Lacuna(1)

Chapter 6

   "Evelyn?" Pip asked, sitting cross legged across from Evelyn, her hands fidgeting with the single Uno card in her hand. 
       
"Yes, Miss Pipparoni?" Evelyn raised her eyes from her cards to look at Pip.
       
"While I'm here, would you mind if I interviewed Max now?" Soon came Connor's turn who was sitting next to Pip.
      
"Only if he agrees," Evelyn snorted.
      
"Alright then." Pip placed her last card down, a draw four, and stood up, adjusting her shirt before leaving the room with her phone.
      
"That's suspicious," Lauren commented from Evelyn's bed which she had retreated to in order to  pout after losing a round of Uno.
     
"She probably just doesn't want Cara taking a shit load of photos on her phone," Zach laughed from a separate corner of Evelyn's room.
     
"I would never do that! It's always Connor who does that!" She jabbed her finger at Connor.
      
"No I don't!" Connor argued.

A knock on the door paused the bickering, Evelyn's mother peeking out from the hallway.
      
"Do you guys want dinner soon?" She asked softly.
      
"What do you have to offer," Cara asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
      
"I can make pizza, tacos, pasta, anything really."
      
"Pasta!" Cara chanted and soon almost everyone joined.
      
"Pasta it is!" Her mother called, walking out and closing the door. Soon after, Pip arrived back in Evelyn's room looking disappointed.
     
"Did ya get anything?" Ant asked.
      
"He kind of just said stuff we already know." Pip's hands moved to play with her hair, something Evelyn had learned as a sign of her lying. Maybe Lauren was right about her being suspicious... Evelyn thought. Brushing the thought away, Evelyn collected all the cards to start a new game.

      
"What were you lying about?" Evelyn had cornered Pip which was just locking Pip, Cara, and her in Evelyn's room.
      
"I wasn't lying before," Pip claimed, her hands going to her hair yet again.
    
"Yes you are, Pippa," Cara said. Damn. The full name.
     
"What would I be lying about?" She asked with fake curiosity.
     
"I don't know, you tell us," Evelyn said, almost shouting.
     
Pip took a deep breath. "Not all that Max said lined up with what Naomi said in her interview..." her eyes averted from Evelyn's, her head leaning downward.
     
"What was different about Max's story?" Cara asked from behind Evelyn.
     
"Well, Naomi remembers Sal talking about Andie but Max has no recollection of it. Naomi said that Sal left because he 'wasn't feeling it', while Max said he slipped out quietly." This time, Pip's hands didn't find her hair, they just stayed at her sides.
    
"Oh."
     
"Do you remember anything? Like, about how Sal left?" Pip's eyes met Evelyn's.
     
"It was a while ago... I remember him saying that he was leaving. Maybe Max remembers it wrong because he was busy with his video games." Evelyn rolled her eyes at the mention of Max's borderline addiction.
     
"Men and their video games," Cara murmured, rolling her eyes.
     
"I don't know if you can use 'man' to describe Max," Evelyn scoffed.
    
"That's not nice, Evelyn," someone spoke from the doorway. Evelyn turned to find a pouting Max leaning against the door frame. Evelyn crossed the room and went directly in front of Max, placing a hand on his shoulder.
    
"The truth hurts sometimes, Max. You'd know."