Syndromes Apprentice

By arnhem softfire

Disclaimer: i own none of these characters besides Evelyn. I made her up.

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Abruptly woken by the sound of her alarm clock, Evelyn rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and grumbled. For it was a good dream that she was awakened from, a dream where what she thought mattered to someone other than herself, where people listened, where there was good in the world.

But that would never be anything but a dream.

She trudged over to her closet and pulled on a pair of jeans and her favorite shirt, a small dark purple shirt adorned with broken hearts. Then she went down to breakfast.

Once again she found herself alone in the cluttered kitchen, which wasn't new to her. Her mother was obviously still sleeping, and her father hadn't been home in days.

"Probably found himself a new girl," she stated to no one in particular. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and absently ate half of the bowl, brushed her teeth, fixed her hair and looked at herself in the mirror.

Evelyn was a short girl for her age, she was already 17 and hadn't grown an inch past 5'4. Her body was curvaceous, that was the only way to put it. She was always skinny, but her womanly curves had filled out sometime last year. Her hair was raven black, in long ringlets that fell down her back. Her eyes were the color of chocolate, with hints of green. She was considered a pretty girl to most of her peers.

She frowned, for a pretty girl was ALL they saw. They never took the time to know who she really was, and when they found out her dark thoughts and depressing past, they wanted nothing to do with her. It frustrated her that people could just think that she was just a pretty face with no heart or brain. And so she chose to isolate herself. Some people called her the loner, she called herself highly misunderstood.

She shook away those unhappy thoughts that suited her life and left for school. On the way there she considered running away, for the umpteenth time. Running away with someone who would care for what she thought, for what she dreamed, for her past, and future.

And then the bell rang, signaling the students to enter the school and go to their first class.

Evelyn never saw any reason to pay attention to classes, she was a very intellegent student. All of her classes were advanced, and most of the work they did was busywork, no purpose to it at all. And these were the times she let her mind wander free.

Though after a while, even that can get boring, so she settled for drawing. She was very talented in the fields of art. She could draw anything and everything if needed, she always drew to express emotions. Today her sketch was a dark meadow, everything dead and gray. One lone tree stood off to the side, dead and worn from the years it had seen. A raven sat on one of its bare branches, poised to take flight.

She heard whispers and felt someones eyes on her. She looked up from her drawings to the fare of Amy Greenwood. A...cheerleader. Don't take this the wrong way, being a cheerleader in general doesn't make you a bad person. But she was just evil! She was snobby and cruel, and would spread rumors faster than you could blink. She was a person that you couldn't trust with your secrets. And currently she was spreading a new lie about Evelyn no doubt.

"Is there something you want?"she asked her coldly

she looked taken aback, 'she obviously didnt think I heard her whispers' evelyn thought, 'how dense can you get?'

Regaining her voice, amy whispered " what makes you think I want to talk to you?"

Evelyn glared, "well, you were obviously talking about me, I thought you might need my assistance, to maybe tell you if the rumor your spreading this time is true?"

She blushed and said nothing. "That's what I thought"evelyn smirked.

It doesnt take half a brain to know who won that battle.

Lunch was nothing special either. People sat with their friends and talked and laughed and had a good time. Not Evelyn, she thought that lunch was a waste of time, time she could be spending on important things. She usually sat alone and kept to herself. Today was no different

Finally, it was time to return home. Evelyn walked back in the cool autumn air, impatient to get home and lock herself in her room, the only place she could find solace. But she returned to total chaos.

The house was a mess, there was a broken glass left on the floor, dishes piled high in the sink, bills and checks scattered all over the table, and looking around she counted 5 unfinished drinks. She moaned. Again her mother was drunk.

She found her mother tottering around the house, drunk enough to barely stand. Her face was worn and tearstained, her hair a haggled mess. She insisted on driving somewhere to pick up her husband at the airport. She looked up and finally noticed her daughters presence.

" Hello dear, do you think you could help me find the keys? I cant seem to find them anywhere" she asked in a slurred voice.

Evelyn sighed "Mom, you cant go out like this. Your drunk again. Why don't you go and get some rest? It will all be better in the morning,"

Her mothers face contorted in fury " you little shit! Your father needs me to pick him up at the airport! He's waiting for us!"

Evelyn froze. Her mother never called her that before. Her heart bust with anger and sorrow, but she took deep breaths, repeating to herself her mantra she used scince she was young. "Be strong, be strong, be brave, be in control..."

"No mom, he's not there, he's still away. Take a rest, come on, I'll help you into bed."

"You never cared about your father. You never cared about me! I sometimes wish I never even had you!" her mother tried to swing at Evelyn and missed.

"That's not true! And you know it!" Evelyn's voice raised slightly. She grabbed her mothers arms and tried to steer her to her room.

" get away from me! Your father needs me!" her mother screamed.

SLAP!

Evelyn was in shock. She couldn't believe her mother hit her. The next strike, Evelyn was ready. She caught her mothers wrist and held on tight, looking into her moms eyes, trying to find her real mom, to release her from this state.

"He doesn't need you mom! He doesn't need anyone! And he's NOT COMING HOME!" Evelyn roared.

her mother stood in shock for a second, then collapsed into the young girls arms, sobbing. "I just want him back!" she whimpered

" I know mom, I do too..."

evelyn finally put her mother to bed, and cleaned up the house. She washed the dishes, scrubbed the floors, picked up the broken glass, and picked up the clutter on the table.

While sorting through the discarted mail, she noticed that 4 of them were bills. She sighed, ' thats gonna have to come out of college funds too...' she had only found out last year that her mother was in fact not getting her monthly checks from dad, but taking it out of her funds.

Evelyn trudged up the stairs with a heavy heart. She closed the door to her room and leaned against it, finally letting the tears fall. She fell onto her bed and cried herself to sleep.

'Dreams never do come true' was her last waking thought before sleep claimed her mind.

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well that was depressing to write! Review and tell me your thoughts so far:3