"I still can't quite believe it."
Evan Ross looked at his mom. They were on the plane to Atlanta. His father was still there, waiting for their return.
"I mean – the story your aunt Kathryn told," Mrs. Ross clarified. "It just sounds so crazy. I thought maybe she had completely lost it-"
"It's true!" Evan insisted. "I bought a can of monster blood at the toy store, and then it started growing and-"
"Yeah, she told me all of that," Mrs. Ross interrupted. "I believe you. But…it just sounds so strange."
"I guess it does," said Evan. He wanted to tell her more, about how scared he had been and how he wished he could tell someone about it, but decided not to. Instead, he said, "I just never want to see that stuff again."
The plane started to move forward just then. Evan's body tensed up. He had a very small fear of flying. His mother placed a hand on his shoulder until he relaxed.
When the plane began to lift up from the ground, he tensed up again, and his mother placed a hand on his shoulder, again, until he relaxed.
Then they were in the air. Evan looked out the window at the blue and felt his heart thudding in his chest.
"So tell me about Andy," said Mrs. Ross, trying to take his attention off of the flight. "You made friends with her, right? What's she like?"
"She's okay," said Evan, turning his gaze away from the window. "Kind of weird, but funny. We agreed to write to each other."
There were a few silent moments of flying as Evan felt his heartbeat get back to normal.
"How did you get that?" Mrs. Ross said suddenly.
Evan looked at her. "Get what?"
"That bruise." At Evan's questioning look, she ran her finger very gently over a tiny bruise above his eyebrow. He had gotten it from the Beymer twins. They had payed special attention to that area when they were beating him up, and it was now beginning to purple.
"I…tripped on the sidewalk," said Evan.
His mother frowned, seeming to sense that he was lying, but didn't press. "Well, we'll have to get it fixed when we get home."
More silence.
"I still don't know why you couldn't have taken me with you to Atlanta," Evan muttered.
"Evan, please," said Mrs. Ross. "Not this again-"
"Sorry," Evan said. He decided to cut it out.
There were several more uneventful hours of flying. At some point Evan fell asleep, his mom playing with his hair.