The Fall of the Aftons

127: Evan Afton

Evan walked next to Michael, helping his big brother get Beth's stroller up the stairs to the entrance. Apparently, the wheelchair ramp was "out of order," which made no sense to him. How was a ramp out of order? It was slanted concrete--nothing more. How was it out of order? Now they couldn't get Beth's stroller up into the aquarium because Michael was struggling to get up the stairs, for some unknown reason.

Suddenly, Evan heard a familiar voice ringing throughout the air. He looked around as he waited for Michael to get up the next step, his eyes quickly landing on his best friend, Cassidy. They were arguing with their parents, their brother Andrew standing beside them.

"Cassidy!" he shouted happily, trying to get their attention. 

Cassidy looked at him, surprised. "Evan!" they exclaimed excitedly, then quickly ran over to him, tackling him in a huge hug and almost knocking him off of the stairs.

"H-Hey, careful!" he exclaimed, laughter filling his voice. He just barely caught his balance as he caught his end of the stroller before he dropped it. "Hi! What're you doing here?"

They giggled. "Hi to you, too!" they said happily, then backed away from him, letting go of the hug. They giggled again, happy to see him, but sighed moments later. "I was s'posed to spend the day with my parents and Andrew today, but my parents changed their mind."

"Why?" he asked, frowning. "Going to the aquarium is so much fun!"

They frowned slightly, toeing the top of the step next to them. "'Cause my parents got in another fight," they mumbled. "I don't even know why they tried to make today happen. I swear that they forget they divorced for a reason. It's frustrating."

His frown dug deeper into his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Cass."

They shrugged nonchalantly, gently kicking the stair. "They do this all of the time. I don't know how Drew and I keep our hopes up for these things. They always end the same."

He hesitated to speak, unsure what to say, when an idea came to mind. He grinned as the idea flourished.

"What are you smiling for?" they asked, giggling softly.

"I have an idea! What if you came to the aquarium with us? I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind."

"What about Andrew?"

"He could come, too! I doubt he'd mind. He'd prob'ly just have Michael watch over you two. Michael is a great babysitter--you know how I was gone for two and a half weeks?"

"Of course," they said, giggling softly. "It was really lonely at lunch since Gabriel skipped up to fifth grade and goes to that class' lunch now."

He laughed softly. "But, yeah, the first week of that, Michael was Beth and my babysitter--and Charlie's, too, for a bit--before I was in the hospital. He's really good at babysitting."

They grinned excitedly. "Awesome! I'm good with that, and I'm sure Andrew will be, too--just gotta ask our parents then, as well as your father."

He smiled brightly. "Then go ask your parents!"

They laughed and ran off, going to chat with their parents. He watched them for a moment before turning to Michael, who looked frustrated enough to cry as he struggled to get up past the same step he was stuck on before.

"Michael, why don't we switch positions?" he suggested, frowning slightly. "You look like you're going to cry."

Michael sighed, long and hard. "Yeah... That'd probably be for the best." He sighed again, then carefully put his end of the stroller down before going over to Evan and grabbing hold of Evan's part.