As It Was (COMPLETED) (wattys2023)

Cancer

The little I'd eaten to appease my hovering mother this morning threatened to come back up as soon as she slowed the car to a stop outside Oasis Academy. Even from afar I could see that I was going to stick out like a sore thumb in this school.

And that was if the second I stepped out of the car that everyone didn't recognize me.

Everyone crowded in front of the school wore the uniform Mom had laid out for me this morning, a black collared shirt with the crest right above the left breast and a pale blue skirt. The boys wore the same colors but reversed and much more masculine. Most stood in long black slacks and a blue shirt, but there were a few heading for the front of the school from the parking lot that wore shorts. I'd dropped a good twenty pounds over the summer and both my shirt and skirt fit loosely, a contrast to the beautiful girls sporting theirs with huge breasts and butts so big their skirts rode up just enough to be sexy but still be considered within dress code guidelines.

"Your father and I are paying a lot for you to be able to attend this school, Evie." Mom said quietly, her bloodshot blue eyes roaming me in concern. "Please don't get yourself into trouble."

The words fell flat the second her voice caught in her throat. She had said that since the first day of kindergarten. It had become tradition for her to say it to us before we exited the car to start the new school year on the first day. But now, it was different. Now she was saying it to the child that had never given her trouble. Now she was saying it to one child instead of three.

"I love you, Everly Hope." she reached out and brushed my bangs out of my eyes, one of her bitten-down nails grazing my cheek. "I love you so so much, baby girl. Please don't forget that. You're so incredibly strong for deciding to go back to school."

I couldn't bring myself to speak but reached out and touched my palm to her cheek, slowly dampening with tears as she stared at me. I knew she was having doubts herself and probably even seeing the sobbing, bloody sixteen-year-old being hoisted up onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. My lack of words didn't seem to affect her now, as she unlocked the doors and nodded slowly. Squeezing her hand once more, I climbed out of the car and pressed the door shut behind me. I felt as if my exit from my mother's car immediately drew attention in my direction, despite being as inconspicuous as humanly possible. Not only was I an outsider here, but everyone knew who I was.

Mom nodded through the window before pulling away and leaving me on the sidewalk, my heart hammering into my ribcage. Trying to ignore the stares as much as the stinging from my stitches, I started for the office, clenching my trembling hand into a fist.

You're okay, Evie. This isn't Lincoln Heights. Frankie is dead and Clark is in prison. They can't hurt you.

"Good morning!" an overly enthusiastic voice stirred me from my internal struggle. My eyes fell on the petite woman hidden behind stacks upon stacks of paperwork. "You're a new face. You must be Everly Rodgers."

I nodded slowly, wishing a hole would open beneath me as heads whipped in my directions. Students and faculty alike. I couldn't blame them. Who wouldn't want to see the sister of the Rodgers Rampage that had shaken the nation to the core?

"I have your schedule right here." she offered a weak, sympathetic smile as she thrusted a paper into my hands. "That door right there leads out into the hallway. Have a great day, Ms. Rodgers! And an even more spectacular year!"

Wanting to escape the small brunette woman's peppiness, I hurried toward the door and ran right into another door. Or what had felt like one. As soon as the outdoorsy spice of cologne stung my nose, I knew it wasn't a what I had run into, but a who. Even worse, a he.