Sunshine

Evelyn looked back and forth between the two shirts, trying to decide which one to wear. She knew no one would care what she wore just to some silly ‘party’ at Matt’s house, but that didn’t make choosing a shirt any less difficult.

“Ma!”

“What?” Maudie yelled from downstairs.

“Alice in Chains or Nirvana?”

“Scout, you know I have no clue who either of those bands are.”

“Please?”

It was silent for a while and Evelyn wondered why Ma wasn’t replying. She poked her shirtless body out of the door and around the corner so she was looking down the stairs.

“Neither,” Nikolaus answered.

Evelyn frowned, “I need to wear a shirt, Pa.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

The doorbell rang and Evelyn sighed, knowing her ride was here. She still didn’t know how Jimmy had managed to pull it off.

“I’ll get the door, you get a shirt on,” Nikolaus said, putting his newspaper on his chair and getting up to answer the door.

Evelyn immediately covered her chest and scampered away to her room, but not before Maudie got her two-cents worth.

“Where you going, Scout? I’m sure Brian here wouldn’t mind if you come as you are.”

Evelyn’s face held a scowl as she slipped the Alice in Chains shirt on over her head, having heard her Ma’s loud comment from upstairs. She heard Pa scold her Ma and a foreign laugh that probably belonged to Brian. He was presumably laughing out of kindness for her grandparents.

Evelyn had noted, as time went on, that Brian really wasn’t a bad guy. He wasn’t mean to her at all; if anything he just ignored her existence to an extent. He wasn’t rude; he just didn’t like her for some reason. She was beginning to learn to respect that.

It was warm that night, too warm for Evelyn, as she had opted to wear shorts. She knew she’d be cold later, but decided to wear them anyway. They fit her almost perfectly, maybe a tad bit small and short for Evelyn’s liking. This was surprising since they belonged to her mother before Evelyn was even born. They were ripped and tattered, showing obvious signs that they had been used for many years. The denim was wearing thin and small strings hung everywhere, falling across her lower thighs. The shorts themselves came to about her mid thigh and she was going out of her comfort zone by not wearing pants of any sort. She wondered what Jimmy’s friends would think of her.

She adjusted her shorts and pulled down on her black AIC shirt, which actually fit her since she had bought it quite large at the concert her father took her to years ago as a preteen.

Breaking out of her reminiscing, Evelyn hopped down the stairs and to the doorway, ignoring Brian as she did so. She pulled on her completely trashed and junky black hi top Converse. She laced them up and nearly bolted from the door, not wanting to stick around for more of Ma’s, and possibly Pa’s, teasing.

“Bye, Ma! Bye, Pa!” she called as she discreetly half-jogged down the sidewalk to Brian’s car, a black Oldsmobile Toronado. By the looks of it, Evelyn guessed it was a late 70s model.

What could she say? She loved cars.

“Don’t have too much fun!” Maudie called from the door, smiling at Evelyn and Brian as they walked to his vehicle without a word between them.

Brian was shortly in the car after her, slamming the old driver’s door shut behind him. He started the car and revved the engine before taking off down the street.

The ride was silent, no music playing. Evelyn was just going to ask about it when Brian beat her to the punch.

“The radio’s broken.”

Evelyn nodded, not feeling that a response was needed. She was surprised he was even speaking to her. It was abnormal for him.

“So, do you normally wander around your house without a shirt on or was that just for my benefit?”

She looked over to see Brian trying to keep a straight face, his eyes on the road. When he turned to look at her confused expression, he cracked a smile, still waiting for his answer.

“Oh, just for you,” she said, raising an eyebrow and challenging him to make another comment. She couldn’t tell if he was actually trying to be nice and break the ice or if he was just making fun of her somehow, though that didn’t really seem like him.

“Don’t tell Jimmy that, he might get upset with me,” Brian said, a light smirk on his face now.

Evelyn gave him another confused look.

“He’s pretty protective of ‘his Evie’,” Brian explained in an amused tone.

Evelyn chuckled, “I haven’t noticed anything.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Evelyn’s face turned stoic. She took the comment in a slightly offensive way, though Brian didn’t seem to mean it that way. He looked pretty normal, the only emotion on his face being leftover amusement.

Brian pulled up to a house slightly larger than Evelyn’s and parked. He gave Evelyn a blank look and stepped out of the car. She assumed this meant things were back to the way they had been between them and the car conversation had never even happened.

He knocked on the door and Evelyn stood a good few feet behind him, tugging down on her shorts. It was then she realized that she had forgotten a sweatshirt and it would be cold by the time she left tonight. Smooth, Evelyn.

The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman, similar in age to Suzy, Evelyn guessed.

“Hello, Brian,” she greeted warmly.

“Hey, Mrs. Sanders.”

She smiled at Evelyn, “You must be the Evie I’ve heard so much about.”

Evelyn shrugged, not knowing how Matt’s mom would know who she was, “I guess that’s me.”

Brian resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “I take it Jimmy’s been here for a while?”

Mrs. Sanders nodded, a light smile still on her face, “He’s been telling everyone about ‘his new addition to the group’.”

Brian gave a curt nod and headed off in some direction after he kicked off his shoes, presumably to follow the voices that must’ve belonged to his friends. Evelyn followed his lead, also taking off her shoes and giving a polite smile to Mrs. Sanders.

“Thank you, Mrs. Sanders.”

She continued to smile her motherly smile, “Please, call me Kim.”

Evelyn nodded and turned around, nearly running into Brian, who had long since stopped. He gave her another one of his emotionless looks, though she swore she saw a ghost of a smile on his face.

Looking around the room, she spotted Zack, who she saw every day, the big guy she recognized as Matt, a girl, and a few other guys. There were also a couple other girls that Evelyn didn’t recognize, but they were grabbing their coats and leaving with some of the other guys. They left before she even got a chance to meet them.

She also wondered where Jimmy was.

Brian sighed and plopped himself down next to the girl and Matt, “Guess I’m late, huh?”

Matt shook his head, “Nah. They just didn’t want to stick around. They came to say hi, drink all my Pepsi, and leave.”

Brian chuckled. It was the second time Evelyn recalled him showing emotion.

“Sounds like Jimmy.”

The girl let out a small laugh, “He does it all the time.”

A somewhat smaller guy scratched his head, “What’s taking him so long to piss anyway?”

Matt shrugged, “Dunno.”

Zack looked to Evelyn and acknowledged her presence, something the others in the room failed to do up to this point.

“Hey, Evelyn.”

She smiled at him, taking a moment to admire his green eyes without their usual black makeup around them. She thought he looked better this way, without it.

“Way to be nice, Zack,” Matt chuckled. Zack sank a little in his seat, Brian laughed, and the girl smacked Matt lightly on the arm.

“Take a lesson,” she scolded. Judging by the tone of her voice, Evelyn wondered if she really meant it or if she was just adding to the teasing.

Brian laughed and high-fived the girl, “You tell him, Val.”

The remaining people in the room, including a guy Evelyn had yet to be introduced to, turned their heads to the new voice in the room.

“What’d I miss?!”