Evan Farrington's Confession | ✔️

nineteen

Evan watched the pavement passing under her feet, waiting for William to speak. Whatever it was he wanted to say had been hanging in the air between them as they began the walk home. As ever, Evan felt the chilly danger of the woods, the hidden shoes that could cost her everything.

(cost you what? what do you have to lose?)

As much as she hated to admit it, Evan knew that that was a fair point. There was nothing but her own selfishness keeping her from turning herself in. The knowledge that nobody would ever really know the truth. No matter how many people she told, nobody would believe her.

(he did)

That was true. But there was something different about William. William's thoughts hung in the air, thinning as they waited to be voiced. Their footfalls rung in Evan's ears, each a little longer than the last. The two sets of steps were separate and uneven, falling out of sync with each other.

"How's your mum?" she asked.

William inhaled deeply through his nose like he had been holding his breath. He waited a while before letting it out steadily. "Did you tell them anything at the..." he said. The sentence didn't need finished.

"Did you?" she asked. Her speech was interwoven with a sigh. William's thoughts didn't seem quite so weighted on their surroundings anymore.

"No." He paused. "But I think I maybe should've."

Evan pinched her lip, each step tightening her fingers. "What do you mean?"

"They asked me if I saw anything weird. And I said no without thinking."

Evan forced herself to swallow the emptiness in her mouth and take her hand away from her mouth.

"But... but I did see something."

His pace had slowed to almost a stop. He pressed the heel of his hand into his forehead and swore under his breath. "I gotta go back. What was I thinking?" He caught Evan's eye for a second before spinning around and running back in the direction they came, backpack swinging.

Evan wanted to call after him. What did he see?

(shit shit shit)

It was her. It had to have been her. Maybe he saw her in the classroom through the window high in the door. Or maybe he saw the scissors in her bag and put two and two together. But why was he still walking home with her? Only a psycho would want to spend time with her if they knew what she'd done.

(shit shit shit shit)

"Thanks for the bird," Evan whispered before sinking to the damp ground. Her hands ached for the paper bird.

When she finally stood, the knees of her jeans were soaked through and cold. She pulled her jacket tight and trudged home alone.

What did the police know?

(that you know of)

Evan's mind was blank. She listened to the soft noises of the forest on her left, not bothering to think. They knew what they knew. And what she had told them. The lie she had told them. The stupid lie. It wasn't convincing, it wasn't useful. It was illegal. Stupid.

What did the police know?

They thought they knew that some boy was running in the corridors. That could have been helpful, if they even believed her. If they really did believe her, she could be briefly off the hook. They would interview the boys that had been there and find out that she had been lying. And then she'd been the tip top suspect. Brilliant.