Ocean Eyes

Chapter 6

"Here you go Eva, now this will loosen you up" stated Charlotte. She handed Evangeline a red solo cup, and Evangeline looked in it suspiciously. 

"What is it?"

"Vodka. Just vodka. Now drink up." Charlotte had a drink in her hand as well, and she walked away from Evangeline, dancing slightly to the music as she walked. Evangeline pressed the cup to her lips and took a long sip. It tasted absolutely terrible, but she didn't care. She wanted to loosen up and forget about all of the Asher crap she had dealt with. They had arrived at the party a little after 7. All the girls got more dressed up, while Evangeline wore her usual sweatshirt and leggings. Evangeline drank the entirety of the cup, but she didn't go get another one. As much as she wanted to forget about the Asher crap, throwing up because of alcohol was much much worse. 

She was sitting with all of her friends on one of the couches in Chris's house. She hadn't even seen Chris, they just let themselves into the house filled with people. 

"Eva, have you forgotten about Asherrr yet?" Julia asked,slurring her words slightly. It didn't take much to get Julia tipsy, and Evangeline was sure she had literally only had one beer. Emily elbowed Julia in the ribs and gave her the stop talking now look. 

"Well, I was just starting to until you brought it up again" Evangeline said, with a slight hint of anger. She knew Julia didn't mean any harm, but she was still pissed she brought his name up. 

"Sorry, I wont bring it up again."

"Dont worry about it, hey, whose Charlotte with?" Evangeline pointed to Charlotte, who was practically hanging off some guy she didn't recognise. Charlotte spotted her friends, and grabbed the guys arm dragging him over to them. 

"Heyyyyy guys, this is Trevor. Trevor, these are the girls. Evangeline, Julia, and Emily, my sister" she pointed to each of the girls, and they all gave small waves. Trevor waved back to each of them. Evangeline noticed how Charlotte and Trevor wouldn't stop looking at each other, and she saw Charlotte was blushing profoundly. 

Julia whispered into Evangeline's ear. "This dude prettyyyy." Trevor looked at Julia and laughed, no doubt that he had heard her comment. Emily must have heard it too, because she quickly started talking. 

"So Trevor, do you go to our highschool? I haven't seen you around before" asked Emily. He took his eyes off Charlotte to speak with Emily. 

"No actually, I go to Fairview. I know Chris because we used to do hockey together before he switched to football." The girls all nodded, Charlotte taking his hand in hers. The girls all noticed the small movement, and stifled back their laughs. Wait a minute, maybe this kid knows Ash Evangeline thought. 

"Oh hey, maybe you know my friend" stated Evangeline. Trevor looked up from Charlotte and over to Evangeline.

"Yeah maybe, who is it? I'm pretty clueless when it comes to the people in my school though" he laughed, a smile protruding onto his face. 

"Ummm well, he's got dark hair, blue eyes. His name's Asher, I don't know what his last name is, but he has a little sister Claire. Ring any bells?"

The happiness fell from Trevors face, replaced by a look of sadness. 

"Yeah, I knew him, Asher Adams, but not well. It's so sad what happened to him" Trevor said. He shook his head and Evangeline looked at him confused. 

"What do you mean, I saw him the other day, he looked fine." Evangeline had a worried look plastered over her face. Did something happen since the last time I saw him she thought. Trevor saw that all the girls looked confused, so he continued on. 

"Yeah, last winter. You guys don't know?" They all shook their heads. "He was on his bus in the morning going to school. His bus was driving over a bridge when it slipped on a large sheet of ice. The whole bus went over and fell right into the river. 15 kids and the bus driver, and not one of them managed to survive." He had a solemn look on his face.

"That can't be my Asher though. I saw him recently. He literally looked fine."

"You said his sister is Claire right? That has to be him here," he pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture, "is this the kid you're talking about?" He passed the phone to Evangeline so she could see. She stared at the picture. It was him. Those amazing eyes, and brown hair, she instantly recognised him. He was standing next to a younger girl, maybe about 10. They both had smiles plastered on their faces, eating cotton candy at the fair. 

Evangeline's hands started to shake, and she dropped the phone onto the ground.

"Eva, you ok?" Charlotte asked. They all looked worried. 

"This.. this cant be right. I literally just saw him." Her whole body was shaking now. She had just seen him the other day, how could he be dead. Her friends all looked at her, their faces looking scared.

"Hey Eva, I think you must be thinking of the wrong guy. Maybe they just look similar" Emily started, a worried expression plastered over her face.

"Orrrrr maybe he's just a ghost" Julia hiccuped. Emily elbowed her in the ribs again, signaling that it clearly wasn't a good time to be making jokes. Evangeline stood up abruptly. 

"I think I need some fresh air."

"Ok," Emily said, "do you want me to come with you?"

"No that's ok I uhh... just need a moment." She hurried out the front door, the cold air welcoming her as she stepped outside. She paced around the front porch running her hands through her hair. What the hell is going on she thought. She had literally just seen Asher. Am I losing my mind? Holy shit I must be losing my mind. Maybe he really is a ghost. Shit what the hell is happening.  She suddenly didn't feel like being at the party anymore. Going home was not an option, she was supposed to be at Julia's sleeping over according to the lie she told her mom. She didn't want to go back inside and deal with her friends giving her crazy looks. So Evangeline did the only thing she could think of... she ran.