by Karla Luna
“Oh, I have your criminal record here, Evelyn,” he said without removing his gaze from Zavier and tapping his coat, signaling me that he had the papers inside his coat. I mean, was he fucking serious!? “You know how many people she’s killed? Well, son, sadly we don’t know. But I’m sure they are way too many to even keep count of. She should’ve gone to jail for that, don't you think? Or rehab?”
“Shut. Up!” I hissed, but he still kept fucking talking. I could tell Stormy was getting very afraid of what’s to come.
“She can murder you at any time! You really think she’s being a nice person to you? She’s a wreck. She’s careless, obnoxious. She’s a freakin’ criminal! What do you think they do, huh?! Change into a good person!? They stay bad!”
Everything went dead silent once I abruptly stood up from my seat, making the floor screech in agony. I continued to glare at him. My whole body was shaking with fury, my fists were clenched with wanting to punch him, and my jaw was clenched as well. But I bit my lip to stop from yelling.
“Go. Fuck. Yourself,” I simply said, right before storming out of there and locking myself up in my room where no Dickhead could bother me.
I badly wanted to punch him but I’m sure he had cameras or even freakin’ cops waiting outside, so that they could easily take me away if I did something to him. Why is it that when he’s around, my day just turns for the worst?
•Zavier•
I looked down as the atmosphere in the room completely became awkward. It was quiet, and none of us could think of anything else to say. I still didn’t know who this Bradley guy really was, but he had just hurt Evelyn with his words and I already hated him. And I’ve never in my life hated someone so fast. What gave him the right to just come over for dinner and talk about her like that? Like she wasn’t even in the room?
I glared up at him just as my mother stood up and shook her head. She seemed gravely disappointed as she put her fingertips over her forehead to possibly stop a headache from spreading its way through her skull.
“Bradley, I think you should go,” she tried to say as nicely as possible, but you could clearly hear the venom in her tone. She was trying hard not to snap at him. He was the guest, but he was leaving now.
“You know it’s true, Stormy. She may be acting innocent right now, but she’s just another spoiled little brat that’s…”
“Don’t talk about her like that,” I snapped, making them both freeze and turn to look at me. My mother seemed shocked that I had even spoken up, but she mostly seemed shocked because of how angry I was. But angry was an understatement. I was infuriated so much, I wanted to crack the guy’s skull open. Man, since when did I think so violently? I guess that’s one of the hazards of hanging out with the bad girl so much.
Bradley chuckled, although it was anything but humorous.
“Are you defending her?”
“Yes. You don’t really know anything about her or her life, so you can’t just say things like that and judge someone you don’t even know half about,” I said through clenched fists. I was breathing heavily and my heart was beating as if I was running in a marathon. He really just crossed the line.
Bradley was about to speak up as he stepped toward me. It made me take one cautious step back, but Mom put her hand on his chest to stop him from possibly coming at me.
“I’m with my son on this one. You sent her here for help, and that is just what I am doing. That’s what we’re both doing, trying to help her. But I will not allow you to treat her the way you just did, especially as a guest. No one deserves to be talked to that way. So leave, now, before I kindly kick your ass out of here.”
I gaped at my mom but covered my mouth, wanting so badly to laugh, even though I didn’t usually tolerate such language, not even from my own mother. After all, she had said the words I’ve wanted to utter so badly since he opened his big mouth.
“You’ll see very soon,” Bradley started, as he pointed at us both while walking backwards toward the front door, “just how right I am. You’ll both see!” And he was out the door, slamming it in the process as Mom breathed out a huge sigh of relief.
I scoffed. Seriously, who was that guy?
“That’s Bradley. He’s been out to get Evelyn ever since she moved here. And if you’re wondering, he’s the district supervisor, so now you know why Evelyn’s been kicked out of every school there.”
I raised my eyebrows at that statement. I knew that was why she got sent here to live with us, but I always wondered just what type of trouble she got into to get expelled from all of the schools, which might’ve been a lot.
“I’m really proud yet surprised that she’s stayed in school this past month. But anyway…” She started for the stairs and nodded at me. “I’m gonna go talk to Evelyn now. See if she’s okay.”
“Mom,” I called out to her, making her pause mid-way up the stairs while raising her eyebrows, waiting for my answer. “C-can I go talk to her instead?”
She gave me a look that told me how happy she was that Evelyn and I were getting along. And to be honest, I was glad, too.
“Of course, sweetie. Go on ahead. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.” She came back down and kissed my cheek before going down the hall that led to her office.
Taking a deep breath, I walked up the stairs and stared at Evelyn’s closed door the rest of the way. I hope she didn’t sneak out of the house again, and I definitely hoped she didn’t do anything crazy in there. Shaking the thoughts away, I slowly placed my hand on her doorknob. I was more or less thinking that it would be locked to keep us away, but she never locks it. I knew I should’ve knocked. I knew I should’ve at least told her I was coming in from the other side of the door, but did I listen to my instincts? No.
So when I opened the door just to take a small peek inside, it’s like the whole world stopped spinning at the sight that was in front of me. My heart felt like it was about to burst, thumping fast like a ticking bomb ready to explode. My breath quickened, but this time, it wasn’t out of pure anger.
It was out of pure desire, want, and need.
Evelyn stood in front of her tall mirror, a blank expression written on her beautiful face as she looked herself over. She was in her black, lacy lingerie. And when I had first peeked in, she was taking off her shirt to show off her sweet, intoxicating torso. She had amazing curves, in all the right places. Her flat stomach was well defined while her legs seemed to go on for miles. The piercings on her cute little belly button and hips screamed out at me, shining with the reflection of the light coming into the room. And her breasts were perfectly round, exquisitely hugged by her bra.
Her hair was let loose, not like earlier, and she craned her neck to inspect the mark I had left on her. For some reason, I didn’t want her to hide it. I wanted everyone to know that she was taken, even though this was just a deal going on between us. I didn’t want anyone else to even look at her. Just like how I was looking at her right now. Every inch of her was gorgeous, and every inch of her was smooth and clear – her olive skin glowing, which is probably one of the things that made everyone lust for her. My hands tingled badly, wanting to caress that smooth, silky body of hers. My lips were parted, wanting to kiss and savor all of her. And my abdomen seemed to be churning all over the place.
I tightly closed my eyes. Gosh, did I feel like a horrible creep! I will never get that image of her out of my head now as long as I look at her.
Suddenly, my phone rang, making me jump as I tried to locate it somewhere in my sweatpants. I started getting extremely nervous. I didn’t want her finding out I’d been watching her practically naked! Oh Zavier, what have you become? Checking out her body like that? But I knew I wasn’t just checking out her body. I was admiring it. She was so inhumanly alluring, beautifully stunning, and glamorously exquisite. No one could compare to her model-like features, not even my 6-year-long crush, Jocey Rodriguez.
“Zavier?”
At hearing her light voice near me, I tightly clos
ed my eyes. I had my phone in my hand, but it was an unknown number, and I never even answered them. Great time to call, really guys. Thanks!
I slowly turned around and tried so hard not to look up at her since she was still in her wonderful lingerie. She really needed to put something on before I completely lose it and pull her against my body to feel all of her.
“Yeah?” I ask, feeling shaky yet again as I slowly looked up at her to see her plump lips look more inviting than ever. Why didn’t I have the freakin’ guts to grab her hand and pull her into me to kiss those loving lips of hers?
“W-what are you doing out here?”
“I um…” I swallowed a sudden lump I had and cleared my throat, anxiously scratching the back of my neck. “I-I wasn’t watching you, no way, I-I was just, I um… w-wanted to uh, come and see how you were doing.” Yeah, good saving, Zavier. You’re wooing the crowd.
She scoffed, faking a laugh right afterwards as she crossed her arms over her chest, making her breasts pop out even more as I licked my dry lips. Stop it, you pervert! I needed to punch myself in the face, preferably countless times.
“I’m pretty sure he already fed you with lies. Go on, Zavier, run away from me before I murder you.” I was about to say something, but she still continued on. “You know, I honestly hated it when you would lock your room, thinking I was actually going to kill you at night.”
I sighed, closed my eyes, and threw my head back. Yeah, sure, I always thought that, but I actually knew she wouldn’t do it. I wasn’t proud of my thoughts though. Why didn’t I think about how she felt about the whole situation? I felt like such a jerk.
“Evelyn…”
“Thank you though.” She suddenly started to walk closer to me, making me twice as nervous when she placed her small, delicate hands on my chest. How hard was my heart beating? Because I’m so sure she could feel the pulse right under her thin, delicate fingertips. “You stood up for me down there and it really means a lot.”
She threw her arms around me in an instant, and I stopped breathing. We’ve been close like this before, sure, but not with the other person in such little clothing.
She hugged me tight to her, breathing me in, and I did the same as I slowly secured my arms around her small, sculpture-worthy frame. Her skin was so warm and soft under my hands, and I wanted no more than to push her into the room and kiss her with as much passion as I could give her and treat her the way every girl should be treated.
Slowly, she pulled away from me and we looked at each other’s eyes, then down at each other’s lips. But she probably stopped her inner self, just like me, which would explain why she pulled away from me completely before looking away and speaking up.
“And I need to tell you something.”
•Evelyn•
Once I had put on some clothes, consisting of a big shirt, shorts, and knee-length socks, we stayed seated at the end of my bed. I fixed my hair up a bit, playing with the very ends of it as I bit my lip and sat on my knees right next to Zavier. I needed to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him everything. Dickhead had just ruined my night and the only way to make things better was to talk to someone I have learned to trust, like my teddy bear.
“Zavier…” My voice sounded so broken it took all of my free will not to cry in front of him again. He looked so sad and concerned that I wanted to be in his arms so that he could soothe me down again and tell me that everything was going to be okay, that he thinks all that Bradley said down there was a complete and total lie, even though I knew they weren’t lies at all.
Suddenly, Zavier slowly reached for my small right hand and entwined our fingers together. I stared down at our connected hands that were nicely hugging each other, and then looked up at him.
“You can tell me anything,” he whispered, as I nodded before scooting closer to him.
This was it…
“You want to know the real reason why I am the way I am?” He frowned and gave me a look that told me he didn’t really understand what I was talking about. “Zavier, bad people… bad boys, bad girls… they have reasons as to why they become the way they are. And I… I want to tell you why I’m this bad, delinquent, criminal girl.” He slowly nodded, parting his lips, encouraging me to continue on because he was all ears. And I knew he wouldn’t judge me at all by what I’m about to tell him. “I have no parents. I never met them. I guess they just left me somewhere. And I’m sure I will never ever see them. Now surely, you know where kids with no parents get sent to?”
“Mmm… orphanages or foster homes.”
“I was sent to this Orphanage.” I started to smile, but it was completely fake. “It sounded like the best thing for me, living with all these types of kids, waiting to be taken away to a great family that will actually love and cherish me, and not leave me.” My smile died down and anger filled every fiber within me as I looked down at the ground, remembering every single detail of my past there. “But no family ever came. The people, owners and employees in that Orphanage, kept us all in there to work for them. We were like their little servants. And if we did something wrong, bam!” I blinked and looked up at him, his eyebrows creased with sadness and worry. “They would abuse us. And not just a little slap. I would have so many bruises by the end of the day, I was surprised I was still alive in the end. We hardly had time to even sleep either. We practically had to work every hour of every day.
“They took us to school, though. I liked learning, and I was good at almost every subject.” I paused to chuckle. “Except Math.” Zavier smiled weakly and squeezed my hand. “But for some reason, the kids there, they always talked bad about me behind my back. And they would always beat me up, which would make things worse because I was already badly beaten. I let them walk all over me and I hated it.
“In my therapy sessions, I always tell Stormy about the Orphanage thing. But she knows very little about the other part of my life that made me this way.” I took a deep breath and faked another chuckle. “My first love.”
This was the part I hated to think about the most sometimes. Love was supposed to be an amazing and wild ride. But it was the reason I didn’t want to love again because I was so afraid to.
“I was young, around 15, but I knew I was deeply and stupidly in love. He was my everything, he was my all.” I rolled my eyes at my own choice of words. Pathetic. “But I was nothing to him. He ended up breaking my heart by sleeping with girl after girl, talking bullshit, and admitting to playing with me a while later. I know it was stupid but I couldn’t take it. I tried the love thing and it just didn’t work for me. I managed to escape after all of that, and met up with Drake and the other guys. He changed my life and cared for me at the same time. We dated too, but I only loved him as a person because I just didn’t want to love anyone like that again. Anyway, from then on, I was known as the girl no one wanted to mess with. I was this girl because of what life has brought to me.” I bit my lip as a sob escaped my throat.
By now, the tears were starting to fall down, but before I could rub them off my face, Zavier brought his own soft hand up and brushed the tears away with the pad of his thumb. He was giving me that stupid look though, and I hated it so much.
“Stop that,” I practically snapped at him, and he was taken aback as he stared at me.
I stood up and laced my fingers through my hair in frustration. “Stop giving me that look,” I hissed. “I hate it. I don’t want you to pity me, or feel sympathy for me. This is just what life has given me. It gives everyone shit.” I wiped away the rest of the stupid tears that found their way down my cheeks. “I’m a bad person, Zavier. Whether it’s because of my past or not, I am still bad.” And you shouldn’t even bother with me.
This time, he gave me an incredulous look as he stood up to stand directly right in front of me. “You are not a bad person! You were just raised like that and treated that way, Evelyn. It’s their fault, okay?” I started shaking my head, my eyebrows creased in complete sadness, but he cupped my cheeks in his large, w
arm hands to make me look him straight in the eyes… those adorable brown eyes that made me feel secure and safe and normal. “It’s their fault you became this way, not yours.”
I sniffed and swallowed a lump in my throat. Gosh, I really didn’t deserve him, not even as a friend.
“Why are you so nice to me?”
The corners of his lips tilted up as he looked down at my lips. Why did he keep looking down at them? “Because I care deeply about you. I was raised with respect by my mother. And even if I see bad in this world all the time, I learn to go past it, and you should, too.”
“But I’m the bad,” I stated, right before laughing. He laughed along with me, too, and then searched my face. My heart was thumping rapidly through my ribcage and it’s like all oxygen escaped out of my system when he ever so slowly placed his hot, soft lips on mine for a tender kiss.
I was stunned. The first time, I had kissed him out of pure panic since I thought he was going to die. The second time was when he didn’t even know what was going on. But now? He kissed me… of his own free will and completely sober!
Pulling away, he looked stunned himself as he tensed up.
“I…” He started backing away from me, making me frown at him. “I’m sorry, Evelyn. I…” He shook his head and just walked out of the room while grabbing on to his hair, leaving me standing there completely alone.
What just happened?
24: The Good Girl
•Evelyn•
“Seriously, Evelyn, I deeply apologize on behalf of that bastard. He had absolutely no right to talk to you that way after he was so nicely invited for dinner.”
I shrugged as Stormy kept apologizing for the Dickhead. She didn’t have to talk for him, it’s not like he’d even say sorry if he actually had the chance to or something. So I quietly munched on my noodles and played around the bowl with my fork as I mumbled to her, “You don’t have to apologize for that di-di… uh, disgrace of a man. Such a dang disgrace.” I obviously started to say ‘dick’ but when I looked up, she gave me a warning look, daring me to continue.
