The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

All About Evie

Previously: "Becoming Unconnected" 

(Written by rugal b.)

You take one last look at Evie Cummings and there's a sense of unfamiliarity there and it's not just coming from you.

Most of this is new to Evie as well as she only just started athletics in her freshman year. That was done at the behest of Melanie Heath, Evie's best friend going back to middle school, as the two of them wanted something a bit more out of their high school lives having previously been rather plain and dorky. Needing some bodies, the soccer team took them and they were dumped on the freshman squad. Melanie actually showed quite a bit of surprising talent while Evie had to work much harder in comparison. Then Melanie moved to the other side of town late in the year and transferred to Eastman and that might have been it for Evie's soccer aspirations.

Then Marc Garner came along.

She saw him, handsome and smart and witty, and was instantly smitten. Getting his attention, getting him to notice her, was all the motivation she needed. She changed her style, put in the exercise, worked that much harder on the practice field as she moved up to the JV squad. She has yet to catch the attention of Marc but she did manage to come onto Anita's radar. Anita, if nothing else, appreciates hard work. "You've got great hustle, Evie!" she'd said encouragingly and from then on she seemed to take a shine to the girl. Evie wasn't the best player yet, she'd tell her, but she had the biggest heart and while skills can be taught heart is innate. If she'd keep up the effort, Anita would be more than willing to teach her the skills. If she could improve and become a good player, then Marc would have to recognize her for sure.

Sadly this seemed to earn the wrath of Hannah Westrick, an Eastman transfer whose talent Coach Puente took a liking to as she quickly displaced Bonny Trask as the squad's number two much to the chagrin of Anita and... well, everyone. None moreso than the JV squad who she runs ragged during pre-varsity practice and intra-squad practices on the weekends. But no one on the squad does she single out like she does Evie. She doesn't know if Hannah, Marc's girlfriend, knows about her crush or if she just sees Evie as an easy target but she seems to make it a point to go after her. She'll tackle a little harder, kick the ball a little harder and harps on her for her mistakes a little more.

That's what you saw a few minutes ago on the practice field. Evie made some kind of dumb mistake and Hannah got on her about it moreso than usual. Anita stepped in to calm things down and told Evie she could just head home while she took care of Hannah. That's what she was on her way to do before you...

You come out of your reminiscence and run a hand over your cheek. Evie's nobody who stands out. She's a normal girl with a crush on a handsome guy who wants to be a little more popular. She has her friends and enemies, just like any other girl. You feel slightly bad about throwing the real girl into the situation you did but these qualities are what make her a perfect getaway. She's clean cut, nobody who would be involved in drugs. She's a few grades down so she'd stay out of the notice of Gary Chen. She's an athlete, not anyone who could be tied to Will Prescott. She's as unconnected as you can get.

So you triple check that everything is in place, grab your purse and head out of the bathroom and into your new life.

* * * * *

You head out into the parking lot to your car; not a particularly fancy one as it's a few years old, something Evie's parents had gotten her for her birthday, but it's what it represents to the girl that's important: growth. It represents a maturity and a freedom born from that maturity. A greater level of trust from her parents. The ability to begin doing things that she wants to do without needing the permission of her parents. In fact, Evie had planned on hanging out with some friends later today so you plan on keeping that appointment.

First, though, you head to your new home.

"You're back early," your mother, Evie's step-mom really though she's been married to Evie's father for so long that it's easier for Evie to think of her as her mother, says from the kitchen as she washes the post-breakfast dishes.

"Anita decided to call practice early because something came up," you lie, "so I'm going to hang around here for a bit."

"Are you going to be around for lunch," she asks, "because I plan on making some sandwiches."

"I'm actually going to meet Mel and Lindsay and them for lunch," you tell her. "Is dad here?"

"He had to run in to work for an hour or two since they needed him to help with some network and system updates," she replies.

You feel a bit of disappointment at that because Evie's father has the instincts to realize when she's feeling down and knows how to pick her up. But it's not a big deal so you give Mrs. Cummings some acknowledgment and head up to your room. It takes longer than you'd think to get there: Evie's parents work for the city, her father is the head of IT for the city government and her step-mother is the city manager so she's fairly well off. But her parents have always instilled a work ethic in her and have never been ones to grossly flaunt their money the way some families like the Blankenships do.

You close the door behind you and take in the room. Unsurprisingly it's fairly girly but you are surprised to see some things like video game consoles, anime posters and anime figurines scattered around. Well as you learned earlier she was fairly dorky up until high school and you guess that even with all the change she hasn't given up on all of her previous interests. That feels nice, you think, since that means there will be a least a little familiarity there.

You decide to get a better look at who you are and head over to the full length mirror propped up one of the corners. Again, kind of cute you think. You run a hand through her thick, wavy brown hair and thick eyebrows that, while not remotely unattractive, work to give her something of a shy, mousy appearance. As you're looking, her thoughts begin to peak through.

I wish my ass was bigger. My boobs too. I'm barely a B-cup while Hannah's got nice big ones. Maybe if mine were bigger, Marc would...

You can feel yourself getting worked up at that thought. The girl has it bad for him so you head away from the mirror and decide to tell Caleb where you are. You take your phone out and give a cutesy smile while flashing a V-sign close to your face and take a picture. Thankfully you've got Caleb's number memorized so you decide to send the picture to him. A response comes a few minutes later.

who's this?

me

me who?

will

That's followed almost immediately by a phone call as some peppy pop song goes off. "Hello," you answer and notice the girl's voice is higher pitched than you'd have expected.

"Is that really you, Will," Caleb asks, not wasting any time.

"No, I'm just a girl who's been stalking you because I'm too shy to confess my feelings," you say while rolling your eyes at nobody in particular. "Yes, it's me you dummy."

"Did you get her at the school or something?"

"Yeah, there was a shot so I took it."

"Who is she, anyway," he asks.

"You know anyone named Evie Cummings," you ask him which gets a negative response. "She's a sophomore on the JV soccer team."

"A fucking sophomore," he exclaims in surprise. "Do you know her or something? I was expecting you to try and go for Mansfield or Javits or somebody like that."

"It was a crime of opportunity," you explain. "But it worked out probably better than them since she has no connection at all to me or Dane or anyone unless you call having the hots for Marc Garner a connection."

"Oh god, I'm not going to have to see you hanging around if things go well with Eva am I?"

"He's got a girlfriend," you say as you let some of Evie's disappointment slip through. "This girl doesn't really like her much. She's kind of a bitch. She is buddies, kind of, with Anita Nuevo though."

"Well poor you," Caleb says. "Life's gonna be so hard as an athlete surrounded by pretty girls in peak physical condition."

Though he's obviously being sarcastic you can feel a pang of envy from Evie's mind towards the other, more athletic and physically fit girls. It'll might be tough trying to go it alone as you wouldn't really have much of an opportunity to hang around Caleb. Or would you? You wonder if you could get Caleb to join in with you. Getting one of the girl's friends or even teammates wouldn't be hard, you think, and you imagine that Caleb would relish in the opportunity of being surrounded by attractive girls.

But he also seems fairly content to hang around as he is or, if he did take another home, he'd want to be playing with an attractive girl from the perspective of a handsome guy--like Marc--than as a girl himself. So you wonder if it'd even be worth bringing it up.

That's all for now.

*
"Table of Contents (Vol. 2)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)"