seen Evangeline do that with you," she says that with a shy smile on her face.
I nod and her smile widens. "I've been wanting to practice more ever since my grandpa died," she says, "he lost his hearing after he fought in a war and I learned sign language for him. He died five years ago so I haven't been using it since then."
I'm sorry to hear that.
"It's fine. What did you need with Evangeline? She hasn't been in school for days," she says.
Do you know why?
She shakes her head. "Ethan said that her maid told him Evangeline was sick. Last time I saw her was on Saturday, when I picked her up from Ethan's house."
Was she okay when you saw her?
She ponders for a second and shrugs her shoulders a bit. "She was acting a bit quiet when I picked her up. She was as pale as a ghost and her eyes were a bit red. I don't know if she had been crying or if she was just coming down with the flu that morning," she says, "I haven't heard from her since then. I guess that explains why Ethan said Evangeline's phone was off."
Can I have her number?
She nods and pulls out her phone. She scrolls down to Evangeline's contact and shows me her screen. I type in Evangeline's number into my phone and save it.
"Can you text me when she gets back to you?" Maya asks.
I nod and I hand her my phone. She types in her number and hands me back the device. "I can see why Evangeline likes you," Maya says.
I raised my eyebrow at her, not understanding what she meant.
"You actually do care deep inside. It's one of the attributes that Ethan doesn't really have," she says, "Ethan just leaves things as it is and gets mad when things don't go his way."
I saw him go over to Evangeline's house yesterday. He seemed pretty mad.
"Yeah, he tends to lose his cool a lot," she chuckles awkwardly, "Not sure how Evangeline can date someone like that."
How did she even get into dating someone like that?
"It's a long story, but I think it's something Evangeline should tell you," Maya says, "anyways, I have to go get the rest of Evangeline's assignments and track the teachers down."
I can do that. I have most of my classes with her anyways.
"Really? Thanks, I appreciate it," she smiles, "I have to meet up with my team, our season is coming to an end pretty soon." She closes her locker door and reaches into her bag. "Can you give this shirt back to Evangeline? Ethan gave it to me today saying that she left it at his house. I know it means a lot to her."
I grabbed the red fabric from her and I nodded. She smiles at me and thanks me one last time before she heads off in the direction of the gymnasium.
I unfold the shirt and I'm hit with the smell of Evangeline's sweet perfume and a mix of a masculine cologne. It wasn't overwhelming but there was a slight hint to it. There was an illustration of what was supposed to be a cafe in Paris. Lots of florals and bright colors were in the front of the shirt.
I noticed that there was a tear near the hem of the shirt. It looked pretty stretched out almost like it had been taken off by force. I furrow my brows and decide to just stuff it in my backpack. Evangeline must've left it at Ethan's place in a hurry, usually she's not that forgetful of her things.
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I waited a couple minutes for the door to be answered when Evangeline surprised me. She shyly stood behind the door, using it like a barrier.
"Ambrose," she says, relief in her eyes. "What're you doing here? Do you want to come in?"
I brought you your assignments and Maya wanted to make sure you were okay, she was worried about you.
She opens the door wide enough for me to step through and I take the invitation. "If you see her again can you tell her not to worry. I've just been sick with a stomach bug these past few days."
I took a quick glance at her appearance. She's not wearing an ounce of makeup, not that she needs it. But her eyes were dark and sunken in. Her dark brown hair is swept up in a messy ponytail and she's lounging in some sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, accompanied by the fluffy bunny slippers.
"We can go to my room. Varushka is preparing dinner for a couple of guests tonight," she says.
I nod and follow her upstairs. Her room looks cleaner than usual, and I think it has to do with the smell of disinfectant lingering in the air. It brings me back to the times that I had to wait in my mom's doctor's office from my childhood. A part of my life that I wish I could forget.
I take my usual seat on her bed, but this time I notice that she stiffens. Her eyes round and then she snaps out of it. She's created a huge distance between us as she stands by her balcony.
Are you okay?
She nods her head. "Yeah," she blinks at me, "I'm fine."
I also have something that Maya wanted me to give you. She said Ethan gave it to her for her to give it to you.
Evangeline furrows her brows at me in confusion, cocking her head. I pull the shirt out of my bag which was neatly folded and I hand it to her. Realization seems to fill her eyes and she backs away, her back slamming onto the balcony doors as she flinches.
Her eyes go wide in fear, a look that I've worn on my face that wasn't strange to me.
"Stop! No!" She cries out.
I drop the shirt and I carefully walk over to her. She's clearly shaking like a leaf—trembling.
I'm able to place my hands carefully onto her hers and she silently sobs to herself. Her eyes are shut and my mind is racing with a million thoughts.
Why did the shirt trigger her and what the fuck happened?
I slowly move my hands to her arms and pull her away from the balcony doors. She complies and I'm able to lead her to her bed. Her sobs are quieting down and I kneel right in front of her so she can see my face.
She slowly opens her eyes and her face tinges pink. "I'm sorry," she mumbles. She wipes the tears from her face, missing one.
I use my thumb to wipe the last lingering tear and she tries to hide her face from me. I grab her chin, not too forcefully, and make her look at me.
Why are you crying? Were you hurt?
Her lips tremble as she reads my hand. She sniffles and exhales a shaky breath. "Can you just keep me company for a bit."
I nod. She takes me by surprise when she lunges at me and pulls me into an embrace. I lift myself off the ground and level myself to her height by sitting next to her. She was quite short even when sitting so it was easy for her to tuck her head under my chin and lean onto my chest.
I wasn't going to lie and say that I didn't like the close proximity, but this was a bit awkward. Hell I didn't even know Evangeline that long enough for us to do something like this. This definitely caught me off guard. I wouldn't doubt the fact that she could probably hear how loud my heart was beating against my chest.
My cheeks were burning, and no, I was most definitely not blushing.
After what felt like eternity I felt Evangeline leaning more towards me, making me hold both of our weights. I let gravity take its course and I feel my back softly hit the bed. Evangeline didn't even move. I don't think she was even awake.
She had fallen asleep in my embrace. Her arms wrapped around my torso with her head slightly tilting towards me. Giving me full access to view her face. I carefully brush away a piece of stray hair from her face, not even stirring in the slightest.
I couldn't help and wonder why Ethan would give Evangeline the shirt. Did he even know that something like this would happen? Or was he just as clueless as me?
I needed answers and Evangeline had to tell me everything.
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A/N: A very semi short chapter. The next chapter will be very long and I'll try to get that out by the weekend if not by Saturday most likely.
I hope you guys liked this chapter and as always please vote and comment <3
- N ♡