Evan Farrington's Confession | ✔️

fifteen

Marcus banged on the bathroom door. Again.

"Open the fucking door Evan you are in so much trouble!" he yelled.

Evan shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the cool porcelain of the bath.

"You should really wait until after I come out to tell me that," she called back, wishing she could think of something smarter to say but her heart wasn't in it. She had applied a little antiseptic cream onto her hand. It throbbed lightly but the pain was forgettable.

"Mum's getting back soon and when she does you are so in for it."

Evan said nothing. The entire room seemed to shake with every pound on the door.

"Fine. You've gotta come out sometime."

The glare of the bathroom light behind her eyelids vanished. She opened her eyes. The bathroom was dark.

"Hey! Not cool." The darkness was cold. "Mark!"

There was no reply. Evan could hear crashes coming from her bedroom next door.

(are you scared of the dark?)

No. She wasn't. But Evan couldn't tell if the voice was hers or Caligula's. Her arms prickled with goosebumps. She pinched her lip. Her heart suddenly felt like it was bruising her ribs. She got up and felt her way to the lock. It twisted open with a click and Evan burst out. She shut the door behind her and walked the two steps to her room. She took her time, allowing her heart to steady.

The contents of her desk lay on the floor next to her bookshelves. Marcus was rubbing his hands together, searching for something else to make a mess of. Evan twisted her wrist to knock the open door with her left hand. Her brother looked round.

"What did you do to my car?" he yelled, grabbing Evan by the shoulders and wrestling her to the floor. Evan wriggled and kicked at him, catching his legs with her feet. She wished she hadn't taken off her boots; her socks didn't seem to be making much of an impact on her brother's skinny calves.

"Get off!" she said through her teeth. Marcus did not. He curled his hand into a fist and hit her face. Something sharp clawed at her skin as he pushed his fist onto her cheek. Evan grunted and tried to heave her brother off her but he didn't budge. "Marcus!"

"What did you do to my car?" he said again, just as loud as the first time.

"Nothing! I didn't touch your stupid car!" This brought his fist back down on her jaw. Evan shrieked when it connected, her teeth clashing together with the impact. The sharp thing scratched at her chin.

"What happened to Agnes?" Marcus asked, his voice a little weaker now.

Evan gave him a shove with her feet and he finally slid off her and stood. He watched her get to her feet and gingerly finger the fresh cuts on her chin and cheek.

"What the hell was in your hand?" she asked. Marcus held up a paper clip that must have been lying on her desk. He had twisted it so the wire stuck out between his fingers. Evan made a disgusted noise.

"Dude. Foul play," Evan said, touching her cheek. The soft skin was tender and burning a little from the scratch. But not bleeding. She was going to have two wicked bruises.

Marcus hadn't quite cooled down. "What did you do with my car, Evan?"

"I didn't do anything, Mark, I swear."

"Well something broke the fucking light. Do you know how expensive those are?"

Evan sat down on her bed and held her knuckle with her left hand. She hadn't bothered with bandages so it was covered in no less than six plasters. "It was an accident."