Carry Me Home

Four

Evelyn

"Why do you pop up everywhere I go?" I ask, quite annoyed that my free time had to be invaded by Rowan yet again.

"Maybe fate wants me to pop up everywhere you go," he said, his usual smirk indented into his face. I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"You need to stop referring back to that statement I said after the party yesterday."

"But it was so linguistically pleasing," he rested his back against the door jamb and crossed his arms, perhaps to portray his athletic arms. I barged passed him only to be stopped again by his leg.

"Why do you love to irritate me?"

"Because I asked you to marry me and you haven't given me a definite answer."

"Stop asking foolish questions, Rowan, and please move out of my way."

"Who's at the door, Row?" Hayden yelled, descending down the hallway only to smile in happiness when he noticed it was me. He was about to say something before I stopped him by handing him the note. Whilst reading the note he laughed, shaking his head at something Faye had written.

"Thanks, Evie. I'm going to Subway, do any of you want anything?" Hayden asked, grabbing his coat and pausing for a minute to await our answers. I shook my head and Rowan mirrored my actions. He departed soon after, leaving me surrender to the company of Rowan Hastings for the second time today. Rowan, as usual, had his  notorious smile drawn on his face and his eyes shone in delight at me being trapped with him again.

"I'm just going to leave now. Have a nice night, Rowan." Surprisingly he didn't stop me and simply nodded towards the door. After getting into my room, I sauntered inside and slammed the door behind me. Faye was nowhere in hindsight, leaving me to entertain myself until I went to bed. My eyes unconsciously diverted their attention onto Faye's side of the room. She had a small picture frame on her bedside table. How I had never noticed it before, I do not know.

My gaze then slid to the paintings she had hung up. There was always something about artists that filled my mind with joy. They found beauty in the simplest of things and turned them into exquisite pieces of art. Their imagination transformed a blank canvas into something I could stare at for ages. Every brush stroke had a purpose. Every colour used was part of an important choice. Every piece had a story. A story so riveting that you couldn't help but discover every aspect of it.

My side of the room was plainer than hers and only had a touch of my personality with a photograph of my mother and I. My mother was such a humble lady and she completely filled the gap of my estranged father. She never made me feel inferior to anyone because of my age or my situation but taught me to go through life with a smile on my face. No matter how much I was drowning inside I had to keep smiling because some people are monsters. Monsters who will gnaw at anything with the smallest evidence of weakness. Weakness was the enemy, not the people.

"Evie?" I pivoted around to see Cadence at the door. I beamed at her, beckoning her in. "Have you seen Faye anywhere?"

"No. I just came back from Hayden's room and when I returned she was gone," I explained.

"OK. See you later, Evie," I nodded and briefly watched her exit my room. Cadence was slightly taciturn towards people who she didn't know in depth and unsurprisingly I came under that category. Just as I was about to turn around, the door unlocked revealing a very joyful Faye.

"Cadence was looking for you, Faye," I announced, as soon as she sat on her bed, happily sighing. "Is everything ok, Faye?"

"My dad just made everything better!"