Underage

[39] Everett's Girlfriend

[39] Everett's Girlfriend

Ethan and I spent the entire day on top of that hill. We laughed and talked and reminisced. For the first time in what seemed like forever, we spoke about Evan freely. There were tears and quiet hours, but it was a happy day.

We ended the night at the large graveyard. Everything looked so much different after the sun slipped away. The last of the sunset had disappeared. The dark blue finally faded to black. The moon was almost, but not quite, full and yet it gave off more light than the tall lamps that casted only a dim orange glow.

The headlights on the Mustang caught every bouquet of dying flowers, cracked tombstones, and empty benches. What was such a beautiful place during the day, is anything but at night.

A single road leads from one entrance to the other. It's gravel and narrow. Walking paths branch off from the road, weaving in-between the rows of tombstones.

Evan's empty grave lays in the back left-hand corner of the cemetery. It's across the narrow path from Miss Annie's late husband. Where as Miss Annie's late husband has a large stone, Evan only has a plaque that lays even with the ground.

Ethan parked the car, his hands lingering on the thin steering wheel. He looked strange behind the wheel. He looked more like his brother than I've ever seen before. Wearing the jacket and keeping his head straight, they could be twins. They had the same brown hair and scruff. The same sharp cheekbones and jaw lines. Ethan's hands held the top of the wheel, never venturing further than half way down.

That was Evan's thing. He would always hold the steering wheel with both hands. He liked to keep them at the very top of the wheel. He said he would rather have broken arms than a broken neck when the air bag deploys. Not that Evan Michaels would ever get in a car accident.

I turned towards Ethan who hadn't blinked, hadn't moved, since he switched the car into park. The music was low, drowned out by the rumbling of the old engine. It was soothing, the constant purring to drown out the utter stillness of the marked graves. There wasn't anyone else here to enjoy the silent night, plagued with shadows cast off the tree limbs. They stalked me, whispered my name, sending a chill down my spine.

I could make out the rock where Evan's empty grave was and the empty spots around him where his family would one day occupy. Whether they're buried or not, their names will grace the stones resting on the ground.

I placed my hand on Ethan's arm. I let my thumb run over his skin in circles. He brought his eyes from the night sky to mine. His green eyes were sad and the skin around his nose was red, his tell that he'd been crying. He gave me a pathetic excuse for a smile, but it was an improvement. I leaned forward to kiss his cheek. My lips lingered on his unshaved skin.

"Are you ready?"

"No," he said.

I could make the walk to Evan's grave with my eyes closed. It's ten steps from the car and two to the left. I kept my hand firmly in Ethan's as we slowly took those ten steps down the gravel pathway. The wind was cold, ruffling the leaves from their resting place. It sent hills on my skin. I gripped Ethan's hand in mine, not letting him further than an inch from side.

There were fresh flowers on either side of his piece of rock.

Evan Michaels.

The boy who now knows everything.

Rest in Peace.

Despite having seen it and read it multiple times, I smiled as my eyes lingered on the words engraved in the rock. We didn't know what to put on it all those years ago. Which wasn't really that long ago, but it felt like forever. Only three years. It feels like longer. Like we've been living in slow motion.