On the Sidelines

Chapter 29 Evie

Packing went by a lot quicker than I thought. I know I don't own a lot of things but I thought I had more than ten boxes.

Staring at the now empty room save for the bed that still has my sheets and comforter. Sasha went to get some trash bags that we can store them in for the time being.

It took longer to organize the boxes than it did to pack everything up.

The door swings open behind me and the sound of a trash bag opening follow Sasha in. "Two hours, pretty good considering your need to have everything in a specific place."

"Well, I want to be able to find things as I unpack them. Makes less of a mess that way." She hold the bag open for me as I gingerly place my pillow cases in, followed by my top sheet then the fitted one. She ties the bag off and sets it with the rest of the boxes. Another bag with my comforter and throw blanket and I'm all packed.

I have to wait for Tanner to move everything but at least it's done. Well, save for what I have at Tanner's place. Probably three or four more boxes of knickknacks and clothes but then I'll be finished.

"Shall we pack some of your stuff? Your going back home for the summer, right?" I lock the door behind me and we take the elevator down to her floor.

"That's the plan. Moms ecstatic to have another girl in the house, dad is driving her crazy." A door at the end of the hall opens as Sasha sticks her key into the lock.

"Evelyn?" A tentative voice calls down the hall. I look to the source to find Ella.

"Yeah?" Sasha makes a noise in the back of her throat but otherwise stays silent. Ella and I aren't friends, but we have come to a truce of sorts after Marcus contacted her.

"I wanted to apologize for everything. I looked up that guy the other day when curiosity got the better of me and saw what he and multiple others were being charged with. I know there's no excuse for the way I treated you but when I first saw you, I was jealous. We're the same age yet you're so pretty that I felt threatened. I came from a high school where I was the most popular, the prettiest and then I walked into my dorm room to see a prettier, smarter girl than me. Then you got Tanner Shaw chasing you, begging for a sliver of your attention. From the outside, you were living the life I wanted, you got the attention I wanted. I always knew that Josh stopping talking to me wasn't your fault. I saw Tanner talk to him from the window that first night. But it still made me irrationally mad that you got the attention of one of the most popular guys in the school. I was so used to high school, I struggled to let go of the way things used to be.

"I hated you because that's how things were done where I'm from. But when he stared texting, me it was an eye opener. We talked for almost two months before you were ever brought up and for once, the mention of you didn't make me made, it scared me. We had never talked about you before than I posted that rant and it changed everything. There had been an official post from the school the same day with you in the background with your friends so he must have put two and two together. Then when he knew your full name from what I had thought was just my post, it freaked me out. It was a huge eye opener that not everyone had the same experience and that maybe, just maybe I had been too judgmental off of the bat. Then I saw what he did to you and your friend. I'm sorry I was too caught up in the past to see the future. I know we'll never be friends, but I hope we can at least move past the animosity and maybe on day have something similar to a friendship."

She had slowly approached Sasha and I. She looks so tired and guilty. But that's not what I'm caught up on. "You didn't like me because I'm pretty?" That had never been a reason I had thought about when I wondered why she disliked me so much that first semester.