A Gift and a Curse

11 - Evie's Past

Evie began to tell Leon her unfortunate story.

"I never thought people did good things for the wrong reasons. I just thought everyone was kind to each other. I didn't realize the masks that people wore until it was too late. Maybe they wore it to protect themselves, or maybe it was to protect others. But, nonetheless, my experiences began in middle school."

"I had few friends. Other girls like myself that were nice and kind. Some were a bit more eccentric than I was, but I liked them anyways. I was a diligent student. I wasn't the smartest, but I always tried my best. I did all my homework and studied for all the tests. I wasn't the prettiest girl in my class. I would say I was about average looking, but I was fine with that."

"There was a boy there during one of my years at that school. He was pretty attractive and was very kind to me. He said he forgot a lot of his homework and asked if he could look at mine. I thought nothing of it and showed it to him when he asked me. It started to happen more frequently throughout the year. I kept giving him the answers time and time again thinking nothing of it. Because he was so nice and kind to me, this good-looking boy. That feeling changed one day."

"I was walking to my locker one afternoon and realized I left something in class, so I went back to get it. As I got to the door to the classroom, I could hear him talking with some other guys in the class about something, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I put my ear closer to the door to listen in..."

The boy's friend said, "Yo man you're always talking to that Evie girl in class, what's that all about? Do you have a thing for her or something? You should just ask her out already dude!"

"Oh Evie? No way man it's not like that at all! I'm just using her for her schoolwork. I would never date that little bookworm, get real!"

His friend responded back, "You're right man! Of course, you wouldn't!"

Evie told Leon, "The group of guys started to crack up laughing together. I, however, did not find this very amusing. I felt a tear run down my cheek and quickly wiped it off."

"If he thinks he is getting any free schoolwork from me, he's got another thing coming!"

"The next day the same boy asked to borrow my homework because he forgot his once again. I turned to him while remembering that laughter playing back in my head. Like a bad dream."

"Oh, my homework? I'm sorry! But I already turned it in!"

The boy replied annoyed, "Huh? Really? Oh, never mind then if that's the case..."

Evie went on to Leon, "I repeated this process a few more times until he finally got the hint. He started to do his own homework and grew to resent me for it. But I didn't let it get to me nor did it change the overall view I had of guys."

"One bad apple shouldn't spoil the rest of the batch, right?"

Evie continued, "The rest of the year at my middle school went by without a hitch and before I knew it, it was my first year starting high school."

"I was quiet in class; I was a bit of a loner. There was another boy in one of my classes that seemed similar. He kept to himself and had a delinquent vibe to him. He was also attractive. Other girls in my class told me they heard some weird rumors about him, but I didn't like to judge people on what others have said. That didn't seem fair to me, so I gave him a chance and introduced myself to him."

"His name was Bryan. He was kind of a jerk, but he also had a nicer side to him than I saw occasionally. We grew closer over the next couple of months. One day he asked me to hang out with him, said he could pick me up for dinner. I agreed thinking nothing of it. I was actually excited to pick out a cute outfit for the night, for my first date."