The Storm In Their Hearts - Aching Hearts Series #3

Step Back

CHAPTER 20 - STEP BACK

REBECCA'S POV

You know, I thought that, given his weird attitude after our kiss, Will would go back to ignoring me or something, instead no. He was actually nice. If anything, he ignored our kiss ever happened. He was the same as he's been after we decided to start over, and ... we kinda repeated that night we had, you know, with ... me, Will and Al.

Yeah, we did it again. Actually, after the first, we did it three more times. And it was always exhaustingly amazing, just a tiny notch beneath the first, because for some reason the guys seemed a little weird. 

I don't know, there seems to be a bit of tension between them, but they talk normally, without arguments of any sort, so maybe I'm imagining things? I tried asking Byron, but he said it was nothing, the guys seemed fine. Bah.

When I went shopping with Eve, I had the chance to get to know her a bit better. She's such a nice girl, we had a lot of fun together, sure she kinda hid behind something every time she saw teenage people, and she was very wary at first, but in the end I was able to convince her she could be herself around me, and, especially, that she shouldn't mind those stuck up saleswomen that looked down on her because of her weight, those were just stupid.

Even though, truth be told, it was my fault that I brought her to the shops I normally go to, I thought it would be fine, after all, they say they have from size 2 to 12 ... my mistake, Eve is actually a size 18. In the end we found a whole new wardrobe for her, though, which kinda dug a hole in my wallet, but it was worth it.

I'll have to save every single penny till the next wage, but it was worth seeing Eve's smile as she tried those things on. In the beginning she was wary, didn't want to accept that I paid for her, she felt flustered after she confessed that her family isn't exactly wealthy: her dad left that she was ten, her mom works double shifts and is barely home, but she still struggles to make ends meet.

At that point, I had to cheer up Eve in some way, hadn't I? And clothes seemed like a good idea. We also got some books, because she loves them but, well, you know, she can't exactly afford them. I used Will's fidelity card at Barnes & Noble's for that, though, which I found in my wallet somehow, I guess he slipped it in knowing I might want to buy some books for Eve, and with his card he gets great discounts.

Eve is really a great girl. She's shy to the unbelievable, but so smart and funny when she's actually at ease, which, once Will left us, became pretty easy. We spent hours shopping and chatting and laughing and all sorts of girly things. I loved hanging out with her, it felt like spending quality time with my baby sister.

I wanted to ask her details about her situation, but didn't want to ruin the mood, therefore I delayed it to next time, which will be tomorrow, Saturday, when she'll come to the ice cream parlor to hang out, which she's done a lot this week, practically every day.

We also hear from each other a lot, I think she's getting used to me and starting to completely trust me, because not only she tells me things, but she also texts me all the time, and she's pretty at ease doing that. 

She doesn't have any friends, kids in school kinda ignore her or bully her, her only friend left her to be in the popular group...so, well,she only has me and Will,but with him she's always very wary,while to me she reveals her bubbly colors, and I honestly love that.

I'd like to invite Eve over some time, have her meet the guys, but with my schedule is a little hard, and she says her mom doesn't want her out in the evening all alone, which is right, I guess. 

I think it's also an excuse, though, because she's too shy, maybe she wouldn't really be at ease around my roommates, already Will makes her antsy, and with Al's extrovert character, she'd definitely run for the hills. We'll take step by step, soon enough she'll be a very confident young woman, I'll make sure of it.