Story Of A Girl

Evelyn smiled lightly at the boy in front of the door. “You can sit down, if you want.” She gestured towards the chair. He nodded and walked to the chair.
“How are you feeling?” He asked, staring at her pale face.
She shrugged. “Better than yesterday, but not as good as tomorrow.”
He laughed. “What? I’ve never heard that before.”
“Mr. Miller says it all the time.” Her smile widened at the sound of his laugh.
“How long have you known Mr. Miller?” Frank asked, raising an eye-brow.
“All my life, pretty much. He’s an old friend of my mom’s.” Her smile saddened, but stayed on her face. “He’s taught me a lot. And, not just art.” She shook her head, laughing bitterly.
“Like what?” Frank asked, putting his elbow on the bed and his chin in his hand.
She looked up cautiously. “Um, when I was younger, around ten years-old, I used to be…”She trailed off, picking at her nail polish, desperately trying to get rid of it.
“What?” Frank asked curiously.
“I used to be really selfish. I didn’t give a care in the world about anyone else. It was all about me. One day, Mr. Miller just snapped at me.” She shrugged.
Frank was overwhelmed with guilt, not just because he called her selfish, but the list of horrible things he’d done to her just kept growing. “Well, tell me the story. I’m interested now.”
She smiled lightly. “It was my mom’s birthday. She told me that I should stay home, but I wanted to hang out with Isabella Marks. She said her boyfriend was gonna take us boating. I had never been boating before, so I was super excited.” She smiled at Frank. “I ditched my mom’s party and went with Isabella. We went boating, of course, it was awesome. Isabella’s boyfriend was about sixteen and he liked to drink a lot. He was driving me back to my house and he had to much to drink.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “All I remember is screaming and then the horrible smell of pine. I woke up in the hospital with my family around me, including Mr. Miller.
“He told me I was stupid for putting myself in danger like that. I had ruined my mom’s birthday party and they sent the police around the whole town for me. “ Tears began to well up in her eyes. “I told my mom I hated her, that she was the worst mom ever, because she wouldn’t let me go boating, something she was gonna do with me on my birthday, but she still sent the police out looking for me. I remember wondering why in the world she would do that for me when I told her I hated her so, so much.” She wiped a stray tear off her cheek. “ She loved me, that’s why.” She shook her head again. “Anyway, back to the story, Mr. Miller told me how much I had scared my mom and he told me how incredibly selfish I had been. I felt horrible for putting my mom through that scare. I promised everyone, including myself, that I would never, ever put anyone through pain or frustration again.” She sniffed her tears back. “But, here I am. I guess I’m no better than Isabella’s old boyfriend, huh?” She smiled mockingly.
“No, no.” Frank shook his head, feeling a sudden sympathy for her. “I convinced you to drink, you did it because of the promise you made yourself all those years ago.”
“But, I haven’t been keeping that promise lately, have I? Me coming on this trip, your trip, made you mad. You hate me. I highly doubt you wanted me to come on this trip.”
Frank winced at the word ‘hate’. The word sounded ugly coming out of her mouth. The words seemed like they would break her, it just sounded worse escaping from her lip. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly realized he had nothing to say.
He heard her sigh. “I’m sorry.” She laid back on her pillow. “I haven’t talked to anyone about that story in a long time.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have ever told you.”
Frank looked at her, feeling a sudden rush of anger. No, he didn’t want her to regret sharing that with him. He wanted her to trust him. He wanted her to tell him things she had told no one, not even Trent. He stopped. His anger slowly went away as he came to his sense. Why should she trust him, he’d never shown any reason for himself to be trusted anyway. Frank sighed.
“I don’t hate you. I hate who I thought you were. There’s a difference.” And what he said was true.
“And who is that?” She whispered, sitting back up, staring at him.
“You aren’t the attention whore I thought you were. In fact, you don’t even really like all that much attention. You don’t try to act innocent, you are innocent. You don’t only date Trent because he plays football, you love him, “That thought brought a strangely sicking twist to Frank’s stomach. “You aren’t Muffie Peterson, you’re just her friend.” She didn’t try to act perfect, she was perfect…
○○○
“Evelyn, you’re free to go.” Dr. Benet said as Tim happily rolled her around in her wheelchair Monday morning. “I just have to tell you a few things.”
Evelyn’s laughter from being spun around in the wheelchair died down as Tim pulled her to a stop. “Yes?” A smile on her face. It seemed brighter since she had gotten some color back in her body and she wasn’t as white as the sheets she used to lay on.
“It’s a bit of bad news, I suppose.” He said, a sad looking crossing his old features.
Even the smile on Frank’s face disappeared. Hadn’t they head enough bad news? This was his fault, he already knew it.
“Seeing as you’re to thin to handle throwing up, it seems when you’re older, it’s almost impossible for you to have children.”
“It’s a good thing you don’t want kids, right princess?” Frank remembered the agonized look on her face when he said that to her. He remembered the reason he’d said those things to her: to make her feel bad, horrible, stupid…selfish.
The room was quiet as everyone stared at her face. Tim, who stood quietly behind her, put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Frank felt a sudden envy for the boy. He had been friends with her from the beginning, whilst he had tried to ruin her. She trusted Tim and had no possible reason to trust Frank. He shook his head, he was a different person now. One talk had made him feel differently towards her. It made him realize how wrong about her he had been, how stupid he had been.
He went from wanting to have nothing to do with her, to craving her attention. He shook his head again, he was no better than Shaun. Tim, however, had changed. He had matured. He respected her more than he drooled over her. Frank once again felt a wave of hatred wash over him. In the beginning, Frank didn’t think Tim stood a chance for Evelyn, he made fun of him for even thinking about it, and now he and Evelyn trusted and respected each other. Frank felt as if Tim were laughing at him. A cold glare hit his hazel eyes.
“I know this is a bit of a shock. But, I can guarantee that if you hit the normal weight range, you could have children in the future just fine.” Dr. Benet seemed to pull everyone out of their thoughts.
“Okay.” A flicker of hope crossed Evelyn features. “Is that all?”
“Um, just make sure and take it easy. Rest up and don’t walk to much during the day. That’s pretty much it. “He bent to place a hand on her head. “I hope I don’t see you again.” He sent a smile her way before walking away.
“This is probably the only place you can say that and take it joyfully.” Neil said, referring to Dr. Benet’s last statement.
“True.” Frank nodded. “Okay, let’s get you out of that wheelchair so we can go back to the cabin.” He put an arm around her waist and helped her stand up. He felt another twist in his stomach. It wasn’t the same as when he realized Evelyn had loved Trent, it was different. It was different because he liked it, he liked the way she felt in his arms. He liked the way they fit perfectly together…