Overly Energetic

1: Humans are weird

        Evelyn walked to her bus stop as her blue patterned dress danced around her legs. It was almost the end of the year, which meant summer fashion was in full swing. All the girls were wearing summer shorts and panty length skirts, unlike Evelyn who chose to wear summer dresses which appeared to belong on a doll rather than a person.

She stood waiting at her stop, the other kids taking their respective spots standing awkwardly by each other. Humans are weird, Evelyn thought, we stand at this bus stop every day and never say a word to each other. Except for me and Sarah. As if summoned by her thoughts, Evelyn's friend came to stand by her.

     "Are you ready?" Sarah asked, not bothering to lower her voice on the calm sunny morning. Sarah was an outgoing girl with short straight black hair and sideways smile that could light up even the dullest of rooms. She was Evelyn's best friend, although sometimes she questioned her abundant amount of fandoms and Steven Universe apparel.

"Ready for what?" Evelyn replied although she felt like she already knew the answer. " Uh, Are you ready finals? duh. I mean, I’ve been studying like crazy for Spanish." Evelyn gave a snort as the bus pulled up to their stop. “Sarah, you know you’re the smartest kid in that class. You could easily get an A on the final without trying. Also, I just so happen to know that you totally didn’t study for our final.”  Evelyn really did know because she sits right next to her in Spanish. "Ok, fine I was re-reading Harry Potter." Sarah admitted as they took their seats on sweaty bus.

"So is this the 70th time you’re re-reading the series or the 100th? I’ve lost count." Evelyn joked while Sarah fanned herself with old Spanish homework she had pulled out of her bag. The radio on the bus played today's hits that Evelyn regrettably enjoyed, though she would never admit it. And that's saying something because when it comes to just about anything, Evelyn was like an open book, no secrets. She would spill her life story to anyone who asked.

        After mindlessly talking with Sarah about finals and random junk, the bus reached the school. The girls stood waiting for their turn to step in the isle when Sarah popped a random question.  "I…um” Sarah took a breath, “ I mean, do.. do you like anyone?" The correct answer to that question would be yes.  "no." Evelyn said flatly and swallowed her guilt as they stepped off the bus and onto school grounds. I’ll tell her later when we’re not at school. Evelyn thought, she didn't like lying to people.

"Wait, why do you ask?" Evelyn pressed. It wasn't like Sarah to question her non-existent love life. Evelyn usually only talked about relationships with one other person; Allan, her best friend outside of Sarah. "No reason" Sarah replied a little too quickly. Wait a second. Evelyn thought and leaned in a little too close to her friend’s face. Is she.... blushing?!

"Sarah!" Evelyn yelled, drawing the attention of some other students. "Do YOU like someone?!" She smiled widely at her friend. Sarah never got crushes, not since the second grade when dating boiled down to who would play house with you on the playground. "Shut up!" Sarah snapped giving her friend the death glare and scanning the school hall to see if anyone heard Evelyn's outburst. "Sarah you need to tell me EVERYTHING" Evelyn gushed. They were by her locker now. Sarah gave a sigh, she knew Evelyn wouldn’t let the topic sit until she got her answer. "Alright I will during lunch. But first I need to talk to Mrs. Burn about my English final." She turned on her heel to walk away, carrying some books with her. "ok bye!" Evelyn called as her friend walked down the hall to Mrs. Burn's classroom. Evelyn had Mrs. Burn for English as well. She was a very spastic and random teacher (which was why she was one of Evelyn’s favorite) but, oh did that women assign homework. Evelyn shivered remembering her all-nighter last week for the class’s final essay.

       Evelyn made her morning descent down the hallway, replying in a supunky "hey!" to all her friends and acquaintances that threw her a lazy hello. As she walked down the hallway of the oddly shaped school, she took a mental note of the three panels of ceiling which were still missing near the art rooms. She silently told herself she would rant to Allan about school funding later since debating politics was one of the many pastimes they enjoyed together. As if reading her thoughts, Allan strode next to her. "Can you believe this? Congress can decide on granting money to airports so planes aren’t stuck on the tarmac for their vacation but when it comes to schools? Oh no! No decision can POSSIBLY be made!!" This is why Allan and her were such good friends, they agreed on almost everything, including politics.

"Dude, I was just thinking about that! I mean look at those tiles, they could fall on us at any minute!" Evelyn yelled, determined to believe that inside voices are for shy people. Evelyn had known Allan since third grade but they had only became friends in the last year when Evelyn tried to set him up with her friend Grace. Unknown to her, however, Allan already had a massive crush on Grace and had even asked her out twice, but she never agreed. The two walked to their morning class together. Allan played with a stand of hair that had fallen just over his nose. "Hey Ev" He began, "Do you think if I cut my hair short, Grace would like it better?" He looked up as if he could see the length of his hair. Evelyn gave a shrug, " I don't know" She said, glancing at Allan's thick dark black hair. It was cut to rest just above his equally dark eyebrows and wisped around his head in thick strands. Upon looking at his hair she noticed his other features. Allan had a soft face and the most beautiful silver eyes Evelyn had ever seen which were framed well against that dark hair. She really didn't understand why Grace didn't like him, but Evleyn was sure she must have had her reasons. "Actually Allan,” Evelyn said as they rounded another corner. “Don't cut it. I think it looks best longer." Allan gave a sigh, running his fingers through his messy hair. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just want her to notice me you know?" Evelyn nodded, she completely understood. " That's how I feel right now about my 'Grace'" Evelyn said, pausing when using Grace to refer to her crush. She DID NOT like talking about who she liked in public and Allan knew that.

        The school was separated into hallways and different "commons." Although these “commons” were just large rooms with benches that the popular kids sat on and lockers along the adjacent walls. There were 3 of these open areas: A bay, B bay, and C bay. (Creative I know.) A bay was filled with Juniors who didn't have a car and C bay with Seniors in the same situation. B bay however, was the Freshman and Sophomores area. It was almost always packed seeing that most underclassmen weren't old enough to own a car. Allan and Evelyn walked into B bay and Evelyn caught sight of some of her school friends. She waved goodbye to Allan, telling him she would meet up with in him class, and walked to meet up with her friends at the bench.

Evelyn skipped up to meet her friends: Tammie, Ally, Ron, Ivan and Christina. They were all smooshed on the bench, Tam and Ivan were holding hands as well as Ally and Ron. Meanwhile, Christina muttered something about her disdain for couples. "Hey guys!" Evelyn chirped, jumping up and down as she asked "Guess what happened?" Her friends stared at her, their eyes following her bouncing. “You can tell us if you stop jumping." Ally said smiling. "Yeah, seriously," Ron interjected. "It's like, 7:40 in the morning. I wish I had that much energy all the time." Ron looked down at his energy drink, disappointed it didn't give him the morning start he was hoping. "Did you have coffee again Evelyn? Bad Evelyn, bad." Christiana joked and wagged a finger at Evelyn like she was a child who had just gotten in trouble.

Evelyn shook her head. " You know I can't have coffee in the morning, it makes me sick." Christiana gave her a look as if she didn’t believe her and took a sip of her own $4 latte she bought from the school cafe. "Anyway!" Ivan said a little too loudly. "What is it you wanted to tell us?" Evelyn thought for a moment, and then she realized, she forgot. "I forget." She said flatly. "That's real special Ev." Tammie purred, sarcasm dripping in her tone. "I swear your mind works like a squirrel’s." Squirrels... that reminded Evelyn of trees, which grow in the ground, which reminded her of her garden... and the tomatoes she's growing, and her grandma’s tomato soup. "Have you ever had tomato soup made with garden tomatoes?" Evelyn asked. Her friends stared at her for a moment then burst out in laughter. "I see your point about the squirrels Tam" Ron barked through his laughter. "Where did you get Tomato soup out of a conversation about squirrels?" Christina asked. Evelyn explained her thought process to her friends. "You thought through all that in 2 seconds?" Ivan questioned, genially surprised. "Damn girl, your ADHD is like a super power or something."

         Evelyn opened her mouth to protest when the bell rang, singling that they had five minutes to get to class. She did NOT want to go to chemistry but Evelyn was never late to class and she didn’t want to end her no tardiness streak over a conversation about tomato soup. "Bye guys!" Evelyn called and turned to leave when she full on body slammed into someone. "Oh, sorry. You okay?" Said a male voice. Evelyn peeled herself off from the grey hooded stranger she just rammed into. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks." She muttered and looked up into a pair of brown eyes that belonged to a blonde sophomore named Drew. Upon realizing who it was she bumped into, Evelyn's face went pale and she ducked her head down, running to her class. So not the best way to get your crush’s attention Evelyn. She told herself and slapped her hand against her head.