Share
Sixteen - Just one dance
"Ow!" Nova said, hands reaching up to her hair where Genevieve was brushing it back into a ponytail.
"You're hurting my scalp!"
"Sorry, sorry," Genevieve said, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Nova's head. She tied a band around Nova's thick hair and set the brush down. "There. You look beautiful."
I sat on the bed adjacent to the mirror that Genevieve and Nova stood in front of in my father and Genevieve's room.
Tonight was another campaign party, although rather than our backyard this one was taking place in the first floor sunroom Genevieve had cleared out.
The sunroom was a bit of an odd room to have in a house in Oregon, but I liked it. It had a full wall of windows, and the ceiling sloped up slig
Related chapters
Evergreen Seventeen - Tree hugger
I turned to lock eyes with Eric, who smiled pleasantly at us both.He wore a black button down shirt with a light caramel tie and black slacks. I hadn't ever seen him wear anything but jeans and casual shirts, and tonight he was easily the most handsome boy here in such an effortless way. I looked at him gratefully, stepping away from James."Who are you?" James asked, a bit irritably."Eric," he said, extending his hand for James to shake. "Nice to meet you."James didn't shake his hand. He looked at Eric and then back at me. "How do you know each other?""Eric tutors Nova in science," I told him."Eric, this is James Greenwood."
Evergreen Eighteen - Planet earth
The party turned out to be a success. My father collected more campaign funds and said we were right on track for the election. I helped Genevieve clean up later that night after I put Nova to bed.Eric left with everyone else and said he'd see me soon.Two nights later I sat with my family at dinner. It was a bit odd, honestly, for all four of us to eat together during campaign season, since everyone was always so busy.Most of the time my father ate at City Hall and Genevieve picked up takeout on her way home for us, but we never actually sat down and all ate together.It was nice. Quiet, but nice.Genevieve and my father talked quietly about the election, and my father seemed to wave the topic off after awhile."Enough about th
Evergreen Nineteen - First date
The day passed quickly and before I knew it, it was 6:57 p.m. on Friday and the doorbell rang.I grabbed my phone and left a note for Genevieve before answering the door to Eric, who smiled at me. He wore a white button down shirt beneath his jacket with black jeans and boots, his cheeks pink from the cold."Hey," he said. "You look great.""So do you," I said, stepping outside and turning to lock the front door."Where is everyone?" He asked."Nova is spending the night at her friend's house and my father and Genevieve are at City Hall," I answered, pocketing my key. "The election is only a few weeks out now."We began to walk down the sidewalk together. "Are you still worried about it?" Eric asked."A
Evergreen Twenty - Eric's house
The first time I ever went to Eric's house was on a cloudy Wednesday morning in late October, about a week after we went to dinner together. Genevieve and my father were holding an important meeting at the house that morning, and so Eric suggested he tutor Nova at his place instead. "That's fine," I said. I looked at Nova. "Behave while you're a guest at Eric's house." "You're not coming?" She asked, a sly glint in her eye. "No," I said. "Genevieve might need me," "You're welcome to accompany us," Eric cut in. "I planned to show the Planet Earth episode about a desert biome today." "Yeah," said Nova. Ever since Nova found out I went t
Evergreen Twenty One - Journal
"Alright, what do you say we start watching Planet Earth?"Nova, who was clearly still excited to be in a new place, sat on the couch with a grin. I sat beside her and Eric sat on her other side, and we didn't speak while the opening clips of Planet Earth played.Rain started to fall about three quarters of the way through the episode, and Nova leaned on my arm. I heard her light snore start after a few minutes and sighed. Apparently all the excitement of Eric's home with his back window that looked out on the forest and the sound of the steady rain had exhausted her. Eric switched off the TV."I thought she liked Planet Earth.""She does," I said. "I guess she's just tired." I reached down and brushed her dark hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.Eric gazed at us, his
Evergreen Twenty Two - Ink
"The strange man disappeared before I could see if I recognized his face, but I was still in the empty meadow," I read, turning the page. "A few seconds later, a heavily antlered deer appeared." I put down the journal, looking up at Eric. "Heavily antlered?""I didn't know how else to word it," he said, laughing. "It had a lot of antlers.""You mean more than two?""No, it had two but they were huge antlers. Gigantic."I shut the journal. "You were right when you said you have really odd dreams.""The descriptions don't do the dreams justice, alright," he said, sitting up and propping himself on his elbow."It's hard to put your dreams into words because sometimes they're so bizarre you just can't describe it in a way that'll make sense t
Evergreen Twenty Three - Gemma
I stared at him, the air seeming to have been sucked from the room. He had me in the palm of his hand right then, and I didn't mind it at all. He was sitting so close to me, and I could have reached out and pulled him so our skin collided and our lips met. It wasn't a challenge this time. It wasn't that I wanted to prove him wrong about anything. I had already done that in the forest. It wasn't because I just had feelings for him, because in all honesty, they were all for him.It seemed our thoughts paralleled each other, because suddenly he was closer, and I could feel his breath on my skin, soft and warm. He reached up slowly and traced my bottom lip with his thumb, his touch hot on mine. He was there, he was right there, and he was the only thing in the whole world.But he wasn't. The whole world contained many, many more things. Including:
Evergreen Twenty Four - Mr. Allen
Eric and I sat on a bench in Madison Park later that night, looking at the big fountain in the center. Our breath was visible in the air, my arm looped around his and our hands in our pockets. The only sound was that of the bubbling fountain before us."I love this park," Eric said. "It's beautiful. I haven't been here very often since I've moved here. I've only walked through briefly.""I spent a lot of my childhood here," I told him. "With my father. His office is right there." I pointed to the large window of my father's office in City Hall that overlooked the park."Oh, really," said Eric, following my gaze. "What a nice view for an office."I nodded, leaning over and resting my head on his shoulder, watching the water in the fountain. We were quiet for a few minutes more, sitting in a comfortable silence.
Latest chapter
- Evergreen Fifty Seven - Evergreen
- Evergreen Fifty Six - His Words
- Evergreen Fifty Five - unknown man
- Evergreen Fifty Four - His universe
- Evergreen Fifty Three - Great Uncle
- Evergreen Fifty Two - You Found Me
- Evergreen Fifty One - Lost my star
- Evergreen Fifty - Tell Me
- Evergreen Forty Nine - Symptoms
