Breaking Bad Luck

The Past

Jays POV:
"Are you serious?"

"Seriously, I picked ants out of my hair for two days," Eva grimaced at the memory. Eva and I were sitting in my mom's car parked at the road side talking, we've been talking for two hours. It got boring at some point so we played truth and dare but with a twist. Basically we always pick truth and I you pass a question the other player can do anything to you. I've been punched, pinched and poked by Eva and all I've done to her is flick her forehead. Doesn't this girl have any secrets?

"My turn. Umm.......... okay, does Stephen play pranks on you?"

"Yah all the time".

"Good so what's the worst pranks he's ever played on you?" I paused for a moment to think.

"Okay I was in ninth grade, we had Mrs Richard a mean old grouch who taught English. So I opened my backpack to get my notes when I noticed something red fall out of my bag, I bent down and picked it up. It was a red lacy lingerie, I stood up holding the red fabric like it was a disease and ended up knocking my bag over. Sprawled all over the floor was a red lacy bra and panties, a whip and a box of XXXL condoms. The class went crazy, girls giggled, squealed and blushed furiously. The guys gave me high fives, fist bumps and impressed looks while I just stood there like a dunce staring at a mortified Mrs Richard".

"No way then what happened?" Eva asked excitedly trying to hold her laughter.

"I got sent to the principals office, then to the guidance counselor, then my parents were called and I was tortured for an hour discussing the dangers of underage sex. It was so embarrassing but Stephen confessed in the end. He was grounded for a month. On the bright side this little fiasco helped my reputation a lot," Eva couldn't control herself any more. She laughed so hard I could see tears forming in her eyes and soon enough I joined her too.

When Eva finally calmed down she spoke "Wow if that happened to me I'd shave my head, move to another country and change my name to Rodriguez".

"I payed him back tho, put a fake lizard in his sandwich. The video is still on YouTube."

"Wow your the literal definition of silent but deadly." I shrugged.

"My turn, tell me about your siblings," she visibly tensed. She avoided my eyes and look at her hands.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, I don't want to push you or anything," I definitely won't want to be forced to do something I wasn't comfortable with. She looked up to me and. I met her gaze, I gave her a toothy grin and she returned my smile.

"I want to answer," I raised my eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" She nodded in response. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I have a brother, he's named Bay but..........," she paused and swallowed before continuing "he's.... he's dead, he died when I was nine. He was a very adventurous mischievous boy, he loved exploring and was a bit of a rebel. We'd get into so much trouble and try to hide, but what I admired most about him was he could find beauty in everything, he found a sense of wonder in every little thing. We'd always go to a creek that was close to our house, the creek was so deep and wide there was a huge bridge that helped people cross. We'd stay there for hours
feeding the ducks, catching butterflies and staring at the sky. We'd pretend we're pirates and search for gold doubloons in Davy Jones locker. He could be an annoying brother but I loved him," she smiled as she spoke.

"One day when my parents went to work we went to the Creek to pick some flowers for a project, it rained the day before so there were puddles everywhere. He wanted to go play in some puddles but I didn't let him so he climed on the bridge rails and started walking. I told him to get down before he hurt himself but he didn't listen, suddenly everything happened in slow motion. He slipped and began to fall, I caught him by his hand but he was too heavy to pull up. I screamed and screamed for help until my throat was sore but nobody came.
"Help me Eva please don't let me fall!"

"I won't!"

"Eva I'm slipping!"

"Bay please hold on, don't let go,"
I tried and tried to pull him up but it was impossible, I was too weak.

"Eva..... I'm sorry and I love you,"

"No Bay please don't let go please, Bay!!!"
His grip on my hand losened and I watched him fall. Maybe if I had let him play in the puddles or if I was stronger I could've saved him."

The rumour about her killing her brother.......

"You can't blame yourself for what happened to him you know."

"I know, but sometimes I can still hear him screaming....."

"Eva..."

"It's okay, I've learned to deal with it. I know he's in a better place and right now he's smiling down at me," a tear rolled down her face and she looked at me with a smile.

"Eva you're amazing, you know that?" With a grin she nodded and I smiled back at her. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out then her eyes widened.

"What is it?"

"I was supposed to help Liv pack out, she's getting discharged from the hospital by five, I'm twenty minutes late. How am I going to help her if I can't walk, this is my fault always causing trouble and being a burden to others. I hope Liv isn't ma-" I put my hand over her mouth so she would stop talking. She looked down at my hand and back to me.

"What if I help you help Liv," I said retrieving my hand.

"Oh no no no I don't want to bother you I can handle this".

"Nope, we're friends and friends help each other out. Besides we got her there why not get her out together. We both smiled at each other and drove to the hospital.
Today I learnt about Eva's past, she has a burden that kills her everyday but she keeps going on and she's able to keep on going with a smile.

I guess she's not an open book after all.