𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 ⟶ Original

five.

EVAN HAD AN older sister, but he was very good at hiding that fact. They were total opposites - really, the only similarity was their striking blue eyes - Evan had dirty blonde hair, Stephanie had brown; Evan was tall, Stephanie was short; Evan was a boy, Stephanie was a girl; Evan was unorganized, Stephanie was predictable. Stephanie was a jerk - a brainless popular, and Evan wasn't. That's what bothered him the most about being related to the older member of the Blake family, and that was why he kept his distance.

It was the afternoon after Evan and Angelica had visited Melissa - they had made the posters and distributed them around the school as the day passed. They were taped on walls, pinned on bulletin boards - just everywhere that they felt a poster was needed. Evan and Angelica were headed out of the building to spread their knowledge further when the duo witnessed a scene that made them stop dead in their tracks.

It was Stephanie and Jen - Jen Rivera. She was someone Evan knew, but her family was quite the mystery to him. She was over at the Blake's a lot as she was Stephanie's best friend, but unlike Stephanie, she was nice. When Jen visited the Blake home, she always talked to Evan when she left or had spare time away from Stephanie. She was a genuine person, and Angelica and Evan had a silent bet on how long the friendship should last before differences got in the way.

It wasn't the sight of the unlikely pair that made Angelica and Evan stop what they were doing, but what they were doing. Stephanie was standing directly in front of a bulletin board, one of many that Angelica and Evan put Keira's posters up on, and she was faking the sad expression on her face. Her lip was stuck out a bit, eyebrows turned down in worry, but it was forced. Jen was standing near her, her head tilted to the side in curiosity. Her expression wasn't forced - her pale brown eyes pooling with worry.

Stephanie didn't see this, her fake expression turning into a smile as she reached out and grabbed the poster, ripping it off of the board. Angelica gasped as a wave of fury washed over Evan and Jen furrowed her brows at her friends actions. Angelica sensed a change in Evan's aura and stepped closer, ready to grab him if he decided to lunge at or attack his sister. She very well knew it could come to that, but she hoped it wouldn't.

As Stephanie balled up the paper, both Angelica and Evan cringed. Both of them had one question echoing through their minds: how could she be so disrespectful?

Jen gaped, but as Stephanie turned around, she closed her mouth so she wouldn't be questioned. Stephanie stepped back, throwing the paper in her hands into the trash bin beside her.

"I'm glad that skank is gone," She sneered, shooting a glance at her brother as the words hit him like lightning. It started as a small stinging sensation in his chest that budded outwards, leaving him shaking with the immense anger he was feeling towards his sister. "Good riddance."

Evan snapped out of his trance once he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and a voice whisper in his ear. It was Angelica. The tone of her words was stern but comforting at the same time.

"Leave it."

Shaking his head, Evan looked away as Stephanie's fake laughter rang out in the hall. He looked back over his shoulder, throwing a death glare at his sister as him and Angelica started to walk away.

Angelica walked close to him, ready to hold him back if anything were to happen. It would be hard to do so with her small frame only standing at 5'3" and his standing at 6'1", but she'd done it before. This wasn't the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. It seemed as though Stephanie tested her brother whenever she wished, and with Angelica knowing her friends feelings towards his sisters attitude and actions, she knew it would never end well. It was insensible for Evan to fight his sister, no matter how mad she made him, and that's why Angelica did everything in her power to divert Evan from the scene and distract him when things like this happened.

"Just walk away, Evan," Angelica told him in a calm voice, seeing how he was looking over his shoulder, "Just let it go."

Evan thought for a moment, staying in his position. He knew where Angelica was coming from - no matter how much he wanted to counter with his own opinions, it would only lead to Stephanie testing him further yet, and that would turn out with Evan socking her in the face. If he got upset over it, if he fought back - he'd let her win, and that was something that he couldn't let happen. He couldn't give her the satisfaction of winning - no, that wasn't okay. When Stephanie texted his morals, it was fine, but when she brought his friends up, it wasn't okay. It was a totally different topic, one that was way more sensitive. Bad-mouthing his friends was one way to leave him furious, and Stephanie knew that - with Keira missing, it would all get to his head.

Everything he wanted to do would only get him in trouble, so he decided to give into Angelica's pleading and depart from the scene.

"Alright," He sighed, walking forward as he bowed his head.

Angelica's concerned look softened. She knew that he took her words into consideration and was very grateful for that. Since the night before, it had been a testing time, and much more was to come.

As Evan walked away by his friends side, he looked back once more, just in time to see Jen look at him and mouth two words that would speak more truth than she would ever know. It wasn't just her words that convinced him, but her expression as she spoke them that really sealed the deal for him.

"I'm sorry."

And that's how he knew that Jen Rivera really cared.