Evelian watched as the train zoomed out of the station. Evelian DeBoulange was an orphan, looking for a way to earn some money. Well...we wouldn't really call her an "orphan".
Let's explain?
Evelian is a 14 year old girl who lived with her mother Elouise in Southern France. Yes, I did say lived with.
While Evelian is into literature, reading, and music, her mother wants her to become a doctor.
"Evelian! If you do not stop that racket, I will take it away!"
Evelian set down her guitar. "I don't think it's racket! And why can't you ever be supportive in the things I do?" She snapped. "Because! Music and writing is never going to get you anywhere in life!" Her mother snarled.
Evelian stomped her foot angrily. "Everything I do is wrong!"
"Because you're wrong all the time!"
"Writing and music isn't useless, Mama!"
"The Hell it isn't!" Her mother shouted. "You wanna be useful? Then go! Get out! Prove to me that it's useful!"
Evelian hesitated. Her mother wasn't serious...was she?
But she was. Evelian packed her bags and her guitar case, and she headed out. She'll go to the best place she can think of. To her godfather Mr. Cabret.
Mr. Cabret was the closest thing she had to family other than her mother. He was her dad's best friend, until her dad died, that is...
The last time she'd ever seen Mr. Cabret was when she was a little girl...maybe around four years old. She remembered something else: Didn't he have a son?
What was his name? Hegro?
She didn't remember. During that evening, she dug through her dad's old things and finally found the adress to Mr. Cabret. When her mother wasn't around, she stole enough money for the train ride and was out.
Evelian asked around the station. Nobody's ever heard of Mr. Cabret. She was beginning to feel frustrated, so she looked at the information again. Hmm...He works at a museum.
Evedlian eventually found the museum in which her god father Mr. Cabret worked at...only to discover some shocking news:
"He's dead?"
"Oui, madam, Mr, Cabret is dead! Died three months ago." Explained the woman at the front desk of the museum. "Wait...he has a son. What happend to him?" Evelian questioned.
"The blue eyed boy? Oui. He is living with his uncle, in the clock tower, last I heard!"
"The clock tower? The one in the middle of the station?" Evelian questioned. "Oui! That is the only clock tower there is!"
"Merci!" and Evelian was out of the museum. Well...she may not beable to live with her godfather, but perhaps his brother?
She found her way back to the clock tower with a map of the station that she grabbed from the museum. It wasn't as though she stole it. Just free parchments they were handing out.
She made her way into the building. It was tall, so of course, she got a little lost.
"Hello? Hello! Anybody here?" Her voice echoed. She ran around a corner and SMACK!
She fell over and landed on her butt. She had ran into a boy!
He jumped. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Evelian picked herself up. "I'm looking for...well...I'm Mr. Cabret's goddaughter and...I wanted to see him."
He hesitated. "Mr. Cabret is dead."
"Yes, I know that now! But he has a son...and...someone told me he lives here...so...I wanted to see him." She was starting to feel silly.
The boy looked at her funny. "You're...his goddaughter? Wait. Why do you want to see him?"
Evelian sheepishly explained everything. The boy's eyes were wide. "So you came all the way down here just to live with dad?"
"Well yeah - wait - what? Dad?"
"I'm Hugo! Hugo Cabret! His son." He explained quickly. Evelian gasped. "So it is you! You're still alive! Oh and I'm sorry if this is all so sudden...me showing up...your uncle...will he mind if I stayed?" Evelian was desperate. Hugo grew quiet. "Well...I...um...about uncle...he's not here."
She was confused: "What do you mean he's not here? Where is he?"
"I don't know! He's been missing for months!" He exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders. Evelian jumped. "He what? Then why didn't you call the police?"
"Because! If I do that I'll have to be sent to an orphanage! I don't wanna be sent to an orphanage!"
Evelian thought that he made a good point. She doesn't wanna get sent to any orphanage, either. "Well bother!" She exclaimed. "Now where am I supposed to go? There's no way I'm going to an orphanage."
The two were silent.
"Where do you live?" Evelian asked him. "I live here, in the clock tower." He explained.
"Hugo? Can I stay here with you?"
You could tell he was hesitant. "Oh, please, Hugo? I need a place to stay! And I promise I won't be much of a bother." Evelian pleaded.
"You know, living in a clock tower isn't that great...and I don't exactly have much money for food and stuff." Hugo explained. "I can help out with that. I have money from home and I'm sure I can earn some!" Evelian added.
"Well...I suppose...I mean...my dad was your godfather after all. Sure."
Evelian jumped with joy. "Oh! Thank you so much, Hugo!"
He only nodded. "Um...may I ask your name?"
"Oh, right. I'm Evelian." She brought out her hand to him and he shook it. "Pleasure to meet you."
It's been a month since Evelian moved into the clock tower with Hugo. She got used to his daily routine of him doing the clock works every morning and evening. As time went on, Hugo and Evelian actually became very close friends. At first things were awkward, of course, but that was before they really knew much about eachother. But once they got used to one another's company, things were good.
There was something about Evelian that gave Hugo a sense of comfort. He didn't feel lonely anymore and it was kinda nice to know that she was his dad's goddaughter.
Hugo and Evelian managed pretty good on their own. They didn't have to steal as much because of how Evelian played guitar on the streets, she earned a pretty fair amount of money.
Hugo suddenly burst into he and Eve's bedroom one Sunday evening, scaring the heck out of her. "Hugo! What's wrong?" She quickly got scared by the look on his face. "It's...it's my notebook!"
Evelian gave him a puzzled look and he continued to explain: "So...I was down at the toyshop and well...I was...I was..." Hugo hesitated. Evelian sighed: "You were stealing again, weren't you?" His face turned red. "Ok, nevermind that now! So what happend to your notebook?" Evelian urged. "That old man, he caught me stealing something! So he made me empty my pockets and he saw my notebook, and now he has it!" Hugo sounded very frantic. Evelian gasped. "What do you mean he has it?"
"I don't know! He just took it!" Hugo was still frantic. "Well...why not telling on him? Make him give it back?" Evelian suggested. "Right, great idea! Who am I gonna tell? The Station Inspector?" there was a huge hint of sarcasm in Hugo's voice. Evelian pipped down, feeling emberassed. Tears stung in Hugo's eyes and he turned away, not wanting Eve to see. But Evelian felt awkward in her position, so she got up and left Hugo alone.
For the past couple days, Hugo's been at the toy shop bugging the old man for his notebook, and one day, he showed him a pile of ashes. Evelian's eyes grew when he had pulled out a hand full of ashes. "You didn't!"
The man chuckled. "But little lady...I did!" and he threw the ashes, watching as they fluttered away into the wind. Hugo and Evelian watched as the old man walked away, and this time he couldn't help the tears that were in his eyes. "Hugo...what was in that notebook?" Evelian asked him, in a small whisper.
"It's none of your buisness!" Hugo snapped at her. Evelian jumped, not expecting his sudden outburst. "Hugo - I'm sorry - "
Hugo only shook his head as tears stramed down his face, and he ran off.
Hugo and Evelian weren't really speaking to eachother too often after that incident. Evelian just sort of hoped that maybe from now of if she stayed out of his way, things will ease out a bit. But he was still cold shouldered and very moody, making Evelian feel cold shouldered and moody herself. Hugo had left early that morning to go to who knows where and so se
I saw you there, so beautiful Do you like Shakespeare? Jeff Buckely?
You stopped and stared, so magical
Then you asked me for my name
And we took an out town train
Before you leave, get up to go
I wanna know
Watching movies on Sunday?
Do you like kissing when it's raining?
Making faces in the station?
Do you like, I need to know
What do you like? before you go -
"Evelian!" Hugo suddenly burst into their room, making Evelian jump so bad that she pulled a string on her guitar. "What?" She snarled.
"Come on! We need to get down to the bookstore!" Hugo urged. Evelian gave him a look. "What? Why?"
"I'll explain later! Now come on!" Hugo grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the clock tower. Why was he acting like this?
The bookstore was a very big, but quiet place, books were everywhere that you looked and it seemed that there weren't many customers. Evelian watched as Hugo scanned around the bookstore. "What are we looking for?" She whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence of the room. But before Hugo could answer, a girl with short brown messy hair came out from a pile of books. "You came." She noted, looking at Hugo. Evelian glared at the two of them. Who was she? This was getting weird...
Hugo paid no attention to her glare and replied to the girl: "Where's my notebook?"
"Papa Georges didn't burn it...those ashes weren't real." The girl said quietly. Hugo crossed his arms. "How do I know that you're not lying? You've lied before."
"I'm not lying, Papa Georges is tricking you." Said the girl.
Evelian looked from Hugo to the girl. "Hugo? What's going on?" Hugo ignored her. "Why are you helping me, anyways?" He asked the girl. She thought about it for a moment. "I wanna see what's in your notebook." The girl finally answered.
"That's a secret." said Hugo. She smiled. "Good, I like secrets." And she flauntered off.
Hugo then proceeded to ignore Evelian for the rest of the evening. She was still so confused: Who was that girl? And if Hugo doesn't want her to know then why did he bring her to that bookstore anyways?
It was nightime right now and Evelian was feeling very frustrated. She sat up in her sleeping bag and watched out the window across from her as rain poured outside. Anger was whelming up inside of her: Stupid weather...so gloomy and annoying...and stupid Hugo...just sleeping there all cozy in his bed while I'm stuck in this sleeping bag...keeping stupid secrets from me. If it weren't for my stupid mother I wouldn't be in this stupid mess!
Suddenly, there was a 'creak'. Evelian looked over to see Hugo getting out from his bed and walking over to her. He stood there looking down for a moment before silently asking: "Can I sit?"
Evelian looked at the empty space next to her and nodded slowely. Hugo plopped down next to her, and out of the blue he explained everything:
"She's the old man's goddaughter, I met her after he stole my notebook and she's been telling me that she can bring it back to me, but then the man showed me the ashes and I lost all my trust into her...and she asked me to come meet me at the bookstore, I brought you for backup cuz I didn't know what she was going to do! Then she starts telling me that her godfather is tricking me and she wants to see what's inside my notebook." Hugo took a huge breath. Evelian stared at him for awhile before responding: "Oh."
Hugo kinda smiled a bit.
"I'm sorry about your notebook...because I know it must be important for you and all..." Evelian trailed off, not really knowing what to say after that.
"It is...hopefully I'll get it back...and...I'm sorry if...you know...I've been rude to you, lately." Hugo mumbled the last bit. Eve smiled. "It's ok...you're going through a tough time."
And for the rest of the night, they sat side by side talking about machines, music and magicians...soon falling asleep together.
(Next Week)
It was a Saturday morning and Evelian woke up to the sound of Hugo working on his Automanton. Evelian yawned and got out of her sleeping bag and walked across their room to him. He looked up at her. "Morning, Eve."
"Morning, Hugo. How's your automanton?" She asked sitting next to him. She didn't know anything about machines, but it always amused her to watch Hugo work on them. He smiled a bit. "I've got another couple parts here working!"
"Brilliant!" Evelian walked over to her bag and got out her wallet, counting the amount of coins in it. "It's eight o'clock...do you suppose the cafe will be open?" Evelian asked Hugo. "Yes, it opens at seven, why? Do we have enough?" Hugo asked her. She nodded.
The two then went down to the station (avoiding the inspector) and went down to the cafe. They had enough for two muffins, and one hot chocolate to share. It wasn't everyday that Hugo and Eve went out to eat food. Usually, Evelian would run out of the station and to the market, but sometimes on extreme measures, they had to go with no food at all.
Evelian blew lightly on the hot chocolate before sipping it.
"Is it any good?" Hugo asked her, breaking the silence. Evelian pushed it across the table towards him. "Try it."
Hugo picked it up, letting it warm up his hands before taking a sip. "Hmmm..."
Evelian smiled at him. "Good, isn't it?" Suddenly, it began to rain outside. Evelian sighed.
Hugo observed this. "You...don't like the rain?"
Evelian shook her head. "No, not really..."
He smirked: "I like the rain."
She huffed. "Of course you do."
"Why don't we both go out there?" Hugo suggested. She gave him an odd look. "Outside? In the rain? Where it's cold? Wet?"
"You, m'lady, have a very negative additude." Hugo said with the smirk still on his face. "Oh? And what is it exactly that we'll be doing out there?" Evelian pressed on. Hugo shrugged. "We could dance." "Dance? In the rain? Out where the Station Inspector can catch us?" This made Hugo smile. "It's a Saturday...so he has a day off! C'mon? Please? It'll be fun!"
Evelian couldn't help but wonder why Hugo wanted to do this so badly. "Well..." And with the determination in his blue eyes, she couldn't refuse. "Alright! Fine.."
Hugo immedietly took her by the hand and lead her out, into the rain. What was Hugo up to, anyways? Well, you wouldn't beleive it...but he actually got inspired by a film that he watched awhile back. It was an adventure but had some romance in it. These two people were lost in the jungle, and then when it rained, there was beautiful music. The couple danced in the rain and when that was over, there shared a beautiful kiss, revealing their feelings for eachother. But of course, Hugo didn't really think it would turn out that way...but it never hurt to try...
Of course, in reality, there wasn't going to be music randomly playing...
But it was still nice. Hugo didn`t really know how to dance, and neither did Evelian. They just kinda took eachother by the hands, twirled around, and just randomly moved their feet.
Even though she hated the fact it was raining, Evelian couldn't help but get caught in the moment. It seemed as though it was just her and Hugo. The way his eyes shined made her heart skip a beat...and she couldn't nhelp but feel just a littlke nervous when with him. Why was she feeling this way? And a bigger question, was he feeling it too?
The rain was still falling, only more lightly, and Hugo took up the courage to try and slow dance with her. They rocked back and forth slowely. Evelian looked at the ground most of the time, feeling shy. But what startled her was when Hugo gently lifted her chin up. When she looked up at him he gently pressed his lips against hers. Evelian could feel her face burning, but she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss.
Eventually they had to pull away for air, and even though there was no music, no doubt about it, they both felt sparks fly. Just then, the huge clock on the clock tower dinged. "Oh." Hugo looked up. "It's nine, I have to go help Georges at the shop." He looked back down at Eve. "Meet me there after I'm done?"
She smiled. "Yeah. Hey, Hugo?"
"Yes, Eve?"
"Do you think you'll get your notebook back soon?"
Hugo thought about it for a moment: "I really hope so, Eve...I really hope so." And with one last sweet kiss on the lips, Evelian watched as Hugo set off to work.
END
So, I'm not too proud of this one...a bit rushed...but for me it seems hard to write a one shot of something if the story was already a short one...that makes no sense, really...but ugghhh...and I'm not sure...but I think I turned Evelian into a Mary Sue... :/
But please review and give me your opinions and ideas? Maybe I'll do better next time! :)