Thanks for sticking along with Evan's journey ;)! I finished the story but am spending more time fixing loose ends and trying to make everything as perfect as possible. Review replies are, as usual, at the bottom.
I kind of wish I wrote Evan and Sorakas' stories separately instead of combining them (that's why this story is so long) like I did in Pet Dragon... but alas! There's always room to improve =)!
P.S. I finally got an accounting internship! Yay for internships and not yay for filing D: .
1.
He woke up later in a hospital bed, greeted by crowds of flowers and balloons.
"He's awake!"
Evan smiled to see his family surrounding him. "Thank goodness," his mother sighed, throwing her arms around him, "I didn't know what to think." His father stared back at him with a small smile, but the tell-tale lines around his face showed that he was more relieved than he seemed. "Welcome back, son." He said quietly.
"Thanks dad." Evan replied with an awkward chuckle. He looked down at his hands, which were lined with a few scars but it was nothing too bad. He wondered if it was all a dream. What had happened for those last few weeks? Had it all been real?
"…Was I in a coma?" He asked his parents. They looked back at each other, and then sighed and said "No, you disappeared for a few weeks and then we found you lying in a nearby field."
"I see…" He said, pulling his knees up to his chest as his mind became clouded with doubts.
"You've got a visitor…" His mother said gently. "Who?" Evan frowned, then he turned to see none other than Lily. She was wearing a pale white dress, holding a small bouquet of supermarket flowers. "Hi Evan." She said awkwardly, walking over and handing him the flowers. He smiled lightly and said "Hey. You didn't have to bring me flowers!"
"I wanted to," She sighed, "I was so worried about you."
He nodded, his face blank as his parents got up to leave. "We'll come back later." His mother said. They closed the door as they left.
Lily sat on the edge of his bed, her fingers gripping her dress tightly.
"Where were you?" She asked.
"I…I don't even know." Evan laughed, "These past few weeks have been so weird."
"I'm glad you're back." Her voice was gentle, "I really missed you."
"Oh, thanks." He replied, not sure of what to say. If she had been like this with him before, he would have fallen over his feet in pure joy and surprise… but now it was different.
"Listen, sorry about how I acted the last time we saw each other. I was just angry." She shrugged.
"Angry?" He frowned, leaning forward.
"It's just that-" she sighed, breaking off and saying, "I didn't know if I was ready for us yet."
"What?"
"…Oh."
After a few more minutes passed, Lily put her hand on his. He looked up into her warm eyes, as she asked him if he was willing give her another chance.
"Of course." He laughed, but deep inside he wasn't sure.
"So… when you're feeling better, we should go on a date." Lily said in a bright voice.
"Sounds great." He grinned. She got up to leave, and smiled at him shyly over her shoulder before leaving.
He looked out the window wondering what just happened. Lily confessed to him? Though he should have been jumping through the roof at finally being home and dating the elusive girl he had liked for years, he couldn't help but wonder if he was ever going to see Syndra again.
2.
Soraka was exhausted. It was now 7pm and the final preparations for the festival were finally finished. The festival was to be held at the front of the Ionian city hall. There were bright sapphire and golden lanterns hanging across the sky. Wooden stalls were being set up along the road by merchants. She looked up from an empty stall, and frowned when she spotted a figure in the distance. It was surely her imagination, she thought, but her heart beat quickly in fear.
Perhaps her predator was there in the bushes, waiting so he could attack her and finally rip her heart as he had wanted to for the last hundred years.
The figure walked closer and she froze in fear. One of the workmen emerged and he gave her a friendly wave. She waved back and headed towards the restroom to clear her head.
3.
Ten days passed by, and Evan's life eventually returned to normal. His injuries were almost completely, and today was his first day back at his dad's noodle shop. During the afternoon, however, the restaurant was empty, which was strange considering the popularity of his family's dishes. The bell rang when an old man walked in.
From the minute the old man entered, Evan knew what he was going to order. "Hi Craven," He greeted, "The usual?" Craven nodded and replied simply "You know me well."
They were silent as Evan began to prepare the old man's meal. When he was done, he slid the bowl over to Craven.
"A piece of advice, Evan."
He looked up, "Yes?"
"Don't hurt her."
"Who?" Evan asked, but he already knew, as he stared back into Craven's knowing eyes.
"You know who."
He didn't want to say her name out loud, as it would make him feel crazy if he actually believed that everything had been real. They spent the rest of the moment in silence, until Craven quickly finished his meal and left.
Evan frowned and turned to look out the window, his eyes focusing on the dusty horizon as he wondered what the old man could have meant. Don't hurt her? Maybe he meant Lily. He shook his head in frustration and turned to wash the dishes.
4.
They met again at the ice cream parlor again this time. Lily had chosen to dress up today and she wore a bright blue dress and high strappy heels. She beamed happily as he walked in and went up to hug him. When she pulled away, he could smell the floral perfume wafting off her skin.
Her eyes glittered as she asked about his day.
"Kinda Boring, but I'm glad to see you. How was your day?" Evan replied with a small smile.
They exchanged small talk for a few more minutes, and then sat in silence. After ten more minutes passed, Evan began to realize that he didn't feel the same way about this girl anymore though he had idolized her for so long. In fact, he was quickly growing bored and the more she talked, the more his mind began to drift off as his eyes looked out towards the darkening skies.
Lily was a nice girl, but for some reason… things weren't the same anymore. He sighed as he watched his scoop of vanilla ice cream melt in its bowl. He thought about the silvery color of Syndra's hair, and the bright purple glint of her eyes. His stomach churned and his hands kneaded as he remembered the way that she slept against him, the way that she had looked at him. He realized then how much he truly did miss her, if she even existed in the first place.
Evan exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair, confused and tired.
Lily paused from her monologue, "Are you okay?"
He quickly met her wide eyes and smiled reassuringly, "Yeah. I'm fine, just a little tired."
Her eyes softened sympathetically and she said "Do you want to go home early? I don't mind."
Evan leaned back in his seat and simply stared at her. It would be unfair to lead her on, to let her think that he was still interested in her when his thoughts were somewhere else. But at the same time, "somewhere else" probably didn't exist in the first place. He glanced out at the window again, at the swaying lanterns in the streets, and finally said "Of course not."
With a soft smile, Lily continued to tell him more about her day. As her mouth moved, he wondered whether or not Syndra was still cooking scrambled eggs with eggshells in them.
Even if she did exist, and she probably didn't, she was still crazy and uncontrollable. Sometimes she was innocent and sweet, but other times she could become abrasive and angry. Also, she was terribly boss with a severe case of ADHD. Despite all that, the thought of her made his head swirl and his heart beat so much faster. He wanted to run back and throw himself into her long arms, he wanted to-
"Oh shoot!"
Evan looked up at the sound of Lily's voice. She was staring down at her cell phone, "My mom needs me to get home early tonight." She gave him a sympathetic smile, to which he feigned a disappointed look.
"Alright, well, I guess I'll see you next time then."
"Mmhmm. Sorry Evan." She sighed, giving him a tight hug
After she left, he sat in his chair some more and finished his ice cream alone. Sonia poked her head out of the kitchen and said that they would be closing in a few minutes. After he finished, loneliness and yearning swirling inside of him, he paid and left, walking out into the cold streets. This time, there were multiple people walking beside him.
He walked along the streets, his cold hands stuffed into his pockets as he pushed past several people towards his home. He opened the gate and closed it behind him, staring at the white full moon in the dark clouds. Was she staring at the same moon, wondering where he was? He wondered if she even understood why he had left her.
5.
"Evan, what's the answer to this problem?"
Evan looked up from his desk, "What?"
The teacher stared back at him angrily as she said "I want you to tell me the answer to the third problem."
He looked down at his textbook and read the problem silently, but his mind drew a blank. The teacher scoffed, crossing her arms. "Class," she spat, "When you come to school, it's not to take up air. It's to learn. Evan, pay attention." The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day. She rolled her eyes and dismissed the class.
Evan zipped up his bag numbly as his friends joked about the teacher's foul mood. Usually, he did pay attention in class… but today was different. Everything was different now. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine her face in his mind. If it truly had just been a dream, then he wanted to go back every night.
He didn't regret running from her, but he wished it had been different. He wished that she had been real. It's time to get real, he thought angrily to himself, get over it and stop chasing imaginary girls.
As he walked out towards the front gate, he felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned to see Lily. She grinned brightly at him as she asked whether he was going to the festival.
"Oh, yeah, my parents are going too."
"Yay!" Lily clapped her hands together, "I'm so happy we'll get to see each other there!"
"Hey Lily…"
"Hmm?"
"Is it true you're Irelia's god daughter?"
"What?!" Lily laughed, "Where did you hear that from? No!"
"Oh." Evan's eyebrows raised up a little, "I see. It was just a rumor then."
"Evan, you're weird."
The more he was around Lily, the more he realized really that she was just a normal girl. She wasn't the perfect superstar that people had drawn her out to be. She wasn't the most beautiful flower in the field after all.
Review replies
hanse: I'm glad to hear that you've enjoyed the chapters so far, and I appreciate all the honest advice you gave me. I didn't actually edit any of my stories before submitting them previously, but after reading your review I decided to form a habit of reading and editing my stories before publishing them to fix some of the awkwardness and loose ends. Your comments are very endearing :-) so thank you!
I agree about Syndra's character and people not knowing much about her, but at the same time I definitely feel like I could have done better at giving her a more solid personality instead of a jumpy ADD one.
guest: Thanks :)! I agree, looking at her past and everything, Syndra just seems like she's a sweet girl who happens to be run mad with power!
posiden: Glad to hear that you like Evan's character, he's based off some of my real life guy friends so I was hoping to make him as realistic and normal as possible in contrast to Syndra's wild personality :-).
infinite: Thank you! :)