[ A WATTPAD FEATURED STORY ]
•••
❝We accept the love we think we deserve.❞
But what does that really mean?
This is Eva's story; a tale of a wayward girl who had a heart of glass and when it broke, forgot that light tends to creep in through the cr...
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Eva was stood in front of the door-length mirror in her new room. It had been two weeks since they moved into this neighbourhood.
Eva didn't find familiarity in any crook or corner. It was all foreign. Everything was new, from the well-kept gardens to the two-storeyed houses with white washed walls and bright red doors.
She found the neighbourhood beautiful, of course. It felt warm and welcoming, just like it would to any child but it was still new.
Right now, she was staring at her reflection.
She was wearing the uniform of the school she'd been newly enrolled in. She couldn't wear whatever she liked, especially the yellow dress with white polka dots.
She was told she had to wear the light, washed-out blue shirt tucked in to her dark grey pleated skirt that reached up to her skinny knees.
Eva didn't like blue. Not the blue of the skirt she currently had on, not the blue of her own eyes, perhaps not even the blue of her father's.
Or maybe she hated it because she was so used to a pair of dull, lifeless eyes staring back at her every time she caught sight of her reflection.
---
It was the first day of grade three, and the classrooms were noisy as the teachers were too busy scrambling around for registers and other relevant forms and papers.
Eva was sat somewhere in the middle — third row by the wall — and the seat next to her was empty.
"Hi!"
Eva looked up at the source of the voice and saw a girl with brown hair very much like her own, but healthier by the looks of it, grinning down at her.
Eva didn't respond.
"Can I sit next to you?" the girl asked, oblivious to Eva's reluctance.
"Why?" Eva blurted out. Casting her blue eyes around the classroom, she noticed many vacant seats. Why did this girl need to sit next to her? She rather preferred the solitude. She wasn't used to company. Even back at her old school, Eva had been a loner. Lindsay Holmes was to her just a symbol – a representation of girls her age. Someone who she avoided but also someone who'd always found a reason to interact with Eva.
The girl beaming at her currently as if Eva was her long-lost sister seemed like another Lindsay Holmes. And Eva really wasn't in the mood to put up with her.
"Because I'd like to be your friend!" the other girl grinned, revealing two teeth that were yet to grow back.
Eva stared at her incredulously. She didn't want friends. Come to think of it, she's never had friends. And Eva didn't particularly feel like making any now.
"No", Eva shook her head, her tone decisive. She watched the smile fall off the other girls face but her resolve didn't waver. The other girl's eyes seemed to turn watery as she turned around and walked to a spot few seats back. The tears had no effect on Eva though — she'd seen those stream down her mother's face a countless times that it seemed mundane to her now. The emotion that accompanied watching them fall down someone's cheeks were lost to her.
---
Any other girl who might have wanted to sit next to Eva didn't attempt going ahead with it seeing as though she had an unwelcome and defensive posture throughout the rest of the morning.
And it satisfied Eva, until —
"Whats your name?"
Eva looked up, startled, at the boy who'd without so much as asking for her permission, dragged out the chair beside her and plopped down onto it.
"Eva," she muttered begrudgingly. She didn't like company but she was smart enough to know that someone was bound to end up next to her. It didn't mean she'd have to become friends with them though.
"What kind of name is that?" He peered at her in curiosity, "Eva," he repeated, testing the name.
She frowned at the boy. "Its short for Evelyn." Eva really wished he'd stop talking so that she could be left to herself. He looked odd too — with wild red hair and long arms and a freckled face.
"My name's Terrence," he grinned at her, "but no one calls me Terry. Its funny, isn't it? Why would they want to? If my name was really too long or something, my parents wouldn't have named me that in the first place. They'd have just named me the shorter version." He shrugged lazily as he stopped speaking.
Eva stared at the ridiculous boy. What on earth was she going to do being stuck next to him?
"You don't talk a lot do you?" he asked, looking thoughtful. "Why is that?"
Eva thought she was ready to burst into angry tears any minute now. Oh how she loathed this boy and his big, stupid mouth. "I just don't want to. Now leave me alone."
He scrunched his nose, "that was very rude. You aren't supposed to speak to someone that way. Didn't your parents ever tell you that?"
Eva glared at Terrence now, wanting to give him a sharp smack to the head. But despite all her annoyance, she couldn't help but think about his words — her parents never really said anything of the sort to her.
Then again, pa had never even bothered greeting her good morning, and her mum had always been too silent and kept to herself.
And Eva was beginning to wonder just how much she was missing out on.
------------------------------------------------------- Written on; 29th June 2016 -------------------------------------------------------
