Second Chances

Chapter Twenty Four

Evelyn woke from loud banging against her door. She tossed the sheets off of her body, then slid her feet into the sandals she kept near her bed. As Evelyn shuffled closer to the door, she looked at Abby. Her comforter was raised above her head and her body was still. Guess she's not getting up.

When Evelyn approached the door, she heard muffled noises coming from the other side. She opened the door a crack and saw the back silhouette of a girl. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, her teal shirt had the name Cosmos across her shoulder blades, and a lanyard was peeking out of the back pocket of her white shorts. She was talking to another Soph in the hallway but turned around once she heard the door creak open further.

"You're Evelyn right?" Cosmos asked.

Evelyn held her hand against the edge of the door. "Yeah."

Cosmos smiled. "Great. We are heading out to the courtyard in 10 minutes to learn the faculty cheer."

"Ok." Evelyn nodded then released the door, allowing it to shut behind her.

Before the door closed, she heard a hard smack against it. "Sorry." Cosmos peeked into the room and looked at Evelyn's pj top. "I forgot to tell you to wear the teal residence shirt today too."

Evelyn nodded. "Ok, thanks."

Cosmos backed away from the door and let it shut behind her. As Evelyn walked toward her closet, she heard Abby slide the comforter down from her face. "I won't be going to that."

Evelyn looked over at Abby and smiled. "No problem."

Evelyn turned back toward her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans. She carried them over to her desk and set them beside her teal shirt. Before changing into the clothes, she looked over at Abby. The comforter was over her face again and she was curled up on the edge of her bed.

After Evelyn changed into her pants and t-shirt, she noticed that the t-shirt fit tighter than she liked. She pulled at the bottom of the shirt from all directions in an attempt to stretch out the fabric near her waist. Once the fabric rippled around her body comfortably, she grabbed her phone and cards off the desk, and slid them into the back pocket of her jeans.

When she left her room, she looked toward Brooke and Olivia's room. Their light was on, but she couldn't hear either of their voices over the rumble from the crowd in the hallway. As she opened the door to her suite, she was immediately submerged into the sea of teal, and shuffled along the strip of hallway until finally she was shoved into the elevator with 10 others. On her way down, she grabbed her phone and texted Madison.

Evelyn: You heading to the faculty cheer today?

She didn't have to wait long for a response.

Madison: Yes, I'm in the courtyard. Come find me!

Evelyn tucked her phone into her backpocket as the elevator doors opened and released her into the lobby. She looked through the window toward the courtyard and saw groups of people standing in clusters across the yard while Soph's circled the perimeter. From where she was standing, she couldn't see Madison.

Evelyn: I'm in the lobby, entering the courtyard soon. I'll stand to the side.

When she walked out onto the grass, the ground felt soft beneath her feet. The murmur of the crowd made it difficult for her to pinpoint Madison's voice as it travelled towards her.

"Hey," Madison said as she waved her hand in front of Evelyn's face.

Evelyn shook her head. "Sorry, all this teal made me zone out."

Madison laughed. "No worries. Callie and Meredith are over there if you want to follow me."

Evelyn followed closely behind Madison, dodging flailing arms and catching pieces of conversations as she weaved through the crowd. When they made it to where Callie and Meredith were, Evelyn noticed Callie shuffle closer to Meredith and further away from her. Meredith smiled and waved at Evelyn, oblivious to Callie's actions.

"Alright everyone." The megaphone crackled as the Soph stepped onto the top of a picnic table. "If you can get into lines of about 20, we will be starting in about 10 minutes."

The Sophs around the perimeter of the courtyard dispersed, adding themselves into the crowd and directing the frosh into lines. As a Soph approached the group, Evelyn moved to stand beside Madison. Their line looked like there were more than 20 people in it, but the Soph joined in and stood beside Evelyn.

When the cheer started, the Soph's shoulders brushed against Evelyn's. She shifted closer to Madison and caused her to tumble backward. As Madison landed on the ground, her face went red from embarrassment. Evelyn and Callie looked down at Madison and held out their hand to help her get back up. When Madison reached for Evelyn's hand first, Callie retracted her hand and turned around to face the front.

Once Madison was standing, she brushed her hands against the back of her shorts. Blades of grass fell to the ground. She contorted her body in an attempt to see the back of her shorts. "Is there a stain?"

Evelyn looked down at Madison's shorts then brushed her hand against the back of Madison's thigh. A clump of grass fell to the ground and revealed a small brown patch of dirt below. "There's nothing on your shorts but there's a little dirt on the back of your thigh."

Madison reached back and rubbed her thigh. "Is it gone?"

Evelyn shook her head. "No, I think you'll need to actually wipe it with soap and water."

Madison rubbed at her thigh again as the others around her continued mimicking the motions for the cheer. Callie's eyes remained fixated on the Soph demonstrating the moves, while Evelyn kept looking back and forth between the Soph and Madison.

When the Soph stopped moving, Madison turned toward Evelyn. "Can you walk close behind me to hide the dirt?"

Evelyn nodded. "Of course." She gestured forward with her hand. "Lead the way."

Madison passed by Evelyn and started walking. As the two zigzagged through the crowd, they heard the loud horn from the megaphone and then a mumbled announcement from the head Soph. Madison looked back and saw the crowd slowly moving toward them. She reached back and grabbed Evelyn's hand then picked up the pace toward the elevator.