Evelyn

Chapter 3:

Hey! So, I just want to say that Evelyn possesses a very dry sense of humor and is also very sarcastic, so if you see her acting slightly salty when she jokes around, well, haha. That's how I intended for her to be.

It was really interesting and kind of hard to make her like this because I don't really share the same sense of humor as she does, so sorry if it's kinda cringy :(( Anyway, enjoy!

*****

Evelyn could hardly express her joy when she realized the girls weren't staying for the night. She almost jumped up and down, giddy with relief.

They had all come to her house almost immediately after practice, stopping by the Giant a few blocks away from the high school to grab tubs of ice cream, trashy celebrity magazines and a movie before loading into Camila Anderson (a girl on the field hockey team that was also in Evelyn's English class) and Bethany's cars.

Evelyn's dad was working late and her older brother had long since gotten a job and moved back to California, so the house was all her's for the evening. The girls had chattered, gossiped and most of the talk was centered around the mysterious Jace Westfall who had barely been one day in town and was already being labelled as 'the hottest boy in the entire school, probably even school county, probably even state, probably even country'. 

She couldn't wait until they left.

Bethany was the first one to go, not surprisingly, at around nine-thirty and the other girls called their parents to pick them up, or drove home themselves, until Evelyn was all alone at eleven-forty five p.m., cleaning up the mess the large group gathering had made, wanting the house clean before her dad got home as God knew how tired the old man was after tough days at the office.

Had Ethan been home, it might've been a little easier with him helping her, but he was across the country in a place where his younger sister both yearned for and detested. It wasn't easy juggling a life at home with your two  kids-well, now one kid- and having to work shifts at the hospital. Cruel even to live such a stressful life, the wound from losing your wife still fresh in your heart. But he was managing. They all were, somehow.

By the time Evelyn heard the car door slam and the squeak of the front door as it opened, she was just finishing tying the drawstring on the garbage bag tightly, as she crumpled up the ice cream cartons and paper spoons and paper plates from when they had ordered pizza.

"Hey, whatcha got there?" her dad set down his brief case gently as he kicked off his shoes, coat and went over to the kitchen to wash his hands before settling down on the couch to watch reruns of shows, and/or the news. 

"My friends came over today for a while." Evelyn told him. "Ate quite a lot."

He chuckled, splashing some cool water on his face and rubbing his sleep deprived eyes.

"You can say that again." her dad remarked, looking around. "But this kitchen is spotless. When'd they leave?"

"About an hour ago."

"You are either a human vacuum, or there's a bunch of dirty dishware and trash you've hidden in a large pile somewhere to make it look like this place is flawless." he told her. 

"Mm hmm. Keep telling yourself the latter, but it won't make your housework more efficient and better than mine." she shot back jokingly.

Her dad laughed and ruffled her hair, walking over to his favorite comfy chair and leaning back while turning the TV on.

"Is it next Saturday or this one that you have the band concert?" he asked.

"Next, thank God." she flopped down on the couch next to his chair, scrolling through her phone and keeping one eye on the TV. "I get to relax for once tomorrow."