Evangeline POV
Evan woke up unhappy as always. Not to the sound of her alarm-clock, but to the sound of her step-mother screaming as always.
"Eve!" she had never used the correct name because that meant she had to acknowledge that she cared about Evan. "I'm hungry!"
It was four in the morning, but does that matter? Of course not. Evan groaned but she got up and went downstairs. While she tried to have a normal sleep schedule. Diana never wanted her to get comfortable, so with that came stupid requests, pointless demands, and tedious tasks. It was all part of the job of being the evil stepmother. The role which Diana had accepted gratefully as soon as she heard that Evan's father had finally died from his kidney cancer. Evan's biological mother had already died from a car crash with a drunk driver involved. Judging from Diana's choices of beverages right now, she was headed down that same road. Evan didn't care though. She just did what she was told. She had promised her father that she would serve her stepmother with the utmost respect, even though Diana had claimed that she had no money to pay for his treatment. So that was her life: day in day out, serving under a real bitch, but she had no choice.
Despite their living in New York, Diana insisted that the house remain at 60 degrees unless it was 50 below. Evan's pajamas were always cold. Diana agreed to buy Evan clothes so she didn't make her stepmother look bad, but nobody would see her pajamas so Diana only allowed the most threadbare, worn out, and uncomfortable clothes for Evan to sleep in.
Back to the main point: Evan was freezing. As she stepped into the warmth of the fire crackling in the hearth, Diana was sitting in a rocking chair with her laptop open right next to it. Diana had the weirdest work schedules in the world. She seemed to never sleep, but Evan knew that she just slept while Evan was at school and work.
"Make me an omelette." Diana demanded.
Without thinking, Evan rushed to the stove while saying, "Yes, ma'am!"
She worked as fast as she could because she knew Diana never waited for long. She mixed in some cherry tomatoes and extra olives just how Diana liked it. She set the plate down in front of her mistress with a cup of espresso that she had painstakingly taken the time as well.
Diana took the fork in hand and put the tiniest bite in her mouth. Immediately she spit it out in Evan's face shouting, "You forgot to add milk."
Evan knew she had added milk. It was still sitting on the counter, but still, she responded, "I'm sorry ma'am. I will add it next time." Diana only chuckled muttering about how she wished there was a closer orphanage that didn't need the trouble of so much paperwork to put Evan in there. To be honest, Evan would prefer the orphanage, but she stood by her father's last wish. She bent down to clear the full dish. Diana proceeded to slam the fork down and almost stabbed Evan if she hadn't snatched her hand back in time.
"What do you think you're doing?! I'm still eating!"
Evan sighed and left Diana, to clean up the dishes she had dirtied in the kitchen. She had hoped to eat the omelette seeing as Diana never let her eat anything if she could help it. As she scrubbed the pan she simply told herself Just a few more hours. School started at eight but the campus was an hour of walking away. Diana didn't let Evan drive any of her three cars unless she wanted her to pick up fancy clothes from Chanel or Gucci or if she wanted a chauffeur. Evan was basically an indentured servant, but she had a few freedoms. School for one thing. Evan was a senior and as long as she was the top of her class, Diana promised her that she could go to any college within reason. Work was another. Evan worked at the library with Mrs. Clearwater and Mr. Bennet. After school anyway. On the weekends, Evan worked at the local diner as a waitress for at least eight hours as Diana commanded. The hours ticked by as Evan tried to complete most of her chores before that evening so she could hang out with Ava and Thalia after work. She had to scrub the bathroom, vacuum every inch of carpet upstairs, dust every room in the house, and mop the floors daily. Those were just the basics. Diana always managed to come up with a few extra just to make sure Evan had no time for friends. Somehow, as Evan walked out the door, Diana had nothing to add. Maybe it's going to be a good day after all.
Goode High School just happened to be across town. Not to mention in the busiest part of New York so Evan still had to hurry. She looked at her watch: 7:45. Great! She was early for once. She could go read one of Sara Dessen's books that Mrs. Clearwater had let her grab from the library. Evan was just crossing the last street when she felt a wall slam into her. She rolled back over the hood of a Maserati Spyder that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. The force then shoved her forward as the guy stopped. She felt like a pancake as she landed on her shoulder on the street. She sat up only to have her hip radiate with pain and her shoulder seem to explode as well. She hadn't screamed when the car had hit her, but now she did. Before she was hit again, she crawled her way over to the sidewalk. The driver had been in shock when he'd hit her, but now as he watched her crawl her way back to the sidewalk, he jolted himself back to reality and threw open his door.
Noah POV
Noah had not expected to hit someone today. As he got out of the car, he ran a check list of everything he had done that morning that could've made him completely see right through a human. He looked back to his friends: Logan, Mason, Justin, and Wes seemed to be such a state of shock that they couldn't move. Noah ran over to her and watched as she checked over herself. She seemed to think that she was superman because as soon as she saw no broken bones, she tried to stand up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" was all he could stammer out before she took a step and immediately collapsed. Conveniently in his arms. Instead of saying sorry or anything like that, Noah could only think to say, "Are you crazy?!"
The girl huffed and looked up at him for the first time and Noah immediately fell back into shock. He first saw her deep blue eyes that seemed to have seen a thousand lifetimes before this one. The pupil were rimmed with the tiniest of green. Next, he ran his eyes over her dark blonde hair. She had high cheekbones and her jawline looked sharper than a knife. Freckles spread across her nose and a little on her forehead. She had a gray pullover fuzzy sweater that looked incredibly soft paired with ripped jeans that were rolled up at her ankles. She wore grey keds that seemed to be laced in a special way. This girl was extremely pretty.
"Am I crazy? Did you even look at the light before you turned?" she shouted.
"Oh shit, yeah, sorry about that." Noah jumped in.
"Wow, and I thought it would take you a second to realize what you did."
"Hey! It's not like I meant to hit you!" Noah defended.
"Well if you did then you need help." She shot back. She tried to get up again but this time Noah grabbed her shoulders and set her back down. She jolted like she had been electrocuted when he touched her right shoulder.
"Hey, you need a doctor, let me call someone," he tried to reason with her. At the words "call someone" her face turned fearful.
"No, I'm fine. Just please help me get myself walking again." She looked so desperate that Noah didn't even hesitate. After a few steps of leaning heavily on him, she began to walk on her own. It was definitely in pain, but she was able to move by herself.
"Thanks." She said and without another word she marched inside the school.
As Noah got back into the driver's seat he looked at his friends. "Holy Shit! Does she go to our school?!"
Logan looked at him as if he had never seen Noah before. "Are you kidding?! She's on the track team! She's like one of the fastest girls on the team. Not to mention valedictorian of the class!"
Noah just stared at him. "She's a senior?"
Mason started to crack up, "Where have you been for the past four years?!" he laughed.
"Hey, all I'm saying is she looked really small for her age." Noah shot back.
Justin took a glance at her disappearing figure, "I agree. Actually, Wes, you're on the track team. Have you seen her parents at any of the track meets?"
Wes seemed to dive into his memories before resurfacing to say, "She always comes alone. But she's one of the nicest people I know. Her name's Evangeline. She brings bananas for the meets sometimes."
Noah was starting to feel worse and worse. The guilt just got heavier as he noticed her throughout the day. First, he saw her in an AP Biology classroom as he went to the bathroom in second period. Then at lunch, he saw her reading a book at a table with a bunch of girls at lunch. Every few minutes, she seemed to absentmindedly rub her shoulder or hip in alternating shifts. At the end of the day, before swim practice, he almost went to talk to her at her locker. But before he could say anything, a girl with long blonde hair, wearing joggers, came and they walked away to the bathroom before he could get up the courage. After a grueling practice of Coach Henderson not letting them get a single rest. Noah walked with sore muscles to the track to grab Wes before they went to study at the library. He sucked at his trigonometry class. Wes had just walked up when another person caught Noah's eye.
The girl, Evangeline, was tying her laces in that weird way as the blonde haired girl stood over her. As she finished, they stood up and walked towards the parking lot. Telling Wes that he would meet him at the car, Noah chased after her.
"Wait!" he yelled.
Evangeline look even more sore than him as she slowly turned around to face him. "What?"
Noah jogged over taking in all of this girl for the first time. Now, she wore running leggings that revealed extremely lean legs with a hoodie for her top. "Hey, Evangeline, I feel really bad about hitting you this morning-"
"You WHAT?" the blonde haired girl jumped in.
"Thalia, relax. It was a mistake. He just bumped into me with his car this morning as I got to school!" Evangeline seemed frantic as she explained this. Then she spoke to Noah with an understanding tone, "First off, please call me Evan. Evangeline is way too long. Look, I get it. You made a mistake. It's ok, just watch where you're going next time."
Noah found himself getting lost in her eyes and had to shake his head to snap out of it. "But, uh, can't I make it up to you? I just feel really bad." Noah started to plead.
"And you should be!" Thalia exclaimed.
Evan held out a hand to stop Thalia from evidently punching Noah and took a breath, "Noah, you don't have to do anything. Right now I just need to make it through high school and go to college and I don't want anyone to owe me favors, but right now I have absolutely no time to cash them in."
Noah felt his stomach fill with butterflies. "You know my name?"
Evan cracked a small smile. "Well, yeah, who doesn't know the superstar of the school?"
Noah had known he was popular, but now he never realized how oblivious it had made him. "Still, I want to do something for you."
Evan smiled and was about to say something when Thalia cleared her throat and mumbled, "It's ten til," Evan gasped and started running towards Thalia's car.
"Sorry, I have to go, I'll see you around!" and with that Thalia gunned the engine and they shot out of the parking lot.
Noah sat there flabbergasted until Wes texted him. Are you coming? Noah sighed and trooped through the snow back to his car.
Evangeline POV
It was Friday, which was why Evan was shocked to see so many people at the library as Thalia, the angel, dropped her off. Evan shivered as she walked in.
"Hello, dear," Mr. Bennett said as he caught her shivering, "I just heated up some water for some tea, but maybe you should use it for some cocoa for you? Why don't you go to the back and change into some warmer clothes too. They may be warm enough for running outside, but now your just freezing yourself!"
Evan smiled in thanks. She calmly left to slip back into her warm jeans and grey pull over over her favorite long sleeve T-shirt from when she and Thalia had run in the Turkey Trot before coming back. As she raised her arms over her head, she winced. She glanced at her shoulder and gasped. She shoulder had a huge scrape that extended down and around her collar bone. She took another step and glanced at her hip which was throbbing. A huge bruise had taken over the joint and it was swelling. With that, she slipped her clothes on and hobbled back to her desk at the front where a pile of books awaited her to be checked in. On the desk, though, was a huge cup of hot chocolate with a small bit of whipped cream on top. Just how she liked it. Evan glanced at Mr. Bennett whispering a thanks before starting her work. It was getting close to the end of the semester, so a lot of students were turning in heavy textbooks. Emphasis on heavy. She winced every time she dragged a textbook toward herself. Track had been bad enough. Maybe she should've skipped practice, but if there was one thing that Evan had learned her whole high school career of running, it was that your stamina comes and goes like lightning. Miss too much and BOOM. It's like you're running for the first time.
The hot cocoa helped with her chills but once these two boys came in and accidentally jammed the automatic doors (they were pushing and shoving each other until one of them ran into one of the doors), the air got colder. Shivering, typing, and stamping seemed to help the shift go by a lot faster. By the time it was 6:00. Evan was practically shaking the desk and had turned super pale. Her being anemic wasn't helping. Diana had only grudgingly let Evan go to the doctor if she was sick on her deathbed and once when she'd had whooping cough that had her hacking to within an inch of her life, the doctor ordered blood work revealing an iron deficiency. No one knew about it. Evan wasn't embarrassed by it but she knew that it would make Thalia and Ava worry so she just kept it silent and drank as much water as she could. Evan was also young for her grade, she had only just turned 17 in August. That meant no going the the store and buying iron pills because she was too young. All she could do was drink water.
As Evan cleaned up her desk a boy dumped an enormous textbook on the table. What was one more book huh? Evan checked it in and found that the book had a late fee.
"Excuse me?" She called after the kid. "You have to pay a late fee!"
The boy stopped and turned around. "Oh, my bad. How mu-" he studdered to a stop and Evan looked up into the face of Noah.
Noah POV
After 3 hours of studying, Noah had found that he was getting no better at Trig and went to drop off his textbook that had been given to him at the beginning of the year. Waving to his mom as he returned his book, Noah plunked his book on the check in desk. At least she knew that he was trying.
"Excuse me? You have to pay a late fee!" the lady had called out to him.
Oops! "Oh my bad, how mu-" Noah's question tapered to a stop as he looked into Evan's deep blue eyes once again.
"Ten dollars, please." She said with a small smile.
Noah reached into his pockets and grabbed his wallet without his eyes ever leaving her face. "So this is where you ran off to," he said handing her the cash.
"Well, every teenager has a job. This is just mine." she replied.
As Evan gripped the textbook and attempted to stack it on the return pile, Noah watched the color drain from her face as she stood up.
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked as she stacked the book then closed her eyes and steadied herself leaning heavily on her desk.
"Yeah," she responded slowly while heavily breathing, "I'm fine."
Slowly, the color returned to her face and with that she got up and disappeared to a back room. Noah was staring at her retreating back when someone said next to him, "Whatcha lookin at?"
Noah jumped about a foot in the air and turned to look into his girlfriend's face.
"Jeez, Nora, you gave me a heart attack!" Noah said.
"Fine, next time I'll just let you stare at some girl." She said angrily. Nora was pretty. No one would deny that. Her dyed black hair gave her a shadowy gaunt look that a lot of guys found really hot. Her fake eyelashes were crooked and her face while caked in makeup was spotless. She just rolled her eyes and dragged Noah back to his seat.
Noah had never planned to go out with Nora for so long. He had only done it to get his friends off his back as they had droned on and on about how Nora and him would be the perfect couple. About two minutes into their relationship, Noah had known it was going to end in a huge fight, but he humoured his friends and now he was stuck with a jerk of a girlfriend who never let him talk to another girl.
After enduring a five minute lecture about how he was never faithful, Noah witnessed Thalia stroll into through the broken doors. "Hey, Mrs. Clearwater, is Evan still here?" she asked calmly. Noah's mom pointed towards the back and without even hesitating, Thalia climbed over the counter, and walked into the room. Not two minutes passed and Noah witnessed her leave with Evan. If Evan wasn't feeling good at the desk, she was practically dead now. Thalia had her arm around her as Evan limped and hobbled. She even stumbled at the door, but Thalia stayed strong and helped her get into the car and drove away.
God, Track practice must have been murder on her. Was all Noah could think about as he waited for Nora to gather her fifteen million shopping bags and go.
Evangeline POV
Thank goodness no one had asked what had happened as Evan had walked out of the library. She had forgotten how much pain she was in while at the desk. Now, while Evan was sitting in Thalia's car waiting for Ava, she was ever thankful for her friends. After waiting a few minutes, Ava came marching out of her house wearing a long coat that reached her knees and a beautiful scarf that brought out her eyes. Her ugg boots only advanced the image as the trio of girls went to go see a movie. Evan had to let Ava know every day of their lives that she had the best fashion sense out of all of them.
Evan had been wanting to see the new Aladdin movie for ages, and as she sat in her seat waiting for the previews to start, her stomach grumbled in anticipation. Ava had graciously donated popcorn and snacks for all of them and Evan inhaled it seeing as she had spent her tip money on a new book instead of lunch that day. Breakfast had been nonexistent. Books were Evan's only escape hole and since she lived in Hell with Diana, books were in constant demand. Thalia had even gotten a bag of ice to help Evan's hip after having to help Evan out of the library. Evan often hated her life, but her friends were something she wouldn't trade any of it for. The movie ticked by super fast and Evan found herself being dropped off all too quickly. As she limped into the house, she prepared herself for Diana's rage.
And Diana didn't disappoint. Evan was not only denied dinner, but she was also denied sleep until she scrubbed the whole kitchen clean as Diana had tried to make pasta but ended up just making the kitchen ceiling rain flour.
At two in the morning. Evan finally collapsed into bed, wondering how awful her shift would be tomorrow on four hours of sleep and a crippled body. After a few minutes of pondering this, Evan feel into a deep sleep.
Evan heard screaming. Alarm bells. A police siren. She opened her eyes to a car that looked more like an accordian that a vehicle. The hood looked mid note as the paramedics dragged a mangled body out of the door they had to pry open with chainsaws and crow bars. A sheet was laid over the body and a policeman walked over to Evan to say "how sorry he was for her loss". Evan woke up crying.
Noah POV
Noah turned over and looked at his clock. 7:00. Might as well get up. Noah rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes. His parents were divorced but they were more civil in most to the point where his mom let him stay at his dad's significantly bigger house and his dad let him hang out with his mother all the time. While brushing his teeth, Noah tried to come up with ways to break up with Nora. It's not you it's me. This isn't going to work. We had a thing, now it's over. None of them felt right. All he could think about was Evan. The way her dark blonde hair swished behind her in a ponytail. The way her eyes seemed to be able to see every secret that Noah had ever kept. God, she was beautiful.
Noah looked at himself in the mirror. He had untidy, short brown hair that was always gelled to within an inch of its life. His eyes were a startling grey that a lot of people found intimidating. In his childhood, Noah had tried to hide their harshness behind glasses even though he had freakishly good vision. Now he just didn't care. He even used his eyes during the football season to overpower the other team. His face was chiseled, but Noah always thought that it gave him a rather creepy and gaunt look. Which was why he was surprised that a lot of girls had fallen for him for this exact reason.
Noah went downstairs and heated up a waffle in the toaster while making himself some hot chocolate. He hated coffee. Some friends had tried to convert him, but no matter how many sugars or creams he put in the drink, it always seemed way too bitter and gross. Hot chocolate was a whole other story. He liked it with a touch of whipped cream on top. The cream always seemed to find a patch of his throat that hurt and smooth it out. After taking a long sip, Noah sighed with happiness. His dad owned a whole building for a house which meant with only one kid, Noah got a lot of space. He had the whole top two floors to the mansion.
After eating breakfast, Noah slipped on a coat and put on his boots and got ready to hang out with his friends. He drove over to the diner where they always started out their Saturdays and waited. After sitting in a booth for a few minutes, Wes drove into the lot with Logan, and Mason and Justin followed. After gathering in the booth, a waitress was called over. Of course, Noah did the smallest of double takes finding himself looking at Evan once again.
"Can I get you anything?" she said, not looking up from her notepad.
Noah found himself speechless, so Justin jumped in saying, "Yeah, I'll take a coffee and one of your guys' famous slices of pecan pie."
Evan just smiled and wrote down the order.
Wes was next asking for a water and a similar slice of pie. Mason sat up asking for an espresso and more pie. Evan looked up or the first time at that noticing how Mason was already twitching and laughing with enough energy already. Then she shrugged and looked to Noah.
Almost gasping, Noah replied, "I'll have a cherry coke and some pecan pie as well please."
After looking at the five men, Evan said, "Do you guys just want a whole pie to share?"
They all just shrugged and nodded. With that Evan turned around and hobbled back to the kitchen.
"Jeez, Noah, did you ever take her to the hospital?!" Mason said watching her leave.
"She wouldn't let me." Noah replied.
"Maybe we should invite her to hang out with us." Justin offered.
"I don't know," Wes seemed a little skeptical. "Maybe she will just want to go home after her shift. I know that at practice, she was definitely in pain. She just kept running while ignoring the tears running down her face."
Noah was impressed. All athletes were dedicated, but after getting hit by a car, even he would've taken at least a few days' rest.
"What events does she do?" Noah found himself asking."
"All of the distance ones," Wes responded. "She's run the 1600m, 3200m, and the 800m all in one meet at one point."
Noah's amazement only grew. After eating, the guys decided to at least see if she wanted company after work.
"Sorry guys." she replied. "My shift ends at three and I was going to go on a run with Thalia after."
All three boys stared at her.
"How are you even walking?" was all Wes replied.
"Distance running teaches endurance." She responded with a smile. "Pain is temporary, but stamina is what keeps you going."
After a baffling conversation, Evan left to serve other tables.
"How crazy is this girl?!" Mason shot out.
"On a scale from one to ten?" Noah asked. After a nod, he responded, "Fifteen."
Everyone stood up to leave, but all Noah could do was wonder how in pain Evan must have been. He planned to come back and beg Evan not to go on the run before she literally broke down into dust.
The day went by fast with a movie and a couple hours at the arcade. Then Noah bid his friends farewell in attempt to stop Evan from killing herself. When he got to the shop though, it seemed his work was already being done by Thalia herself.
"Are you crazy?" Thalia exclaimed while Evan washed a few last minute dishes. "We already ran about eight miles yesterday! And that was over distance!"
Evan shrugged. "Hey, I just don't want to lose the state meet next week."
Thalia sighed. "I know, I don't either, but you also don't want to over work yourself. You're supposed to peak at the state meet, not on a trail run."
Evan slumped in defeat. "Fine. Then what do you want to do because Diana won't let me do anything unless it's for the team or school."
Thalia smiled. "I know what to do." Smirking she ripped off Evan's apron revealing her tight dark washed jeans with an oversized sweater. Evan wore leather ankle booties that looked incredibly comfortable. Thalia then pushed Evan out the door, and Noah found himself in an empty diner.
Evangeline POV
To make her feel better, Thalia had chosen the worst activity. She had texted Ava and Chrissy and told them to meet us at the mall. Evan groaned realizing what they were going to do.
"Winter formal is weeks away! Diana's probably going to trap me in the house to stop me from going anyway."
Thalia clucked her disapproval. "Winter formal is next weekend and there is no way that the bitch is going to stop you from going to your last high school dance."
"It's not the last dance. We still have prom."
"Oh yeah. Whatever, you're going."
Chrissy and Ava were waiting with huge grins on their faces.
"Alright, this years theme is super formal so it's got to be a floor length dress." Chrissy jumped to business right away.
"Guys, I don't have any money for a dress." Evan defended.
The girls only looked at her with teasing looks on their faces. "You actually think that we were going to let you spend all of your hard earned money on this dress?" Ava laughed.
Evan paled. "You guys don't have to-"
Chrissy didn't even let her finish, "Of course we have to! I have never seen a more loyal friend than you! You deserve it."
Evan let a small smile appear. She was stricken with all of her friends' beautiful kindness. They sure matched their beauty on the inside. Thalia had blonde hair stretching to her waste that shimmered with each step. Green eyes lit up her face and her arched eyebrows always amazed Evan. How did they grow so perfect? Ava was just as pretty. Her raven hair was chin length but it curled to frame her face beautifully. Her calf brown eyes were gentle and kind. Chrissy had dark brown hair that was smooth and silky. Her hazel eyes always seemed to give her a "nature" look and her freckles spreading all over her face only enhanced the image.
The girls dived into the nearest dress store only to leave unhappy. They had agreed that all of the dresses were either too revealing or not Evan's color. Luckily, Evan was extremely small so a lot of the smaller sizes were still available after the mediums were the most popular size. After they looked for what felt like three years. Thalia placed three dresses in Evan's arms.
"Put them on!" they all squealed.
Evan rolled her eyes and did what they asked. The first dress was a blush color. It was strapless with a glittery top that exploded at the hips to reveal a gauzy skirt. Evan wrinkled her nose at it, but calmly went to show her friends.
As she walked out, the waiting girls seemed to examine every inch of Evan.
Ava gasped. "What's this huge scrape on your back from?!"
Thalia looked at Evan. Watching her head shake ever so slightly, Thalia said, "Long story."
Ava was thankfully understanding and didn't push the topic. "Well, that won't heal quickly and the dress seems to enhance the scrape. Not to mention this dress is way too fancy for your taste, Evan."
"The color is washing you out, too." Chrissy agreed.
"Next," Thalia said.
Evan dived back into the dresses. The next one was a shade darker than grass. Long sleeves covered the scrape. The skirt was long hugging her body only to let a slit that went up to her thigh reveal some leg. It was pretty simple, but it was skin tight. Evan felt like she was hyperventilating.
"Interesting," Chrissy said. "You can totally rock tight clothes but you look so uncomfortable in them."
Ava shared a look with Thalia, "Next!" they both said.
Evan breathed a sigh of relief stepping out of the dress. She glanced at the last one and audibly gasped. It was beautiful. It was one shouldered with a sleeve at ¾ length. It revealed her collar bones but covered the scrape elegantly. The top was simple and structured. It revealed her tiny waist but wasn't decorated with sparkles. Evan smirked at that. The skirt was layered, long and flowy. While the material was silky it fell softly and slowly creating an ethereal look. The dress was a light grey bringing out the blue of Evan's eyes.
As she stepped out of the dressing room, as one, her friends gasped.
"That's the one!" Thalia yelped.
Noah POV
Throughout the next week, Noah found out just how oblivious to Evan he had been during the years before. She walked passed him in the halls all the time. Her locker was just a few yards away. They had the same history class.
Noah felt awful. How had he missed this girl? One day, the day before the Winter Formal, he was sitting at lunch and watching her out of the corner of his eye.
"Noah, why do you always look at that girl?" Nora demanded jolting him out of a trance. "She's so unpopular and I've never seen her around. I swear, I think she's stalking you."
Noah almost laughed out loud. This was coming from the girl who insisted that she and him study everyday after school, eat lunch together, and make time for each other aside from that after school as well. He was also pretty sure that it was him following her these days. He found himself sitting closer during classes and lunch. He ate at the diner more often. He even went to the library every day despite his hatred of books. Noah had found that Evan slouched a lot when she sat down. Instead of looking lazy or sick, somehow she managed to make the action look cute and characteristic of her.
"I don't know where you got that idea from but I don't think that's the case." Noah responded.
"I bet she likes you!" Nora snapped.
"So? A lot of girls like me at this school. To be honest I bet she's the only one who doesn't like me."
With that answer, Nora seemed satisfied, but Noah was done with all of her drama.
"Hey, Nora, We've been dating for a while now. I know our friends thought it would be a match made in heaven, but honestly I haven't felt anything towards you this whole time. I wanna break up."
If eyes could shoot lasers, Noah would've been toast. Nora glared at him for so long that it felt uncomfortable, then she got up and walked away without another word. As Noah watched her leave, he noticed she kicked Evan's chair as she left.
Later during history, Noah was tempted to go ask Evan to the Formal, but he knew better. Who would want to dance with someone who ran them over in a car? At least she wouldn't probably notice if he stepped on her toes.
The bell rang and everyone packed up all of their stuff. Thankfully, Evan seemed to have only bruises from the crash and she no longer hobbled. Noah watched her walk out of the room. She walked with a certain confidence. She didn't try to look elegant using dainty steps and she didn't slouch out of the room like a hunchback. She walked with her head held high and taking steady and determined steps. He followed her out of the classroom. After reaching her locker, she changed out her books and started heading to English. Only to be shoved right back into the lockers. Evan fell back clutching her cheek.
Nora bent down to her and said one sentence before marching away like nothing had happened: "Stay away from him, you slut."
Noah wanted to scream. How come he didn't think that this would happen? He ran over to help Evan pick up her books.
Noah found one with the author Sarah Dessen. Holding it up he said, "I'm guessing you read for fun too?"
Evan laughed and said, "It's my escape hole."
She reached for the book finally taking her hand away from her cheek. On her freckled skin was a jagged bleeding cut.
"Oh my god!" Noah said.
"What?" Evan asked obliviously.
"She cut you!"
"Oh did she?" Evan seemed to not care. "Wouldn't be the first time."
"Why haven't you told anyone in the past?" Noah asked.
"Because school can't protect me outside of these walls, and I see Nora all the time on the streets."
Noah just stared in pity as Evan hoisted her books into her arms.
"Hey, it's fine, Mrs. B always has extra bandaids." she walked away with Noah wondering how tough this girl could be.
After swim practice that day, Noah waited for Wes on the track before going to the library. He couldn't help notice Evan running at the same time. She was fast. While Wes favored the shorter distances, Ella seemed to match his speed despite having to run at least twice as far. After one last lap, Evan glanced at her watch and ran to her stuff. Thalia noticed the panic and groaned.
"I'm not done yet!"
Evan looked back yelling, "It's fine I'll just run."
By this time, Wes had finished and wandered over to Noah.
Before Noah could change his mind, he called out, "Hey Evan! Do you need a ride?"
She turned around looking confused but she nodded.
"Okay, then come on."
"Thanks," was all she let break the silence after a fifteen minute car ride.
"No problem," Noah said pulling into the parking lot.
The three walked into the library together.
"Hey Mom!" Noah called out.
Evan looked between Mrs. Clearwater and Noah with comprehension dawning on her face. She smiled and walked to the back where she could change into her working clothes.
"I didn't know you were friends with Evangeline!" his mother smiled.
"We're not." Noah hesitated before telling his mom the truth. "I kind of ran over her with my car." He braced for a lecture or a hard slap to his shoulder or head, but instead he looked up to find his mom looking at the place where Evan had disappeared with worry.
"Oh I hope she's fully healed. The first day it had happened she looked like she was in so much pain."
Noah gasped, "She told you?"
"Well yes, she often calls me a second mother." Mrs. Clearwater smiled. "She tells me everything. Don't worry. She actually said that you were not to blame and that you helped her a great deal."
Noah just sat there shocked. He had literally run over a girl and instead of punching the lights out of him, she had calmed his mother down into not getting mad. Noah was practically pining over Evan now.
Evangeline POV
Evan woke up on the Saturday of the dance with an unenthusiastic whimper at the sound of her alarm clock. Just the usual job shift and then I'll be free. Evan cherished the thought of spending the whole evening at the dance and then over at Thalia's until Sunday.
Walking down the stairs, Evan slipped and tumbled to the bottom. No harm done, except for the fact that she landed at Diana's feet with a final yelp.
"You little clutz!" Diana cried. "If you want to escape this house after your shift, you are going to have to show that you can hold yourself upright!"
Evan mumbled something about trying harder and moved on to putting on her shoes. She still had a 2 mile walk to the diner.
Evan knew the problem as soon as she stepped into the dinner. At a table, sat Nora glaring with such intensity that if she could shoot lasers out of them, Evan wouldn't've had a head. Evan walked behind the counter calmly putting on an apron over her grey jeans and burgundy sweater. The color really suited her skin tone. She grabbed her notepad and walked slowly up to Nora's empty table.
"What can I get you?" no harm in starting out basic right? Wrong.
Nora's head snapped up to look at Evan and she stood up faster than anyone would have thought possible. Putting her face an inch from Evan's, Nora whispered, "Stay away from my boyfriend. I don't care what you did to get his attention, but he's MINE. If I see you within twenty feet of him at the dance, you'll be sorry."
Evan said nothing, her response was just an innocent look seemingly asking what she had done to deserve this. Nora only snatched her purse and stormed out of the diner, leaving Evan standing at an empty table.
Evan thought nothing of the threat. First off, Nora had barely known what she looked like before Noah had even glanced her way, so the chances of her finding where Evan lived were virtually zero. Second, the school dance floor was barely fifty feet across, so she would have no choice but to be in Noah's vicinity. Lastly, Evan had never been asked out, admired, or even looked at by a boy, why would things change now?
She finished her shift by doing some dishes and finally hanging up her apron. The second the clock turned to 3:00, she heard Thalia's car give a signature honk. It was time to go.
Back at Ava's house, the girls were getting ready. Thalia had chosen a pink high low dress that accented her muscular legs while also giving her a girly touch. The top part was a little revealing but nothing too bad. Ava began to slip into a turquoise halter dress that gave her a nature look like a fairy. Chrissy finally marched forward in a navy blue strapless dress that had a skirt that reminded Evan of rose petals. While Evan hated dresses, she had to admit, no one would out shine this group.
Evan did her own makeup. While Chrissy, Ava and Thalia, wore bold eyeliner, contour, and other super complicated techniques, Evan simply added some coverup to hide a few zits, she added a little powder foundation to even her complexion, the smallest amount of blush was added, and the eye shadow she applied consisted of only two colors: brown and darker brown. The darker brown was smoothed into her eye crease and the edge of the eyelid while the other shade covered everything else. Instead of choosing one of Chrissy's bright red lipsticks, or even worse, black, Evan chose a color pretty close to her natural lips. Her mascara was minimal and she was done half an hour before any of her friends. Even with the minimalistic look, Evan looked transformed, her tired self now looked beautiful and her eyes seemed even more appealing. Now she just needed to figure out what to do with her hair. She ran her hands through it, thinking. The hair while being dark blonde was actually a good texture. Just the right amount of softness and thickness while still looking a little sleek. It was naturally wavy falling down just below her shoulder blades, but Evan could only think of putting it up out of the way.
Chrissy noticing this struggle as she finished her make up, calmly walked over with a hair brush. "I know just the look to give you."
Chrissy loosely braided a small braid across Evan's head winding it past her ear and down to the left side of her neck after starting above Evan's right eye. Then she twisted the rest into an elegant knot above her neck while allowing a few wispy pieces of hair to be curled and left to frame Evan's face.
Evan opened her eyes to a new person, but groaned as Thalia came forward offering up four inch strappy, silver heels that looked super painful. Evan snuck her favorite grey Keds under the seat of Thalia's car.
Noah POV
If Noah had gotten his way, he would be back in his room watching A League of Their Own for the billionth time with a big bowl of popcorn balanced on his legs. Instead, he was waiting for Wes to come and pick him up for the Winter Formal. Noah hadn't even bothered to rent a suit. Instead, he wore a dark grey button down with the sleeves rolled up a bit. He knew his mom would complain, but he also knew that he wanted to be comfortable on the dance floor, not sweating in a cotton jacket. His phone dinged with a text notifying him of his ride and he made his way down to the street.
Now at the dance, Noah was even less excited. Half the kids here were grinding and the other half were doing the worst dance moves. After watching a freshman dab for the fifth time. He walked over to the water table and sat with Wes, Logan, Mason, and Justin. None of them had dates. While there were plenty of girls who wanted to go with them, each one insisted on making out every five seconds so they had opted to be solo for the formal. Noah sighed and took another sip of water just as the music changed. Weak by AJR began to play and he glanced at the stairs. Then he did a double take. Each of his friends doing the same.
Four girls were walking down the stairs. The first girl was dressed in turquoise and as she reached the bottom, Justin stood up as if in a trance. As the next girl, wearing navy reached the bottom, Mason actually audibly gasped despite the blasting music. The girl with the pink dress seemed to float to the bottom making Wes drop the cookie he had grabbed from the snack table. Noah had only the ability to follow the girl in grey with his eyes. His breathing seized as she and her friends laughed together at the bottom.
As one, all of the boys began to walk slowly over to the group of girls. Each smitten boy introduced himself and asked their separate partners to dance. While most of them were given yeses and each stepped onto the dance floor and began to dance, Noah hadn't even asked his girl for her name. All he could do was look at her.
"What? Did I do something wrong?" the girl asked noticing his silence.
Noah heard her voice from a distance as he got lost in her eyes. Her eyes that were a deep blue.
"Evan?" he gasped.
"Um, yeah?" she answered.
Noah smiled and breathed, "you look amazing."
Evan actually looked startled. "Really? I spent so little time on myself that I thought I looked better downed by the bumper of your car?"
Noah laughed. "Now I know it's you. Wanna dance?"
Evan smiled, "Yeah, sounds fun."
They walked over to the dance floor just as the music turned slow. It was Ed Sheeran's Perfect.
While their friends immediately began to slow dance. Noah took his time making sure Evan was comfortable. He slowly grabbed her hand, then he grabbed her waist gently as she rested her other hand on his shoulder.
They swayed back and forth looking into each other's eyes. Noah knew that Nora would never compare to this girl. He just found himself staring into her eyes as her lips lifted into a half smile. Noah had never been happier.
They danced through the whole song and as it ended he was sad to see her pull away. He almost stumbled forward. He'd been leaning closer to her face. Don't go too fast idiot. He said to himself.
They bounced up and down to a couple more pop songs before they got water together, then they just kept dancing. About fifteen minutes before eleven, which was when the dance was supposed to end, Evan excused herself to sit down. Noah hadn't realized how pale she was getting. After a few seconds, Evan smiled and took off her heels. Noah didn't care, the shoes were just making her faint. While she drank some water, Noah felt the heat of a glare. He turned around to see Nora staring at him. He glared right back, she was NOT going to ruin tonight.
Evan left her shoes against the wall and Noah and her joined in for the last song of the night: Allstar. As she leapt up and down in time with the music, Noah noticed a flash under the strobing lights, he turned to look at her just as she landed on the pieces of glass that Nora had "accidentally" spilled after dropping her cup.
Evangeline POV
Evangeline heard the last note of the song as she felt a piercing pain in her feet. She looked down to find glass spread all around her, including under her feet. She fell as the pain set in only to receive a few more shards into her hands and elbow.
Noah seemed to be yelling at a girl nearby, but she didn't hear what he said. All she could feel was pain. Then, she looked up in time to see him slip his arms under her and pick her up. She almost protested but seeing as she could barely stand at the moment, she decided to let him carry her away from the mess. As he brought her away, he stopped only a moment to grab her shoes and carry her up the steps and out the front door of the school.
Finally, Evan found her voice, "Hey, we're away from sharp edges, could you put me down?"
Noah seemed to think about it but only tightened his grip, "No, you might still have pieces in you, we need to get you somewhere safe.
The cool air of New York in winter settled over Evan. She shivered and Noah held her closer to his chest to give her some warmth. He set her on a bench for the moment but didn't take his arms from around her.
Thalia came running up with Ava and Chrissy trailing behind, their dance partners following closely. She took one glance at Evan and said, "Ok, Everyone follow my car to my house. Noah, your with me and Evan."
The group spread out evenly with their dates and went back to Thalia's. How practical it was, that her parents had decided to go on a weeklong vacation to London as an Early Christmas treat her father had bestowed upon her mother.
Noah then carried her over to the couch while Thalia came running with a first aid kit. She took out some tweezers and hesitated. Wes stepped forward noticing her pause.
"Here, I have really steady hands, let me do this." Thalia looked at him gratefully and gave him the tweezers.
Noah watched Evan look at the glass with a small frown. He wrapped his arms around her as Wes began to pull pieces of glass up to an inch long from her feet and arms. The worst part was that she didn't make a sound. No hiss of pain, she didn't even tense up in protest. She just watched the extraction with sad eyes. Holy crap, how used to pain am I? Evan thought to herself. Thalia offered up a tray to put the shards in and Wes seemed to keep finding more and more. Ava and Chrissy came forward with snacks and drinks for everyone.
After about an hour, he declared Evan glass free and took out some antiseptic to clean out all of the cuts. She didn't even react. Noah looked at her with an even deeper frown. He sat up only letting go of her to help with wrapping her arms and feet in bandages then returning to her side.
No one had said anything this whole time, until Chrissy blurted out, "That bitch!"
Evan expected Noah to defend the not present Nora or at least not respond, instead he sat up saying, "I can't believe I dated that whore."
Evan's eyes widened. Everyone burst out into complaints about Nora. Evan stayed quiet. Finally, everyone came to look at her.
Thalia seemed to recognize the fear on her face, so she said, "Hey do you guys want to watch a movie?"
Noah smiled saying, "Do you have A League of Their Own?"
Thalia broke into a grin saying, "On blu ray. Everyone go change, and make yourselves at home."
Evan tried to get up, but stumbled after a step. Noah didn't even hesitate, he scooped her into his arms carrying her over to her stuff and then the bathroom. What a gentleman. Was all she could think.
Noah POV
Noah had never realized how tough Evan actually was. She didn't even flinch at the glass. He almost wondered if she was used to all of the pain, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Surely Thalia or any of her friends would notice if she were harming herself, or God forbid she was abused.
As he carried Evan to the bathroom, he noticed how light she was. She couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds. Jeez this girl was all sorts of weird. . . but in a good way.
Evan opened the door revealing green flannel pajama pants paired with a navy snoopy sweater. Noah carried her back to the couch before returning in his own pajamas that he had stashed in Wes's car. Everyone gathered around the TV as A League of Their Own started playing. Mason, Justin, and Wes seemed more interested in their dates, but Noah loved this movie. Although he still stole long glances at Evan sometimes. He was pleased to find that she was as fascinated in the movie as she was. At the point where Kit is recruited to the Peaches with Dottie, Noah scooched next to Evan until they were basically sharing the same cushion. Then, when Jimmy Dougan actually starts to be a good coach, Noah slowly puts his arm over her shoulders. As Kit goes to the Racine Belles, Evan leans into his chest. By the end of the movie, the two are curled up together each sharing the other's warmth.
Noah could tell the difference between Nora and Evan. First off, Nora hated movies, she could never sit through them. Second, Nora only wanted to make out and disregarded any type of chit chat. Third, Nora usually sat on Noah's lap instead of next to him. It was nice to still have circulation in his legs while still being able to cuddle. Noah felt on top of the world.
But he still kept track of how his friends were doing on their side of the movie night. Wes was cuddling with Thalia. His arm was draped across her back while Thalia's head leaned against his chest and Wes laid his head on top of her's. They were talking softly to each other.
Mason and Chrissy were playing a card game and by the look of it, Mason was losing spectacularly. As he thought out his next play, Mason ever-so-gently placed his hand on top of Chrissy's. She didn't move that hand for the next forty-five minutes of the movie.
Justin and Ava were sharing a bowl of m&m's that Thalia had brought out. Ava's head lay in Justin's lap and he was stroking her hair delicately away from her face.
Watching all of this, Noah only had one question. How had they all missed these girls until now?!
As A League of Their Own finished. Thalia slid in Mulan. While she was switching the discs, Noah tried to strike up conversation with Evan.
"How're the cuts?" Nice, remind her of the embarrassing trama that she experienced earlier this evening.
Evan looked up into his eyes. "I mean, they sting occasionally but I'm not dying."
"Good," he said, "because then the next funeral would be Nora's."
"Oh so that's who talked to me yesterday."
Noah turned his head sharply to look into her eyes. "What d'you mean?"
"Oh well, she came by the diner and threatened me if I didn't stay away from you. I honestly thought that she was just being a little paranoid and aggressive. I didn't think she'd actually do it."
Noah just used the tip of his finger to nudge her chin so she'd look into his eyes. "If she ever does that again, or anything remotely similar, come to me. That girl is way too good at holding grudges over people."
"Well, someone's got a big head." was her only remark.
Noah smiled, "It swells and it shrinks."
Without hesitating so he wouldn't change his mind, Noah kissed her cheek as "Bring honor to us all" began to play.
Thalia POV
"Holy shit, look!" she whisper-yelled.
It was 2:00 AM and they had just finished watching The Princess Diaries 2.
Noah and Evan were curled up together fast asleep. A fluffy blanket covered the bandages on Evan's feet and arms not to mention draped over both of their bodies. Noah had his arms around her as her head rested on his chest. Noah's head listed sideways while still leaning against the back of the sofa. They both had wistful, sleepy smiles on their dreaming faces. Thalia quickly snapped a picture before turning back to Wes.
"Hey, not that you guys have much of a choice, but do you want to sleep over?"
He only smiled before leaning over and kissing her. She took that as a yes.
Noah POV
Noah woke up on the couch and took in his surroundings. It was 8:00 am. He smelled pancakes in the kitchen. Looking around at the couch, all of his friends were asleep with each of their dates in their arms. Evan was nowhere to be seen. Noah sat up stiffly and went to explore the house. First, he found the bathroom. Nobody in there. Next, he found Thalia's room. No dice. After looking in her huge basement, Noah went to the kitchen. In the enormous place, he found Evan sitting patiently on a stool while she poured some type of batter in the pan. Noah leaned against the door for a second. Without even trying, Evan somehow seemed to make a room brighter and happier.
"What are those? Pancakes?" Noah asked finally stepping fully into the room.
Evan looked up smiling. "Crepes actually."
"Wow, I did not expect a full gourmet breakfast." he said.
"Ha, nothing is better than home cooked food." she said laughing.
Evan calmly took a spatula and flipped the crepe over. "I hope you guys don't mind that they're gluten free."
Noah did a double take. He always thought that gluten free food was supposed to look gross and taste even grosser. However, he did not expect Evan to be one of those stupid guru, I don't eat harmful food kinds of people.
"Umm, I don't think I'll have a problem with that." was all he could muster.
Evan looked at him with an annoyed look on her face. "Not all gluten free food is that bad."
Dang, it was like she could read his mind. "I didn't say it would be."
Evan only sighed. "I don't have a choice either. I've got Celiac disease."
Noah gave a look of confusion. "What is -"
"It's basically an allergy to a protein in most grains except rice and a few others. Rye, wheat, barley, they're pretty much my doom."
Noah immediately looked overcome with an apologetic face. "Oh, I didn't mean to-"
Evan shrugged, "I'm used to it. Besides, a lot of gluten free food really is disgusting."
Noah smirked, "What's the worst thing that you've tried so far?"
Evan wrinkled her nose. "I have never had anything worse than graham crackers."
Noah just stared at her. "What do you do when your at a campfire eating smores?"
Evan smiled. "I don't eat smores. I like to skin the marshmallow."
"What?"
"If you toast the marshmallow until it's nice and brown, the outside of it slides right off. Then, you can do it all over again with the insides. Sometimes I try to set records with how many times I can do it. My record is five times."
Noah started laughing. Evan scooped the last crepe out of the pan. She calmly shoved the plate across the counter and then got up to grab something from the fridge. Evan took out some strawberries and went to grab a cutting board. Noah felt really lazy all of the sudden, so he took the ingredients and equipment from her and set them up.
"Slices or cubes?"
"Slices if you please." Evan smiled.
She then grabbed some whipped cream and chocolate syrup placing them on the table.
After all of the strawberries were cut, Noah placed them in a bowl and set them on the table with the crepes.
Evan looked at him for a second with a smile and said, "What's the best way to wake the gang up?"
Noah laughed, "Hmm, we could prank them or we could be super nice and play music or something."
Evan thought about it, "Let's get some pillows."
Before Noah even knew what had happened she had grabbed a bunch of pillows. Evan crept to Thalia. She had rolled over to the side of the couch.
"Wakey, Wakey!" Evan shouted and smacked Thalia with a pillow. Noah laughed and took his turn smacking Wes in the face with a pillow.
After an all out pillow fight, everyone headed to the kitchen.
Noah watched Evan spread some cream over half the crepe and then put some strawberries in the cream. She then folded the crepe in half and sat at the table. The group each grabbed their fill and continued to talk.
Evangeline POV:
Evan had discovered her ability to cook when she was really young. Watching her mom and dad was very interesting. Her mom was more made for making casseroles while her dad was amazing at asian dishes. And Evan, well, Evan liked baking and cooking breakfast. They had the easiest of instructions and all she had to do was be able to read.
Noah seemed to be staring at her for a few minutes. Not knowing what to do, Evan did her best to just ignore it. Such action only seemed to make him feel more comfortable staring. Finally, Evan was tired of it and tried to deflect his attention.
"So the gluten-free crepe isn't as bad as you thought it would be?" she inquired.
Noah just seemed to realize that he had already finished half of his french pancake.
"Wait, what?" Wes exclaimed. "There's no way that these crepes are healthy."
Evan simply gave him a side-glance. "It's just different flour. Just because there's a change, it doesn't mean that it tastes different. Besides, eating gluten free food is virtually unhelpful when you want to lose weight."
Wes just stared down at his empty plate. Thalia laughed and helped herself to another as Evan's phone suddenly began to ring.
Evan visibly paled at the sight of the Caller I.D.
"Who is it?" Thalia asked recognising her look of fear.
"I have to go!" Evan said quietly while simultaniously grabbing her phone, shoving on her shoes and running out of the house.
"Wait! I drove you here!" Thalia said, trying to stop her.
"If I wait any longer, she'll just make it worse. I'll just run." Evan hobbled over to the door obviously still affected by her glass-shredded feet.
Evan heard Noah call out to her but all she could think about was avoiding the ever-increasing amount of belt lashes Diana would give her for how late she was. Crap, she wanted me to change the sheets on her bed this morning, Evan realized. She ran faster as she kept making her way home.
She quickly stepped up to the door and yanked open the handle. The soft shut of the door was immediately drowned out by the sound of a glass shattering next to Evan's head.
"You were supposed to be up two hours ago!" Diana screamed. "Where did you run off to, my little bitch! I never said you could have fun! And what is that smell? You already ate?! You're not supposed to eat until you've finished all of your chores!"
Evan only looked down in shame. Any type of explanation or excuse would just make it worse. Diana simply snatched up Evan's arm in a death grip and marched her up to her room where she found the belt with the biggest buckle she had. Then, she quickly placed Evan's hands behind her like she was handcuffed. Snap! The first of many strikes was delivered and Evan winced. She felt the cuts from the glass stinging already.
By the time Diana was done, Evan's hands were beaten bloody and sore.
"Now to your chores before the next session you lazy slut!" Diana flourished.
Great, there were going to be two punishment sessions today. Evan simply watched the woman snatch up the only available first aid kit in the house and walk out with it. Evan sighed and resorted to pulling on dish washing gloves so as to not have to fight to get blood stains out of the sheets. Humming one of her favorite songs to herself, Evan kept working until she had waxed the floors, vacumed every surface she could think of, dust every surface as well, water the plants and the grass out front, baked two big cherry pies, washed all of the dishes, changed the sheets, and fed the rat that Diana considered a cat.
Diana simply sniffed as Evan calmly told her of her actions and pointed to the upstairs again. Ten minutes later, Diana shoved Evan in the vague direction of where the first aid had been hidden. Evan had to wander the kitchen for about ten minutes before she saw the case on top of the highest cabinet. Once she had made the climb, Evan walked to her room to finally clean her cuts.
Noah POV:
Noah turned back to look at Thalia as Evan fled the scene.
Thalia simply sighed and said, "Don't ask."
He went back to the couch and found himself in the same spot that he had sat with Evan. He leaned his head back and breathed a deep sigh. Last night was amazing. The thought of her soft hair touching his shoulders sent him into a dream. He couldn't help remembering that she smelled like warm cotton and flowers. Why did she just leave? Who was "she" that would make it worse? Thalia knew. Wait, Thalia knew.
"Thalia, who was Evan talking about?"
The blond looked up at Noah with sad eyes, "Her step mother. Evan's parents are dead." Noah sat bolt upright. "Her dad died of colon cancer and her mom died in a car crash because of a drunk driver. Diana was given custody of her and now she can't leave her until she's eighteen."
"But can't she run away or something?" Noah could only stutter.
"Where would she go? The girl would barely accept the dress we bought her for the dance. We've offered our homes a thousand times but she claims that she has to pay her dues in the world. She would force herself to find a place where she had to pay and earn her right to live in the building."
Noah slumped back down into the couch, thinking. "What if I hire her?"
"What?"
"My dad is divorced and lives in a huge house with me. We have some hired help and such but no cook. What if I hired her to live in my house and cook for me and my father?"
"You actually think that she would accept that kind of help?" Thalia sighed.
"Why wouldn't she?"
"You do realize that she already works two jobs and does random gigs too right? How much work would she be doing?"
Noah hesitated, "My dad likes exotic dishes but I know that Evan cooks for a king."
"No." Thalia said, looking down. "Evan simply needs a place to pay rent and she won't take pity. She already doesn't think that she deserves the closet that the devil, Diana, lets her use."
"It sounds like Evan is abused!"
"She is, but she hides it from us as much as possible to the point that we can't find proof." Thalia simply glared at the ceiling.
"What if we took her to the police?"
"Diana is the most manipulative person I've ever met. I've seen her talk her way out of getting arrested for causing a car crash because she was changing lanes too fast and actually caused someone to drive off a nearby ticket."
"Holy shit." Noah looked at everyone visibly sagging with sympathy for his crush.
Wes took out his phone to look at something. "Hey, do you know how often Evan is mistreated?"
Thalia glanced at him, "Everyday."
"Let's go see her when everyone's dressed. Maybe we can find some physical evidence."
Everyone agreed.
Evangeline POV:
Sitting in her room, Evan read one of her Sarah Dessen books careful to turn the pages gently as her hands were beginning to swell. There was a knock on her window making her drop the book. She winced as her hands bumped into each other. There at the window was Noah. Evan's eyes widened and she quickly but quietly slid open the glass. He climbed in closely followed by everyone else.
"Give me your hands," Noah said. With her head down, Evan held up her hands. "Okay, that's it you're coming with us."
"Why," Evan asked. "You guys don't owe me anything and I hate pity. Diana's not so bad when you're on her good side."
Noah glanced up at her and scowled, "How often do you see her good side?"
Evan stayed silent. Noah didn't hesitate. "Thalia, start packing. Chrissy, help get all of her school stuff together. Ava, gather all of her personal stuff. Mason, go and start the car. Justin, please, get ready to haul stuff out the window. Wes, help me carry her down to the car."
Evan huffed, "Hey, I can get down by myself!"
"You're already bleeding through those bandages. If you put any more stress on those cuts, you'll get them infected. Let us help you." Without even waiting for an answer, Noah scooped her up and crawled out onto the roof. Evan was handed down to Wes and placed on the ground. She watched with sad eyes as she said goodbye to her childhood home. Then she hesitated, this was way too easy. Diana never is this negligent.
Evan must have jinxed it. Just as Noah had shoved the last of her things in the car, Dian threw open the front door radiating power. Thalia screamed and shoved everyone towards the car. Evan was last to get in. Just as she stepped foot into the car, her other foot was tugged out from under her and Diana pulled hard. Mason stepped on the gas and the car sped away giving Evan a rush of joy as she watched Diana stumble and fall onto her face. The car door shut and her new life immediately began.