Evan Farrington's Confession | ✔️

twenty-seven

When Evan woke the next morning, it was as if the past night had been some kind of distant dream that she could barely recall. She got up and dressed in the cold grey light filtering through her window, steeling herself for what she had to do. She would have to use the landline right in front of her breakfasting family. It was an old brown thing that George had probably owned since he moved here in the seventies. Wires all over the shop. Hopefully she wouldn't put them off their cornflakes.

The kitchen was as full as it got in the mornings when Evan got downstairs. The Emperors had followed her through but she had barely noticed. Their coolness numbed the back of her neck, near the bottom of her skull. Finally, her head was clear. The freshness of the morning and slight chill of the shadowy Emperors had accomplished what a night with William had not. Evan twisted her bracelet fiercely as if to cut her skin.

"Morning, love," George said, looking up from his porridge with bright eyes. "How did you sleep?"

Evan nodded at her grandad which he seemed to accept as an answer. Marcus was shovelling cornflakes into his mouth, milk dripping onto the tablecloth. Evan cleared her throat.

"Mum, can I use the phone? I... lost mine last night."

When Suzanne looked around from the stove her eyes were wet with tears. She coughed delicately. "Sure, Ev. I'll serve you some brekkie."

Evan's hands shook as she lifted the receiver to her ear. The long, high tone filled her skull. Three beeps. 9-1-1. There was something scary about phoning. She had never done it before last night. And last night hadn't really counted.

"911 what's your emergency?" came a soft male voice from the other end of the line.

Evan wasn't sure if she'd be able to talk. "I know who killed the maths teacher," she murmured into the phone, trying in vain to prevent her family from hearing her.

"In Woodfield, Washington?"

Evan swallowed. "Yes."

"Putting you through."

Evan waited, pinching her lip.

"Hello?" came the voice of a rough sounding woman. "I have been told that you have information on the murder of Steven Watt?"

"Yes," Evan croaked.

"Thank you for phoning but there is no need. The police made an arrest last night."

Evan's heart dropped into her stomach. Her legs turned to sand. "Wh-What?"

"You can read it in the newspapers."

"Wait!" Evan yelled into the phone. Even Marcus's head snapped up from his cereal. "How do you know? Are- Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. We received a full signed confession."

"Okay... thank you." Evan put the phone down but didn't move for several seconds. She turned to face her mother, keeping her hand pressed on the phone. "Mum, can you check the news?"

Suzanne brushed down her pink uniform and took her phone out of her pocket. Silence rung around the kitchen as she scrolled through articles. Then she pressed a hand to her mouth and staggered into a chair.

"Suzanne, love? What's wrong?" asked George. His voice stopped the shivers raising the hairs on Evan's arms and the back of her neck.

" 'A seventeen-year-old boy named William Sutton has confessed to the murder of Steven Watt a well-loved...' "

Evan stopped listening. Her entire body had gone numb. "William..." she whispered. Nobody seemed to have heard her. George was sitting and slowly shaking his head.

"He was just a kid," he said. "Same age as you, Evan."

"Jesus, we better watch out Ev," Marcus joked, half-heartedly.

Evan was stunned. She stared at the floor, not blinking for so long that her eyes began to water. She sniffed sense back into her lungs and left the kitchen's dumfounded silence.

William.

She made her way up the stairs, vaguely unaware that her legs were moving.

There was no way. He had agreed; he had promised. Anger suddenly threatened to choke her and she collapsed in front of her bedroom door. She tasted salt. Tears. Actual tears were falling from her eyes and sliding down her face in rivers. They dripped off her chin as she stood and went into her room.

He was gone.

William.

Did he even know what he had done? How long had he been planning this?

Evan pulled her sleeve over her hand and mopped up her face. Her room was bright and suspended dust particles sparkled hazily in the air. Evan walked to her desk and hoisted the dining chair up. It was an awkward shape to carry but she kept it high up above the carpet and made sure not to mark the doorway as she passed.

She struggled with it downstairs then reinstated it in the kitchen. Only her mother was left, cleaning up after breakfast. She gave a small smile as Evan pushed the chair under the table. It fit like a piece in a jigsaw.  

--

And that's it! Thank you endlessly for reading and experiencing Evan's story. It is very special to me and I feel so privileged that I get to share it with you wondering folk!

I wrote this originally a few years ago now and, when I decided to publish it on Wattpad, I knew that it wasn't necessarily going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's a little weird, it's not your typical Wattpad story, but I am very proud of what I created and I am proud of who I was when I created it.

If you enjoyed this (shameless plug incoming) then I'd love it if you checked out anything else I've got published! I've got some more conventional stories on the go as well which should be a lot of fun to write and (hopefully) to read. I've always got stuff in the works so lots of exciting writes and reads to come.

I look forward to greeting you at whatever adventure comes next!

Love forever and ever,

-pinknaails

xx