Evangeline (Unedited)

11

L I F E A N D D E A T H (U N O)
(I like this chapter, is that a first? Also, I tend to forget the layout of the locations in my stories... just ignore it if it doesn't make sense. Outline for the cottage is at the bottom, but not all halls/turns are drawn because they're strewn about as I write. Also, this might be a confusing chapter if you suck at understanding card game rules (me too). One of the longest chapters yet, good luck.)

Not much happened following dinner. A few times Tommy or Alessandro would stop by the room to check in on me, and I had to pretend I didn't see the latter crying. I felt bad for making him cry. Now, Leo and Noah were sitting across from me on the bed, which was huge. I was sat at the head; back against the white pillows and my shorts uncomfortably wrinkled under me. They were playing some phone game together, and I was mindlessly going through my photos on my phone until I got bored, so I stood up suddenly.

"What's wrong? Where are you going?" Leo quickly asked, putting the phone down beside him.

I wordlessly walk to my bag and grab my book, holding it up so he can see. He visibly relaxes and rests on his back, he and Noah sharing a look. I pretend not to notice and awkwardly sit back down, the bed creaking underneath the added weight. I open the book and try to read the words, but it feels like they scramble together as my ears focus on the deafening silence.

"I'm bored," Noah complains, moving into more of an upright position from his previous hunched one. I look up from the book that I had barely started and Leo turns off his phone, placing it face down.

"So let's do something." He shrugs, brushing a hand through the mop of hair on his head.

"Like what? There's literally nothing in this godforsaken place." Noah groans out, crossing his arms in irritation.

I strongly disagreed with that statement. I thought there was loads to do, and I had only been at the cottage for, like, a day. But even so, I could imagine all of the walks and cooking and joking around that must go on here and I knew that there had to be something amidst it all that they could entertain themselves. Luckily for me, I planned on cocooning in this bed until we left. Or, until that hike that I agreed to at dinner.

Which I am dreading.

"Um..." Leo attempts to come up with an answer, and I eye them both through my eyelashes, waiting for one to suggest something.

Noah groans again, and we make eye contact. I look away quickly.

"What are you looking at?" He asks, and I want to bury myself in a ten-foot hole.

"Sorry."

"Don't be an ass, No." Leo scowls, kicking him with his foot. Noah reciprocates it immediately, cursing at him. I wait until they stop bickering to say something else.

"I'm not. She was looking at me weird."

"You are." Leo rolls his eyes. "She's probably just confused about how she's family with such an ugly boy."

"We look the same? Dumbass..."

"Um, what about the basement?" I stammered, fidgeting with the corners of the pages. They both snap their eyes at me, Leo sporting a tiny smile and Noah with a bland expression. Neither of them answer and I continue. "Well, it's like, hot up here. Maybe if you guys cool down you won't be so..."

"Bitchy?" Noah yawns, cracking his neck. Leo and I grimace.

"Sure... Anyway, then maybe you'd be able to come up with something."

"Yeah, whatever." Noah stands up, tucking his phone in his pocket as he stretches fully, and walks to the door. Leo follows him and I watch, returning to my book. A moment of silence passes before I look up, feeling eyes on me.