Evelyn

Evelyn - Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Chloe blinked quickly, obviously stunned by what I had just said. I guess she didn't really spent that much time around Evelyn. A few stray tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks and she moved towards me and connected our lips. This time I was the one to be stunned. There weren't any fireworks, not like the movies suggest. I kissed her back though because she was happy. Over the sound of loud police sirens outside I swear I heard her say she 'loved me'. It was then that I realized I had made a big mistake. I swiftly analyzed my situation and evaluated that Chloe would begin to heavily rely on me. And once the baby came she would want me to help her with that too. I couldn't help but feel guilty because although I had kissed her back, I didn't love her like I loved Evelyn. It was a different kind of love.

I returned back to dorm 308 and jumped on the bottom bunk. I noticed that Jonah was in the bathroom as the sound of running water filled the small space. I stared blanky at the ceiling, my mind flooding with one thing. Evelyn. I wondered what would happen if we actually did find her. Would things go back to normal? Would she come back with us, or would all of our efforts to find her have been a total waste? She might not even be there. But it's a chance I was willing to take. 10 minutes passed before he entered the 'living room' with only a navy blue towel wrapped around him. Although the hot water had made Jonah's face a pale shade of red, it did not further disguise the fact he had been crying in there.

"Are you okay?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry." It was obvious by the way he was acting that he was definitely not fine.

"It might not be his you know. It could be someone else’s?" I replied, referring to Mitch.

He looked at my small frame as if I was stupid. "Charlie, it's clearly his okay. Were you blind to see how loyal Chloe was to him, meanwhile he slept with everyone on campus!!"

"I highly doubt it was like that-"

"That's exactly what it was like!"

"Look, I know you’re angry at him. But what are you going to do? Take it out on a single girl who is pregnant with her deceased boyfriend’s child?" I shouted, now Jonah was being extremely irritating considering the situations we were all in, not to forget that Evelyn was trekking all over the country. "But if you possibly stepped into Chloe's shoes for a few minutes and looked at everything from her point of view you would realise how good you have it, because clearly, Chloe has it worse!"

His eyes widened and his nostrils flared as lurched towards me and pinned me to the wall. He seethed every word that dripped from his teeth. "Just because someone has it worse doesn't mean that someone can't be sad. That's like saying somebody can't be happy because someone else has it better."

I pushed him off me and walked to the kitchen. I pulled out a bottle of half empty whisky, the one that Evelyn had buried that day down at the 'den' where we had begun to plan how we would prank the 'Monday Maths Club'. I didn't bother retrieving a glass from the shelves. I just downed it, the strong liquid burning my throat. By the time I had finished the bottle Jonah had once again disappeared. I couldn't believe how different things were now, I had nobody. Evelyn was gone. Mitch was dead, and the three of us were constantly fighting and throwing daggers at each others spines. But we still had to find her. Dead or alive, we couldn't leave her. I couldn't rest until she was found. I soon discovered that sleep wasn't an option that night as I restlessly tossed and turned underneath the static covers. At 3am a slightly light headed Jonah burst through the door laughing.

"Hey Charlie!!" He greeted in a high pitched tone.

I rolled my eyes and helped him into my bed to avoid him falling from the ladders of the bunk or rolling off the bed.

"But this isn't my bed Charles. Mine is up there!" He exclaimed pointing towards the ceiling. I desperately hoped he was referring to the top bunk and not heaven.

He quickly fell into a deep slumber as I rested on the top bunk, the cheap mattress springs digging into my back. I decided to call up the hotel where she was staying. I retreated back to the floor and used the land line. It rang 3 times before a tired sounding woman picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She droned.

"Hello. I was just wondering if you had somebody staying in your hotel called Evelyn Baudelaire." I replied sounding equally as tired.

"Yes, we do. Who's asking?" She sighed, I could almost visualize her running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm her friend, she ran away and we are looking for her!"

"What's your name?" She requested.

"Umm, Charlie. Charlie North?" I replied, twirling my ringers round the telephone cable.

"Great. I'll pass on a message!" The woman didn't even sound slightly interested in our conversation.

"No don-"

But it was too late. The receptionist had already hung up the phone. I knew that as soon as Evelyn found out we were looking for her she would flee. She would move on so that we would remain clueless to her being. We had to set off immediately.