You Owe Me

Chapter 2

Setting her phone down, the bluenette sighed, reaching over from her vanity to turn her music up. Not too loud or else her mother's screeching would be directed towards her. She felt bad for her dad. The man was loving, always smiled and tried his best to give them the world. Since her mother could never be satisfied, his kindness was of no use to her and always asked, 'is that the best you could do?' when presented with something he was proud of. Evie would watch as the sparkle in his eyes dimmed to almost nothing and tried her best to cheer him up.

A sudden crash caused her to jump and look towards her door. She hoped her dad dodged lest he go to work with another bruise. Though she could still hear them, Evie checked her look again. The bluenette chose a pretty simple style for the day, leaving her hair down in loose curls; pinning her bangs back with a butterfly hair clip her best friend left over. She looked at herself more, grimacing at the bags under her eyes and felt as if her outfit was too much for the day. A pair of blue skinny jeans ripped at the knee, paired with a short sleeve blouse. It was longer than expected but she made it work by tucking the font into her jeans.

She glared at her appearance then got up to change her outfit, but the sound of her phone vibrating caught her attention. Evie exhaled, stepping away from her closet and grabbed it off the bed; all while avoiding herself in the mirror. Evie couldn't bear to see herself anymore, especially now that she'd run out of time. Checking the device, she rolled her eyes before responding.

From: 🥱🐲

📯🥶 7:25

To: 🥱🐲

🧥🤷 7:26

Evie had an abundance of sweaters, jackets, and scarves. In fact, there were too many to count and yet, since finding some form of middle ground with the purplette, she hardly had the need to wear own anymore. Despite her mild distaste for the girl, Evie could only admit to herself that she liked wearing her jackets from time to time. The leather was warm and her hoodies soft while either of which she received, smelled like something Evie couldn't quite put her finger on. It wasn't a strong scent but it was calming as it was pleasant. Because of this, she didn't mind receiving her rival's kindness from time to time. Aside from her best friend, and dad, when he could get away from her crazy mother, the purplette simply made her feel important in a way.

'Don't do this again,' she thought with a sigh.

Yet, while making sure her bag was prepared for the day, Mal popped in her head again. She didn't hate the girl and would probably never admit out loud that she was envious of her. The purplette seemed to never study, always in a sleep filled daze whenever she saw her and yet, Mal was somehow able to keep up with her academic wise. The two were tied at being the top of their class. It was frustrating and her jealousy only grew with Mal's answer when Evie asked her one day.

'I'm not sure..I guess I just remember things since I like to read'

Evie remembered walking away and avoiding her for the rest of the day. Evie threw a notebook in her bag with a annoyed grunt. What made it worse was the fact that she always had to wake the girl up when she dozed off in class. Seeing Mal's adorable sleeping face, followed by that crooked smile as she thanked her, gave her a migraine. Evie could feel her face heating up just thinking about it and swore that the girl would be the death of her. Defeated, the bluenette sat down as she roughly threw her bag aside and glared at the ground. No matter what she did, she couldn't keep the girl off her mind. She'd tried and failed to view Mal as a distraction and nothing more than someone she had to stay ahead of. But every time, the purplette was able to destroy those thoughts by just being herself.

She stopped herself from scratching her head, not wanting to mess up her hair and gripped her blanket instead.

'I want to hate her but I can't,' her thoughts began but wondered out loud, "then what is it?.."

Unable to answer her own question, Evie cursed herself before checking the time on her phone.

"7:35...Mal should be outside"

After pulling herself together, she grabbed her bag and black heeled boots. If it was cold, then she'd rather feel prepared than not. She made sure to turn off her speaker and lights, not wanting her mother to have any reason for her to scream at her. Mal texted her again, but she ignored it for the time being.

'Knowing her, it's some dumb cartoon meme'

Still, the thought brought out a half-smile while making the trip downstairs; which thankfully was quiet. Evie held her breath, descending as quickly and quietly as she could but the sight of her dad stopped her in her tracks. Heart pounding, she snuck past the kitchen and to the front door. With her hand on the doorknob, Evie called out to her parents.

"I'm going to school!"

For a second, she could hear her dad yell back to her but upon hearing those dreadful heels, Evie practically bolted; closing and locking the door behind her. She took a moment to calm her racing heart, gripping the straps of her bag in the process. Her phone vibrating startled her but she quickly glanced at it before looking up to see that smiling bastard. She glared because a part of her still wanted to hate her, not because she was a bad person hell the girl picked her up and dropped her off for school on the regular. Evie didn't know how to feel about the girl anymore and she'd hate to admit it but the girl was smart. In her own, weird way. Evie couldn't hate her but having to watch the way Mal always slept or goofed off with her friends while she had to work for everything she received, really pissed her off. Once her jaw set, Evie scolded herself.

She knew it wasn't fair to treat someone the way she did. Then again, Mal never seemed to mind too much; in fact, the purplette would have something smart to say back. Something about the girl's attitude spoke to her, possibly how she never let her push her in a corner no matter what she said or did to her. A slow smirk made its way to her face. Evie loved pushing her buttons and today was no exception; if she couldn't get anything easy then neither would Mal.

She pushed herself off the door and made the small decent down her porch. Evie opened the truck door before settling in the heated vehicle, she could feel her body relaxing in the calm atmosphere and glanced over to the purplette; whose head was on the steering wheel. Frowning, she gently shoved the girl's shoulder, only to receive a whine in return.

It was kind of cute, but they had to get to school on time so she shoved her again.

"Are you seriously sleeping at the wheel?"

Mal groaned, pushing herself back to lean against her seat. Then, the lazy grin that made her weak was directed towards her. Evie could feel her face heat up and hid it by turning her head.

She folded her arms while huffing out, 'just drive'. Evie caught a chuckle followed by a mocked, 'yes ma'am' and they pulled off. The two lived pretty far from the school though, but with Mal's lack of care for the speed limit and the beautiful scenery of their town, it was worth it. Plus, her driver wasn't much for talking and always played the best music so it was an added bonus. Evie decided to keep that to herself for the time being. She had no idea if the purplette had an ego and refused to inflate it.

While Mal was tapping her fingers to the beat, Evie turned back to look at pale-ivory skin, vibrant purple hair and a soft smile. Mal's outfit was a slight contrast to how soft she really was. Well, soft wasn't really the best way to describe her. It was more so, Mal was either listening to music and from what she saw, relaxed. Audrey said it was her vibe she liked but Evie would simply scoff at the thought of actually liking the purplette. They were different and nothing about her was something to fall for.

'Who am I kidding? Anyone would be lucky enough to have her...,' Her thoughts trailed off seeing Mal in her element.

"Morning by the way", the girl spoke in her usual mellow yet raspy voice.

Evie side-eyed her, only to find the girl smiling at her. She quickly shifted to look back out of the window uttering a, 'Morning' of her own. She knew Mal was still looking at her but she refused to face her, as when their eyes met, that warmth in her stomach returned.

'She's lucky she's cute'