Not Fair

(Day 105: Saturday Afternoon)

"Very hot," Doug notices the word change. "So, where is it?"

Evie looks around, until she notices the cliffside, "Maybe in that cave?"

"What cave?"

She points, "That one." but all he can see is a wall of soil and plants.

Doug sighs, "I'm really not in the mood for games, Evie. We've been walking for hours."

"It has not been hours," she denies, before she grabs his wrist and continues to walk. "Come on." She pulls him towards the cave entrance, and her grin widens at the sight of the trove. "There. I told you."

"Evie," Doug continues to frown. "There's nothing there." She frowns back at him, and he gestures to it, "There isn't even a cave. There's nothing."

"No," Evie furrows her brows before looking back at the vanity, rack of gowns, and a number of cedar chests and luggage. "There's stuff there." She turns back to Doug, "You have to see it. The mirror led us here. You're just being mean."

Doug gives her a look and sighs, before he walks over to the cliff's side and places his hand on it. He knocks on it, "See that?" before he looks at her and knocks again. "Hear that?" He leans back on it, "I'm not trying to be mean, Evie. There's just nothing here."

"But the mirror," Evie persists.

Doug steps forward, "The mirror is a spirit, and humans make mistakes." before he lets out a long breath. "Sorry, but you present is probably somewhere else."

Evie looks away from the cave and at the ground, "I'm completely losing it."

He walks up to her, "I can't explain why you see it differently, but I can confidently say that you are in no way crazy… Maybe this has to do with that witch thing. Witches can see things others can't. They've always been seen as crazy people, but they're not."

She places a hand to her head, "I am so tired of seeing stuff that doesn't exist."

It's quiet for a moment, before Doug places a hand on her back, "Come on. Maybe your present is nearby."

Evie nods; however, as they walk forward the mirror emits a beam of shining, white light, and when she turns the mirror up she sees the new words. "Go inside."

"Go inside where?"

"Inside the cave," Evie smiles in realization.

He watches her walk towards it, "Evie. There's no—" but then she disappears. He hurries up to it, "Evie?" He hits the barrier and watches as the soil crumbles off of it. "Evie," he yells. "Can you hear me?" The next moment she reappears at his side, and he turns to her in horror.

Her arms are crossed as she raises an eyebrow, "Worry much?"

"I, uh," he begins.

She shows her phone to him, "This is what it looks like."

It takes him a minute to say, "I see it."

Evie turns back to the cave, "It must be spelled. I tried talking back to you, but you clearly didn't hear me."

Doug examines the picture, "It looks like someone was living here."

"Probably my mother," Evie informs. "She was probably staying here when she was trying to evade capture. It's certainly her stuff in there."

"And now it's yours," Doug smiles.

Evie glances down, "If my mother knew—"

"She's in prison," he points out. "You're the only one who's going to be able to have access to these things."

She nods, "Okay." before she looks back towards the trove. "I'm going to go look through it, see what I can find."

"Good luck," Doug comments, and she offers him a smile before heading back inside. She walks over to the rack of clothes and spots a sparkling, purple dress, but her mother is taller than her. If she were to take this home, she would have to adjust the length before wearing it. She turns away from it and walks past the rolled up blankets on her way to the vanity. She opens one of the drawers and finds some old makeup. It's a lot different than what she uses, mostly just containers of loose powder and a couple jars of paint. She turns one of the jars upside down, and it's clear that the age has caused it to dry up even while contained in the lidded cup. She shuts the drawer and opens a few more, before she notices the leather-bound journal. Evie opens it, but she soon realizes it's in German. She looks at the mirror, "Can you read this?"

"Yes," he writes.

She sighs, "Great. Now all we have to do is translate it one word at a time." He shows her an image of Doug. "Right. Or I could just ask him." She squints in question, "Are you sure?" He shows her a thumbs up. "What is this, even?"

"Potions," he answers.

Evie's eyes shift, "I don't know if Doug should be reading this."

"Nice guy."

"Yeah," Evie whispers. "He's really kind."

"But?"

"But he's too nice." Her eyes shift, "I just don't want to use such a nice guy to see if I like guys or not." She looks back at the mirror, "Besides, he's not a prince." and after a moment it's clear he can't easily respond. Instead, he just shows her a picture of a black wicker chest with red throw pillows placed on top. She looks around to find it, and when she goes to open it her jaw drops, "This is unbelievable." She squeals, "Ah, I love you." He offers a heart back, before she sets the journal on the chest and picks it up; however, the chest immediately falls. "Wow, this is heavy." She lets out a large breath before opting to pull it out of the cave instead, and after she drags it in front of Doug she straightens up and smiles, "Guess what I found."

"What did you find?" he cautiously smiles back. She takes the pillows and journal off before lifting the lid, and her smile widens when Doug's mouth gapes. "That's a lot of money."

"I know, right," she excites. "There must be like a thousand dollars in here."

"Try ten thousand," Doug estimates.

"You think so?"

He slowly nods, "If all the bills are like that, then yeah."

She squeals, "This is so great. You know, I could get my own shop with this." before her grin widens. "And then I could get Mal to make the mirror bigger," she enthuses as she holds it up, "and then we could actually talk to each other."

"Evie," Doug lifts a hand in concern, and when she looks at him her smile begins to slip. "You need to slow down and think about this."

"What's there to think about?" Evie's eyes shift in thought, "I have the money. If I got a shop, then I would have a nice place to design clothes. Mal wouldn't get irritated whenever people interrupt her privacy anymore, and not only that but the mirror. I would finally have a place to put it. I could talk to him. No more of these cryptic pictures and one-word answers. We could just talk together like normal people."

"Evie," he says again. "Even ten thousand dollars isn't a lot in the long term. Renting a building alone would be at least a thousand dollars a month, and if you were to buy one at a higher cost then you would have to pay property taxes." He takes a calming breath, slowing down as he attempts to reason, "You would have to advertise your business, and if you want to make a real profit you would have to be there every day. Or have someone there every day, which would cost money too. And depending on what you're selling, you could need a license." He widens his eyes, "If you're planning on making clothes from leather or fur, then you will be checked on to make sure you aren't involved in animal cruelty."

Evie frowns, tears intruding her eyes, "Why are you trying to ruin this for me?"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't try to get a shop," Doug defends. "I'm just saying that having one while you're still in school might not be the best idea." He adjusts his glasses, "And I know your business has been doing better since that rumor about you liking girls went around, but with your… with Mal dating the king, it's not going to be the only time your reputation affects your business. People are going to gossip. As the phrase goes, there's nothing no one likes better than building someone up than tearing them down. By being friends or whatever with Mal, you're putting yourself in the public eye, and that's not necessarily a good thing."

"What?" Evie sadly laughs. "First you say I shouldn't talk to Ben, and now you're saying I shouldn't be with Mal?"

"It's not like that," Doug denies. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't waste this money. You need to plan. You need to think this through."

"You don't understand," Evie asserts. "If I get the shop, I can have a place to put the mirror in its larger form." She painfully grins, "I've never even seen him before. I've never heard him before. But if I do this, then I could talk to him face to face."

"Evie," Doug slowly responds. "There's also that… you said if the mirror breaks, then he dies. If that's the case, then you're going to want a high quality security system to prevent break-ins and vandalism."

"You think someone would vandalize my shop?" she whispers.

It takes him a moment, "People here don't go out of their way to be mean, but your mother wasn't the most liked either. It's possible that someone could attack you just because you're her daughter."

"That's not fair," Evie yells.

Doug quietly responds, "I know it's not."

She shakes her head, "I still have to do it."

"Evie," he begins.

"Your father wasn't always mute, was he?" she points out. "That scar on his neck. He used to be able to talk."

It takes him a minute to confirm, "Yes."

"So, if you had the chance to hear his voice," Evie desperately asserts, "wouldn't you take it?"

"I mean, of course," Doug furrows his brows, "but I wouldn't risk his life for it." He sees her pained expression, "Just ask the mirror. What does Mark want?"

She looks down and sees it, just barely able say, "Wait." as she begins to sob.

Doug moves in to hug her, "I'm sorry… but it's probably for the best." and he waits for her breathing to slow before continuing. "How about we put the chest back? It will be safer here. You can get it when you're ready."

"Okay," she says in a high-pitched whisper, before she lets go of him. "There was, uh, a dress in there. I was, eh, thinking that, um, if I shorten it and cut the sleeves, then it would look nice on me."

He attempts to smile, "There was a lot of other things in there too. How about you go back inside and see what you can find?"

She nods, "Yeah. Okay." and he helps her lift the chest, until it crosses the barrier and she has to take it from him. She sets it down a few more inches inside, before she lets out a long breath, sits on the woven chest, and hunches over to continue to cry.

The mirror writes, "It's okay." and she just barely sees it through the blurry tears.

"I'm never going to be able to see you," she whispers in doubt.

"You will," he reassures, and a minute later a long word is written downward, just barely fitting the space. "Patience."

"I don't want to be patient." She cries, "I want to see you."

The mirror writes, "Cold." but it takes a moment for her to notice.

When she finally sees it she stands, and the tears immediately stop flowing as she walks further into the cave. It gets warmer and then hotter, before the mirror writes 'cold' again and she turns back towards the wall. She has to move a few objects away from the framed painting to see it, but she partially smiles as she observes it. Evie places her hand towards the face of the man, "Is this you?" She glances down to see his confirmation. "You look so young."

"I died young," he writes.

Evie slowly closes her hand as she brings it towards her heart, "I can't take it back. People would ask questions."

"Camera," the spirit suggests, and with that realization Evie hurries to take her phone out to take a photo of the oil painting.

"You're brilliant," she compliments. "Thank you."

"Welcome."

When Evie and Doug make it back to the front gate they see his mother and father standing there, and when Doug stops in front of them Evie sets down the beige suitcase. The green eyed woman folds her hands, "We wanted to make sure we had a chance to apologize. You have to believe that if we knew about your, uh, food issues, we would have done our best to accommodate you."

Evie looks at Doug, "You said you wouldn't tell them."

"I didn't," he softly retorts. "Uncle Doc figured it out." His father begins to sign, and he translates, "I didn't mean to point out those things about you. I was just curious, and I was wondering if Doug was keeping a secret from us." He finishes signing, and Doug responds, "Not that I'm not allowed to have secrets, Dad. I'm a teenager. It's a rite of passage."

When he signs again Evie looks at Doug, "What did he say?"

Doug uneasily smiles, "It's kind of embarrassing, but basically, uh, he agrees."

"We really didn't mean to upset you," Doug's mother continues on. "On your birthday, no less."

It takes a moment for Evie to respond, "I think that because it's my birthday, I should have expected it." She eyes off, "It's just, traveling this far and not even having a cake… I thought, I guess, it would be different this year." She meets her eyes, "My friends, at least, should know me better by now, but it's like people don't know how to be happy, talk together, hang out, or celebrate anything without food. It doesn't make any sense."

After Doug's father signs something he comments, "Dad, I don't think that really matters."

Evie turns to Doug, "Why? What did he say?"

Doug starts to speak, but then he lets that breath escape in hesitance, "He was just saying that because everyone needs to it that it's something everyone can relate to and enjoy together."

"You're right." Evie evenly responds, "It doesn't matter." before she looks back at his parents. "All I ever see is people putting food on a pedestal— sometimes literally— and worship it like it's some kind of god. It's like it's the most important thing to them. They don't care about you or anything else. You try to say something important and they ignore you, saying just how good something is and that you should try it, and they think it's okay to eat and talk at the same time. Food is everywhere. You can't go anywhere without seeing it, and it's like eating is mandatory to even pretend to spend any time with anyone else. Because, you wouldn't be spending time with them. All they care about is the food, and they can't hear a word you say. It's like whatever it is about food that makes people so happy, that happiness completely impairs their sense of how others are feeling. You could say how you're feeling straight-out. They don't care. You're the one who's wrong, because suddenly wanting to do anything without food and thinking that there's more to life than food is just so wrong."

It takes a minute for Doug's mother to softly respond, "No. You're right. Life should be about more than just our survival." and Evie lets out a breath before crying again.

She covers her eyes with her hand, "I'm sorry."

Doug's father signs, and he translates, "It's okay." She moves into his shoulder, and he wraps his arm over her back, "It's going to be okay." He checks his watch before looking at his mom, "I'm sorry, but the train is leaving soon. We should be getting going."

She nods, "Of course. Be safe."

He places his hand on Evie's shoulder, and she takes a step back before wiping the tears from her face; however, her breathing is still unsteady. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I just…" She meets his eyes, "I have a headache, I'm tired, and I think at least one of my contacts fell out."

"You can probably sleep those first two things off on the train," he suggests. "Although, you should have some water first. You're probably dehydrated." She merely nods in response, before Doug says goodbye to his parents and they leave the reservation.

When Evie and Doug enter Evie's dorm she sets the luggage off to the side at the sight of her friends smiling at her beneath the streamers. "Happy birthday," Mal says, before she steps forward. "Now, before you say anything, the Jell-O is only five calories per bowl."

"It doesn't have any sugar," Carlos translates.

Mal gives him a look, "Like we had sugar on the Isle. Don't complain." before she shakes her head and smiles back at Evie. "Anyway, there's lime, strawberry, and orange."

"Let me guess," Doug intrudes, "the Jell-O was Ben's idea."

"Amazing, right?" Mal confirms. "And here I was thinking we were going to have to watch a movie without any snacks."

"Where's Ben, then?" Evie frowns. "I mean, like, is he not coming?"

"He was here." Mal turns toward Carlos, "I think someone stressed him out again."

"Okay." Carlos defends, "All I did was tell him that gelatin is made from animal bones and ligaments."

Mal looks back at Evie, "Like I said, I think someone confused him. He said he had homework to do."

When Doug turns to leave Evie catches him, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back," he merely says before heading out into the hallway, and when he makes it to his dorm he knocks on the door. Ben checks to see it's him before unchaining the door to let him in, but then he retreats back to the table. Doug sits adjacent from him, "Hey." He doesn't speak. "So, uh, no Chad?"

"The teacher in the library said he had homework," Ben informs as he types a word into his phone. "I thought I should let him do it."

"Right." Doug moves on, "Ben." and he waits for him to look at him. "We need to talk."

He sets down his pencil, "What about?"

"Well," Doug begins. "About you. And Evie." Ben offers a confused look. "She said you've been helping her with her eating disorder."

"Yes," he answers.

Doug lets out a long breath, "But you're not helping her. You're enabling her."

Ben gives him an annoyed look before picking up his phone, pressing the mic, and repeating, "Enabling." all while continuing to stare him down.

Doug looks away, "You're letting her keep her eating disorder."

Ben shakes his head, "You make it sound like it's something she can throw in the garbage. It's not."

"I had her drinking smoothies," he slowly points out. "Now she can't even have salad."

"Drinks are easier for some people," Ben excuses.

"Look. Don't you get it?" Doug struggles to keep his words slow, and he attempts a calming breath. "You're not helping Evie. You're hurting her."

"So, you would not want her to eat at all?" Ben slowly questions.

"She used to eat more," Doug denies. "Whatever you've been doing with her, it's not helping. It's making things worse."

It takes a minute for Ben to comment, "You haven't seen Evie when I've seen Evie. I help. I know I do."

"Ben," Doug lets out a long breath. "I know you think you're helping, but you aren't. You're letting her do this. You're helping her to keep her eating disorder." He pleads, "If you care about her, you would help her get over this."

Ben furrows his eyebrows at him, "You know nothing about eating disorders?"

"What are you talking about?" Doug denies. "We had classes. And I've been looking it up more now that I know Evie."

"Look this up," Ben counters. "No one gets over an eating disorder. There are good days and bad days. That's it."

"People recover," Doug counters. He nods down to Ben's phone, "Would you like to look up the word recover. Maybe you don't know what it means."

Ben looks back at his textbook, "I'm not doing this right now."

"Why not?" Doug speedily speculates, "Because, you might have an eating disorder too, and you don't want to recover just like how Evie doesn't want to recover?"

"Because it isn't fair," Ben shouts at him. "My English sucks. I can't say what I mean."

"Ben," Doug quietly responds, "you need to know that Evie isn't like you. Her goal is not to catch up on calories. Her goal is to not eat at all."

"I know that," Ben glares at him, before he shakes his head and picks up the pencil. "Leave me."

"Ben." Doug sighs, "I'm worried about you."

"People do that," Ben glosses over. "Tell me why."

"It's like you're…" He looks for another word for spiraling, but he can't find one. "I know that what happened with the stairs must feel bad, and you've been doing bad things more. You're going through twenty-four cans a day, you don't sleep unless you're sick, and your eating has been even more… well, less normal." Ben doesn't respond. "This isn't good for you." Doug watches as Ben finishes off one can and opens the next, "Did you even eat today?"

"You know," Ben tiredly answers, "with everything going on, I didn't get to it."

Doug stands up to go find Ben's food stash under the bed, before he grabs two boxes of protein bars and sets them next to Ben's sodas on the table. "Do you plan to sleep tonight?"

"No," Ben stares down at the table. "I don't think so."

"Well," Doug continues on, "what about the party? Evie would want you there."

Ben's quiet for a moment, "Evie would want Mal alone."

"Ben," he counters, "you should have heard the way she talked about you. She cares about you too. She would want you there, even if she didn't have Mal alone."

"They speak English," Ben softly rebuttals. "The movie is in English. I don't speak English. I'm not going."

Doug nods, "Okay, then." before he heads to the door. "See you later." The door clicks shut, and Ben stands to go lock it before a quick trip to the bathroom. He settles back down with his textbook and takes out a six hundred calorie chocolate chip cookie dough protein bar. By the time Doug gets back half of the protein bars are gone along with a few sticks of beef jerky, and a number of wrappers and cans litter the table. Doug walks over and cleans off the table, before he watches Ben work on the same assignment he had been when he'd left. "Can I do anything for you?" Ben shakes his head. "Okay, then. I'm going to go to sleep." Ben doesn't say anything, and after a few more moments of silence the world dims.

- Grammar Help: does anyone know if you're supposed to set off the phrase "no less" with a comma, or is it circumstantial? I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find a specific link for it.

- Next Up: Ben's family dinner, Mal may or may not get jealous of Chad, and Ben breaks down in class.