Eva was eight now.
It had been almost ten months since her mother had brought the tall, grey-eyed man called Logan Carter home and introduced him to Eva.
And now they were married.
Eva didn't hate that it happened — she just never knew what to make of it. He wasn't like pa at all, that she was certain of for a long time now.
But neither did she like how different he was to pa; he made her uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.
He brought her candy time to time and for her mum, flowers. And Eva wasn't used to those simple gestures of kindness or affection. It discomforted her so much, to the point that she now didn't like being in Logan's presence simply because of it.
If that wasn't bad enough, she was told that they were moving out today. To somewhere near where Logan worked. He told her she'd be going to a new school too. A better one. The kind that had tall buildings, clean windows and freshly painted walls.
Eva didn't know if she wanted to change schools. She couldn't decide if she'd miss Lindsay Holmes but she didn’t want to leave Miss Dorothy Thompson. There wasn't a school day Eva could picture without having Miss Dorothy in it.
But Eva kept quiet.
Because that was what pa had always asked of her — to shut up and never ask questions. To do as she was told. For almost seven whole years — her entire life — that's what she grew up with. Logan had been here, for what, ten months?
It was too unfamiliar for Eva. Logan was unfamiliar. She didn't like it. She didn't know how he operated. And she especially couldn't register it fully in her mind when her mother told her that he was her step-dad.
She didn't want another father. She couldn't have another father. The handful of students she knew at school either had one or didn't. They didn't have a second one. Not that she knew of, anyway.
“You ready, sweetie?” Logan asked, smiling down at her. Eva didn't smile. She didn't frown either. Pa had never called her sweetie. How on earth could she think of Logan as another pa then?
She nodded instead, never the one for words unless necessary.
“Alright, then!” Her mother chirped, adjusting the strap of her handbag on her shoulder. "Let's hit the road!" She continued to smile as she came to a step beside Logan, before leaning in to kiss him.
Eva tore her eyes away, feeling a clenching sensation in the bottom of her stomach. She'd never seen mum kiss her pa like that, whilst wearing a huge smile on her face.
It didn't make sense. She could hardly recognise the woman standing in front of her. She wasn't the same mother she knew. Her mum changed too soon; one day, there was the mother she knew and the next day, was a completely new woman in her place.
Though it was crystal clear her mum had a change of heart, it made no difference to Eva whatsoever. She'd been left to herself most times when Pa was alive. And she was left to herself most times even now when Logan was there.
She wondered what difference her mother saw.
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Written; 30th March 2016
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I know the chapters are pretty short; sorry about that. But like i mentioned before, this was initially a short story before i decided to write it as a teen fic instead, and since some chapters are already prewritten, i can't do much about it.
However, i WILL make sure the new chapters I'm writing (phase 2) will be much longer and suitable for a book classed under Teen Fic category. :)
Keep smiling ❤