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273 Days Later
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Evelyn looked at herself in her circular mirror; if anyone had told her that this was how she'd end up dressing, she'd never believe them. It wasn't anything that was considered risque but it was a reminder of how far she'd come. 

Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she was fitted in a graphic, oversized white shirt and blue ripped jeans. She picked up her black Jansport backpack which she had filled with water and snacks the previous night. She picked up a tennis ball laying beside her bed and practiced her bowling posture with it; who would have thought she'd enjoy activities?

It was the Monday of 29th May 2023 and it was the perfect day. Levi had taken an extra class on Saturday - deja vu - so he had this Monday morning free. Evelyn had finally learned how to push back work and focus on having fun. Bowling was only the beginning of the day she had planned. 

That was not the only matter of importance though. Evelyn truly believed that the verdict for Iris's case - yes, the focus moved away from Andrea - would be out today. Levi had suggested hanging out in the court instead - a tribute to where it all began - to which Evelyn refused adamantly. 

Some scars cut too deep and seeing Iris was something she would never be able to do. 

As she passed the hall, she scanned her reflection on the television screen one last time before grabbing her keys and heading out; she was to pick Levi up and drive straight to the bowling alley. 

When she got to her car, she opened the door and threw her bag into the passenger seat. She shoved all her keys into a makeshift storage box which was nothing more than a toolbox. With the clattering of keys came the chime of her phone, a message that she assumed was from Levi. 

However, the message window she opened was empty. She checked and the last message that was sent was good job on 29th August 2022, from herself and the other side. It was Noah. 

She knocked over the toolbox, spilling its contents as she fully focused on the new message and the three moving dots that followed. 

Guess who won the case, the message said. 

Immediately, Evelyn knew what it was about. Considering that Noah already knew so much about the arson case, he was called to be the prosecutor for the State versus Iris case as well. And if this was the first message he'd send after 273 days - yes, Evelyn had been counting on the side - it had to have been positive.

Omg, that's amazing, Evelyn texted back, a jittery feeling taking over her. 

She waited for his message, which seemed to be huge since he had been typing for a while. As she thought this though, a message came from him. 

I was going to celebrate with someone. I mean, it's a huge case and it was talked about everywhere so I think I deserve to do that, right? But a party for two is pretty boring and maybe I'd like it if you were there. 

Evelyn's breath caught in her throat. She stared at the blank screen in front of her and her fingers trembled as she typed. 

Where do you want to go? she asked. 

Maybe for some ice cream, not too sure about that, came his reply. 

Evelyn prayed that he'd agree with her suggestion, after all, one could only decide if something is fun after trying it. 

What would you say to bowling?

⋆ ★ ⋆

Evelyn's weight was supported by the golden brown racks holding the bowling shoes. Levi sat on the black bench in front of her as he pulled up his socks. 

"Would it kill to move? I have shoes to take," Levi said, jokingly pushing her aside. 

Evelyn blew the baby hairs away from her face, "When do you think he and this someone will arrive?"

"Don't tell me your jealous of this someone now," Levi commented to which Evelyn rolled her eyes. 

"I'm not that indecisive. I was simply asking and I emphasized on someone accidentally and I am so sorry Levi," Evelyn said, turning to grab a pair of shoes for herself, "Such a crime, I know."

"I don't have evidence that you did commit this crime except for my words but that can be changed. Maybe I'll just break into your house sometime," Levi said. 

"Ha ha, very funny. Now be serious for a moment," Evelyn said, "I'm glad to be talking to him again but I don't know how it's going to go. His tone sounded friendly but he almost never sounds rude or angry so I'm not very sure. Also, there's also the fact that he won the case so obviously I want to know more about that but what if talking about that doesn't let me bond with Noah again?"

"Shut up for a moment, I see him walking over," Levi said.

Immediately, Evelyn abandoned the shoes and waved over to Noah. To his left was a tall woman with thick black hair that was left in a messy bun. They walked hand in hand until they stood in front of Evelyn and Levi. 

"Hello," Noah said, being the first one to greet. 

"Hey," Evelyn and Levi responded in unison. 

"I heard about the case, congrats," Levi said, noticing that Evelyn didn't know where to start. 

"To be fair, most of the points were already there. I just needed to point them out," Noah responded modestly. 

Hearing his reply, Evelyn was only able to reaffirm why they hadn't worked well together. He was always too modest whereas Evelyn wouldn't let it go if she wasn't given credit. She liked to be praised and reassured while Noah simply didn't care. 

He was a great friend, though. 

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you guys," Noah said sheepishly, "this is Nova, my girlfriend. Nova, this is a friend, Evelyn and that's Levi a-" Noah paused for he wasn't sure of their relationship. 

"Oh, he's my boyfriend," Evelyn replied timidly. 

"Hello, Nova," Levi greeted, smiling at her, "have you ever bowled before?"

"Uhm. Maybe once or twice but I never really had the time or the mood to leave my house. It could be fun though," she said, warming up. 

"The case wasn't progressing forward since the police were still conflicted so I had a lot of free time. I ended up visiting the library a lot which is when I met her. I always found her in the thriller section and funny enough, I happened to levitate there," Noah said, filling the questions in Evelyn's mind. 

"What do you do, Levi?" she asked. 

"Well, I'm still in college so I'll answer that in two years," Levi said, receiving a chuckle. 

Something about the way Levi spoke dismissed any awkward tension in the air. Sometimes, he didn't try and ended up sounding like a lost man-child but when he did put in the effort, it was something that left Evelyn in awe. 

Skipping the small talk, Levi ushered Nova away with him, saying that he'd teach her how to bowl like a pro. Evelyn shook her head in pity for the girl for she knew that Levi was anything but a pro. Still, she smiled at his efforts to give her maximum time to talk to Noah; they had a lot of catching up to do. 

"It's been a while, huh?" Noah asked. 

"It sure has," Evelyn said. 

"I'm glad we didn't talk for a while. Initially, I was under the impression that I needed to compromise if I wanted to have any relationship with you but if I'd done that, I'd end up hating you more," Noah said. 

"You are worth the wait," Evelyn said, making Noah smile. 

"I hope you're a little less of an asshole to him," Noah joked. 

"Believe me when I say that I'm no asshole compared to him," Evelyn joked back. 

"Unrelated question, but how are your parents? I know you've been hanging out again," Noah said. 

"They're fine. We don't see each other often because my mother has this sudden passion to travel the world but we do text every week," Evelyn said. 

"And what of Levi's father? I'm assuming he was a little hurt after the trial," Noah said. 

"You're very attentive. He was angry for two months, I guess, but then they started talking again. I told Levi he'd better not leave the house in anger because if he didn't make that compromise they probably would stop talking to each other forever. That is his dad, you know?" Evelyn asked. 

"Now I can believe that you've changed your ways," Noah said, smiling, "I'm glad, Evelyn. Really. I was so focused on the romance part of our relationship that I forgot that you can be fun to talk to."

"We'd have been better off as friends and I wish it didn't take me two years to finally do something about it. Wait, actually, I didn't do shit," Evelyn said. 

"Enough of the past," Noah said, patting her back, "you could teach me how to bowl."

Not so fast, Evelyn thought. 

"I'd love to but first, what happened? What pointed towards Andrea and Iris? Yes, I spoke all about it during my hearing but I want to know - did you find more?"

"The police received anonymous evidence from, well anon. It had a black boot and the same liquid which was the catalyst for the fire. It wasn't found at the scene of crime but it was worth looking into. Since you pushed the case in Andrea's direction so much, they entered her DNA and found a match," Noah said, "obviously that wasn't enough but after following up on everything you said, it was clear that she was there and was very much hiding something.

"The hearing was alright for a while until it went downhill for her. Eventually, her mother stood up and confessed that she was the one who made her daughter do it. Something about Levi's father, a lawyer, protecting a young girl who was the cause of her son's ailment. She wasn't allowed to openly state her name because of that very hearing years ago so that's pretty much all I know."

But Evelyn knew. She'd never tell him, not when it wasn't necessary, and was glad that she could keep that locked up. 

"And the punishment?" Evelyn asked. 

"For Andrea, it's nine months of community service. I'd say that's little since she played a huge role but oh well, I'm not the judge," Noah said, "For Iris, they agreed to 25 years in jail with no option for parole. The arson was a huge part of it but obstructing justice and pushing Andrea to do her dirty work added up to it as well."

"What about Andrew?" Evelyn asked. She'd heard that he's recovered from his head injury completely, just like she had. She knew there was nothing pointing to his part in anything but she still hoped. 

"Who, Iris's son? He was present during the hearings but he wasn't aware of anything that had happened," Noah said. 

Evelyn breathed a sigh of mixed feelings. She knew it was unlikely that Iris would let her children get in trouble but she'd hoped that Andrew would be gone as well. Oh well, at least he couldn't execute plans without his mother and he probably would not involve Andrea. 

Evelyn turned to the good part; in twenty-five years, Iris would be old and frail, unable to hurt Evelyn. Even if that wasn't the case, Evelyn had twenty-five years to get rid of her in any way and she didn't even need to spend every hour of her life doing it. 

Justice was served. 

Iris would never agree with that, not after everything she had faced but Evelyn would. That was the whole point of living in a society; you never fully agree with something because it's never fully definitive. They could either accept that and move on or tarnish their life fighting against it. On paper, that doesn't sound very favorable but this is reality.  

And in real life, there's no black or white. 

Those words Evelyn agreed with completely. She tried hard not to think about what she'd done and it had become easier after what Iris and Andrew had done. Still, it was something that was always bound to come up time-to-time even if it did happen seldom. 

"Bowling?" Noah asked, breaking Evelyn from her thoughts. 

"Of course," she said smiling. 

And just like that, she forgot about them. 

As Evelyn walked with Noah, she realized something; they didn't need words to grow fond of each other again. Just being near someone who was your only person for years, no matter the time you spend apart will bring another side of you alive. 

Evelyn pushed Levi aside, as she took over the lessons. Nova, molding in quickly, laughed when she realized how bad of a teacher Levi was to which Levi only bickered in return. 

In Levi's words, Noah's got the knack for throwing balls. Within a few minutes, Noah had analyzed exactly what to do, surpassing the skill Evelyn had acquired over months. 

As Nova began to try and compete with Noah, Evelyn inched closer to Levi. He wrapped her tiny frame with his muscled arms - another hobby he'd been working on. 

Evelyn looked back at everything. Never would she have thought that someone like Levi - immature at times, messy, and reckless would be the one she loved. But then again, never would she have believed that she'd revert to that as well. However, none of that mattered. She smiled like she never did almost every day and today was an even greater exception. 

As they laughed as a group, something inside her shattered. It was the haunting silence that never left her side ever since she entered the courtroom. She was faced with multiple scenarios but nothing could subdue the forever-present silence. 

But it was gone now. Surrounded by the people she loved, considering that Nova was growing on her, she'd never felt happier. 

Every once in a while, she had debated telling Noah of her past. Even now, she debated telling Levi the entire story, the start of the fire at Velvet Rose. But there was always something stopping her and she was glad that it did. 

She didn't need to reveal everything to have a fond relationship with someone. The world wasn't black or white and neither were her actions and she was truly the only person who'd understand her story. 

As she looked at all of them, she only let one thought sink in. 

Secrets are not to be uncovered.