piece by piece | a. adams²

mistakes

✧

Evelyn had entered the cafe and made her way over to the counter, the dark-haired girl picked up her to-go bag, and attempted to walk out of the building but was shortly stopped by her ex-boyfriend who was frowning.

"Why are you frowning?" she asked.

"I can say the same thing to you," Jordan scoffed.

Evelyn also had a noticeable grimace on her face, the girl had not been in the best spirits since Asher told her about his summer.

"Boy troubles," she shrugged. "You?"

"Girl troubles," he mocked. "Sit. If you want."

She reluctantly sat down placing her bag of food on top of the table and let out a sigh. "What'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything," he sighed. "Simone stood me up. Again. What'd Ash do?"

"Lied about his summer," she answered. "I don't know if I'm making a big deal out of this. But, given my history, I...I don't know if I should believe him or not."

He propped himself up on his elbows. "Elaborate."

"Asher knew Vanessa before she became Beverly High's newest transfer," she revealed. "They had become friends in Mexico and he said they connected. Whatever the hell that means."

"You think he cheated?" he asked, surprised. "I mean, I don't blame you for having some trust issues. But, come on, it's Asher. The same Asher, who got suspended indefinitely from the football team because he didn't want you carrying around the burden of his secret. Hear him out, first. Don't just shut him out."

She let out a small grunt, softly kicking his leg under the table. "I hate that you're right. But, yeah, I've been sort of avoiding him. So, I guess, I should talk to him."

"You are welcome," he smiled.

"And I'm sure Simone has a great excuse for standing you up," Evelyn smiled, optimistically. "I mean she just gave birth and she gave him up. I'm sure it can't be easy for her. It can't be easy for anyone."

"When did our lives get so complicated?" he groaned. "Do you..." he let out an awkward laugh and drummed his fingers against the tabletop softly. "You ever think about what would've happened if we never broke up?"

"Not really," she shrugged. "But if we did, I'm almost positive one of us would probably be in prison for murder. And spoiler alert, I would've killed you."

"We were not that bad together," Jordan scoffed. "Or maybe we were...Pretty sure there's a dent in your wall from you throwing a candle at me."

"It wasn't a candle, it was my very expensive laptop," she corrected. Although the conversation was lighthearted, she couldn't help but frown at the thought of the constant issues they had. "And I only threw it because you weren't listening to me. You never did."

"I'm sorry," he genuinely said. His eyes met hers and he folded his hands on top of the table, sending her an apologetic smile. "I never realized...I was a terrible boyfriend to you, Evelyn."

"It's fine," she waved him off. "I mean, I wasn't perfect, either."

"No," Jordan chuckled. "You definitely were not. But you were a lot better than I was. I'm glad you have Asher, now. You two are really good for each other."

"And you have Simone," Evelyn smiled. "She's really good for you."

☆☆☆

Evelyn had decided to take Jordan's advice. A couple of days had passed and they were at school. Evelyn and Asher had been walking the school hallways in a painful silence. Both of them being too scared to say something, afraid of what might come out next.

"So..." Asher sighed, reaching for her hand which she quickly snatched away. "Babe."

"Why did it take so long for you to tell me?" she asked. "I just don't get it, Asher."

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever see her again," he said. "And I know that's no excuse. But, it's true. When I was on that beach in Mexico, I thought that was the last time I'd ever see her. I-I didn't think she'd come here and I'm sorry. So sorry for not telling you, Evie."

"I think I need space," she confessed. "From this relationship. We practically talked every day this past summer all you had to say was I met this girl Vanessa and we became friends. That's it. But, you didn't. So, I need space."

Asher's heart practically broke at her words. Yes. He probably should've told her the truth especially since her issues with trust in her previous relationship and he knew that. But, he couldn't risk Evelyn breaking up with him, he loved her, and he had never felt that way about anyone. Evelyn was it for him and he'd do anything to prove that to her.

"Evie...what does this mean?" Asher asked. "Are we breaking up?"

"I don't know, Ash," Evelyn sighed, crossing her arms against her chest. "You messed up by not telling me about her. On the first day of school, she knew who I was and I was the clueless girlfriend for weeks. So, just give me some space."

☆☆☆

The start of the volleyball season was probably the only exciting thing going on in Evelyn's life right now. Technically it had started on the first day of school but since she fractured her arm, her coach made her do extra physical therapy. Evelyn was basically the best player on the team and her coach didn't want anything to harm that so she and Veronica were stuck in the gym doing extra strengthening and constantly getting checked out by the team's physical trainer until their coach finally approved them.

"If I had to do one more hour of stupid PT with that handsy-ass trainer!" Veronica complained, planting her hands on her hips. "I would've quit volleyball."

"No, you wouldn't," Evelyn scoffed. "Although I am glad my fracture was in my arm...Not really in the mood to get my leg felt up."

"You think?" she retorted.

Destiny skipped over to her two friends with a volleyball in hand as she bounced it against Evelyn's head. "Finally! I had to rally by myself."

"Ow!" Evelyn yelped, rubbing her head. "Wait, how did you—"

Destiny held her hand up giving the two an eye roll. "Me and the wall got very close over the past couple of weeks. You bitches better not break any more limbs."

"Wait," Veronica laughed. "You rallied with the wall. Aw, babygirl we're here, now."

The curly-haired girl let out a small grunt. "Shut up."

"So, Evie," Veronica started off, bumping the ball towards her. "Tell us everything about Asher. I think I speak for both of us when I ask...How big?"

Evelyn gasped. "I'm not telling you that about my boyf—Asher."

"You hesitated," Destiny pointed out. "You almost called him your boyfriend and then your face did that ugly thing and scrunched up. Then you just called him Asher. What's going on?"

Evelyn shook her head not wanting to talk about what was going on. "It's nothing. I'm gonna run some laps."

3x04

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