For the next couple of days, Evelyn tried her hardest to keep her mind off of Troy and their moment. Troy hadn't been coming around so she was left all alone. Katie and Carson were usually out with their friends. She was bored, but she was used it. This was typically how all her summers went, but she didn't want to feel bored. She wanted to make plans with her friends, but she didn't feel up for it. Maybe sometime in July.

Evelyn decided she had enough of her room. She was going to see Susie and hope that Troy wouldn't magically appear out of nowhere like he always managed to do. She figured he probably wouldn't though, not after she basically rejected him.

"Hi Susie!" she greeted her horse friend happily. "How have you been? I know I haven't visited you in a while. Thing have just been so hectic, Suze, you have no idea. I wish I had a life like yours. No school, no boys," she made a face of disgust, "and no other racist horses."

"Wow, Ev. You talk to the horse more than you talk to me."

"Troy!" Evelyn flinched. All she wanted was peace and quiet so she could talk to Susie. Susie always listened, never judged, and never gave any input— which was a blessing and a curse all the same. That was why Evelyn always went to Katie.

"Just being real," he shrugged, making his way over to the shorter girl.

"How do you always manage to be here at the same time as me?" Evelyn questioned. She was really hoping the boy wouldn't show up, but she should've known better. She must've just had really bad luck. "And her name isn't 'the horse', Troy, it's Susie!"

"Sorry, sorry. You talk to Susie more than you talk to me," he laughed. "I have an alarm in my brain that tells me whenever you leave your house so that I can come spend time with you. You know, make your life better and all that."

Evelyn stared at Troy and he stared back, his expression showing nothing but playfulness and affection. After a few seconds, she rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

"Just goes to show how much I love you," Evelyn cringed at the word 'love', especially now that she'd been thinking about if she should have any romantic feelings for the boy. "I'm kidding, I can see you walking up here when I'm workin' on my vegetables."

"That was really southern of you."

"What can I say? I'm a country boy, born and raised," Troy shrugged playfully. He rested his arm over Evelyn's shoulder like he'd done many times before. He pulled in so that their bodies were pressed together. Evelyn exhaled shakily. She didn't know how to feel about this. He obviously was not accepting her rejection.

"Don't ever say that again," Evelyn shook her head, her stiff muscles loosening up as she realized the only thing she could do was to accept their closeness. Troy was not going to relent. Again, it wasn't the touch itself that bothered her, but the meaning behind the touch confused her.

"I'm not gonna shy away from my roots," he commented jokingly. Evelyn rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she shrugged.

Instead of responding, Troy wrapped his other arm around her. They were now in somewhat of a hug-like position, but there was enough room for them to look down or up at each other. Evelyn experimentally gripped the sides of his shirt, so that she wasn't just standing there awkwardly. She looked up at him. It probably wasn't a good idea, but it was just an experiment. If it turned out to be a mistake, she'd find a way to undo it later... maybe.

Evelyn didn't miss the way Troy's gaze flickered down to her lips. She was blushing like crazy. Nobody had ever looked at her like this. She was nervous. She didn't know whether to listen to the part of her that was telling her to give in, or the other part of her that was telling her she needed to run away and get as far away from Troy as she possibly could.

"Are you gonna pull away this time?" Troy asked lowly, slightly leaning closer to her.

Evelyn knew she had to carefully think out her response. Her breathing was heavy and her heart was racing. God, she still didn't know what to do. She could hear Katie telling her to just "give it a shot!" and she wanted to, but she could also hear Carson telling her that, "that boy is the devil in disguise." She didn't know who to listen to.

'Whatever.' she thought to herself. She was going to give it a shot, and if she regretted it, which she probably would, she would just be honest with Troy. "I don't think so," she whispered, her tone sheepish and shy.

"Good," Troy grinned as he continued to slowly lean in. Their lips were just centimeters apart now. They were close, closer than they'd ever been before. Evelyn could even feel Troy's breath on her lips. What was happening?

They were both getting impatient now. Evelyn just wanted to get it over with. Troy was about to just lean in and close the tiny space between their lips when, "woah!" a voice called out from behind Troy. He quickly whipped around, causing Evelyn to sigh. They were so close. Now she was just going to keep overthinking about what she really wanted from Troy, if she wanted to push him out of her life or pull him in completely. She thought the kiss would've given her an answer.

"What are you doing here mike?" Troy leaned against the wood, seemingly disregarding Evelyn's entire presence.

"Just came to feed the horses," he laughed, not even acknowledging the girl standing close to his best friend. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Nah," Troy shook his head, "I was actually just leaving."

     Evelyn's heart dropped, but she didn't say anything.

"Alright," Mike shrugged, "I'll see you around then."

Evelyn's face contorted in disbelief as she watched Troy walk away. It wasn't that big of a deal, but she felt stuck. She wanted to chase after him and figure out both her feelings and what was about to happen, but she was frozen in her spot. It wasn't until Mike moved past her that she finally came back to her senses.

"You can go now," Mike hissed. Evelyn didn't even have the time to get angry before she sped off, speeding back to her house.

a/n
is it givingg troy and gabriella?
wc: 1112
03.15.22