Evelyn had managed to get a good night of sleep that night, but still woke up feeling incredibly exhausted. She knew her parents wouldn't let her skip school for no reason, especially after she just took a sick day, so she just had to power through it. Thankfully it was a Friday.

     She spent most of her classes that day with her head down in her arms. She played it off to her friends that she just had trouble sleeping, but in reality she spent the night sulking in self-pity. She dreaded the moment she'd once again have to go home and lay all by herself in her dark room. She thought she could try and find an area outside to sit in so that she wasn't locked up in her bedroom all night, but part of her knew Troy would inevitably find her and ruin it.

     When the day was finally over, Evelyn took her time walking across campus like she did everyday. She was in no rush. Pushing open the main doors to her school, her eyes laid on a familiar pickup truck that did not belong to her father. Evelyn stopped in her tracks. Troy was there to pick her up, again. Throwing her head back and groaning in frustration, she seriously considered just walking back to the ranch, but the practical side of her knew she wouldn't make it. She sighed before beginning to walk again.

     Troy playfully widened his eyes when Evelyn opened the passenger door. "You look like you got hit by a bus," he commented, referencing her lazy outfit, tired eyes, and smudged mascara. Evelyn gifted him a blank stare in return.

     "I hope you know that you are actually the worst person," she rolled her eyes before getting in his truck. She could already tell that this was going to be the longest car ride of her life.

     "Come on, you don't believe that."

     "Oh, you'd be so surprised," Evelyn shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest. She prayed and prayed that Troy would keep quiet, but she knew better.

     "So how was your day at school?" he suddenly asked. His hand gripped her thigh, slightly shaking it to fully gain evelyn's attention.

     "Fine," she mumbled dismissively.

     "You learn anything new?"

     "No," Evelyn gritted her teeth.

     "You're telling me you go to school for seven hours a day and don't learn a thing?" Troy faked being shocked to tick Evelyn off. He reveled in the way he was annoying the girl in the seat beside him.

    "Please leave me alone," Evelyn rubbed her eyelids, accidentally smudging her mascara even more.

     "You know I miss you when you're at school," Troy changed the subject. His right hand still laid on her uncovered thigh. It was too hot that day to wear sweatpants or jeans, so Evelyn opted for shorts. She regretted it though, not liking the feeling of Troy's calloused skin on her own.

     Evelyn sighed. She was losing her patience very quickly. This was doing nothing but making the state she was in even worse. "Don't say that."

     "Why not, Ev?"

     "You don't mean it, so don't say it."

     Troy tutted. "You're wrong, Ev."

     "No I'm not. Even if I was, you somehow find a way to see me everyday," Evelyn crossed her arms. She bitterly accepted the fact that Troy was not going to leave her alone any time soon.

    "That's not enough," he whined, squeezing her thigh. Evelyn rolled her eyes as she fought the urge to slap his hand away.

     Soon, they were back at the ranch. Evelyn hated the feeling of it.

     "So what are we doing tonight?" Troy asked as the car pulled up to her house. Evelyn slowly turned to him.

     "How about we go our separate ways?" she nodded with squinted eyes.

     "Don't be boring," Troy shook his head, "Let's go."

     "I'm home!" Evelyn lazily exclaimed once she entered her home with troy by her side. Carson, who was sat on the couch like always, glared threateningly once his eyes landed on Troy. Evelyn rushed up to her room when she noticed, she could not deal with another lecture, especially not one in front of the bad person in question.

     "I have to change," she shut the door in Troy's face. He cooly leaned against the wall behind him, knowing very well that Evelyn would open the door eventually. As much as she claimed to hate him, Troy knew she wouldn't ever leave him hanging.

     Unsurprisingly, her bedroom door soon swung open.

     Without uttering a word, Evelyn walked over to her bed. She crawled to the side she usually slept on when Troy was over and wrapped herself up in the blanket. Troy knew she was about to fall asleep and he let her. He copied her actions, quickly feeling himself get sleepy as well.

Evelyn wasn't shocked to see Troy was still in her bed when she woke. His chest peacefully rose up and down, his breathing pattern almost matching Evelyn's. The girl sighed. The absolute last thing she wanted was to spent her night with Troy in her bed. Evelyn sat up to stretch. It wasn't long before she zoned out, thinking about everything that'd been bothering her.

Troy's tired voice pulled her out of her trance. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," she shook her head and rubbed her face.

"Freak," troy muttered. Evelyn scoffed. She shoved his shoulder, showing how he had offended her. Troy reciprocated both actions. This quickly lead to an intense (not so much on Troy's part) fight that only consisted of petty pushing and shoving. Troy wasn't putting in any effort; meanwhile Evelyn was struggling to match his strength.

"Call me that one more time, Troy!" she threatened, pulling away and raising both of her hands to prevent Troy from shoving her again. Troy only saw this as an opportunity. He grabbed both of her wrists and moved so that he was on top of her, her hands pinned to either side of her body. His grip wasn't tight, but it was strong enough to keep her hands there.

"Or what, freak?" he sneered.

Evelyn looked up at him with a bitter look in her eyes. "This is so unfair."

"You started it!" Troy finally let go of her wrists and retreated back to his side of the bed.

"You called me the freak, you freak!" Evelyn sat up once again, turning to face Troy.

"Because you were being weird," he laughed as he leaned back onto his elbows.

"You're so annoying!"

"You know you love it."

"Hey, Ev," scott barged into her room without knocking. Evelyn's head snapped up at the sudden noise. It was very apparent that he was shocked to see both Evelyn and Troy laying in her bed, both in a disheveled state.

"Hey, dad," Evelyn chuckled awkwardly.

"I was just gonna ask if you wanted to come get your sister from practice with me but I see you have company..." Scott trailed off. His voice was filled with confusion.

"Yeah, I do," she raised her right hand to cover her face in embarrassment.

"Well, I'll leave you be. And don't forget what I told you about this door!" Scott exclaimed, glaring at the two teenagers.

"Sorry," Evelyn mumbled. Troy wanted to laugh at the sight of the girl's flushed cheeks, but even he knew this wasn't the right time. Scott left. "See what you did?"

"What I did? You pushed me first! I was just defending myself," Troy shrugged.

"I really cannot stand you," Evelyn facepalmed and shook her head. She laid back beside him.

"I'm bored," Troy said out of nowhere.

"Okay?"

"Let's go do something," he sat up.

Evelyn sighed. "Like what?"

"We'll find something," Troy pulled her off of the bed.

It was starting to become a routine. Troy would go and bother Evelyn, he would annoy her until she told tell him she did not like him whatsoever, and he'd find a way to get her out of her miserable room. Evelyn hated the fact that she was getting used to him.

a/n
THIS CHAPTER IS SO
RANDOM LMAO. i really
do not know how to feel
about it like it's so weirdly
descriptive??? idk i kinda feel
like it's the best of both worlds !!
also i realized today that y'all
probablyyy think that this book
is so pointless but i promisee it's
not like we are getting somewhere i
swear! soon y'all will see why troy is
acting like this lol. but anyways tell
me what you think :)
wc: 1440
01.26.22