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A tanned teenage girl was lied down on her bed, facing the wall. She was static, her eyes were empty. She looked extremely tired but seemed to have no intention to sleep. She just absent-mindly stared at the whiteness of the wall in front of her. Her body was lax. But not a confortable way, in a way that shows how empty she was. She had no energy, no will. Her long black hair was messily falling on her back. A light purple blanket was halfway covering her body, or was it halfway falling on floor, near the opened school bag which seemed to not have bugded for days. The curtains were not completely closed, just roughy closed, allowing the sun to enter in the room, enlightening a photo frame that was on the desk on the opposite side. It was a picture of a teenage boy and a teenage girl. The boy was back hugging the girl with a huge smile on his joyful face. He seemed pretty bulk for his age. His dark hair was cut short and a tribal tatto was visible on his shoulder. The girl too was smiling. It looked like she was in the bestest place of the world. It lookes like it was the best day of her life. And it was. That day, the two people went on a date in Forks. They spent the entire day together. Talking, shopping, going to the cinema and dining at a fastfood. It was just the both of them. Them in their own little world. Thinking about this, it contrast a lot with the actual situation. It seemed to be a far and long memory, old of years and years. It was different now. So much more.
Three knocks could be heard. Soon after, without even waiting for an answer, the door opened, revealing a teenage boy. His eyes filled themselves with sadness when he caught eyes his beloved friend, lied on her bed. He silently closed the door behind him and made his way towards her. He kneeled near her bed and gently brushed her long hair.
"Evie," he softly called, as if every sudden disturbance could destroy her in any second.
"Embry?" She absent-mindly called, as if she was unsure, as if he was just a product of her imagination. As of he was just a mere illustration.
"We're going to the beach with the pack. Wanna come?" He gently asked, still brushing her hair.
"... no," she just answered.
"You gotta go out, Evie," Embry tried to reason.
"Why...? He's not here anymore..."
"It's been a month Evie, you cannot stay locked in you room. Please, for me?"
"... Sorry. I can't..."
Embry didn't answer anything back. He passed his hand one last time through Evie's hair before kissing the top of her hair and left. He silently closed the door behing him and walked down the stairs. When he arrived in the living room, Leah, Seth and Sue immediately stood up, waiting to know how the encounter. Worry was all over their faces. These pasts few days, no, this past month had been so nerve wrecking. They had been so worried, anxious, concerned for Evie. And it seemed to worsen with as the days passed. Just because of him. One person. One name. Jacob Black.
"So?" Sue asked, a hint of hope in her eyes. But it quickly disappeared when Embry shook his head left to right.
"She doesn't want to go out. She didn't even looked at me," he said, pained.
"All of that because of that bastard," Leah grunted under her breath.
"Leah," her mother scolded.
"What?" Leah fumed, anger clearly in her voice. "It's the truth. That rat left and because of that, my sister suffers. And the imprinting makes it worse. You know that better than anyone else, mom,"
"Leah," Seth then scolded too. Even though it was truth, recalling their mother of the pain she felt when their father died wasn't really necessary. Leah roughly sighed and looked away.
"That's why we have to be there for her," Sue said.
"I never saw my sister like that," Seth sadly. "Not even before she phased,"
"Jacob will come back," Sue tried to reassure. "If Evie is affected by the imprinting then he is too. It's double sided. Imprintees share the most powerful bond that can ever exist. They are the most strongest and perfect duo when together. But the pain is unbearable when separated, and even more if it's on purpose,"
"Fucking little selfish brat," Leah angrily muttered to herself, referring to Jacob. This time, no one scolded her, perfectly knowing it would be useless. You cannot shut an angry Leah up. But deep down, they were agreed with her. What Jacob did was selfish. He left not even thinking one second about the impact it would have had on his imprint, on his girlfriend, on Evie.
"We gotta do our best to cheer her up," Embry said. "Even just being with her can help,"
"Thank you Embry to be there for Evie," Sue truthfully thanked. "It means a lot,"
"It's okay. Anything for my best girl," he smiled.
Upstairs, Evie didn't budge at all. She stayed lied on her bed, questioning herself, wondering why things were the way they were. She only move for natural needs: showering, going to the toilets and earing. And even for eating, she had to be forced to or she would never do it by herself. Her mother or siblings had to bring her her plates of food so she would eat. At first, the dish would stay on her bedside for hours without being touch.
I'm not hungry, she would say. In those cases, her mother or siblings had to stay with her until she finally gave up and eat even a little only. It lasted for a week or so. After that, Evie would spontaneously get her food by herself and eat, without the supervision of her family. It was a step for them, a small one, but a step nevertheless.
It had been like that since Jacob left. Around a month ago. Evie often, even always wonder why he left. Was it because of her? Wasn't she enough for him? She thought he loved her, so why did he left? Maybe he still loved Bella? It was because of her that he left after all. So he must still love her. Evie perfectly recall the day it happened. She recalled it crystal clear, as if it was yesterday. It was a fresh even in her mind.
It was a sunny day, weeks after the battle against the newborn army. Evie fully recovered from her injury, Jacob and she were together, going on dates. That day, Evie was watching TV with Seth. The youngest of the Clearwater family was half lied down on his sister. The siblings were talking about random stuff. But they were extremely dedicated to the conversation. They really wanted to understand why Ravenclaw was called RAVENclaw but had an eagle on their logo. It was a mystery they swore to discover one day. Existence of aliens was also a topic talked a lot. If shifters and vampires exist then why not alien? And do vampires can survive in space? It was stupid debates but they loved those stupid debates. It's funny and it allows them to spend time together, fooling around and strengthening their bonds. Seth and Evie were partner in crimes, they were best friends. But they little sibling moment was cut short when they heard the front door open. Soon after, their mother, Sue, came in the living room. She was dressed in a shirt underneath a beige trench coat, tucked in a pair of jeans. She looked quite tired. She surely was coming back fromn her shift at the hospital of La Push. Sue walked towards her two children and kiss them both on top of their heads.
"Where's Leah," she asked.
"With the pack at Sam's," Seth answered.
"Why are you not with them? You spend all of your days there," Sue asked again.
"We're lazy, mom," Evie sheepishly smiled, making her mother chuckle.
Sue ruffled her daughters hair and put down all the letters she got in the mailbox on the table before leaving to get herself a glass of water. Evie took all pile of letter and quickly scanned them all. Bill, ad, bill, ad, wedding invitation, ad. Evie then bolted from her half lied position, making Seth fall at the same. Seth whined and looked up at his sister, ready to ask what was up with her. He frowned when he show the shock look but then excited look in his sister face.
"Oh. My. God!" Evie exclaimed, smiling ear to ear.
"What? What is it?" Seth asked, now curious.
"It's official now! They're getting married!" Evie smiled. "Edward and Bella! In three months!"
"Wait? Already?" Seth asked surprised. "And we are invited?"
"Yes!" Evie squealed.
"I never went to a wedding before!" Seth smiled, ecstatic about the idea. "Should we buy them a gift?"
"Well, I never went to a wedding before too but I guess? I'll ask Alice," Evie shrugged.
"But will we be allowed to go?" Seth wondered. "I mean, will Sam or the Council will allow us?"
"Maybe? The Cullen's are not a threat and we teamed up before so..." Evie thought a second.
"I don't mind you going," Mrs. Clearwater told them, entering in the leaving roo. "Carlisle healed you. I have an eternal debt to him. And he does indeed don't seem to be threat,"
Seth and Evie looked at each other smiling, thrilled at the idea of going to a wedding, before thanking their mother. But the moment of joy was short. Everything changed so quickly, everything changed with a snap of a finger. One moment she was happy, the other she was broken, destroyed.
The ringtone of the house phone resonated in the room. Evie put down the letters and went to answer it, unaware of what she was about to learn.
"Hello," Evie greeted.
"Evie! Jake left! He ran out of the house! I couldn't stop him!" A nervous and panicked Billie black said, confusing Evie.
"Wait? What? What happened to Jake?" She asked, lost.
"He left," Billie said. "He hadn't taken well the wedding invitation at all. He phased and left,"
"But he always does that when he's upset," Evie tried to reassure.
But she was mostly trying to reassure herself. She knew, deep down what was happening. She just didn't want to believe it, to accept it.
"I don't know," Billie sighed, as if he had no energy, no hope left. "It was different this time. The look of his eyes was different,"
Evie stayed silent for a few seconds. It was so sudden that she needed time to register it. It couldn't be true, right? It was just a awfully bad joke. It couldn't be right. Jacob couldn't have leave. He couldn't just have leave like that, leaving her behind.
"Evie?" Her mother called, bringing her back to her sense.
"I...," Evie couldn't even make a proper sentence.
She look lost, she couldn't even think properly, she couldn't even think at all.
"I- Jake- I'll find him," she said before hanging up. She rushed out of the house.
She didn't find him.
Evie closed her eyes as the memory slowy faded in her mind. The pain was still as vivid as when she hears Billie's word: Jake left. The pain is still as vivid as when she didn't find him that day. The pain is still as vivid as when she realized she wouldn't see him again. The pain is still as vivid as when she realized that Jacob was gone. Jacob left. Jacob abandoned her. He left again. It was a month ago. Four weeks ago. Thirty days ago. Seven hundred twenty hours ago. Fourty three thousand minutes ago. Two million five hundred twenty thousand seconds ago. Jacob left. A single tear rolled down Evie's cheek.
~~
N/A:
Hello~~ I'm back with the sequel you waited for! Evie is back for new adventures. New dramas will come. I hope you'll love this book as much as you loved the first one. What are your guess about the next? What do you think will happen next? I'm so happy to finally be able to share this book with you. Welcome back in True Feelings world!