You Were Wrong
Everwood fanfiction by Leet911 (Leet911@hotmail.com)
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It is written in plain white lettering on a green panel. The sign is a simple, yet sturdy construction.
Welcome to Everwood, Colorado
A dark blue car sits parked on the shoulder, barely twenty feet from the sign. The driver's door stands wide open. Hazard lights blink in the pinkish-orange glow of the setting sun.
Delia is planted in front of the road sign, her hand resting lightly against it. She runs her fingers over it, as if to convince herself it is real. As if to convince herself that she is finally leaving this place. Leaving to go where? She doesn't know.
She sighs, plucks the ever-present baseball cap from her head so that she can scratch her tangled hair. It is shorter now. Her hair used to be so much longer. When she had cut it, people had politely said "I like it" or "it's nice", although she knew they never meant it. She hated their lies. They had liked her long hair; they thought it made her pretty, cute, adorable. She preferred her hair the way it was now. Ragged, disorganized, a small elastic futilely trying to hold a too short ponytail at the back of her head. It was so symbolic of the way she felt. Too bad no one ever noticed.
What would Ephram say about the haircut? She didn't know. He had never seen it. Six years ago he had moved back to New York, leaving her here, in Everwood. She hadn't blamed him them, hadn't been angry at him. But six years had changed her. They never talked on the phone anymore. Only a few mumbled words when they had to. His letters and e-mails were always about himself, about how well he was doing for himself in New York. She had stopped writing to him long ago. She only responded when she had to. She never sent him pictures of herself, although he insisted on doing it himself. "For Dad", he would write, but she knew he also wanted her to see them. He sent her birthday cards and gifts every year, and she reciprocated, just to keep up the pretense. She didn't know when it had all changed for the worse. When had Ephram become so different? When had she become so different?
The fruity artificial fragrance of her own shampoo wafts up to her from the hat. She turns it over, considers the front. Colorado Avalanche. She doesn't care. At one point she had wanted to stop wearing the cap, but she knew her father would see it right away. Though he was blind to almost anything else that happened to his children, he would undoubtedly notice such a profound change in his daughter. So she held onto her hats. Besides, the cap gave her something to hide behind. A well of darkness in which her face was invisible.
She puts the hat back on, gingerly touching the multiple piercings in her left ear. Another change Ephram had never witnessed. She counts the silver rings as she touches all five of them. She remembers the pain it took to put them there. She remembers the money she paid to get that done. She remembers her father's look of disbelief when she returned home that day, sporting her new jewelry. She had been seventeen then.
Twenty-one now. Old enough to strike out on her own. She had been mature enough long ago, but her father had never accepted it. He hadn't accepted it yesterday, though her choice was no longer open to discussion.
The ex-boyfriend, Jack, hadn't wanted her to leave either. He thought he was still in love with her. It had hurt her to reject him. She had never been good at saying no, but he wasn't right for her. He didn't understand. He had even offered to go with her. She had laughed at that.
~[ ]~
"I don't want you to come with me. I want to be alone."
"But..."
"Jack, I didn't break up with you because I wanted to leave. We broke up because it wasn't working. I'm not going to say it was your fault. I'll take the blame if that's what you want. I don't care. Maybe I never did. I'm leaving, and you're not going to stop me."
"Delia, I..."
"I don't love you, Jack. We've been through this already. It's time for you to stop dreaming about things you can't change and do something with your life."
"Please?"
"It's time for me to stop pretending that I don't hate you."
~[ ]~
Had she really said that? It seemed so harsh in retrospect. She hadn't really meant it. It had probably upset him. It wasn't fair that she had been so blunt with him. She should have apologized. Maybe she'll call him tonight, when she reaches the next town.
She looks out onto the road ahead as she climbs back into the car, her legs dangling out the open side. The sun is almost gone. Why had she decided leave at dusk? Why had she let Sam talk her into spending one more day in Everwood? Because they didn't have any other friends. She had lingered for an extra ten hours simply because her best friend had asked. But then again, what are friends for?
Everwood. She will be back, she knows. If only to visit her father, or her friend, or Nina, or Edna; or maybe even just to see the pine trees and breathe the clean mountain air. Despite it all, there were memories here. The first half of her life had been spent in New York, but it was the latter half that shone clear in her mind. It was here that she had more experiences, more memories. Both happy and sad. In the end, she would always be from New York, but she had grown up in Everwood.
The car door slams shut. The headlights come on. The engine rolls over. Slowly, Delia pulls away from her past, the setting sun at her back. She glances in the mirror, sees the road sign dwindling away. Up ahead, there is already another one announcing the miles left to go. She sighs, blinks repeatedly as the tears begin to blur her vision.
"Ephram," she whispers into the approaching night, "you were wrong about this place."
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END