Buried Wishes ✔

Chapter 18: I'm Freaking the Fvck Out!

~ [Evelyn] ~

I didn't go to class today because of the obvious. No Liam means no drama. Instead, I had received a call from my dad saying that he needed to see me. I paid no attention to the urgency in his voice, though. Most of the time, he just needed to see me because he missed me.

I had to drive home last quarter in the middle of the week because he wanted to take me to a party and introduce me to some guys my age. It was weird. He wanted me to find someone, but he wanted that someone to be perfect. So while he was trying to impress me with all these guys, he was also interrogating them on the spot. Needless to say, I wanted to leave within an hour of arriving.

I parked my car in the street, walking toward the only house in this town to have such an over-the-top white picket fence. The lawn was green and the house itself stood tall with pride, an all American sight for the world to see. After my mom left, Dad spent a lot of time rebuilding the house, making it better. I think it was just a way to keep his mind busy, but somehow, it worked. It was like making the house better made him believe that he could be better.

He was in pain, but never for a moment did he make us doubt that he was doing his best to provide a safe home for us. Pretty soon it was like we never had a mother, like we never needed one.

The golden doorknob on the navy blue door turned, and a moment later, Dad's face welcomed me in as the door swung open. His expression wasn't as cheerful as it usually was. The bags under his eyes were heavier than my troubles at the moment and it made me worried.

"Dad?" I approached him, stepping onto the porch. "Are you okay?"

"Come inside, Evelyn."

I nodded and just as I got into the living room, I understood right away.

She had long dark brown hair that curled at the ends. She stood as I stepped in and it was clear that she was doing well, dressed in a bright floral sundress and pumps that probably cost more than my car. A small smile made its way onto her lips, which were sticky with a magenta cream spread over it. I couldn't stop the scowl that reached my face as I stared into her wicked green eyes. She may have switched up on her wardrobe, but my mom hasn't changed all that much.

"Evelyn, sweetheart," she cooed from afar, and just when I didn't think there was anything that could make me want to punch her more, she asked, "How have you been?"

"How have I been?" I started to say, but it came out more like a scream.

"Now, Ev," Dad started to warn me, but I didn't care.

"You leave us for over six years and now you come back for some small talk? You have some nerve to be here!" I felt my fists balled at my sides shake uncontrollably. Was I overreacting or did I have reason?

"Evelyn, I just wanted to be a part of your life again," she explained gently, and I had to resist the urge to shove a pie in her cake face.

Just then, I heard heavy footsteps behind me and as I turned around, I found Erick standing there with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He stared at our mom in astonishment and as he met my eyes, his hardened. With a simple nod between us, he proceeded to run upstairs.

"Erick-" she called out for him, but he was already making his way to the closet between our rooms. She turned to look at me questioningly and then to Dad, who knew exactly what we were doing. She sat back down in defeat.

A moment later, Erick came down with two thick books in hand. He gave me mine and held his out to our mom. I did the same.

"W-What is this?" she held out both hands to place them onto her lap and blinked at them. One was blue and labelled Erick while the other one was purple and labelled Evelyn. She began to open mine, a well-decorated scrapbook of my first year without her. She ran her fingers along my young face in the pictures and I knew it was just as bitter for her as Erick and I had planned for it to be.