Evelyn's 14 in this <3
Jays POV
Ev was always the calm quite kid who would nearky be scared to disobey you, sure she had her moments but she was a pure hearted girl. That's what everyone loves about her, her constant smile that's plastered on her face. But lately she's been the opposite.
She's been coming home, barley talking to me or Will and just sleeping all day.
"It's probably just hormones" Will tells me.
"She seems sad all the time though" I reason.
When she gets up for school, she usually curls her hair and does her makeup to make herself look all pretty, but not for the past few weeks. She doesn't wear makeup anymore and the bags under her eyes are noticeable. Her diets also been weird. Some days she'll skip dinner and other days she'd go for seconds.
It's morning and I'm in charge of waking Ev up since Will is on early shift. I get out of bed and brush my teeth before making my way to Ev's room. I knock 3 times on the door but get no response, I open the door slightly and see that she's fast asleep curled up in her mattress like a baby.
I make my way over to her bed and gently rub her back as she starts to wake up. She lifts her head up, expecting me to say something. Has she forgotten about school?
"Morning, it's time for school" I tell her.
She sighs and curls herself up further in her mattress, I sigh and warm her she has 5 minutes before she needs to get up. I go downstairs and make breakfast for the both of us, cornflakes for Ev and toast for me. She arrives down in the next 5 minutes looking exhausted.
"Get much sleep last night?" I ask worried.
"Mhm" she tells me as she bonks her head off the table before rising it again to eat her breakfast.
I brush it off as we continue to eat before I ask her a question.
"Ev what's wrong?" I finally ask.
She looks up at me
"Huh?"
"What's wrong with you? You haven't been acting like yourself for a few weeks"
She sighs before getting up off her chair and leaving the table. She knows you can't do that in this house.
"Evelyn get your ass back here you know the rules" I warn her.
"Jay please-
"No I've had it. You better tell me what's wrong right now or I swear to god" I threaten.
Tears build up in her eyes and I'm suddenly aware about what I said. I never force anything except school on Ev and this is the first time I've raised my voice at her.
"Ev I'm-
But it's too late, she's gone back upstairs. She doesn't even ask me to drive her to school that day, she walked to and from.
She arrived home at 6:00pm which was an hour later than usual, I was worried and so was Will. The door opened and the 15 year old walked in with her headphones on her head.
"Where the hell were you?" I ask her roughly.
"Jay gentle" Will warns.
"Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone!" She suddenly shouts and runs upstairs.
"GET BACK HERE NOW EVELYN" I shout as I chase after her.
She is not allowed curse and especially at me. I chase her up to her room but she locks the door before I can even get in there.
"Evelyn Halstead open this door right now" I warn.
"No"
"Ev please" Will joins.
"OH MY GOD CAN YOU BOTH JUST LEAVE ME ALONE WHY ARE YOU BEING SO ANNOYING!?" She shouts behind the door.
Will looks at me and we both nod to say we're leaving. As I'm walking away I hear small sobs from Ev's room and I grow concerned. Something is bothering her and she needs help. I decide to make her some of my vegetable soup that I make when she's sad and I take it up to her room.
"Go away" she says after I knock on the door.
"I have soup"
I hear a sigh and the lock on her door unlocks. She sits back on her bed as I walk in and I can see her puffy red eyes. Her room was a mess, she's always so organized.
"I made some soup?" I say softly.
She smiles a tiny bit as she nods for me to put it on her dresser, which I do so. Then she pats the space next to her in her bed and I sit next to her. I drape an arm around her as she snuggles into me.
"I love you you know that right?" I ask
"I know, I'm so sorry Jay" she says as she bursts out into sobs again.
"It's ok shhhhhh, I've got you" I say as I cradle her.
"What's up with you sweetie?" I ask as she calms down.
"I'm just stressed with...everything. I never get to see you and Will anymore and whenever we do spend time together it's always interrupted. My "friends" have been treating me like shit and teachers are piling so much work on us it's crazy. I just can't deal with it anymore"
My heart breaks. When me and Will were little, we wanted to do well in school, our parents didn't care otherwise as long as we were happy. Nobody cared about grades. Now at Evelyn's age it's all teachers pressure them on, I can't imagine the stress.
"I'm so sorry you feel this way. Why don't I make a few calls and get you a few days off and we can do something together ok?"
"That would be great"
