Ocean Eyes

Chapter 7

Evangeline didn't even know how she ended up at the park by her house. Her legs had carried her until they could run anymore. She looked around and saw that no one else was at the park. Well it is nighttime stupid she thought. She took a seat on the bench her and Asher usually sat at. She felt exhausted, and her whole body seemed to be out of energy. She took a deep breath in and out. She tried to take a few more breaths, but her mind kept flashing back to the conversation she just had. Asher died.... but I literally have been hanging out with the kid she thought. Maybe he is a ghost. She took out her phone, scrolling through the multiple messages the girls had sent her.

Emily: Eva, where the hell did you go? Are you ok?

Charlotte: Eva text us please. We're all worried.

Julia: Come on back to the party girl.

Evangeline sent a short message saying she was ok. She didn't tell them where she was at, she needed time alone. She went on to her town's obituary page on the internet. Asher Adams, she typed in. Instantly one result popped up, and she clicked on it, a picture of Asher being the first thing she saw. She started to read the paragraph quietly out loud. 

"Asher Adams

Born- December 5th 2002

Died- December 15th 2019

Asher Adams was tragically killed in a bus accident, along with all of his peers on the bus and the bus driver. The bus slipped on what pedestrians think was black ice. The bus went straight into the river below, and sadly, none of the occupants survived. Asher will not be forgotten among his friends and family. He was a star hockey player, obtained good grades, and was one of the kindest souls Fairview High School has ever encountered. His parents and little sister, Claire, bought a bench in Hillside park, and dedicated it in Asher's name. They say that was his favorite place to go and...."

Evangeline stopped reading and tore her eyes away from her phone, tears streaming down her face. She put on her phone's camera light, and inspected the bench she was sitting on. Sure enough, in small letters on the backrest of the bench, there were small letters carved into it. In loving memory of Asher, Gone but not forgotten. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen the words before. 

The more Evangeline thought about what Julia said, the more she started to believe her. Maybe Asher was a ghost after all. She thought about all the times they had hung out. He didn't like being touched, he wore clothes that were meant for summer in the winter. He never even gave his last name, probably so Evangeline wouldnt find his obituary. And he was always reluctant to give out information about himself. To top it all off, Evangeline remembered when Asher talked with her before school. People were giving her weird looks, and maybe it was because she really wasn't talking to anybody, maybe he was a ghost, and they couldn't see him. 

Maybe this is one huge dream. One really really huge crazy ass dream and soon enough I'm going to wake up, and none of this will of ever have happened. As much as she wanted to believe that, Evangeline knew that she wasn't dreaming. This was real life, as crazy fucked up as it seemed. She placed her head in her hands. Her head was a complicated mess of thoughts.

"This is crazy. Everything right now is absolutely fucking crazy." She picked up a stone that was beside the bench and chucked it. 

"Hey."

Evangeline jumped out of her skin from the voice that talked behind her. She knew whose voice it was and turned around. Asher was standing under the lamppost behind the bench. She looked at him with fear and anger. He nodded. 

"I guess I have a lot of explaining to do... don't I?"