Evan and Callum

[ForeverRed]

Today hadn't been especially terrible.

That's what Callum told himself. He woke up this morning, on his small twin bed, and he actually wasn't still tired. Bradon was still asleep, snoring as loudly as ever. Brandon was a ten-year-old boy, whom Callum had to share a room with. During the day, the small blonde headed boy was as quiet as a mouse, you'd never even know he was there. But at night was another story. His snoring sounded much like a leaf blower. Callum had grown accustomed to it. He used to complain when he first moved in, but after three months of living with each other, it didn't bother him much at all. He went downstairs to have breakfast, and they actually had milk. So he was able to have cereal with milk. Callum had been having dry cereal for breakfast for the last week because the orphanage had been short on cash, or whatever. The cereal had been slightly stale, but that was endurable.

Steve came down not long after Callum settled himself on the couch with his cereal, and they bickered over what to watch for a moment, but it didn't end physical, which was a pretty big plus. Steve was a sixteen-year-old boy. Callum's old roommate. The caretakers the orphanage thought it would be great to put the two in the same room, because of how close in age it was. But Steve was a douche. He instantly tried to show his dominance by picking on Callum, making fun of his vitiligo. Callum punched him in the nose, breaking it. Thus started there never-ending feud. However, they didn't fight this morning...At least they didn't throw punches, so that was great.

Like he said, today wasn't especially terrible.

After breakfast, and watching tv for hours, he went back to his room. Crouching onto the floor, he pulled out a small shoebox. In the shoebox were comic books. Callum had never been big on comic books before he was put in the orphanage. Well, before he never had the money to buy comic books, so he never read them. However, here at the orphanage, they sometimes treated the kids with random gifts. Tegan, his favorite social worker, brought him two comic books to read. Said one of her sons doesn't read them anymore. At first, Callum thought it was so lame. Reading comics? That was so lame. But, he got pretty into it. He loved X-Men comics. He loved Mystique the most. Sure she was a villain, but to be able to be any person in the world? He'd love that power.

He wanted to be anyone but himself. He was ugly. He was cursed. He was...He was just a waste. His father would call him a pussy, or a coward. His ad often reminded him of what a scared bitch he was...Father of the year, am I right? Callum flipped through the pages, his discolored eyes taking in every single detail of the page. Brandon had already gone downstairs, maybe to go interact with the other five kids of this small orphanage, so Callum had the room to himself as he read.


Today wasn't an especially terrible day.

 

[potassiumboron]

Like many things between Callum and Evan, the day was yet another contrast. Callum's day might have been strangely adequate, but Evan's had been terrible.

Okay, that might have been an exaggeration and slightly hyperbolic on his part, and his day was like heaven compared to the days Callum had experienced in his life, but for Evan, whose normal life was generally quite easy and smooth, today had been a blip that he really didn't want to experience. He'd found it hard and, while he was slightly exaggerating the seriousness to his mother, it was still a day he'd rather forget.

It started out with an argument at home over breakfast between him and his older brother, Winston - or 'Win' as the family all called him. Arguing with his three older siblings wasn't a rare occurrence, but that argument had been a little more hurtful than any others because Win had rather ruthlessly brought up Evan's girlfriend, Jade. He claimed that they wouldn't last; that Jade wouldn't be with him in a year and their little romance was hardly true love. It was a cruel thing to say and Evan failed to get it from his head.

Which then led to an argument at school with Jade, who accused him of being cold and, when he finally told her why he was acting that way, snapped at him for distrusting her genuine love for him. That soured his mood even more, the dark cloud hanging over him and growing bigger when, at lacrosse practise, he stormed off away from his teacher who had been trying to offer some advice. Evan, however, took it the wrong way, seeing the teacher as being a bully to him and picking on him for no good reason.

So today, for Evan, had been an utter shit show. It was the usual teenage drama, nothing he needed to really worry about. Within a month, everything that had gone on that day would be forgotten, but right now, Evan felt like his world was breaking apart - and he only really had his mother to vent to when he got home.

Like some nights, Tegan had offered her son the chance to head to work with her for her late shift. Lending a hand and volunteering there for a few hours would always be greatly appreciated, given how under-staffed the place usually was, but Evan always made his excuses. He sometimes had to go training, or he had homework, or was heading out with friends. Truthfully, he just didn't want to spend his free time in a care home when he could be lounged in bed, relaxing.

Today was different, though. Today, he didn't want to be in his bedroom, alone with his thoughts. Today, he took his mother up on her offer purely to distract himself from the emotional turmoil in his head.

"...So what's it like? Are they really wild?" He asked his mother curiously as he glanced over at her while she drove, his lips pulling into a frown. "...Are they gonna steal my phone? Should I leave it in the car or something?"

 

[ForeverRed]

"What? No! Jesus, Evee, don't say that around them." Scolded the woman, her eyes never leaving the road. She wore her usual business casual clothes. Some tan slacks, that didn't have the slightest wrinkle in them, and a soft baby blue teeshirt. Rest on her neck was a gold necklace, with a cross hanging from it. In her ears were small diamond studs. Her light brown hair was pulled into a neat bun on the top of her head. She had light makeup on, makeup her husband would complain that she didn't need. It was true, Tegan was a beautiful woman. Beautiful enough to be on tv.

She was tall and had this air of...Confidence to her. Her facial features were sharp, and the bones in her body seem to have purpose. Each one. Everyone said Tegan was a gorgeous woman. Her emerald green eyes, similar to her son's glanced over at him, before back on the road. "Be nice to them, okay? There are a few boys there your age. I think you'll like them...And thank you for coming, I could use the extra hands. Sandra called out again today, saying her mother has mono. Funny, just last week her father had the 'flu'. And the week before, her son had a terrible 'ear infection'. Seems like that family is just prone to sickness." They soon pulled up to a building. A building that looked similar to a house...Well basically was a house. It didn't look any different from a house. But the sign that said, 'Home For Young Domestic Violence Victims' kind of gave it away that it wasn't just a regular home.

Turning off the car engine, she grabbed her purse, and got out of the car, before walking up to the house. Looking at her son, she smiled proudly, moving to fix his hair only slightly before heading into the house. Another social worker was there, fixing dinner for the children. Tegan greeted her, before heading to the living room. The house looked...bare. Kind of like a troll home. From the outside, it looked like a beautiful home. Just regular. But the inside was different. While it was clean it lacked any...personality. Like painting on the wall, or pictures of anything.

The furniture in the house didn't match at all, but it wasn't like the kids even cared anyway. "Hi Brandon, sweetie." Cooed Tegan to a small blonde child, balled up on the couch, watching cartoons. His brown eyes barely moved from the screen as he replied with a small hello. "This is my son, Evan. Hey, sweetie, where is everyone else?"


"....Steve, Kyle, and Angie went to go play basketball outside. Callum's upstairs." In the house, there were five kids. Four boys one girl. And while the girl was super boyish, she still needed her own room. She was eleven and going through changes. The social workers wanted to put her in a house with all girls, but she and Steve were siblings, and she refused to leave his side.

"Ah, great!" She grinned, pulling out Evan's old comic book. "Evan, hey, could you go upstairs, give this to the boy up there. I'm going to help Marsha in there finish dinner. Make some friends. Be nice." She reminded, kissing her son's cheek

 

[potassiumboron]

Evan knew that his mother was beautiful - his friends constantly reminded him that his mother was 'hot'. It did become incredibly annoying, especially when some idiots at his school asked how old his mother was and then claimed she 'looked young enough to be his sister'. It wasn't really something he needed to hear about his mother, but he was silently thrilled that she did look naturally young for her age. Hopefully, those genes were passed onto him.

Because he did follow his mother more than his siblings did. While they all had the bronzed skin and the same naturally wavy black hair, Evan was the only one who had inherited his mother's brilliant green eyes - the others all had their fathers' chocolate brown colour. Evan hoped, then, that that meant he would keep his young looks well into his older years too.

Once arriving at the house, he was admittedly underwhelmed-- at least until coming to realise that the house was hardly going to be a mansion. His mother would constantly talk about how underfunded the care home was. Evan assumed that the money they did get went towards the basics - they weren't going to spend that cash on decorating when food and clothes were of more importance.

"...Do I have to?" He asked quietly, growing immediately uncomfortable in this new environment. He was usually confident and friendly, but he'd heard horror stories from his mother about kids beating other kids up. He didn't want to have to deal with a bruise and busted lip - but he knew that was rude of him to assume. He also heard from his mother how rewarding the job was and how appreciative the kids here were to her. The least he could do was not judge them before getting to know them.

Nodding quickly to assure the woman he was up for the task, he took the comic and began the trek up the stairs, taking in the lifelessness of the decor. It was nothing like the decor back home, where the wall by the stairs was full of family photos. Here, there was nothing.

"...Yo, my Mom brought this for you-- did you want me to knock first? I... sorry," he awkwardly began, appearing at the doorway to Callum's room and, once realising he might have startled him, held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, I... I'm Tegan's son-- she brings you my old comics, so... so here. Sorry."

 

[ForeverRed]

Evan's voice had started Callum. Callum had been so engrossed in the current comic he was reading that he hadn't even realized someone opened the door until he spoke. Discolored eyes lit up with alarm as he looked at the stranger. His face went to its usual poker face. Just blank, and vacant, as if all the emotion he had in him was sucked right out by a vacuum cleaner. The way he looked at Evan, it was as if he could see right through him. As if Evan was just mere glass, or perhaps an open book, and Callum could just read him and know everything about him. "S'kay." Answered the deep, cool voice. Closing his book, Callum stood from his twin bed, walking over to collect the comic book.

Callum was dressed in a gray baggy sweatshirt and some black baggy basketball shorts. His hair as a wreck and his left cheek was slightly bruised, but the bruise looked old. Because it was. He and Steve got into it the other day. Steve's eye was still black, so Callum definitely won that fight. He may be short, but he demanded respect. Taking the book in his hands, he glanced over it, smiling a bit. "...Tegan's boy, huh? So you're the famous Evee?" He called the other by his nickname. Mostly because he barely ever heard Evan's real name. Tegan went on and on about her kids. And mostly her baby boy, Evee.

She told him that these were all his old comic books, some he read as a boy. But as a teen, he hadn't read them. Callum walked over to his bed, crouching back down to pull the shoebox out and put his new comic book in. God, he was itching for a cigarette right now...Or beer. Glancing up at the tall boy, he gestured for him to come in. He was just standing in the doorway. "Dun be shy, come in. Mi casa su casa...Or...whatever they say. I'm Callum."

Tegan had told Evan about Callum. The problem child, who just needed some TLC. The kid who been through hell. She hadn't told Evan all the details about Callum, like his backstory...But that was because she barely knew it herself. Callum didn't talk much about his life. But she knew it must have been bad, the way he'd wake up screaming sometimes. He needed so many meds. Meds to put him to sleep. Meds to wake him up. Meds to keep him calm. He was more highed up than he was homeless.

 

[potassiumboron]

There were a lot of things about Callum that he expected. He already had an idea of what he looked like from his mother's descriptions, and, from her many descriptions of the troubled boy, he'd already come to suspect that he'd have a bruise or a cut, old or fresh. However, there was some things about the other teenager that he hadn't anticipated, and his maturity and general openness definitely caught Evan off-guard.

He had expected some standoffish remarks, perhaps some attitude towards Evan, who was essentially a stranger - but he also should have realised that he wasn't really a stranger when his mother had inevitably gushed about him. The evidence of that was in the nickname, his lip curling in annoyance. He wasn't annoyed with Callum, and he wasn't really annoyed with his mother, but god he hated that nickname. It made him sound like a 5 year old girl, and that was hardly a look he was going for.

"It's, uh... it's Evan. I don't like Evee. My Mom calls me it but it isn't... yeah. It's not the most manly of nicknames," the other teen remarked as he headed further into the room. He was gradually easing up from his nervousness, but it was still a strange experience for him to go through.

At least Callum seemed like a nice guy, though. That was a relief.

"So you like my old comics?" He smiled, noticing the few he had in the little box. "Yeah, I don't read 'em much anymore, I don't read anything really. I'm more into sports and stuff, I guess, so... uh... my Mom likes you. She's always telling me not to through the comics away."

 

[ForeverRed]

"I like your mom, in a totally not weird creepy way." Stated the teen, sitting on his bed, glancing at the taller male. He had expected him to be taller. The way his mother talked about Evan being so tall and athletic he suspected someone like Michael Jordon. Evan was probably only three inches taller than him. He wasn't too tall. He seemed so young though. His face just screamed 'carefree'...Was Callum ever that carefree in his life?

Evan was a good looking guy. He had bronze skin, deep green eyes, and light brown hair. 'He had Tegan's eyes.' He thought to himself. Callum found himself wishing he was like Evan. Carefree and good-looking. It must have been nice. But not everyone could be blessed. One side of his mouth tugged up, creating his famous side smile. "Your mom told me you were into sports. Says you're going to be pro one day. Calls ya a star. It's cute, really." He cackled dryly leaning his back against the wall.

"Why don't you read the comics anymore? I mean...I can hardly put them down. The part where Magento almost killed Wolverine was pretty crazy. And he made Dark Phoenix ki-...You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" He laughed, seeing the boy's confused look on his face.

 

[potassiumboron]

"Yeah, well... My Mom needs to stop gushing about me 'cos I don't want to be a sports guy. I like it, but professionally? Nah. I want to... I dunno. Do something else. I don't need to think about it yet," he shrugged, feeling a tad awkward about talking about career options and colleges and the like. He had that option to head off to college, but he doubted the same could be said for Callum - and he wasn't fond of making other people uncomfortable. It felt like he was showing off if he did start rambling on about potential college options, so he promptly shut up about that.

"You're really into comics then, huh?" He instead began, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as he glanced over his old comics, a nostalgic smile coming to his face. He had spent a good chunk of his childhood collecting them, but like most childhood hobbies, he'd moved onto something else - he collected rocks for a small time, until his mother complained about the state of his room.

"I mean, I don't really remember much. I know Wolverine, right? And then there's a big blue guy or something-- I don't read them now, but you're clearly putting them to good use, so... hey, I'll give the rest to my Mom to give to you, yeah? I don't really want them," he promised, offering a smile of his own. He could get along with anyone, but he hadn't expected things to go this smoothly. He'd automatically clicked with Callum, so what started as an awkward attempt became natural and easy.

 

[ForeverRed]

Callum felt a tad jealous of Evan...He had a future. And while social workers would say Callum had a future and could do anything he set his mind to, he knew that was a lie. He didn't have that many choices. He dropped out of school when he was ten. And while he got his GED a few months back...He didn't know what to do after that. He'd probably end up stuck in some cruddy warehouse and just work there for the rest of his life, living paycheck to paycheck. Evan had options. He could truly be something, anything he wanted. But Callum wasn't so immature to take it out on this guy. Evan was a cool dude.

"That'd be great. It'd give me something to do in this shithole...Not that this place is bad. It's pretty much Heaven, but...The people can be shit." Replied Callum, as he sat in pretzel style on his bed. The reason he was being so friendly with Evan was simple. Tegan was his favorite. She was always kind to him. She never pried, and never tried to get him to open up more about his shitty past. And she gave him comic books, in which he learned were pretty fucking cool.

Combing his fingers through his hair to try it make it look neat, it did nothing but just fall back into his face. Tegan had complained, saying he needed a haircut soon. He didn't really mind it being a tad bit long. If he could get his hands on some jell, he could slick it back, and rock that greaser look. "So, your mom tells me you have a pretty girlfriend. Tell me about her." He stated with that cool raspy voice of his. His voice sound just like the voice of every cool guy on a cartoon. Slightly deep, nonchalant, and just....cool. He had such a chill vibe to him. Evan and Callum sat on his bad, talking for a few hours...Well, Evan talked mostly. Callum just listened with this amused look on his face. It was the look adults would give kids when kids talked about their days. Callum was so...Mature.

 

[potassiumboron]

Evan didn't even talk to his own friends for this long, or his own girlfriend for that matter. He especially wouldn't sit for an hour or two talking to a stranger without once growing bored or awkward - but that was the reality with Callum. He didn't understand how long he'd talked for until their conversation organically came to a pause and he managed to glance at his phone, his eyes wide in genuine confusion. Talking to Callum didn't feel like a long time; it flew by in what felt like seconds and he could hardly believe that time had appeared to go so quickly when he was with someone he had just met, and talked about personal things that he only shared with those he really knew and cared for.

It was strange, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. He put it down to an instant connection, and while it wasn't something he'd experienced before, there was always a first time to make an instant friend, right? Callum just happened to be one of those people Evan could get along with without having to try too hard to make it happen. He was just so easy to talk to, and far older than his years.

"God, we've been talking for... ages. Dude, you should have told me to shut up," he laughed, finally pushing himself up from the bed with a weak, embarrassed smile. "...Your dinner's probably ready now, you know. I think my Mom said I can have dinner here before I go home, so... yeah, we should go down there, right?"

 

[ForeverRed]

"Yeah, probably. Unless you want the others to just gorge it all up." Snickered the teen, as he slid off his twin. The bed creaked as the weight shifted off. "From the smell, it smells like we're having some meatloaf." He soon joined the others at the table downstairs. Sure enough, everyone was just sitting down, getting ready to eat.

The table was filled with other boys, and just one girl. It was a small orphanage. but they really couldn't afford more children. That would mean more mouths to feed, more backs to put clothes on, more little ones to look after. The orphanage wasn't funded enough. Mainly because the children here were seen as rebels. The state saw them as growing up to just be criminals. Some had already become criminals. So they felt like their money would just go to waste on the children. It was sad but that was life.

Tegan looked at her son, grinning at him happily. He hadn't come down since meeting Callum. She had hoped the two would be friends. She knew Callum was lonely...Or at least she thought he was. He didn't socialize much with others, and when he did come down, he and Steve almost always fought. So it was nice to see him talk with someone. Pulling up a seat for her son, she grinned brightly. "Sweetie I'll make you a plate, sit!"

Steve glanced at Evan, arching a thick brow. Steve was tall. He was 5'11, almost six feet tall. And he was only sixteen. His height intimated most, and he used his height to often scare others...But that didn't do much on Callum. Steve had thick brown hair, that was greasy as hell. His eyebrows were thick and bushy. His eyes were blue...Well, eye was round and almost beady. His other eye was still swollen shut from his and Callum's fight.

He stared at Evan, wondering who the hell he was. "...Who's this, Teagan?"

"This is my son, Evan. Evan say hi."

 

[potassiumboron]

He knew who Steve was even before he'd formally introduced himself - and he didn't really want to do that anyway, not after the sorts of things he'd heard about the boy. That said, he did feel a slight urge to smirk at the state of his eye and the dark bruises around it. It was difficult not to hate Steve, even if he hadn't quite given him a chance. He was judging him purely based on what Callum had said - but the instantaneous bond with Callum was so close that he couldn't help himself taking his side and disliking this Steve boy without really even giving him a chance. It wasn't the behaviour of a mature guy, Evan knew that, but he didn't want to befriend everyone here.

Especially not bullies like Steve.

Nevertheless, he raised his hand awkwardly with a smile and sunk to his seat, only groaning when he knew his mother actually wanted him to verbally say hello, rather than meekly raise a hand.

"I'm Evan, that's my Mom. I'm... just here for the day. I might come and help out if I got time, I guess," he shrugged, smiling a little more as he glanced to Callum. The only reason he would return was to hang out with him more, and he hoped the other teenager realised that.

 

[ForeverRed]

"Holy shit, Tegan, you're married to a black guy?" Steve rudely blurted. Steve was one of those assholes who was lowkey kind of racist. Another reason Callum hated the dick. Steve didn't like Callum for many reasons. One reason was because of Callum's skin. While Callum was white, he had vitiligo. It was weird for Steve, and he didn't like anything different.

The social worker, Marsha slapped Steve on the back of his head, her eyes hard. "Steve, language." She hissed harshly at him, before setting plates in front of all the kids. "And what is so shocking about Tegan marrying out of her race?"

"Jesus Marsha, I just didn't know, damn. No reason to fucking hi- Ow! What the fuck stop hitting me!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head, glaring at the woman.

"Well stop with all that swearing! It's distasteful!"

Tegan sighed, shaking her head slowly before looking at her son, handing him his plate. "After you're done eating baby, head on home. You have homework to do, and take your shower."

Callum was eating his food with a deadpan face. He often tried not to look at anyone as he ate, mostly to keep from starting fights. Steve just bothered the fuck out of him, so seeing his face made him want to punch it. However, he did glance at Evan. He'd hope he would come back around. Evan was cool...Real cool.

 

[potassiumboron]

While Steve was hardly outrageously racist in his remarks, the fact he seemed shocked by Tegan's choice in a husband was racist enough, and it hardly made Evan want to like the boy or give him a chance to prove that he could be good company. Racists didn't tend to make great, wholesome company, after all, and it was a sore topic. He was fortunate enough not to receive any racist comments himself, but he'd heard plenty of stories from his father, who'd grown up in a majority-white town and had to deal with idiot kids targeting him for his difference.

So no, he wasn't particularly fond of Steve right now, letting his smile drop. There was no point even pretending to be nice when he came out with uneducated remarks like that.

"...Sure. I can come back tomorrow though, yeah? I wanna give the rest of the comics to Callum and stuff. Plus, it's nice here. It's quieter than being at home," he grinned to his mother, defiantly showing that Steve's idiotic comments hadn't affected him too much. He was able to just bat them aside without deigning them a reply - it was all water off a duck's back to him. "That's alright, right?"

 

[ForeverRed]

"Of course it's alright! Just tell your father where you're heading off to, and do your homework before you come." She told him, smiling proudly at him. Evan was so mature. He could have gotten into an argument with Steve, but he chose against it. And not only that but he wanted to come back, and she figured it was to hang out with Callum. That was great for both of them! While Evan had plenty of friends and didn't really need another, Callum had none and was in dire need.

Callum never complained about wanting friends, nor had he tried to make some, but now he had Evan, and he was getting along happily with him. The next day at school, Evan's close friend Ryan was walking through the halls talking to him. Ryan and Evan had been friends since the fifth grade. The boy had that sandy blonde hair, that was naturally curly. Like super curly. His eyes were big, and almond shaped, and were a light brown. Every inch of his body was dusted with golden freckles. He was just as tall as Evan and was kind of well built from lacrosse. Ryan had his book bag slung over only one shoulder as he talked.

"You know, I don't get how you haven't tapped that." He was talking about Evan's girlfriend. Evan was the only one in their group to have a girlfriend. All the other teenagers with raging hormones complained about if they had a girlfriend, they would definitely have sex with her. While Evan hadn't had sex with his girlfriend. "I mean...Have you at least felt her tits? What do they feel like?" He asked eagerly

 

[potassiumboron]

Evan could be annoyed at Ryan for his explicit comments, especially when they referenced his girlfriend who he happened to love, but there was little point even telling him to stop with such remarks. Every guy in his friendship group moaned and lamented him for his lack of sexual expression in his relationship, often groaning when his one detail was that he'd given her a love-bite once. It was hardly the gritty details they asked for-- and even if such details existed, he wasn't going to start ravelling them off to his friends.

"Okay. Dude. That's rude and kinda disrespectful, yeah? We kiss, that's all we do. What's the fucking rush? Do you wanna know the details? There aren't any. I haven't had sex. I don't want to, not yet. There isn't a rush, I... like where my relationship is. You go get a girlfriend, if you're so damn interested in going all the way and stuff," he muttered, nudging him a little to show his irritation, even if he had a quiet smile on his lips nonetheless.

"...Look, we kissed and... maybe I did manage to have a shower with her, once," he finally shrugged, unable to really hold back once Ryan got onto the subject, like a dog with its bone. "And maybe she... did stuff to me, but that's basically it-- and that's as far as it'll go. For a while, anyway."

 

[ForeverRed]

"Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck!" He whispered, his eyes wide as he looked at his friend with a large grin. Of course, he wanted to know more. Throwing his arm around his shoulders, he pulled him close to whisper, "did she go down on you? C'mon man, you at least gotta tell me that, right?"

However, Evan wouldn't get to answer Ryan's questions (thankfully). His girlfriend, Jade had come up to the boys. With her usual smile, and bright eyes she looked at her boyfriend. "Morning~" She grinned, glancing between the two. "What are you two talking about?"

"Oh ya know, lacrosse shit." Ryan grinned, before letting go of his friend. "We have that big game coming up this Friday."

"Well, I know about the game. I'm going to be there, of course, cheering my baby on~" Jade was one of those pretty girls. You know the really pretty girls in high school that were just nice. Like so nice it was hard to hate them or be jealous. And she really loved Evan. The half Asian girl tucked her short black hair behind her freshly pierced ears. "Look, my dad finally let me get them pierced. You know how long it took to convince him?"

 

[potassiumboron]

Oh, he was so glad Jade turned up when she did. Not only did she spare him the awkward embarrassment of having to relay to Ryan the event in the shower, but he sudden presence meant Ryan would have to tortuously wait for an opportunity to continue his interrogation - and that might not happen for a while.

Undeniably smug about how things turned out, his happy mood continued when he finally got to turn to Jade and admire her new pierced ears. As a boyfriend, Evan was very observant. He could notice when she had a new shade of lipstick, or if she'd started using new perfume. He picked up on all those little details girls liked their boyfriends to notice, and he didn't even do it to win himself brownie points. He just wanted to make his girlfriend feel special, because there was little more important to him than that. Sure, they hadn't gone far in their relationship when they'd had plenty of chances to, but he didn't feel the need to. He was happy just being with her and developing a special relationship - if his friends didn't understand that, that was their issue.

"Holy shit babe, you look adorable," he gushed, reaching to gently examine the earring and nodding his approval. "Totally beautiful-- I wanna get my nose pierced, but my Dad says I'll have to wait 'til I'm 18. It kinda sucks, but... hey, whatever."

 

[ForeverRed]

"I know you'll look so hot with that babe." Smiled the girl, interlocking their fingers as they began to walk. Jade loved how Evan would notice little things about her. Like if she was wearing a new shirt, or if she had gotten a new lipstick, or if she was trying a new perfume. It made her all so happy, and she was happy with their relationship. She didn't care how slow they took it. It made her feel...Special, and it made her think he was taking this really serious. Just as serious as she was taking it.

"So, I was going to have a study group at my house. You know the usual, you, Ryan, Natasha, Sarah, Nathan, Adam, and Kyle." She smiled up at her boyfriend. "I know exams are coming up, so maybe we could all study at my house after school. What do you say?"

"I'm in. I feel like I could use all the help I can get. My dad says if I fail, he won't let me use his car anymore. And that's so fucked up." Groaned Ryan. You in?"

 

[potassiumboron]

"I mean, I would be, you know? If I don't get good grades, my parents are gonna freak. I just... I promised my Mom I'd help her out at her work tonight. I went there yesterday, it isn't that bad. There's this kid there that I get along with and I promised him I'd bring him some comics, so I was gonna do that," he admitted with a faint frown. This was probably the one problem that arose from befriending Callum. He wasn't exactly part of his friendship group, so if he opted to hang out with him, he neglected Ryan and the others - and vice versa.

But Evan was a stickler for promises. In his eyes, if you promised something, you should honour that - and he'd already dedicated his time to visiting his mother's workplace with her again.

"Maybe tomorrow? I won't be busy then. I just hate breaking promises, y'know? But tomorrow I'll be there, promise."