5. Evelyn
EVELYN
I woke up Friday morning so nervous about Professor West’s class that I was sick to my stomach.
I had always been a rule follower. I never cheated.
I never stepped even a toe out of line. My brother was basically a golden child growing up.
He earned good grades, was popular, and played sports.
I had a lot to live up to. It was made very clear to me at a young age that I was not meant for sports of any kind.
I realized this after failing at dance, cheer, and soccer.
If I wanted to shine, I had to use my head to do it.
Gabe got good grades, but they were nothing when compared to mine.
I wasn’t born a genius. I had to study, and study hard.
I didn’t go to Friday night football games.
I didn’t go to many school dances, and I didn’t spend my weekends at sleepovers.
I was always in my room, studying and putting in the extra effort to perfect my school projects.
I took on as much extra credit as I could, just so I had a little wiggle room, an insurance policy, if you will.
I’d never even received anything lower than an A minus, not even after the accident that took both my parents.
That is, until Professor West’s class. I didn’t want to cheat, but I also didn’t want to risk losing my academic scholarship. The stipulations were no failing.
I buckled down and managed to write a paper of my own.
I thought it was good until Madison came over with the paper she purchased.
I read it once and could instantly see that the paper she bought was better than mine.
My grade in his class was already low. If I turned in my paper, I probably would have stayed right above that failing mark, but if I turned in the purchased paper, it would have propelled me forward, giving me a little more time to bring my overall grade up.
I’d gone back and forth over which one to use.
Before going to bed Thursday night, I’d just decided to say fuck it and turn in the better paper, but then I woke up sick from that decision the day it was due, and it had me going back and forth all over again.
“Alright, everyone. Pass those papers to the front of the class,” Professor West said, walking to the far side of the room to start collecting them.
I removed both papers from my notebook. I looked from one to the other.
Both had the same cover page, but the papers beneath were different, and I still hadn’t decided which one to use.
I was scared I’d get caught, but I was also afraid of getting kicked out of school.
I needed to give my grade as big of a boost as I possibly could, and I could only do that one way.
I set down one of the papers and flipped the cover page of the other to make sure I had the right one.
Professor West was drawing closer and closer to my row.
He kept looking up at me, almost like he was expecting me to do something.
I assumed he was expecting me to fail. He was excited for me to turn in the assignment because it was basically the door I’d be booted through.
“Just suck it up and hand it in, Eve,” I whispered to myself.
I grabbed the papers from the person behind me.
I stuck mine at the bottom of the stack and then passed them all forward.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I slouched down into my chair.
Not because I did the right thing, but because the decision had been made.
It was at the last possible second, but done was done.
I expected to feel guilty. I had just turned in a paper that wasn’t mine.
Surprisingly enough, I didn’t feel guilty.
I didn’t feel scared or nervous. I felt relieved and excited, as if breaking the rules gave me a rush.
I felt the corners of my mouth tug upward into a smile.
I had a little more time to improve my grade.
I wasn’t getting kicked out. Yet. And that was all I could hope for.
My attention went to Professor West as he looked at the stack of papers in his hand. His steely gray eyes bounced up to me, and they narrowed like he was about to call me out, but instead, he dropped the stack onto his desk and turned to his podium. “Alright, let’s get started with today’s lesson.”
“Well?” Madison asked as we exited the building once class was over.
I was marching at the speed of light, powered by the high that breaking the rules gave me. But she kept pace, matching step for step as her blue eyes drilled into me.
“Well?” she asked again.
I came to a sudden stop since we had gotten far enough away from the building. I turned to her with wide eyes. “I did it. I turned in the other paper.”
Her brows lifted in surprise, and she smiled widely. “Seriously? You did?”
I nodded. “I had to. That paper was so much better than anything I could come up with on such short notice. My grade needs a serious boost. I didn’t have any other choice.”
She covered her mouth with her fingertips and started bouncing up and down with excitement. “I can’t believe you did it!” she squealed.
I couldn’t help the nervous energy that had been consuming me since I handed in that paper, so I bounced with her. The excitement was short-lived, though. I came to a stop as the realization of what I’d just done hit me. In the blink of an eye, my excitement had changed to fear and worry.
She saw the shift immediately, and Madison stopped bouncing as well. She pulled me in for a hug that I willingly accepted. “Hey, it’s fine. You did the right thing.”
I pulled back, my brows furrowed together. “How is cheating the right thing?”
“It was the right thing for you. It was between that and losing your scholarship. What were you supposed to do?”
“Work harder,” I answered softly.
She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t fair for you to cheat, but it wasn’t fair to be treated the way he’s been treating you either.
If he hadn’t been so hard on you, you never would’ve done it.
Plus, he’ll never know, and you’ll never do it again.
Let’s go celebrate you being a little baddie.
” She wrapped her arm around mine and started pulling me down the sidewalk.
I dragged my feet, but it didn’t slow her down. She continued to pull at my arm until I gave in and went with her willingly. “Where are we going?”
“To celebrate,” she answered, still latched onto my arm even though I wasn’t pulling against her hold anymore.
“Yeah, I got that, but where? It’s a Friday afternoon. You know of some big party in the middle of the day?”
She snorted and rolled her blue eyes before releasing my arm. “No, we’ll go back to my place, get changed, have some dinner, and then we’ll go to a party.”
It sounded like wasting several hours to me, hours I could use to work, do homework, study, or maybe even sleep.
“I’ll go back to my place to get ready. You wanna swing by and pick me up before you head out?”
“No way. I know you. You’ll try to get out of it. You’re staying with me. You can wear some of my clothes to the party. Dinner is on me.”
I rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I hate it when you dress me. It makes me feel like a Barbie.”
She giggled. “Exactly, my own personal Barbie. I just got a new little black dress that you’ll look amazing in. Come on.” She grabbed my arm once again and pulled me alongside her at a much faster pace.
“Madison, who did you buy this dress for? Me or you?” I knew there was no way she bought the dress for herself. She was much heavier in the chest than I was. She wouldn’t be able to fit one boob in that thing, let alone two.
The dress was hanging on the back of the closet door, and little wasn’t the right word to describe it. Tiny was more like it. Minuscule , even. It was sleeveless and had a plunging neckline. It was short and was made to fit tightly. I took one look at it and turned back to her.
“I bought it for myself. I didn’t realize it would be that small.” Her eyes doubled in size as they met mine in the mirror. She rubbed her lips together to spread the pink lipstick that she had just applied.
“This is not a dress. This is what people wear beneath a dress.”
She snorted. “Just put it on.”
I shook my head in annoyance, but I pulled the dress from the hanger. I knew she wouldn’t shut up until she saw it on me.
“Not too bad,” she said as she stepped up behind me. My eyes found hers in the mirror. “I think you should hike it up a little, though.” She grabbed the skirt of the dress and yanked it upward so it ended mid-thigh. “There.”
I had to admit, the dress wasn’t as bad as I was picturing. The material was stretchy, so even though it looked small on the hanger, it stretched well over my body. It was tight, though.
“What shoes am I going to wear with this?” I asked her, turning to look at my backside in the mirror.
She grinned and reached into her closet, pulling out a killer pair of black heels. They were all straps with a thin, spiky heel.
“Perfect. Now let’s do your makeup and hair.
” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the mirror, forcing me to sit on the bed where she spent the next hour applying makeup and curling my hair.
By the time she was done, I didn’t recognize myself.
She gave me a smoky eye with thick black liner and long false eyelashes.
“Damn, bitch. You’re getting laid tonight for sure. ”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. I was a virgin. There was no way I was going to give it away. I needed a connection with someone. While I wanted to find someone, I had to stay focused. Love would find me later.
“You even look like a baddie now.” She swatted my ass.
I laughed. “You’re going to kill me one of these days, you know it?” I bent forward, inspecting my makeup a little closer in the mirror.
She grinned widely. “Probably. Let’s go grab some dinner before hitting up the party.”
We grabbed some food from a truck that often parked on campus, and we ate on our walk to the party. Even though we arrived early in the evening, the place was already filling up with people ready to start their weekend.
The front lawn had a statue erected out of beer cans, and a large bong was on the patio table with two stoners sitting around it. They were both red-eyed and laughing like they were having the time of their lives.
“Whoa,” one of them said, sounding like an impression from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. “Check out the legs on that one. Tell me, baby. What’s that pussy like between them? Bet you’re tight.” He grinned as his bloodshot eyes moved up and down my body.
I wrinkled my nose as I immediately started tugging my skirt.
“Ignore him,” Madison said, loud enough for him to hear. “He’s never seen a woman before, so he has no idea how to treat one.” She turned and glared at him as we walked across the porch to the door.
There was no knocking at parties that big. We could hear the music blaring from inside, so nobody would listen to us even if we did knock. I pushed the door open, more than ready to get as far away from the stoner brothers as possible.
“Let’s grab a drink,” Madison yelled above the music, grabbing my arm and tugging me through the house.
Every room seemed to have a different theme going on.
The entryway was filled with smaller groups of people, chatting, socializing, and sipping drinks.
The living room was where people were sitting and lounging around while a couple of guys played video games on the biggest TV I’d ever seen, and the kitchen was where all the alcohol was.
The countertops were filled with various bottles, and a keg was set up in the corner.
“I’m grabbing a beer,” Madison said before walking off and leaving me standing in the middle of the kitchen alone.
I wasn’t a beer drinker. Actually, I wasn’t a drinker. I couldn’t stand the taste of beer. I turned my attention to the guy standing on the other side of the island. He was cute, with a mop of curly hair, blue eyes, and big dimples.
“Can I mix you up a drink?” he asked, grinning.
I gave him an awkward smile. The way he was smiling at me was causing butterflies to form in my stomach. I swallowed and wet my lips as I took a step forward. “I’m not sure what I like. I don’t really drink.”
His grin stayed in place as he stepped forward. We were only separated by the island as we studied one another.
“I’m sure I can whip you up something you’ll like. What’s your favorite flavor? Cherry? Grape, maybe?”
“Strawberry,” I said, but it sounded more like a question.
He pursed his lips as his blue eyes moved around the bottles.
“Okay, got it.” He grabbed a glass bottle that contained some clear liquid. “And how about for a mixer? Soda? Juice?”
I looked around at the non-alcoholic options. “How about the club soda?”
He nodded and grabbed the two-liter, setting it in front of him with the bottle of liquor. I watched as he took a red solo cup and filled it with ice. “I know you, right? You’re in Professor West’s class?”
That’s why he looked familiar.
“Yeah, although… probably not for long. If he has his way, I’ll be out before the end of next week.”
“The dude is a dick after the way he treated you Wednesday.”
Embarrassment heated my cheeks, and I diverted my eyes.
“I had to say something to break the tension.” He held out my drink.
I took the cup from his hand. My eyes met his in the same instant. “That was you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I couldn’t sit and listen to him embarrass you like that any longer. Plus, I’m on the verge of failing myself, and I couldn’t be late for my next class.”
We both chuckled.
“Thanks,” I told him, tipping my cup to him before taking a drink.
“For making the drink or for getting him off your ass?”
“Both.”
He nodded. “Anytime.” His gaze seemed to intensify on me, and I felt the awkwardness take over from being the center of attention.
I nodded toward the door.
“I should go find my friend, but thanks again.” I turned to walk away.
“Hey,” he called out, causing me to stop and look back at him. “My name is Chase.”
I smiled. “Eve,” I replied.
“I know. Enjoy the party, Eve.”
I couldn’t help my smile as I turned and walked away. I really might enjoy this party.