A Wild Thing - Troy Otto

twenty-five

     Evelyn heard the bell ring for the last time that school year. School was finally out. Nothing could ruin her mood, not even Troy and his weird, flirty insinuations.

     Troy watched as she waved and said her final goodbyes to her friends who she wouldn't see in a while. He repetitively tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for her to finish. "You're in a good mood," he observed as she opened the car door with a grin.

     "Really? How could you tell?" she questioned sarcastically.

     "You always look depressed when you get out of school," he joked, lifting his hand up to run his fingers over her scarred chin, "not today though."

     "Why would I? I don't have to be back here until August!" she grinned, happily stretching out her arms.

     "I think this calls for a celebration at the lake."

     "Okay," Evelyn shrugged. "let me change into a swimsuit this time though. I'm not getting my clothes wet again!"

     "Fine," Troy rolled his eyes. "You're no fun." Evelyn stuck her tongue out at him.

     "I just hope you know that if a frog touches me, I will be freaking out and I will be taking you down with me," Evelyn wrapped her arms around her exposed torso, staring at the blue-ish water.

     "I'm not sure I signed up for that," Troy responded from beside her.

     "You're my 'best friend' right?" she crossed arms and heard Troy sigh. "This is what best friends do for each other, Troy."

     "Whatever, just get in," he softly pushed her forward, causing her to stumble.

     Evelyn appreciated the coldness of the water that pricked her skin. The southern sun became brutal towards the end of May, but it only reminded Evelyn that summer was finally upon them. Granted, she'd never really done anything on her breaks except sit around.

     "Check this backflip," she spoke as she stepped backwards. Troy struggled to hold in his laugh at the sight of her flinging herself back into the water, her legs sloppily coming out of the water for a second before coming back down. "How was that?" she wiped her wet hair out of her face after she came up. 

     Troy debated how to respond for a few seconds. "Perfect," he joked, not being able to contain his smile. "You're so talented. I don't know how you do it."

     "I know right," she turned and flipped her hair, getting water all over Troy. She quickly apologized, laughing at his blank stare. "I need to tan," Evelyn started after a few moments of silence. "Do you think I'll tan in here? I don't want to get out to tan that is such a hassle."

     "Ev, you are so talkative today."

     "I am in such a good mood!" Evelyn threw her arms out to show her enthusiasm. "No more dumb teachers, not more dumb classmates, no more dumb homework. I am just loving life today."

     "You should be loving life every time you're with me," Troy moved closer to her, "I like you best when you're like this."

     "You keep saying that," Evelyn crossed her arms. "If you were my real best friend you would like me during all my moments."

     "I never said I don't like you during your negative, in-denial moments, because trust me, i do. I just think you're nicer when you're like this."

     Evelyn gifted him a playful scowl. "You keep saying that too. How many times do I have to tell you? I'm always nice."

     "Yeah, okay," Troy dismissed, "you're pretty cold sometimes, but like I said, I know you don't mean it."

     "How so?" she tilted her head, curious to hear how he claimed to know. Was he seeing something she couldn't or was he letting his ego talk?

     For the past week or so, Evelyn had been wondering if she was being too careful with Troy. She'd have moments where she knew she wasn't. Why would he just randomly start liking her when nobody on that ranch had ever even given her a kind look? It didn't make any sense. On the other hand (the slightly more illogical and emotional hand), she desperately wanted somebody to like her. Of course, she had all her friends at school, but this was different. This was the prison she grew up in.

     Evelyn would always be angry at her parents for picking a ranch like the one she lived on. She wished she could have a normal suburban life like all of her friends, but that wasn't what Scott wanted. Her parents could've picked any other ranch in the country, but they had to choose the racist one. Of course they did. She figured that maybe on another ranch, she'd find her sweeter, realer Troy, but she knew things weren't going to change, so she might as well just suck it up deal with it. Besides, she only had less than two years left to endure before she could move away, and she was excited to see what that future would hold.

     "How could anyone not love me?" he was letting his ego talk. Evelyn was hoping for the more detailed response that would be the solution to all her internal conflicts, but no. It was just Troy being Troy. Who wouldn't love that?

     Evelyn hummed as if to agree. "That's just impossible," she replied, voice laced with sarcasm. She hadn't been paying attention to how close Troy was getting to her, but when she finally realized, she had a good idea of what he was going to do.

     "Isn't it?" Troy muttered lowly. He looked down at the girl in front of him, his forehead almost pressing against hers. He could hear Evelyn's breathing become unsteady. She shut her eyes, trying her hardest to ignore the imaginary alarms blaring in her brain. She wasn't sure she was ready for whatever was about to happen. "Ev," he whispered. She looked up at the taller boy.

     "Troy," she didn't know what she expected him to respond with. Her stomach was doing all kinds of flips and twists and wasn't sure how to deal with it or how to feel about it.

     Troy didn't say anything. He only titled his head down to brush his nose against hers, the touch sending Evelyn into a spiral. His face inched closer and closer to hers by the second. Evelyn felt like she was going to explode.

     Troy could feel the breath from Evelyn's exhale on his lips before she pulled away. Evelyn was all over the place, and anybody could tell.

     "Did I ruin the moment?" she asked shyly after she caught her breath.

     "Just a little."

     "I'm sorry," she brought damp hands up to cup her flushed cheeks.

     "Don't worry about it," Troy paused, clearing his throat. "Uh— we should go," Evelyn nodded somberly in agreement.

     The two strolled back to Evelyn's house in complete silence. Evelyn took notice of how nonchalant and unbothered Troy seemed to be. She admired that. She was sure that if she was the one in his position, she would die of embarrassment on the stop.

     "I'll see you around?" Evelyn asked as they reached her front porch. She felt incredibly awkward and guilty for doing what she did. It wasn't like that would've been her first kiss, so it wouldn't have even been that important.

     "Yeah, I'll see you around, Ev."

a/n
you all can blame SARA for
this chapter. haha just jokes
sara if you're reading this !!
but i kinda really like this
chapter, let me know what y'all
think or whatever
also two updates two days in a row
look at me go!!!!!
wc: 1281
03.11.22