Gravity

Chapter 16 - June 2019

I'm a little ashamed to admit this but I avoided Evie for about a week. Not totally, but just in person. I still responded to her texts and I acted natural in our group conversation with Joe. I wasn't scared of her or anything but I was trying to sort of scope her out. Trying to find out if what Stacy had said about Evie was actually true.

I'd briefly thought about pressing Stacy further on her thoughts about the whole thing but when she told me at work that she couldn't remember anything after nine at her party, I bailed on the idea.

Everything Evelyn said seemed to be normal but did I really know what normal was? Like an awakened conspiracy theorist, I was now questioning everything I'd ever known. Finally, it all became a little too much for this detective to work out on his own so I eventually went to Joe's house for a beer and a catch up.

"Stacy said that?" he asked, almost choking on his beer.

"Yeah! Insane, right?" I encouraged.

"Finally! Someone else can see it!" he cried, surprising me. "I knew that Stacy was wiser than she looked!"

We were in Joe's "Man-Cave" room on the second floor of the house that he shared with Angie and his future child. This room was usually my favourite in his place but now I was feeling a strange sense of dread. Like a prisoner almost.

"You knew?" I gasped.

"Well I don't know," he admitted. "But anyone looking at it from the outside would see what I see and think that you two would be the perfect couple!"

"How?" I was in shock.

"Are you kidding me? Have you ever listened to the two of you? You both just have this connection. You have this whole space nerd thing going on for one thing, which nobody else cares about. Just you! Then there's the fact that she always picks you up when you ask her."

"She's just a good friend!"

"She never picks me up! We're close, right? But the two of you are like . . . intertwined or some shit."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" I asked.

"Mostly because there's that one-per-cent chance that I'm wrong. And quite frankly I'm not ready to accept that that's a possibility. But also it's not really my place to say. We're not in second year anymore, so if you like her or she likes you then whoever it is needs to say it themselves."

I couldn't believe this! How long had Joe been holding onto this thought? Why hadn't I noticed anything if almost everyone else apparently had? Was I just too close to it to see?

Feet on the ground.

"Ok so full disclosure. Do you think I'm into her too?" I asked, knowing full well that it was a pretty ridiculous question.

"If I'm being honest, then yes, I've always thought that," he admitted before quickly continuing. "But I always thought that one of you would eventually say something. Or if you didn't, then whatever, that would be it. Maybe you'd both find someone and be happy and you'd either wonder what might've been or you wouldn't give it a second thought. But like I said, it's not my place to force you together. That would be messed up."

"Huh," was all I managed to say.

"But look, if this is really freaking you out as much as you claim it is, you need to deal with it now. If you're acting like a mong for ages then eventually Evie is going to notice. So you need to sort your head out now!"

"I can't help but see the irony in you telling me that while you're up here drinking a case of beer with me while your pregnant wife is sitting watching TV downstairs," I pointed out.