Lie In The Grass, Next To The Mausoleum

"Ms. Kelly…"
The voice was distant. It didn’t register. I was frolicking in dream land, my mind consumed by the essay that had just been assigned in English.

"Ms. Kelly…"
What could I possibly write a persuasive essay on? What did I want to persuade people of…? Hmmm…

"Evie!" That did it. I was jerked from lala land as my best friend, Siobhan, slapped my arm forcefully. She jerked her head toward the front of the room, where Mr. Robbins was eyeing me disapprovingly.

"Ms. Kelly, I have been asking you for the past minute, did Bobby Kennedy run for president before or after his brother was assassinated?"
Everyone was looking at me. I didn’t dare roll my eyes as I mumbled

"After.".

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"What was that Evangeline?" Siobhan giggled as I stalked out of the history classroom, glaring at a sophomore boy who gave me one of those elevator looks.

"Mr. Robbins wanted to know why I was so unfocused "as of late"" I chided, mimicking his voice whilst forming my fingers into flying quotation marks.
Siobhan’s face became serious as we walked down the steps and out onto the sidewalk.

"Did you tell him about your parents?" She whispered, her pretty face creasing in worry.

"No." I said, shaking my head. "I just said I hadn’t gotten much sleep lately."

She nodded pensively, panting "Evie walk slower, my legs aren’t as long as yours."
I grinned for the first time that day and slowed down, allowing Siobhan to catch up and walk beside me.

"Better princess?" I asked cheekily, smirking at her. She shot me one of those 'Ha. Ha. Ha.' looks before cracking a grin and jumping on me.

"I love you." She beamed, kissing me on the cheek and climbing onto my back. I rolled my eyes but didn’t dump her off, muttering

"I love you too." and piggy-back carrying her down the sidewalk.

*********************************
When we arrived at Siobhan’s house (or the Winters’ Castle, as I liked to refer to it), her mother was at work and we were free to do as we pleased.
After much debate, we decided to sunbathe on the roof, something we would never have done with her mother home.

"How are we going to get up there?" Siobhan asked curiously as I surveyed the house for a good spot. I waved my hand dismissively before pointing at the patch of tiles outside of Siobhan’s room.

"That spot looks good, we'll climb out your window. C'mon."

After changing into two of Siobhan’s bathing suits and getting towels, we (well, we meaning me) pulled the screen off of her window and climbed onto the roof.
Getting Siobhan up there took a little coaxing, but I finally got her out of the window with the promise of a puppy when my dog Bailey had her litter.

"I want the runt." She said shrilly, clinging to my arm as I spread our towels out on the tiles and lay down.
I rolled my eyes, grinning, as Siobhan scooted her towel closer to mine so she could maintain the death grip on my arm.

"Fine with me." I said, slipping on my sunglasses and rubbing sunblock on my legs (I practically sizzle I burn so badly. Damn this blindingly white skin). "We can’t sell the runts anyway."
My mother was a poodle breeder (which is probably why we’re broke), and our apricot Standard was almost due. Siobhan, as you probably guessed, has a fondness for cute fluffy creatures, and practically pisses herself every time she’s at my house for fuzzy-cuteness-overload.

"Wonder who that is…" Siobhan thought out loud, rousing me from my thoughts and forcing me to glance in the direction she was pointing. At the house across the street, there were several large moving vans and a family of four standing on the grass, grinning broadly.
Hell, I’d be grinning too if I were moving into a mansion like that. It was an absolute monster of a house, with huge marble pillars lining the driveway and stained glass windows.
All of a sudden, a teenaged boy came walking out of the side gate and across the grass. He was short, probably about 5 foot 6, and his shaggy black hair fell into his eyes in an odd, almost sexy way. He addressed his parents, seemingly asking them a question, and then made the puppy-dog face to help his case. The parents looked at one another, exchanging some wordless conversation, before turning back to the kid and nodding.
His face broke into a grin and he kissed his mom on the cheek. She smiled.

I glanced over at Siobhan and noticed that this scene was having the same effect on her as it was on me. We were both smiling warmly down at the little family, letting out nostalgic sighs and wishing our lives were so simple and pleasant.
Suddenly, the teenage boy looked up at our spot and grinned, waving. Siobhan gasped a little, looking nervous, but I sat up and waved back. There was something I liked about this kid.
He waved again, this time beckoning us down to him. Siobhan and I glanced at one another, shrugging in a 'what-the-hell' kind of way, before collecting our towels and climbing back through the window. I grinned down at the boy and held up a finger, telling him we'd be right down, and he nodded, smiling.

Approximately three minutes later, Siobhan and I were changed back into jeans and tank tops, and were walking down the spacious marble staircase toward the front door.
She smiled, opening the door for me, and we trotted down her rolling front lawns toward the boy. Siobhan linked her arm through mine as we neared him; she always got nervous around boys. I have no idea why, because Siobhan is positively gorgeous. She has long shiny blond hair and almond-shaped blue eyes, with flawless tanned skin to top it off.
I had always been pretty too, but in a different way. Dark brown hair cut in a kind of chic pageboy style and round eyes so dark they’re almost black. My skin is porcelain white, as I mentioned earlier, but not unhealthy looking; smooth and white. Like milk.

As we neared the boy, he grinned, flashing perfect white teeth and holding out his hand. Siobhan’s grip tightened on my arm.

"I'm Evangeline Kelly. You can call me Eve though." I said, smiling my most winning smile and shaking his hand. It was so warm.
He grinned.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Pete. Pete Wentz."