Mary's Bones

THIRTY-SIX

I didn't see Evelyn until Monday. The bunny was still hidden away in my bag. If class hadn't been so busy, I would have had the chance to pull her aside and question her about the initials. I guess it was fine though. John and I were just curious about them. We could wait.

"Alright, ladies, it's about that time. You know the drill. Ten minutes before three, start wrapping it up! Oh, and Bishop, don't forget to clean your station this time please!" I dipped forward, lowering my voice to a whisper. "Or Teresa will chew both our asses out this time."

Bishop rolled her eyes and swatted me away. "It's not like she does any of the cleaning anyway. All she does is walk around here bossing people around and getting paid for it. But I'll do it for the janitor's sake, not hers."

"Thank you," I mouthed. I glanced around the room for the short brunette I knew with wild curly hair. "By the way, has anyone seen Evelyn?"

"She stepped out to the bathroom a while ago, remember?" Bishop said.

"What? Didn't she come back? It's been twenty minutes." I frowned and checked my watch.

Bishop shrugged. "I don't know. Do you want one of us to go check on her?"

"No, no. It's okay. I'll go. Make sure you all take care of your stations," I said while removing my apron. The moment I exited the room, I jogged down the hall.

"Hey, Angie, is something wrong?" Rick called out to me. I stopped in my tracks, turning. He stood at the front desk and shuffled around. I could see his eyebrows drawn together as he attempted to look behind me.

"Did you happen to see Evelyn pass through here?" I asked.

"Yeah, she went to the bathroom. Why?" He scrunched his face.

"Nothing, I was just wondering. Thank you!" I rushed off.

When I got to the women's bathroom, the door was completely shut. But I could hear water running in one of the sinks. It bled into the nerve-wracking silence. I tried my best to ignore it and carefully pushed in the door.

"Evelyn?" I called. Nothing except the running water continued to fill the bathroom with noise. My frown stretched as I walked deeper into the bathroom.

At first, I saw nothing. Then, I noticed the figure at the far end of the bathroom. She stood frozen, staring into the mirror as her reflection stared back. A blank expression sat on her face. If I didn't know Evelyn didn't do drugs, I would have thought she was stoned.

It took a moment for me to gather my courage. I straightened and approached her with caution. "Evelyn? Can you hear me?"

Her hands suddenly clutched the edge of the sink. "Angie!" she squeaked. I watched her head whip round at me. Then, her eyebrows knitted together.

"What's wrong?" I frowned.

"I-I . . . I don't know. Wait, I came in here to use the bathroom!"

"Evelyn, you left the classroom twenty minutes ago. . . I thought you already used it."

She eyed the stalls around us, then looked down at her hands, which I now realized were covered in hand soap. "Really?"

"Yeah. You . . . you walked here? Remember? We were all painting in class, when you excused yourself to the bathroom. I came to check on you because you've been gone for a while," I dragged out my sentence.

"Seriously? Wow, I don't remember using the bathroom already." She laughed under her breath.

She couldn't be serious. I was waiting for her to say this was all one big joke. I sometimes did that too when I forgot about things. I'd end up remembering them as fast as I forgot. But she hadn't said anything else.