NINE

"Are you ready yet?" Amelia called for the brunette from the couch.

"For God's sake, we're an hour earlier than planned," Evelyn yelled from her bedroom.

"I don't care, just get here quickly or I'm leaving without you."

"I'll be there in an hour!"

"Nope. I'm leaving."

"Fine, 20 minutes."

"Just hurry up!"

"When will you stop nagging?" Evelyn said while looking for her jacket when she accidentally knocked down a picture frame.

She looked down and it and quickly picked it up. And once she turned the frame around to look if it wasn't broken, she froze. There he stood, short, cute, dark-haired with spectacles right beside herself in the picture.

She gently ran her fingers across the frame. And within seconds, it made her recollect all their memories together. Tears began to well up in her eyes, she missed him. She'd lost him.

'𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺...'

________________

The bright morning sun shining through the bedroom window made the little girl squint her eyes, slowly waking up from her deep slumber.

Mornings were the best time of the day if you ask Fourteen-year-old Evelyn. Another day to have breakfast at her best friend's place, to go to school and bunk a few classes, and most importantly, ace the Football practice as always.

Even though it could be hard sometimes to live alone at such a young age, things couldn't be better with some special person beside.

"Morning uncle Anson!" The young girl greeted the man in the kitchen as she entered the living room. "What's for breakfast?"

"Good morning Evelyn dear." He answered with a warm smile, "Waffles and Orange juice, ready to serve."

"Again?" a voice was heard from the stairs.

Knowing its owner, Evelyn smiled wide as she turned to face the boy walking down the stairs, rubbing his eyes before wearing his spectacles.

"You should be grateful that he finds time to make you breakfast, Carlo. With his busy schedule, he can easily let you starve every morning," She stated as the dark-haired boy sat down on one of the chairs near the dining table.

"Oh, will he?" The boy eyed his father.

"Of course not." His father said as he placed two plates of Waffles in front of both of them.

"Seriously, you're spoiling him," Evelyn said as she filled her mouth with a piece of Waffle.

"Who's spoiling him?" The older among the three said as he took his seat beside his son, "Who's gonna take care of him if I don't?" And that made Evelyn roll her eyes.

"Mister, you're talking as if I don't exist." She pointed her fork at the man as she chewed down the rest of her waffle, not noticing the guy blushing intensely in front of her, "You don't know how much trouble this boy generates if I'm not around him in school."

"Does he?" The man gave his son a look.

"No, I don't! Stop exaggerating, dummy," He said as he finished his plate and reached for his drink, only for him to choke on it.

Before his father could react, the brunette appeared beside the boy, patting his head as she gave him a glass of water.

"Be careful you idiot. What gets into you whenever it comes to Orange Juice? You should stop being picky." She said as she placed her hand on his shoulder while helping him.

"I'm not being picky! It's just that it's a little bitter."

"Well, is it?" She grabbed his glass and took a sip, "Liar, you just need an excuse for being picky, if anything, this tastes better than usual." She said as she held the glass in front of his face, "Now, drink up."

"Ew, no thanks, you drank out of it," He said, pushing the glass away from him.

"You'll never change." Evelyn rolled her eyes at him, placing the glass down after taking another few sips from it.

The father who sat there watching all these couldn't help but feel relieved. If he was ever worried about his son when he wasn't around, he knew he didn't need to anymore.

"Alright." He stood up from his seat, "Be careful when you walk to school, kids. I've got an important meeting to attend so I've got to hurry. And I think you have to hurry too," He said, glancing at his watch.

"Okay then, we'll get going. Hope you kick ass in the meeting, good luck!"

"Why bother wishing him good luck when you know he's just gonna sit there doing nothing."

"Why you little brat!" His father reached out to smack him when he quickly dodged it, letting Evelyn receive the smack instead. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Are you okay?" He asked.

Evelyn rubbed her shoulder which stung a little bit. "This is what I mean when I say you spoil him too much. I'm leaving."

"No, I'm sorry!"

"It's okay, not like it's the first time for me getting smacked instead of him." She walked towards the door, "Anyways, get to work safely. Goodbye!" She said, slipping her shoes on, "And you, hurry up. I won't be backing you up this time if you're late." And with that, she headed out.

"Hey, wait for me!" He ran after her.

Mr. Anson sighed as she started to clear up the dining table when he saw his son running back to him, grabbed the glass of Orange Juice Evelyn left on the table, and chugged down the rest of it.

"Bye Dad!" He said on his way back to the door, wiping his lips on his sleeve and shut the door behind him.

His father chuckled at his son's actions, "Teenagers."

________________

Outside the house, stood Evelyn, waiting for the dark-haired boy when she saw him dash his way out and stop in front of her, panting.

"Good that you're here, if you took another minute, I would've left without you." She lied.

"I know you won't. That's what makes me wanna be late." He winked at her earning a look from the other as they started to walk towards their school.

'𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.'

All the way to the school they talked about random things and once they stepped inside the building,

"Hey, what day is it?" Evelyn asked.

"Hmm.. you didn't have Football practice yesterday so that means it's Tuesday..." He stopped in his tracks.

'𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯..' It was Tuesday, the only day of the week where he gets to meet her only during lunch break.

"C'mon! Just the same as every week. You shouldn't miss me so much." She nudged his arm.

"Who's missing you? Get going or you'll be late for your Math lesson again."

"Oh no, not that old man again." She whined "Carlo~" She wiggled her eyebrows at him

"What? Don't give me that look, I feel like I'll throw up whatever I ate this morning."

"Can I please hide in your locker?" She hugged his arm, "Pretty please?"

"Pft, you know you can't hide in there nor can you miss another class. And you better come up with a good excuse for not attending Math lessons for a week," He said as he managed to untangle the other from his arm.

"How rude." She pouted "Whatever, I'll just bunk this class once again"

"Oh, will you?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, "You better not because if you do, I'll personally report you to the principal."

"What?!" She stopped in her tracks " Seriously Carlo what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"I should be the one asking that. Are you planning on failing your ass out of school this year? It's been a week, Evelyn, one week." He grabbed her by her shoulders, turning her to face him. "We both know that you're lacking attention nowadays. The tests are around the corner and I can't let you do this. Do you think this is what your father wants to hear?"

Evelyn did nothing but roll her eyes, she knows damn well that he's worried about her grades more than her father. And the boy knew damn well that in situations such as this, he'd always win over the latter with his words. Who knows? Sometimes you just can't help but worry over the littlest things when it comes to specific people.