Glimmering Misery

*****LATER (AUTUMN; SENIOR YEAR)*****

Evelyn quickly dried her eyes, still leaving them red from the tears. She tried to convince herself that she was done crying while she threw on a pair of ripped jeans and an old sweatshirt of Andrew's that she had been wearing to bed because it smelled like him. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and attempted to make the puffiness around her eyes go away. Unsuccessful. Today was the day--she had to tell him. She had been avoiding him like the plague lately. Even when he came into her room last night while Patricia was in the house, Evelyn pretended to be asleep so he would leave.

Andrew and Patricia both had to go to work early that morning. She was at home alone until she would normally have gone to school, but today she was ditching and walking to the college. She needed to talk to Andrew alone. She slipped on her tennis shoes and grabbed her bag. After making sure the door was locked she began her walk to Milton College.

Although it was a nice day, Evelyn hardly noticed. Once or twice she considered turning around, but something made her feet keep moving forward. She thought of his smiling face and started crying again. Attempting to brush the tears away, she walked into the building. Because his office was locked she pulled out the spare key he gave her and went in. He was either in a meeting or in an early class, so she decided to wait there until he came for lunch. She really didn't want to do this anytime soon anyway.

She pulled out her notebook and attempted a poem. She couldn't make sense of her thoughts enough to write poem, so instead she wrote out the possible conversation that would be happening sometime soon. All the sudden the door opened, and Evelyn jumped in her seat.

"Evelyn?! What are you doing here?" Andrew asked looking worried while he quickly shut the door behind him.

She flipped over her notebook to a blank page and stared at it as she answered him. "I skipped school. I need to talk to you."

"Are you okay?" he asked pulling her up into a hug.

"I don't know," she answered as she clung to him, trying to make everything seem okay again. She almost broke down right then and there, but she steadied her breath. "Can we go someplace else?" she asked him. "Someplace open and beautiful?"

The look in her eyes had worry written all over his face. "Sure," he nodded. They drove to a park in silence. When they got there, they found a deserted path and began walking.

"What's on your mind?"

"A lot," she answered. There was a moment of silence. "Are you happy?" she blurted out.

He looked confused. "Generally, yes. But right now you have me worried."

"I mean, what if my parents never died. What if we never met? Would you be happy? Maybe that would have been better. How many people are we going to hurt?. . . "

"Evelyn. . . what are you talking about?" he interrupted. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop, staring into his eyes, willing him to understand everything.

"I'm pregnant, Andrew."