Staying Up [Judeva // Lost & Found Music Studios]

Chapter 3: Daylight

Shopping. It was a hit and miss with Eva. She either loved it, had the best day ever shopping for everything she wanted. Or she hated it.

This shopping trip remained undecided; it was a bit of both.

The sun was up, bright. If she was hot at night lying in a pool of sweat, she was practically drowning during the day. Thank God, however, for the air conditioning in the mall. She possibly would have passed out if it weren't for the air conditioner.

Eva and her mother walked side by side through the shopping centre, stopping every so often so her mother could check out the appropriate clothing items in each store. Appropriate is just a nice way of saying ugly. 

It was times like this that Eva hated shopping. 

"Oh, honey, what about this?" Her mother asked excitedly, pulling out a black dress that Eva wouldn't have even considered wearing to a funeral.

Respectively, though, she smiled and shook her head instead. Her mother shrugged, holding it up to her own body before accepting she was beyond its years. She placed it back on the rack and walked out of the store. Eva followed behind, dragging her feet along.

She was so focused on catching up with her mother's long strides that she wasn't looking around her, just straight ahead. She hadn't realised she was doing this until somebody walked right into her.

She was tired from the lack of sleep she had gotten the night before so her first thought was, Watch where you're going!

Then she felt bad for being so rude, even if it was all in her head, so she turned to the person so she could apologise to them. Shock-horror mixed with pleasant surprise is what she felt when she looked up at the familiar face. Cheeky smile, blonde hair, hazel eyes.

Theo.

"Eva?" The high-pitched, almost squealing voice definitely did not belong to him, though. 

She looked behind the boy whom she was still standing so close to after bumping - literally - into him. Maggie was smiling, waving. Eva's mind instantly flash-backed to the night before;

Being chased by a homeless man.

The gang finding her in her pyjamas. Again.

Trying and failing at smoking weed.

Eva's cheeks began to grow warm as she remembered all the ways she made a complete fool of herself. She took a step back from Theo, who was now smiling at her, too.

"Sorry," she mumbled, dropped her head. She wanted to make a quick exit and then never leave her house past nine o'clock ever again. Seeing these people made her hate herself.

She turned to walk away when she caught another figure from the corner of her eye. She couldn't resist it; she turned back around.

Jude stood there, staring at Eva with an expression she was unable to decipher. He was probably amazed to be seeing her in normal clothes and with neat hair. His mouth was slightly open, eyes slightly wider than normal as they traced every inch of her body. It wasn't uncomfortable for Eva, though. It just made her nervous.

And speechless. That was the expression on Jude's face, the thing keeping his mouth open but refraining from making any sound. Jude was speechless at the sight of Eva and her cheeks were getting hotter and hotter by the second. She probably looked like a tomato.

"H-hey," he finally said - stuttered. Did Jude just stutter?

Eva lifted one awkward hand. "Hi," she breathed out. His speechlessness emphasised her nervousness. This was a mess. They were a mess.