Story Of A Girl

“Well, look what the Frank dragged in." Tim smirked as he watched Franks head snap up to glare at him.

Evelyn laughed. “Hi Tim." She waved.

He grinned. “Hi Easter."

“No, no, I don't think so." Frank shook his head.

“What?" Tim questioned, staring at him with a curious expression on his face.

“Easter is my nickname for her. You can think of something else.” He glared at Tim. “Yeah, as idiotic as it sounds, it’s my nickname for her.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “You go from wanting to throw her off a bridge to having a pet name for her.” He turned around, pulling open the van door. “Get in. Shaun’s mom isn’t home and he says we can practice in his garage.”

He turned to Evelyn. “I never wanted to throw you off a bridge.” He glared at Tim again. “And, it’s not a pet name. It’s starts with an E and she kinda reminds me of Easter.” He shrugged.

Tim’s eyebrows knitter together. “Why?”

Frank glanced at the blushing girl beside him. “I don’t know. She's just,” He looked at her again. “really springy and peppy and happy and Easter-like.” He sighed when Tim laughed at him. “She just does, okay. Leave me the fuck alone about it.”

Tim raised his hands in defense. “You’re the one who wouldn’t let me call her Easter. You brought it up.”

“Yeah, well-”

“Okay, guys.” Evelyn laughed, stepping between them.

“Sorry.” Tim muttered, looking at his feet.

“It’s okay.” She shrugged. “I just didn’t want you guys to start fighting or anything.”

“Yeah, but still." Tim shrugged. “How are you?"

“Good. My side kinda hurts right now and I have a bad bruise around my stitches." She shrugged.

“Did Dr. Benet give you any pain pills?" Tim asked, handing Frank his lighter as Frank took out a cigarette .

She nodded. “I'm probably gonna head home and take some."

Frank tossed the lighter back to Tim, blowing the smoke from his mouth. “Well, get going. We don't want you in any kind of pain."

“Bridge, pet name. Bridge, pet name." Tim rolled his eyes.

“It's not a pet name!" Frank exclaimed, glaring at him.

Tim laughed. “I'm just screwing with you, Frankie. No need to have a heart attack." He grinned. “Come on, Shaun's mom is gonna be home soon. If we wanna practice we need to hurry."

“If Shaun's mom gets home, we can always go to my house. My mom doesn't care." Frank shrugged.

Tim glanced at Evelyn, laughing at the confused look on her face. “You wanna come watch us?”

“Watch you do what?" Evelyn asked, squinting from the sun.

“Practice. Frank told you about Pencey Prep, right?" Tim asked, glancing at Frank.

Evelyn shook her head slowly, looking at the sheepish look on Frank face. “No."

“Frank, you dick!" Tim shouted, glaring at him.

“What?" Frank shrugged. “It just never came up."

Evelyn shook her head. “Okay. I'm lost."

Tim smiled. “I would explain it, but I think Frank should." He ducked as Frank tried to hit him. Tim climbed back into the van.

Frank stood in front of Evelyn, glancing back at the van. “You think Muffie isn't gonna let you sit with her tomorrow?"

“Um, almost positive. Why?"

“Cool. I'll tell you all about it at lunch tomorrow. “‘Kay?"

She nodded, curious. “Okay."

“Unless, you wanna come with us." He nodded to the van, throwing down his cigarette.

She bit her lip. “I really want to, but I have homework that I missed from Friday."

“It's okay." He grinned. “Leaves me time to figure out what to say."

She smiled. “Okay."

Frank climbed into the van, rolling down the window. “Bye."

She waved, still smiling. “Bye."

○○○

Evelyn stared with sorrow-filled eyes at the poster in front of the school building.

“School Pictures Tomorrow!”

She sighed, glancing at her reflection in the window. Muffie always had helped her for picture day. Evelyn wasn’t the best at her make-up, which is why she chose to not wear any. Picture days were always hectic. Muffie would appear at her doorstep around three o’clock in the morning, ready herself, and would fix Evelyn up.

“So, Muffie tells me you’ve been hanging around that Iero kid.”

She whipped around, relaxing when she saw it was only Trent. More sorrow filled her system as she saw the worried look on her boyfriends face. She bit her lip, looking down at her shoes. “Yeah, we’re friends now.”

He shook his head. “But, he hated you on Friday. Then you two disappeared and come back Tuesday, best friends. What the heck happened over the weekend?”

She shrugged, her head still hanging. “He’s just been nicer to me.” She looked up. “He is a really nice guy once you get to know him. But,” She jumped when his face fell. “It isn’t anything you have to worry about. He doesn’t like me anyway.”

He snorted, shaking his head. “He doesn’t like you? Eva,” He rubbed his forehead. Her face dropped slightly. She liked being referred to as ‘Easter’. “have you seen the way he looks at you? You’d think he’s totally in love with you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Frank doesn’t love me, trust me. He doesn’t want to be in love, he told me so.”

“He told you so? When?”

“Yesterday. At lunch.”

His eye-brows knitted together. “Since when do you sit with Iero?”

She sighed, looking back at her shoes. “Since Muffie banned me from our table.”

“Why’d she do that?”

“She said I was becoming a rebel. Skipping school and violating the dress code by wearing Frank wristband.”

Trent’s eyes narrowed. “He gave you his wristband?”

She sighed again, leaning against the window. “Trent, what are you so worried about? Are you afraid Frank’s gonna take me away from you? Because that’s not gonna happen. Not in a million years. We’re just friends.”

He stared at her skeptically. “I don’t know.” He muttered.

She grinned, hugging him. “I love you.” She mumbled.

He laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I love you, too.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at the poster in front of him. “Is Muffie gonna come over and help you?”

She turned around, staring at the poster. “No.” She sighed, pulling away from him. “Her and I aren’t really talking at this moment in time.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. She just suddenly started being rude to me. I think she hates the fact that Frank and I are friends.”

He sighed. “I’m not a fan of him, Eva. I hope you know that. But,” He grinned when her face fell. “If he makes you happy, then I’m happy.”

She grinned, blushing. “Thanks for understanding Trent. I thought you were gonna hate me.”

He put his arm around her shoulder. “I could never hate you, Eva.”

She grinned up at him. “Good. ‘Cause I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life, Mr. Malm.” She wrapped her arm around his back and smiled down at her feet, she glanced up, joy in her eyes. Her chocolate eyes landed on Frank, who was across the yard, leaning against the wall, smoking, eyes on her.

Her face froze, as did her body as the joy left her eyes. He didn’t smile, he just stared at her. He threw his cigarette on the ground, stomping it out before walking inside the door he was by; the detention room. Her eyes fell to the ground sadly as a thought crossed her mind.

She felt as though she was in the middle of a love triangle...