EVANGELINE TAKES THE STAIRS to the basement two at a time and swings the door open with gusto, her canvas shorts flapping wildly around her thighs. The door creaks open in the dark, slamming unceremoniously against the wall. Evangeline cringes and prays that Mr. and Mrs. Forman didn't hear. As much as she feels the couple like her, she didn't know how they'd take to her being in their house basically uninvited and slamming doors, however unintentionally.
She sets her flower-power print tote bag on the couch and pads to the back room where a sleeping Hyde lies in his bed oblivious to the world around him. With a grin, she kneels down near his head and hovers two inches over his peaceful face. "Steven," she coos, running a hand gently through his hair, tugging on a few strands. Then she slaps his cheeks for good measure. "Wakey-wakey, time to shakey."
Hyde rolls over onto his side, swatting at her hands and mumbling something Evangeline can't understand. One side of his beard is flat from sleeping on it. Evangeline smiles when she spots a line of drool dribbling down his chin. "Ste-ven, wake u-up."
"Five more minutes," he says into his pillow, curling up into a ball and waving her away with his hand.
"Steven," Evangeline pulls at his hand and shakes his shoulder in a desperate attempt to get him to cooperate. "It's almost eleven. We had plans today, remember? I snuck out of the house for this."
Hyde spins around and Hyde's his head under his arms. "Evie, I'm tired."
"Don't you want to spend this hot day soaking up some sun and cooling off in the cold water?" Evie shakes his body with both hands. Hyde peers one eye open, narrowed into a glare. He grumbles for her to leave him alone. "C'mon, Stevie, it's the perfect beach day!"
Hyde eyes fly open to meet laughing blue ones and he frowns deeply wondering if he's just heard her correctly. "What did you just call me?"
"What? Rhymes with Evie!" When Hyde's expression says he's anything but impressed, Evangeline roles her eyes and tugs in his sleeve. "Steven, you promised!" Evie's puppy dog eyes are something Hyde could never resist, even if it was a matter of life or death.
"Evie, you're such a baby." Evie's pout deepens and Hyde groans, unable to do anything except say yes. "Fine. But only 'cause I want to see you in a bikini," Hyde says, a lazy smirk turning up the corners of his mouth. Evie beams at him and plants a kiss on his cheek as he pulls himself up into sitting and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Like eleven," Evie says, tugging on his hand to bring him onto his feet. She bounces up and down on her toes as Steven slowly sheds his shirt and scours through his drawers for the one he wants to wear today. "I haven't been this excited since—well, I can't remember when I've ever been this excited."
"Yeah, I didn't even know you could move this much." Hyde chuckles as he pulls on a white tee, ruffling his hair and he searches for the only pair of swim trunks he had come which are somewhere among his possessions. "You're usually more—mellow."
Evie turns around when Hyde begins to remove his pants, a light blush rising to her already flushed cheeks. "Man, it's been, like, over a year since I've gone to the beach. We used to go all the time before—my brother and cousin and I—well, at least, you know, before he died. I can't remember the last time I saw my cousin though. They moved away shortly after we moved to South Carolina." Hyde frowns at her tone, which is optimistic despite the somber subject. "I used to go to the boardwalk at home by myself 'cause no one ever wanted to go."
"Did you slip extra sugar in your cornflakes this morning?" Hyde asks, tugging her arms so she turns to face him again, that lovely smile ever-present on her lips. "You're extra chatty."
"Cool out, dude. I'm just excited." Evangeline pats his head and bounds out of his little room, leaving Hyde confused and delighted all at once.
He shakes his head and follows her quietly up the stairs to raid the kitchen for their lunch. Thankfully it's empty; not because Mr. or Mrs. Forman would have objected to the raid—well, maybe Red—but because neither is too keen on whatever conversation either would inevitably start up with them. Evangeline packs fruit and drinks while Hyde makes sandwiches and grabs a bagful of homemade cookies. Once all is stuffed into a basket Evie found laying around her grandma's house, and Evangeline reminds Hyde to grab a towel and the sunscreen from the Forman house, they head to Hyde's truck.
The sun shines high above the trees, warming their insides and sending a shiver of anticipation down the blonde's spine. Evangeline feels that today is going to be a good day.
As Hyde goes to open the door for Evie, they're both startled by a voice that says: "Took you guys long enough."
"Jackie?" Hyde says incredulously as the girl, clad in a translucent white cover-up hiding her purple striped bikini, slides out of the passenger side of the truck. "What are you doing?"
Jackie looks at him like that's the stupidest thing he's ever asked her. "Uh, going to the beach. Duh."
"How—what—man, Jackie, you weren't invited!"
"I know." She scoffs, examining her nails as Hyde stares open-mouthed at the interloper. "But I heard you two talking about it yesterday and I seriously need to work on my tan, so I'm going too."
Evangeline sets a hand on Hyde's arm as he glares at the dark-haired girl's smug smile. "Steven, it's fine. I don't care if she comes."
Hyde grumbles under his breath as Jackie sticks her tongue out at him. "Fine," he says through his teeth, "but you're sitting in the back."
"But I'm back here!" Fez pops up from the bed, gripping a beach umbrella with his arm, eyes wide underneath a wide-brimmed sun hat.
Hyde closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Evie covers her mouth to hide her giggling. "Just get in the back, Jackie. Fez, be quiet."
Jackie squeals happily, grabbing her own bag from the cab and climbing into the bed happily. "I'm gonna be so tan!"
The displaced pair climb into the cab and Hyde switches the radio on as soon as the engine turns over. As he starts down the road he gives Evie a look and says, "As soon as we get there, we're ditching Thing One and Thing Two."
Evangeline laughs at his expression and his tone, both of which say that this day is not turning out how he planned it. "Fine by me. Now, stop your griping and get us to the beach!"
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THE BEACH IS LITTERED WITH people, their belongings and trash as Hyde pulls into one of the last available parking spots. Being as the time the clock reads as they arrive is noon, the beach is packed and they are lucky to be able to park at all. Jackie and Fez jump out immediately, tittering and giddy about soaking up the sun, and checking out all the hot dudes and chicks parading up and down the sand.
Hyde and Evie linger after them, watching as they disappear into the throng; Fez has Jackie's bag on his shoulder and the umbrella under his arm as he trails behind the tiny girl strutting like a peacock. Evie slings her own bag over her arm as Hyde strolls around the hood of the car, slipping on his signature shades.
"Let's go!" Evangeline grabs Steven's hand and drags him down the sidewalk that disappears into the sand.
Hyde drags his feet as she pulls him deeper into the horde milling about, tossing way-to-large beach balls, and sunning under an umbrella, which never really made sense to Hyde. If you're trying to tan, why lie in the shade? Though he puts on an outward resistance towards this outing she's planned for them, but he can't help the happy smile that comes to his face at how excited she is for this beach day.
As enthusiastically as any person can, Evie spreads out her beach blanket and urges Hyde to lie down. He tentatively takes a seat on the blanket as she sheds her clothes to reveal a blue, pink and yellow-striped bikini. His eyes follow her movements as she kicks off her shoes into the hot sand and lowers herself to the ground. "Isn't this great?"
"Yeah, it is," Hyde says lowly, his eyes raking over her exposed skin. "I forgot how much I love the beach."
Evangeline slips a pair of dark-lens glasses over her eyes and turns her head towards Steven as she gives him an ear-to-ear grin. "So, what has the great Steven Hyde been up to these past eight years?"
Hyde snorts as he leans back onto his elbows. "Oh, you know, working hard, doing well in school, working my way out of this town."
"Really?" Evie raises an eyebrow at the boy and shakes her head slightly. "You. Working? Going to school? Ri-ight."
"Okay, you got me—" Hyde lays down on his back; he can already feel the sand inching its way under his shirt— "I've done nothing, and I'm never gonna out of this town."
"Same for me. And, believe me, getting out isn't everything it's cracked up to be. I mean, look at me; gone for eight years and back in the same place I hated the first ten years of my life." Evie sighs deeply and turns her head to the water where families splash around in the waves and enjoy their time together. Her hands settle on her stomach covered by the high-waisted bottoms. "What a pair, huh?"
"So, you, Miss Overachiever, haven't accomplished anything in the past eight years?" Hyde looks at her incredulously. "Nothing? I don't believe that."
Evie clicks her tongue and laughs dryly. "Trust me. The only thing I've done in the past eight years is disappoint my parents."
"Well, we have that in common." Hyde lightly taps her shoulder with his closed fist.
Evangeline agreed sadly with him, setting her hand absentmindedly on his wrist. "Yeah, it's like after my brother—they just couldn't accept anything less than perfect, so I kinda gave up trying to please them. I haven't talked to them in weeks."
"Man, I haven't talked to mine in like a year. Not that it's a competition," he quickly adds when Evie throws him a look. "Who needs parents anyway? We're both doing fine without them."
Evie stretches her finger out across her stomach and sighs into the warm sunlight. "Right."
They fall into silence then, thinking about their respective families, or lack thereof, and try to enjoy the sun to the sounds of summer buzzing around them. Evangeline wishes she could have had the kind of parents that Eric has: loving, kind, always there for him, even if they don't always show it the way he wants them to. Her parents have always been as cold as Lake Michigan in the winter and standoffish to an extreme. They expected the best from her; no less was tolerated, but they never showed any praise or recognition when she did what they wanted. Maybe that's why she had started to act out. Her parents had finally given her the time of day, even if it was to yell at her and tell her how stupid she is. Until a few weeks ago when they'd finally had enough and sent her back to Wisconsin.
Hyde groans, breaking Evangeline from her internal pity-party, and sits up. "This is boring. Wanna swim or something?"
"Steven, I am way too pale right now and before we know it, we won't be able to tan." Evangeline lifts her head and lowers her glasses to the tip of her nose to peer at him.
"Why won't we be able to—"
"Go ahead and swim if you want. I'm gonna wait a minute 'fore I join you." She lies back down, crossing her arms behind her head and shutting her eyes.
Hyde stares at her for a moment before a wicked grin grows on his face and an idea pops into his twisted mind. He stands and pulls the white tee over his head, tossing it on top of her discarded clothes next to their basket of food. Then he scoops her up into his arms. Evie squeals as her glasses fall to the blanket and she wraps her arms around his neck. Hyde laughs as he walks them down to the water and wades a few feet in. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
"I'm not ready!" Evangeline squirms in his hold, kicking her feet as a group of kids next to them giggle at her. She holds onto him tighter as he swings his arms as he prepares to toss her. "Steven!"
"Close your eyes, Evie!" He lets go, tossing her into the waves.
Disappearing under the water, laughing, she takes in a bit of lake water, and immediately finds the sandy bottom to stand up. When she emerges, pushing back her sopping hair, she coughs up the water and throws the curly-haired boy a glare. Hyde shrugs innocently and slowly backs out of the lake. "Oh, you are so dead!"
Evie jumps onto his waist and pulls him down with her into the water. When they come up, Hyde grabs Evie under her knees, both laughing as he tosses her back in. Hyde back out of the water as she comes up and smirks as Evie glares and runs after him.
They chase each other across the sand, weaving through families and groups playing volleyball. Evangeline trips on their blanket and brings the the boy to the ground with her, both laughing at her clumsiness. Hyde twists them over so he's hovering over her wet body, now covered in a layer of sand and sweat. "Nice going."
"Hey, I still got you."
Hyde pushes her hair out of her face, the corner of his mouth turning up into a fond smile. "Yeah, you do."