Status: All done-- for the near, foreseeable future
It's Simply Complicated
A Drop in the Bucket
“Evan’s such a douchebag,” Aliza scoffed as she sat with Jeremy. Jeremy and Aliza’s relationship was equivalent to that of an honorary big sister/ little brother type gig. They were volunteering at a bake sale to raise money for their local ASPCA chapter.
Jeremy was an eighth grader at the time, while Aliza sat on her throne as a Senior queen. Somehow, he had finagled her into talking about all of the trouble she managed to get in as a lower classmen. Naturally, Jeremy brought up Evan, the college freshman that decided to pass down all of his wise knowledge. Jeremy was comparing Aliza’s stories against Evan’s to see of his to role models who was the most devilish and mischievous in their younger years. Jeremy had decided to bring up an example from one of Evan’s many female escapades.
“What makes you say that?” Jeremy asked.
“Nothing,” Aliza started. “He’s just—not nice,” she sighed. She didn’t really want to go into the details on why St. Evan was not the epitome of everything good in the world.
“Like how?” Jeremy pushed.
“Just don’t worry about it,” Aliza brushed him off as nonchalantly as he could.
“What? You can’t just say something like that and not tell me,” he tried again.
“I don’t want my opinion of him to influence you. You need to make your own conclusions about people,” she explained as she shook her head repeatedly before breaking out into a huge grin.
“That’s so not fair. Grr, You suck,” Jeremy complained about his defeat with a soft growl and groan.
Aliza shrugged as she put one of her earbuds in her ear and turned back to focusing on selling the pastries in front of them, signaling an end to the discussion.
Jeremy saw their conversation as a battle of wit and a way to find out information. Though she knew things that probable even Evan didn’t know she knew, it wouldn’t be right to talk about him without him present to even defend himself. She could talk for hours about the pious Evan McAlister and his mistreatment of his female companions: cheating, leading them on, never responding to calls, having inappropriate relations at camp in the cornfields. Girls talk and, when it’s Evan McAlister, they talk even more. However, that was none of Jeremy’s business. She could discuss with people extensively about her theory that Evan is a compulsive liar looking for attention. For example, the full scholarship he got to an out-of-state school, but turned down or maybe his perfect, 4.0 GPA that somehow read 3.5 on the report card left on the counter. She didn’t snoop but Mr. McAlister always seemed “too-good-to-be-true.” All she did was find out that he wasn’t. He snuck girls in and out of his room at night like every other guy, snuck himself in and out of the same room, drank like a fish, and felt a need to be at every party. These things weren’t bad, but St. Evan would have you to believe that all he did was study and go to Youth Group. Oh, the hypocrisy of it all!
After the bake sale, Aliza went home and decided to shower and get dressed for the rest of her evening. There was a small get-together that she was going to and had to pick up a pair of cheap cowboy boots to help her fit in with the theme of a “Barn Party.” Afterwards, she had plans to meet up with some different friends for a movie night. Afterwards, she climbed into the white Honda Civic she shared with Mommy Dearest and took off to enjoy her night after being grilled like a tilapia by Jeremy. She had no idea that this was just a small drop in the bucket.
Jeremy was an eighth grader at the time, while Aliza sat on her throne as a Senior queen. Somehow, he had finagled her into talking about all of the trouble she managed to get in as a lower classmen. Naturally, Jeremy brought up Evan, the college freshman that decided to pass down all of his wise knowledge. Jeremy was comparing Aliza’s stories against Evan’s to see of his to role models who was the most devilish and mischievous in their younger years. Jeremy had decided to bring up an example from one of Evan’s many female escapades.
“What makes you say that?” Jeremy asked.
“Nothing,” Aliza started. “He’s just—not nice,” she sighed. She didn’t really want to go into the details on why St. Evan was not the epitome of everything good in the world.
“Like how?” Jeremy pushed.
“Just don’t worry about it,” Aliza brushed him off as nonchalantly as he could.
“What? You can’t just say something like that and not tell me,” he tried again.
“I don’t want my opinion of him to influence you. You need to make your own conclusions about people,” she explained as she shook her head repeatedly before breaking out into a huge grin.
“That’s so not fair. Grr, You suck,” Jeremy complained about his defeat with a soft growl and groan.
Aliza shrugged as she put one of her earbuds in her ear and turned back to focusing on selling the pastries in front of them, signaling an end to the discussion.
Jeremy saw their conversation as a battle of wit and a way to find out information. Though she knew things that probable even Evan didn’t know she knew, it wouldn’t be right to talk about him without him present to even defend himself. She could talk for hours about the pious Evan McAlister and his mistreatment of his female companions: cheating, leading them on, never responding to calls, having inappropriate relations at camp in the cornfields. Girls talk and, when it’s Evan McAlister, they talk even more. However, that was none of Jeremy’s business. She could discuss with people extensively about her theory that Evan is a compulsive liar looking for attention. For example, the full scholarship he got to an out-of-state school, but turned down or maybe his perfect, 4.0 GPA that somehow read 3.5 on the report card left on the counter. She didn’t snoop but Mr. McAlister always seemed “too-good-to-be-true.” All she did was find out that he wasn’t. He snuck girls in and out of his room at night like every other guy, snuck himself in and out of the same room, drank like a fish, and felt a need to be at every party. These things weren’t bad, but St. Evan would have you to believe that all he did was study and go to Youth Group. Oh, the hypocrisy of it all!
After the bake sale, Aliza went home and decided to shower and get dressed for the rest of her evening. There was a small get-together that she was going to and had to pick up a pair of cheap cowboy boots to help her fit in with the theme of a “Barn Party.” Afterwards, she had plans to meet up with some different friends for a movie night. Afterwards, she climbed into the white Honda Civic she shared with Mommy Dearest and took off to enjoy her night after being grilled like a tilapia by Jeremy. She had no idea that this was just a small drop in the bucket.