*A/N I was listening to this song while writing the first half of the chapter and i suggest you do too if you're into listening while reading, or you could play it when it's mentioned in the chapter*
*A/N p2 I was so excited to put this out that i haven't edited it so if there are any spelling mistakes etc forgive me, i'll fix them in the morning*
The rest of the week went by pretty smoothly, and before I knew it, it was Friday and I was far from excited. I wasn't in the mood for any of the things planned and mostly of all, I wished I could avoid Aiden. His rude attitude towards me last time we were together hasn't slipped my mind and although the detective in me wants to find out more about it, I really can't be bothered.
It's great having him back in my life and everything but so far it's been feeling soap opera-y. I had dreamed about Aiden coming back endless times while he was gone, I had imagined hugging him, hanging out with him, staying over and spending all night doing the things we used to do together and catching up on what we've missed.
In case you haven't got it yet, no, it hasn't been like that.
He's back. Great. Yay. Party. Except oh, you can't hang out, oh, he apparently has a dark history everyone is trying to hide from me, oh, your brother hates his guts and will do anything to prevent him from entering your life again and oh, did I mention you can't hang out?
I don't understand when we went from being somewhat normal teenagers to this and this whole situation has been very draining so far.
"Evelyn, can I talk to you for a second?" I heard my mom's voice coming from the kitchen. I dragged myself out of bed where I've spend the past twenty minutes, preparing myself for today's disaster.
"What's up" I spoke in a low voice, sitting on one of the chairs.
"I bumped into Catherine the other day" this can't be good. "She told me about your little get together, which apparently is today, here." So call me paranoid, but why do I recognize an angry tone in her voice?
"Yes, the guys will come over tonight, is that okay?" I asked her. Okay so maybe I should have told her first but it slipped my mind completely. I mean, she's never home and she spends most of her nights at her boyfriend's house now that she knows I know about his existence so I didn't think it would be a problem.
That and that I forgot she lived here too.
"No, Evelyn, it's not okay. You organized this whole thing and didn't say anything, I was planning on bringing Russ over for dinner tonight!" she explained, turning to look at me.
Russ as in her boyfriend Russ?
"You want us to meet him? Mom I had no idea it was that serious between you two!" I suddenly felt a small smile creep in the corners of my mouth, was she slowly getting back on track? Could this mean she'd be around more? Maybe even turn us into a normal family again?
"I didn't say meet him, I just said I'm bringing him over to have dinner with him and would very much appreciate it if you stayed at a friend tonight. Jason will go to bed early so he won't be bothering me, but you're known for being nosy."
The smile that was forming on my face was quickly replaced with a numb expression. I got carried away, of course. Thank you lots, Brendon with your High Hopes.
"But mum I've already organized this the guys have known since the beginning of the week, can't you bring him over tomorrow? Or have dinner at his place?" I tried my best to save my failing plan. As much as I hated it and would avoid it at all costs if I could, it was my only chance at freedom- well, not really freedom but if this worked, I could have my friends back. For real, without this charade they've all got going on. In addition to that, I could possibly get some answers from Aiden or get him to tell me why he acted the way he did last time I saw him.
"Stop making everything about you, Evelyn" mom spoke with a sarcastic tone and a slight chuckle "It is your fault that you didn't mention this to me, so now you must deal with the consequences of your irresponsibility.
"Why do you always do this? I just wanted to spend one night, just one night being a normal teen with my friends! Aiden's back, we were going to celebrate. You always talk about how you wished your daughter was more sociable and did things other kids at her school do, well now I am doing those things and you're getting in the way." I got up and poured myself a cup of water, I could not believe this was happening right now.
"I'm getting in the way? You better watch your tone with me, girl, because don't forget, you're seventeen, and you're living under my roof and my rules, so cut it or you're grounded." She spoke, waving her perfectly manicured nails at me.
I resisted the urge to pour my water all over her face just to watch her get mortified at the thought of her precious makeup being ruined and calmly turned around instead.
"Oh, so it's your roof now. Right, I'm sorry mummy. Look at you though! Remembering what motherhood's like must be a big step for you, considering you only see your kids as obstacles and things you can brag about to your tea party friends!" I sarcastically smiled at her, putting my mug on the table.
"Stop pretending like you're my mother, I had to be my own mother because you couldn't be bothered to raise me the way a good mom would" I suddenly realized I had raised my tone and had been yelling at her this whole time.
She was now looking at me, dumbfounded, not a single word coming from her mouth. I wasn't the type to yell at people, I hated yelling, either it was someone yelling at me or me yelling at someone, I could not stand it.
But in that moment as I could feel the hypocrisy rolling off of her in waves, I felt sick to my stomach. I hadn't felt so angry at her in so long. It made me sick how she tried to make it look like she did all this to "teach me something" when in reality she just didn't want her plans spoiled.
She took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips, raising her chin slightly before she spoke, her voice coming out low "I think I made myself pretty clear already, this "get together" isn't happening so you are free to tell your friends to find something else to do, and while you're at it announce you will not be joining them because you are grounded for a week."
"Grounded? What am I five? You know, you don't have to-"
"-These were my final words, Evelyn, now go to-"
"-No, you don't get to do this mom, you don't get to come here and act like a responsible mother who wants what's best for us when you're barely present in our lives anyway. You're pushing us away, both of us. Just wait until Cole hears about this too." I spoke in a low voice, cutting her off, my head shaking in disapproval. Before she could say anything else I turned on my heel and up the stairs, to my room.
She continued speaking but I didn't have the power to stay and listen to whatever she was rambling about. I locked myself in my room and plugged in my headphones, drowning out my newfound sorrows with some good-ol' Avril.
I don't want to be that girl that keeps complaining about everything wrong going on with her life as if the people around her don't have any problems of their own, but this was really affecting me. And honestly, everyone has problems they have to deal with, I don't understand why people make it such a big deal when someone expresses how much they're affecting them.
Like I've said way too many times already, the relationship I have with my mom has deteriorated over time but I was starting to be hopeful about the future, thinking that maybe this Russ guy could be good for us.
I was quick to hope, and once again, wrong.
~~~
The next few hours passed quickly, I listened to music, drew on my books, and wrote some of my favorite quotes/lyrics on my walls. I liked decorating my room like that, it made it feel more personal and like an invitation to my heart. That's why I despised it when people came inside without knocking or without me being present.
Sounds picky, but I want to have full control of who I let inside my heart.
I had just about nothing to do for the rest of the day and was desperately wishing I had a distraction for the mess that I had going on inside my head.
I fell on the back of my bed, my back hitting the mattress, my head hitting the pillows. I looked at my little fluffy teddy bear sitting on my desk chair. You'd know what to do, wouldn't you? I thought to myself, when really I wished my teddy could talk. I desperately wanted some company, despite my usual preference for alone time.
My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Mom quickly went to get the door, so I supposed our beloved Russ had come early. Great.
Minutes passed and I could hear my mom's voice as well as a male one. Wow, Russ has a brain, he can form sentences. After a moment of silence, i heard my name being called. "What is it?" I replied annoyed, not wanting to have anything to do with mommy dearest and her loving boyfriend.
"Aiden's at the door for you"
My eyes widened and I jerked myself off the bed, looking around me frantically. My eyes landed on my Spongebob clock. 5:05pm.
Oh my God.
I completely forgot to tell the guys the plan's cancelled so now Aiden was at my door, waiting to help me organize something that wasn't happening and not only would I have to go tell him that but I'd have to do it while looking like this.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror of my closet and just wanted to disappear. My hair was still wet from the shower I had taken somewhere along the way, I was wearing grey sweatpants and a baggy black shirt that read "loner". My eyes were slightly red and my dark circles were visible.
After an attempt to look better by splashing cold water on my face I took a deep breath and realized there was no way to escape this, so I might as well face it now.
Taking another deep breath, I opened my door and walked out, heading for the stairs.
Aiden's POV
It was finally five and I headed out of mom's house where I've been for the past thirty minutes, waiting for the time I'd have an excuse to go see her.
I rang the doorbell and got an instant answer, feeling myself get excited as she hastily opened the door for me, only to be brought down from my cloud 9 when I realized it wasn't her who opened the door, but her mom.
"Aiden" she spoke, fixing her hair slightly "I didn't expect you here, how are you dear?" she spoke, blocking the doorway so I couldn't search for the face I was here for.
"Michelle, hey" I put my hands on my pockets "I'm alright, thanks. Is Evelyn ready?" I asked, cutting the chit chat short.
"Ready for what? She asked confused, leaning on the door frame. For fuck's sake I'm so bored.
"Uh, I was supposed to meet her, in about-" I paused to pretend to check my phone "-now, actually. I was going to help her prepare the house for later" I explained, my words having a sing along tone.
"Oh, she didn't tell you? Typical of her to be forgetful, forgive her. Evelyn's grounded for the next week, therefore she will not be able to host whatever you guys had planned. Hopefully you can have it somewhere else, without her, unfortunately. Now If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work" she very rudely tried to shut the door to my face, but I stopped it with my foot.
"Actually, could you get her for a minute, I want to speak to her, it's kind of important." I scratched the back of my neck and tried to sound as sweet as possible. I don't know what had went down before I got there or what crazy bitch next door had in store for Evelyn, but I was not letting my plan go to hell.
She looked at me, then away, then back at me, as if trying to make a decision. She called for her, and I realized how awful her name sounded coming from her lips. Such a beautiful name, coming from such an ugly mouth.
"What is it?" she replied annoyed, confirming my theory that something had went down between them earlier.
"Aiden's at the door for you" Michelle answered, imitating a sweet smile.
"She'll be down shortly, do you want to come in?" No, you know I'd prefer to stay out here and wait, what monster would want to come in instead of wait outside in the cold?
"Yeah, sure" I replied instead, wanting to hit my sarcastic ass in the head or not ceasing the opportunity to watch her face turn red. You know, the i-pretend-to-be-a-good-person-when-really-I'm-a-piece-of-shit-but-i-don't-want-people-to-know-so-I'll-act-like-i-don't-want-to-pounce-at-you kind of red. My favorite.
"Sorry for the mess, it was a busy day and I didn't have time to clean, and Evelyn was so tired, I didn't want to tire her even more, you know?" she spoke, moving to the one of the shelves and pouring herself a cup of what I believe was Vodka, no matter her attempts to mask it as water.
I'm not dumb, honey.
When she brought the cup to her lips and took a sip, and I watched her expression change as the alcohol reached her throat, giving her the burn I had grown to love, I had no doubt.
I leaned against the wall, hands finding my pockets once again. I looked down at my shoes, and around the room. Michelle muttered something but I wasn't sure if it was meant for me or herself, I wasn't really paying attention. During the following moments of what seemed like silence, I got the chance to really pay attention to their house.
I had been here thousands of times, and I couldn't sort my feelings. One part of me felt as if I was just here, playing board games with Jason and annoying Evelyn while playing video games with Cole, while the other part felt as if i was seeing this place for the first time in my life.
I looked to my right, noticing how little had changed around here. The living room had remained the same, the couches making a half circle around the tv, a small glass table in the middle, making it the perfect hangout spot for when we wanted to watch a movie or play board games.
I guess we were too old for that now.
"Hi" my head snapped up as I heard the voice I wanted so badly to hear. I had stopped going to school so I didn't have the benefit of hearing her voice as much as I'd like to.
I wish things were different and I could just call her and speak with her endlessly on the phone or text her I wanted to see her so she'd go to her window in the middle of the night and cuss me out for waking her up.
But things were different now.
"Hey" I replied, turning to look at her mom who was eyeing both of us while sipping her 'water'. "Could I speak to Evelyn for a second?" I asked Michelle who simply nodded but didn't move. "Like, in private?" I added, looking at Evelyn who had intertwined her hands and looked shyly at the floor. "Oh, of course" she said, moving to sit on the couch, supposedly letting us speak.
I moved towards Evelyn and grabbed one of her hands, pulling her towards the other side of the room, trying to get as much privacy from her mom as possible. She kept her head low and I could see a few strands of wet hair falling in front of her face, making it even harder for me to look at her.
I tried my best to force a fake smile for her mom who was looking at us while muttering to Evelyn "You want to explain to me what she's talking about?" i asked with a slight laugh, not wanting her mum to pick up on what we're saying.
She looked up at me, eyeing her mom warily before giving me an equally fake smile "I forgot to tell her about today and she got mad and grounded me" she scratched the back of her neck before continuing "I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you and I haven't told the guys either" she giggled slightly, turning to look at her mum, who pretended not to be eavesdropping on us.
"So you're telling me I came here for nothing?" I smirked at her, raising my eyebrows slightly. She looked back down at the floor and nodded shyly. My face inched close to hers and I whispered In her ear while making it look like I was hugging her "Wrong"
I pulled back and looked at her face, seeing the red tint that had creeped up her cheeks, her eyes falling into my own, a confused expression taking over her face. I grabbed her hand once more and lead her towards Michelle who got up to face us.
"Michelle, can I have a word?" I smiled at her and nodded my head to the couch where she was sitting, Evelyn looking at me as if I had completely lost my mind. I probably should've explained what I was doing first but where's the fun in that?
Evelyn awkwardly moved to the kitchen and got a cup of water before walking away, giving us time to talk. In the meantime, I took a sit on the couch, facing Michelle, trying to prepare myself to act as sweet as I possibly could.
"So, I know Evelyn acted irresponsibly by not letting you in on our plans..." I started, putting my charm to the test.
"Absolutely" she agreed, taking another sip of her 'water'.
"And you have every right to want to teach her a lesson by grounding her" I pretended to agree and put my hand on top of hers as if I was fucking Catherine, and It seemed to make my words more believable because she smiled and inched closer to me.
Please don't take this where I think you will, especially with Evelyn in the room.
I resisted the urge to show how disgusted I was and pull away, and went on with my act instead "But today is a really special day for me, as you know I haven't seen my friends in years" I continued while putting on my I'm-a-sad-lost-boy face.
"I'm sorry, sweetie" she frowned and put her hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me, which I took as my que to continue "And today would be the first day we'd all be together like we used to" I looked away, adding to the act. She just looked at me and nodded, waiting for me to go on "And I want to ask you something that I know you might not like, and I totally understand but I was wondering If maybe you could let Eve come with us just for today, and I'm not going to interfere again"
The minute I finished talking I could see the uncertainty in her face as she told me that she really thought Evelyn needed to learn to be responsible and that she really didn't want to reward her behavior by letting her out.
Charm, come back out, we need you.
"I completely understand but as you know, we're seniors know and I'm already looking for colleges and spending most of my time studying so I really don't know when I'll be able to join them In something like this. This is our best bet to be all together"
Okay so I haven't even thought about colleges and according to my mother most of them will have a hard time accepting me considering my criminal records and horrible GPA if I'm looking to be accepted into something which is really my only hope because there's no way I could come up with the money I'd need to pay tuition.
But every mother is swooned away by someone who puts their studies first and agrees with everything they say and is looking to create a successful future.
She explained to me how she totally wanted to help me out but she had already made plans in advance for today since she didn't know we needed the house, so we'd have to do it somewhere else, fact that made things easier for me, because next door we could have the house all to ourselves considering my mum wasn't spending much time there.
Once we had that settled, everything fell into place. My job here was done, so I got up to give her the hint, putting a 'friendly' hand on her shoulder "Thank you so much for understanding, Michelle, how kind of you to do this for me".
She just fixed her hair and smiled, looking like she had taken my words to heart "Oh, it's nothing, you know I'd do anything for you, honey".
Yeah, okay, no thanks.
I moved towards the door and said my goodbyes with Michelle who reminded me not to keep Evelyn out until too late and to make sure she got home and didn't run around at night.
Evelyn looked at her mum, dumbfounded as she watched her grab the 'water' bottle "Have fun tonight, honey" she muttered to her before going to her room and leaving us alone in the living room.
Her mouth fell open as she turned to look at me "What in the Krabby patties did you say to her?!"
I just laughed "Krabby patties? Really, what are you five?" I mocked her obsession with Spongebob once again, when in reality I had missed her references from it. "Let's just say, no one can resist my charm."
Before she had the chance to reply to me as I saw she was about to do, I turned my back on her and opened the door, walking out. "Move your buttocks, Hayes, we have a party to throw"
As I was walking away, I heard her shut the door and mutter to herself something I'm not sure she wanted me to hear.
"This boy..."
***
More like yeeeea boyyy
This chapter turned out a little bigger than planned, but i think it's worth it :) Fair warning, the rest two chapters will hit you like a truck, so be ready ;)
Also, friendly reminder i have and ig dedicated to this story as well as future things so feel free to follow me there, i'll be posting updates: braindead04