Disclaimer: You people just don't care about the song, do you?!
Friends No Matter What
Part 6 - Present Day
By Travis Blink
************************************************************************** ~Present Day~ Evan stared at the picture. It had been taken at some barbecue. He thought it might have been in the one his father had a couple of years ago, but he wasn't really sure. Pietro and Evan were sitting together, trying to look cool in their huge sports jackets and backward caps. Evan smiled at the picture. It was a sad smile, though. It was then that Evan realized that it was over. Then a thought crossed his head. Maybe it wasn't over yet. He took the stairs two at a time and ran out of the house grabbing his coat on his way out. The door slammed behind him. ************************************************************************** The Maximeff sibling who was at the cemetery was not the one that Evan was expecting to see. Wanda placed a single red rose on her mother's grave, and, without turning, she said, "Hi Evan." "Hi Wanda." Evan said back, stuffing his bare hands into his jacket's pickets. It was cold, and there were paths of snow on the ground. Evan stared at Wanda's back and watched the wind blow her long brown hair around. She was squatting on the ground so she was eye to eye with her mother's tombstone. Finally, Evan couldn't stand the quiet anymore. "Where have you been? Don't you know what kind of shit you put your brother though? Don't you care?" Wanda stood and turned quickly. Her hair swung around and almost hit Evan in the face. "Of course I care," she snapped. "Why would you say that? You don't know anything about what I went though." Tears started to fill her eyes. "You don't know what it's like to listen to your 'sisters' cries for help while your 'Daddy' raped them. Praying to God that he'd stop, but hoping he wouldn't come after you next." Evan was taken back. He had heard about what went on in the Hopmores' house, but this eye - witness story was too much to bare. "But - " stuttered Evan. "Why didn't you tell any one?" Wanda wiped her selves across her eyes and Evan searched his pocket for a Kleenex. "I tried to tell Pietro a thousand times. I even did once, about the beatings. But what could he do? He was just a kid." "I could've helped." Evan knew that sounded silly though, since he was 'just a kid,' too. "You did. You were with me that night." She looked off to the side, not really looking at anything. "You were my first, you know." "What?" Evan was confused. "My first kiss," said Wanda, still not looking at anything. "Remember at Nick Lee's party, how I told you that Josh Foremen dumped me?" Evan nodded, even though Wanda still wasn't looking at him. "That's because I wouldn't make out with him. If I hadn't kissed him yet, why would I make out with him? I wanted my first kiss to be meaningful. I wanted it to be with someone I care about. Someone who would treasure the kiss just as much as I would. So, Josh dumped me. And I kissed you." "You chosed me," whispered Evan. Wanda nodded, her head turned away. "But you didn't come to see me, did you?" Evan shook his head. "No. But I'm glad I found you." He leaned to kiss her.