Evan

     I was hanging out with the guys after school by the lockers waiting for CJ to pop up. My mind was stuck thinking about the stupid bet I agreed upon with Lance. I really needed to proceed with my plan before anything else fails. You gotta strike while the iron is hot. My gaze darted over every student. Still no luck. I was getting really impatient.

     “That's totally fucked up, man!” Exclaimed Lance. He turned to me. “Hey, Evan!”

     That jerked my attention back. “Yeah?”

     “What's up, man? You've been zoning out the past few minutes. You okay?”

     I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat. Shit. Why am I so fucking nervous? Relax. Act cool. You’re getting all worked up just because of a girl.

     “It's nothing,” I lied. “Just thinking about the most important things in life, like, you know, college?”

     Reece nudged me. “Evan, look who it is.” He pointed at CJ who was just coming out of her classroom.

     For some reason, CJ seemed to sense my gaze, because as soon as she saw me, her eyes widened and she started walking away as fast as she could. Great, she's avoiding me. My skin snapped tight as I heard Celia’s voice. I looked over my shoulder and I saw her threading her way among the crowd of students.

     Crap. Cue the disappearing act.

     “I'll see you guys later.” I quickly slipped away from Lance and the others but I still heard her sweet voice calling my name.

     “Evan, baby! Where are you going?” I pretended not to hear her as I waded through the crowd, trying to find an escape route somewhere. Anywhere. As long as I get away from Celia as far as possible.

     I looked left and right and then I saw the custodian closet.

     Bingo!

     I snuck inside. The closet was probably the most perfect and the most classic hiding place in the history of mankind. Whoever thought about putting broom closets was a genius. That was close. I couldn’t imagine being stuck with Celia again for the rest of the day. She just doesn't get the message. She failed to understand that dating me wasn’t going to work out at all.

     All of a sudden something brushed my elbow. I quickly fumbled for the switch and as soon as the light went on—

     “You!” We both exclaimed at the same time.

     “For gosh sake's, Evan, what are you doing here?”

     “Well, what are you doing here?” I shot back. “This is my hiding place!”

     “No, I was here first,” she argued. “Go find another hiding place.”

     I smirked. “If you don’t mind me asking, who are you hiding from anyway? The big bad wolf?”

     “It's none of your fucking business,” she retorted, her face beet red. I knew she was hiding from me, obviously. I know her too well.

     “You know, you swear like a sailor.” I told her.

     Her eyes were transformed into angry slits. We realized our bodies were just a few inches away from each other, making our faces, well, close enough that we could actually… kiss.

     Yeah, right. As if that would happen, right?

     We’re both not on the same page, no matter how much you twist it. I could hear her heavy breathing. The small closet was cramped up with brooms and other cleaning supplies. She was probably crouched down behind the boxes of paper towels, no wonder I didn't see her when I came in. It was hot as hell, you could tell from the beads of sweat trickling down our faces. The pulse at my throat skittered wildly.

     She looked at me squarely in the face, our eyes were locked in a gaze. Her dark brown eyes and thick lashes were so captivating. I suddenly sensed a tingly sensation inside of me.

     Holy shit.

     “Um, about the date...?” I slowly asked, trying my best not to scare her. At the same time, I tried diverting my attention from what I was feeling at that moment.

     “Uh, yeah, sure,” she nodded. “How about Friday night?”

     Friday night? Did I hear that correctly, or was I hallucinating due to the strong chemicals from the broom closet?

     “That'll be perfect.” I smiled.

     We slowly slipped out of the closet. Feeling the cool breeze on our skin was such a relief. I thought I was going to die there. The hallways were already deserted, not a single soul in sight. We stood there, staring at each other like a bunch of idiots. Honestly, it was a pretty awkward moment.

     “Well,” her lips twisted. “I guess I'll see you then.”

     She started to walk away. Pleasure whipped through me. I don't know why but she looked so cute with her dark gray cap. Her hair smelled so good. I’m guessing it was green apple scent. My favorite.

     I instantly brushed the thought off my mind. She was a tomboy. It wasn't going to work out between us. What the hell am I saying? Of course, it wouldn't. Not in a million years.

     “Yeah, I'll see you then,” I said with a grin. “Try not to miss me so much.”

     She flipped me the bird without turning her back.

*

     My sister Evalyn and I drove up to Del Mar where my grandmother owns a luxury vacation home. We had a call from our aunt Audrey this morning informing us that our grandmother would be coming for a visit from London and wanted us to have dinner with them.

     “Why is she here?” I said irritatingly.

     Eva shrugged. “Business trips, the usual.”

     You could tell that I wasn't fond of our grandmother visiting us. Maybe if she had a decent conversation with us, I’d probably beg her to stay with us for as long as she wants. Whenever we’re with her, she’s nothing but stone cold. Rarely smiles at people. Too serious with life. She doesn’t know how to loosen up.

     We arrived at the mansion thirty minutes later. It was a serene luxury home. Fountains, cacti and flowers were everywhere. Statues of cherubs in every corner and different Italian paintings adorned the walls.

     “Ah, Evan and Evalyn. Nice to see you two again.”

     It was aunt Audrey. Still as beautiful and radiant as ever. She was wearing a tight-fitting black cocktail dress and black pumps. Her straight dark hair flowed freely from her shoulders. She gave each of us a tight hug. It was only a few weeks since we last saw each other, just before we left London.

     It's unfortunate that she has no children of her own. We really felt bad for her. After our parents died, aunt Audrey was the only family we knew. Grandma Kathleen was too busy with her business running the chain of hotels we owned around the world.

     She didn't care about us one bit. She just made sure we were taken care of. Ask for a million dollars and she'll probably toss it in front of you like dog kibbles.

     Money was not a problem.

     As we approached the dinner table, our grandmother stood up with a welcoming, or should I say, the fakest smile.

     “Look at you,” she cupped my face and gave me a soft peck on each cheek. “Such a handsome young boy,” she turned to Eva and did the same thing. “My beautiful, gorgeous granddaughter.” She whispered.

     We all sat at the table and ate quietly as usual. The thing is, while the others were busy with their food, I just sat there and stared at my plate. Stuffed Portobello mushrooms. I picked it with a fork. I am very picky when it comes to food, so I usually ask what it is before munching it down.

     “Eat it. It's good for you.” Grams said, stopping to sip her glass of red wine. “It’s not poison.”

     I nodded and took a bite. It tasted delicious. “What is it, by the way?”

     “Escargot.” She smiled, and I threw it out from my mouth into the table cloth napkin as soon as she said the word.

     Fucking hell. Snails?

     Evalyn started to giggle beside me. I glared at her while I wiped my mouth with a clean napkin.

     “I think I'll pass.” I murmured, pushing the plate away from me. They all looked at each other and I knew they were about to burst into laughter any moment now. I settled myself with some sliced fruits.

     “So, Evan. What have you been up to lately? Besides from school and football?” She enquired. “Any girlfriends?”

     Wait, what’s this? Grams was interested in my love life now? That was new.

     “No, grams,” I cleared my throat. “No one at the moment.”

     “Not even one?” She said surprisingly, shaking her wine glass slowly. “There has to be some girl in school that you like.”

     “Oh, grams, don't believe him,” Evalyn said sweetly. “He's actually a real playboy.”

     “Eva?” I shot her a glare and she stuck her tongue out in return. She’s throwing around the word playboy like it’s nothing.

     “Evan, with your killer looks I'm pretty sure you have someone in mind.” Aunt Adrey smiled, her eyes carefully shifted from grams to me.

     Just then grams reached for something below her. A leather-bound portfolio. She wore her reading glasses and brought out a piece of paper. My heart raced. I eyed her as she scanned it. She stopped to look at me for a moment.

     “Here, read this,” she handed me over the document. “Hope it enlightens you.”

     I looked at her questioningly and went over it. My chest clenched at what I read. I couldn't believe my eyes. I opened my mouth to stress my unwillingness but I just pressed my lips together and closed my eyes.

     “I think it's time for us to leave,” I excused myself from the table and tugged Eva's arm. “Come on, Eva.”

     “Evan, we just got here.” She cried.

     Grams took off her reading glasses and aunt Audrey remained silent in her chair as I dragged my sister away.

     “Think about it, Evan!” Grams yelled from the dining room. I didn't look back anymore.

     I slammed the car door shut. A part of me wished we never came to her house today. It was always a parade of disappointments when it came to her. I shook my head as Eva sat there with a worried look. Reaching for my hand, she squeezed it to comfort me. She knew I was pissed and there was no way I was coming back to see grams anytime soon.