After three hours of studying, I considered that a well enough time, and proceeded to check my phone. Evvie had texted me about staying over, and I replied with the truth. I was busy and didn’t have time. We’d have two weeks to catch up if she needed it.
“Aw, you shouldn’t turn her down,” I heard a voice behind me say.
I quickly turned around to see Evelyn sitting behind me, her legs crossed and her posture straight. She had her ponytail in front of her shoulder, and she had a calm look on her face. I raised my eyebrows. “When did you get here?”
She shrugged. “Thirty minutes ago,” she said. Thirty minutes ago? I ran my hands through my tangled hair. I don’t think I’ve brushed it for the past two days, which I should be concerned about, but wasn’t. “You are crazy focused when studying.”
“You should be as well,” I told her, trying to let her understand that she can leave now. “Go study.”
My little sister stuck out her tongue, and when she closed her eyes, I realized she was wearing a small amount of makeup. And eyeliner. And mascara. “I don’t have to listen to you.”
I didn’t really care if she was listening to me or not. “So you and Adam, right?” The smile she was wearing (a smile she only had whenever she had an entire plan to mess with Eric or I) faded quickly. I hadn’t seen Adam at school today, which probably meant he had to pack for the world trips his family went on each year. Two years ago, it was an all-around trip to England, and last year, they went to Dubai and Bora Bora. He wouldn’t find out where they were going this year until the day of the vacation.
Evelyn twirled her hair in her hands. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” she told me. “And it’s really not too huge.”
“How long?” I asked her.
She smiled. “You sound like my ex-boyfriend.”
She had an ex-boyfriend? “Who is your ex-boyfriend, Evelyn Gatley?”
My little sister looked over to the blank wall in my room, her eyes drifting over to the window. “You know who it is, Ezie. We were together for like, two months. And then I broke up with him because I realized you weren’t lying about…you know.”
I knew exactly who she was talking about, and I turned my face away from her. Now, I realize that my feelings weren’t exactly truthful, or completely accurate, but it didn’t seem to matter too much. Evelyn didn’t like him either, she was just playing around. But he probably fell in love with my sister.
The sting of watching him gaze at her still burns inside of me today.
“Hmm,” I responded.
Evelyn leaned over to look at the science notes I was studying, and she shook her head. “Haven’s helping you again?” she asked. Before I could respond to her, she took the paper out from my binder. “I don’t think Delcan approves of the lack of attention he will be getting soon.” Her ocean-blue eyes met mine. “To be honest, I can’t blame him.”
I hate when she turns the conversation back to my relationship. “Back to Adam, please.”
She sighed. “Fine,” Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Adam and I got together in...last year, yeah. I mean, we had been talking on Snapchat for a long time, but I didn’t really know if he liked me back. And..we kissed-”
“When?”
“I’m not telling you when.”
“I think it’s vital to the story.”
“Ezra, seriously?”
I stood up, walking over to my desk, and sat back down. From this angle, I would know if Evelyn was lying. It would kill me to know Adam was manipulating my sister through her own emotions. “Anyway, Adam began asking me if I wanted to go out, and I told him he’d have to work for it. I guess hiding it from you made dating him more thrilling...it’s seriously really fun though. I like Adam. He’s sweet and he’s dorky, even though I never thought of him like that.” When my sister looked over to me, I was still cautious. How does a person know they’re being used?
How long can the psychopath be locked up until they realize they’re not free? “So he treats you well?” I asked her.
Evelyn rolled her eyes. “About as well as he possibly can,” she told me. “It’s irritating to hide things from people, Ezie. We both had reasons for being angry with each other sometimes.”
When my sister continued to talk about the ways they had hidden their relationship from me, I felt the insides of my stomach twist. It was like I was missing out on the most important thing for her, but also like I was the reason it hadn’t progressed. Anger at myself burned inside of me for making her hide something that made her feel happy, while shame sat on my stomach as I remembered how pissed I had been when I found out.
“I’m sorry,” I interrupted. Evelyn looked up at me, her eyebrows raised and her back arched. “I’m sorry that you felt the need to hide something, Evelyn. You had no right to do that because of me.”
My little sister smiled sweetly. “It’s okay, Ezra,” she told me. “I treated Adam pretty badly at the start of our relationship, so I think it was good that we had time to get used to each other before you knew.” I looked down at my silenced phone to see a message from Delcan, which was a picture. I’m assuming less attention really was tempting him to send interesting images. Later, I thought to myself. “Plus, you haven’t been telling me how advanced your boyfriend’s been getting. And now, he really is your boyfriend.”
I glared at her. “What, you want details about is making out?”
“Yes!” she whisper-yelled. “That would be amazing.”
I knew sarcasm had been used, but I didn’t know if it was from me or her. “That’s disgusting, Evelyn.” She shrugged. “Actually, Adam was too afraid to tell you this story, so I’m gonna do it.” Since I thought this would be some adorable story about something she had possibly gotten for her birthday, I raised an eyebrow, leaning back in my seat. “So, you know how I’m the only one in this house who doesn’t...who hadn’t, um...is a virgin?”
I sat up quickly, squinting at her. Evelyn watched me calmly, her eyes following me as I looked over to the door, where Eric was filling the frame. He probably heard Evelyn down the hallway, and now his arms were crossed as he stared at Evelyn’s hands twisting together. He gave me a head nod, and I did the same in return.
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