! . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓 ! ࿐ྂ
a   g r a n d   a r m y   f i c

( CHAPTER VIII. 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 )

       𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑮𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑮𝑬𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑬 𝑾𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑫 𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑬 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑬𝒁 𝑪𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬 𝑨𝑺 𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑷𝑨𝑳𝑬, 𝑳𝑬𝑭𝑻 𝑨𝑹𝑴 𝑺𝑾𝑼𝑵𝑮 𝑼𝑷𝑶𝑵 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑳 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑫𝑬𝑹𝑺. The two, let's face it, very hot teenagers stood near her locker along with the rest of their close-knit circle as they all waited for the arrival of the obvious ringleader of today's very performative protest against the sexualization of women after Joey's unfortunate experience with a teacher during the lockdown that had occurred many weeks prior. A few strands of her dark, almost black hair fell upon the side of her tan face, shaping her dimpled surface quite beautifully as she dully scrolled upon her cellphone, lacking interest and excitement during the earlier hours of the fatiguing school day. Her gray-ish puffer jacket covered her slightly shivering back as she and her lovely boy toy leaned against the fairly unprepossessing baby blue lockers. An uninteresting conversation about motorcycles had sparked between the three boys therefore her already low attentiveness had sparked all the way down. The Perez girl had found the most interesting part of the whole conversation was the moment that Anna Delaney, the 'friend' who she oddly wouldn't even consider a friend had attempted to jump in, knowing that her knowledge of the gas-fueled machines was far less than average.

       As Evie was about to finally ditch them due to the fact that Joey's lateness was becoming even more unbearable, the white girl had finally shown up, causing quite a ruckus upon the Grand Army halls by jealous, fuming freshmen and semi-male chauvinistic men. The white tank top that she had sent to their very active group chat a few hours prior fit perfectly upon her displayed physique, the three words : " Free The Nipples " written directly upon her chest as visible confidence emitted through her greatly. It was like a slow-motion video as she approached them with her arms spread in the air, knowing that once the teachers━━ more specifically Miss Wilder would spot her certainly revealing shirt, that she would definitely ruffle some feathers. Joey Del Marco let her friends admire her like she was some type of ethereal goddess as she spoke loudly across the hall : " Yo, guys ! I'm right here ! "

       " Looking pretty obscene, girl ! " Anna Delaney stated first as she held her phone upwards with both hands, filming her arrival before undoubtedly posting it on her Snapchat or Instagram story the moment that she would have the time. Her words would accidentally bring down the protesting girl's boldness and self-assurance as her big, shiny smile quickly descended into a small alerted frown.

       " Don't listen to Anna the bummer here, you look so hot ! And you gotta believe me or else that would be homophobic since I'm into girls too... " Evie Perez joked half-heartedly, fulfilling herself out of George's loose arms as she quickly found her forelimbs wrapped around her best friend's neck, hugging the girl as a big supportive smile appeared upon her wine-colored lips. The bronzed girl could practically feel Anna's discreet antipathy about her sexual fluidity due to her many distasteful yet subtle comments and her newly-found inability to change in front of her even as they had both done so thousands of times before her coming out. Though the Delaney girl claimed to be completely open minded upon the subject for homosexuality and all its spectrums, she was far away from showing it. Luke and George on the other hand were quite excited of the fact that she did enjoy girls almost as she enjoyed guys, the typical 'threesome ?' question being asked moments after her seemingly easy coming out.

       " I love you Evie ! " The teen girl squealed, releasing her arms from Evie's slim and supple waist, finding herself near Anna once again as she leaned to embrace the girl. The three boys near her remained slightly quiet, an impressed grin plastered upon their pale faces as they waited for Joey to practically acknowledge their existence. Suddenly, the Del Marco girl remembered the key elements to her protest that were situated in her new black backpack. She threw three white tee shirts, similar to the tank top that she was currently rocking with the same three bold written words.

       " Wait, Eves, did I see you under Whorge's arm like thirty seconds ago ? Are you guys finally done fighting ? " The curly-headed blonde wondered after the excitement about the shirts had slightly dialed down. George slapped the girl gently due to the new nickname he had just been given.

       " No, he can still choke. " Evie Perez stated semi-jokingly, not even bothering to spare him an acknowledging glance as she rolled her eyes sarcastically, George faking offense to her 'cruel' words.

       " Why don't you come choke on this d━━ "

       His raunchy, inappropriate joke would quickly be cut short as an immense death glare would be shot his way by a certain petite Latina. Nonetheless, George Wright still held his signature sinful smirk upon his pale features, his strong arms crossed as he watched the alluring teen in amusement. " I can't stand you. " she spoke out, her words being nowhere near the whole entire truth.

" Then sit on my face. "

As much as she would've enjoyed their back and forth bickering as their friends would watch in beguilement, their conversation would have to be cut short as a certain M.I.A boyfriend of her's had finally responded to the many messages that she had left over on his cellphone over the span of a few days over a week. The soft rhythm of El Chico Del Apartamento by Selena played slightly, the song that she and Joshua had listened to as they started to make spicy pork green chili verde once the girl had claimed that the boy had had enough white people food for a lifetime and that his lack of seasoning was a hate crime to her people.

sunday 9:34AM

𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲

where are u ?
u just disappeared

monday 2:26PM

𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲

are u ok ?

JOSH ?!

you ignoring me
is racist somehow idk

tuesday 3:57AM

𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲

i'm sorry

i miss you

gorge n i have only
been fuckin for a little
while now

*georgr

*george

wednesday 10:49PM

𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲

ykw fuck u. ur
being hella childish rn.

talk to me when u
grow some fucking balls.

friday 9:13PM

𝗷𝗼𝘀𝗵🖤

i've been going
through some shit

i don't give a fuck
about ur bs right now

i got more shit to pay
attention to then you

we've been done for a while.

𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲

wow ok.

i'm coming over
there's no way that
i'm letting u talk to
me like that

read

To say Evie Perez' ego was bruised greatly would be considered an understatement as her now ex-boyfriend's words struck her like a thunderbolt. It came as a shock to her that he would be the one to cut ties on their entire relationship, nevertheless doing it so incredibly casual, not even giving her the common decency of communicating to her in person, something even she, as an occasionally unkind type of gal would've done. Sure, she recalled the knowledge that their kinship was deteriorating due to the lack of genuine dating, sex drive and both parties cheating every chance they got. Evie also knew that their relationship falling apart was partly━━ mostly her fault as she should've realized the clear and visible reason behind his resistance to her advances.

       Before Evie could even join in upon her circle of friend's conversation about the patriarchy and quite frankly, Joey Del Marco's lack of coverage, she was off. She signaled her departure by waving her perfectly polished hands at the group, her friend's wondering why she was so suddenly fuming. The girl had been in quite a good mood that current morning in comparison to the previous days. The reasoning behind her visibly better attitude being the fact that her sexual fantasies had been filled by a certain Wright boy. Nonetheless, none of them bothered to chase after the girl, the clacking of her shoes being the last sound they had heard from her during that day.

! . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓 ! ࿐ྂ
a g r a n d a r m y f i c

( CHAPTER VIII P.2. 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 )

       𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑬'𝑺 𝑫𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑻𝒀, 𝑷𝑬𝑻𝑰𝑻𝑬 𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑺 𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑳𝒀 𝑼𝑷𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑷𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑷𝑼𝑹𝑺𝑬, her long, stiletto-shaped nails grazing slightly upon the material as her gray-ish puffer jacket wrapped cozily around her cold shoulders. She waited before the door that held the way towards Joshua Lawrence's grim, lower-class apartment. The indeed hard and cold floor was littered with old, cigarette butts, trash-belonging coffee cartons and smudged, dirty footprints. The undeniable slum held poor, dirty men and women passed out upon the disgusting, pollution-filled, broken-down wooden tiles. The tan girl felt out of place as she impatiently knocked, standing still until the boy would finally open the door. Driving to his location was always odd for the petite girl as she used to the upper-middle-class homes and the cute little studio apartments. She started to wonder to herself whether or not he was even planning on answering the door as his last few text messages seemed less than enthusiastic of her presence.

       Suddenly, before she could conclude a lost cause, the old, rusty doorknob wiggled and twisted, the door squeaking slightly as the Lawrence boy had finally gotten off the hideous maroon couch and situated himself upon the lightly furrowed dark red carpet before the small door. He had not even bothered to check the peephole, his annoyance due to the constant door knocking clouded his better judgment. As he spotted the tan beauty's unimpressed expression, he knew that his migraine would increase greatly, her lawyer-like personality and hatred of being ignored would explode on him like a ticking time bomb. Joshua Lawrence hadn't even had the chance to offer her to come in, the girl deciding to barge in and place her bag onto the cluttered coffee table directly in front of the small, barely functioning television.

       The cheap one-room reeked of weed and inexpensive stale beer. There was an overwhelming sense of loneliness situated inside the walls of the gloomy inside. It felt joyless, depressing and forsakenly ill-lit, all qualities that the pretty adolescent would avoid in a future home. Evie could feel the solemn years of never-ending sorrow and the lack of love and hope radiating through the off-white walls of Josh's brother's grimy apartment as she placed herself upon the incredibly threadbare sofa before staring down at the boy that had purposely ghosted the sassy brunette, eyes batting impatiently as her long and silky eyelashes fluttered in the same rhythm. The girl crossed her honey-colored legs, having to pull down on her skirt as the fabric had lifted up above her semi-thick thighs. She displeasingly waited for the boy to start their much-anticipated conversation━━ the conversation that had the possibility of ending their relationship for the second time in the small period of an hour like a cynical tidal wave.

       In full disrespect, the boy not being in the mood to face the confusion of Evie Perez, did not even bother to spare her an acknowledging glance as he reached for the red portable lighter located right beside her, upon the coffee table, instead choosing to avoid eye-contact and dart towards the small kitchen counter where his trusty bong remained alongside a large, plastic water bottle and a small grinder. As he was already prepared for his newest hit of the natural green drug before the arrival of his now ex-girlfriend, all he had left to do now was light the dry herb and inhale the thick, mind-altering smoke onto his nicotine sodden lungs. His already hazy eyes would soon become even hazier, eyes getting smaller and gloss getting thicker as he refused to let his high run down due to the awful symptoms of withdrawals that he would experience while sober.

       Evie's petite nose scrunched in disgust at the stench of the marijuana smoke, the girl having an unexplainably heavy disliking of the rancid scent due to its harshness. Unlike the majority of her clan of friends, she preferred the numbness and the taste of alcoholic beverages over the feeling of soft 'drugs'. She had tried smoking quite a few times, once even participating in a hot box during their lunch break because George had brought prerolled joints to school. To this day, she still didn't know if she had actually gotten high that day or if it was truly all in her imagination. Nonetheless, the smell remained in her car for weeks after that. Drinking on the other hand━━ that she could most definitely get behind, the girl even fairly tempted to grab one of the beers that she had spotted on Joshua's counter. She could handle her liquor greatly but that did not stop her from going overboard many, many times during parties, major hangovers appearing the morning after as a consequence of her lack of care and sleaziness while under the influence, the girl being quite the sloppy drunk.

       " So, you were just planning on ignoring me without a proper fucking breakup for the rest of the school year ? " Quiero decir que es increíble, realmente. Una puta mierda. Primero me ignoras de la nada, luego me dejas y ahora me vuelves a ignorar." She finally spoke up, questioning his motives as he was once again taking a hit from the bong. Her question held a hint of sarcasm. Evie tilted her head to the side, waiting for a real answer other than the not-so-subtle rolling of the eyes. The girl had a habit of switching from English to Spanish once infuriated, enough so that the boy had learned a few words.
( Translation :  I mean it's incredible, really. Such fucking bullshit. First, you ignore me out of nowhere, then you dump me and now you ignore me again. )

       " Evie, can we not do this ? I'm tired and you're certainly not helping. " He uttered, taking a sip from the already-opened can of old beer.

       She remained speechless for quite a few seconds, unable to think of a response to his rudeness as she never felt the need to. Joshua Lawrence was usually a kind boy without an unpleasant bone in his body, it seemed like he simply wasn't wired with vexatious troubles. Never had she truly witnessed the white boy battling with the demons she was completely unaware even existed━━ his new type of self care was changing him gradually both mentally and physically. His body had became frailer since she started dating him and he was now pale as a ghost, his usual slightly pale ivory complexion being lost gone once his drug use became more regular. He was more snippy and broomy which was huge surprise to the people who really knew him. Nonetheless, she still wanted in on their relationship as she remembered the good moments the two had shared during the first few months. " We could still make it work... "

       A sigh escaped from Joshua's pink-tinted thin lips, his hazy green eyes rolling onto the back of his head as he finally gave the slightly desperate girl the attention she had been wanting for the last few minutes while she had been sitting on the dusty couch. His nonchalant gaze had finally fallen upon the ambiguously gorgeous girl, her habitual mischievous smirk had been replaced with a sad expression plastered upon her soft facial features, her cherry-flavored lips resting in a small, pouting, frown. Her head was placed upon her manicured hands, black stiletto nails tapping in a soft pattern, showing nervousness. However, her eyes still glistened, piercing emerald eyes being occupied with speckles. Even he could admit that if he did not secretly play for the opposite team as her, that she would probably be the girl of his dreams. Notwithstanding, as he still wasn't able to admit his truth to the oblivious girl, he attempted to let her down harshly : " We can't. You're just not my type. "

       " That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard. I seemed to be just your type until now. How am I not your type ? " The teenage Latina girl was quite surprised by his reasoning. Never in her life had she heard such an absurd justification, the girl only hearing it in the romantic comedies she would watch ironically with Cassie Wayward. The confident girl knew that she was the total package as she had beautiful, voluminous near-black hair that fell upon her chest perfectly━━ straightened or the typical beach wave. The not-so-subtly flirtations that she would do while texting with boys she had no intention of actually speaking to in person drove them wild and her honey-like voice was just a few things she could think about on the top of her head. Little did she know, his reasoning behind his lack of sexual desire for the flirty had nothing to do with her.

       " Well, you're not black with a nine-inch dick, aren't you ? " He blurted out, referring to Elijah Maddox, his twenty-two-year-old drug dealer that only seemed to enjoy using him for sex in exchange for heroin.

! . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 ࿐ྂ
3012 ! okay so i actually loved this chapter. i might be very delusional since a b getting confident asf but i'm happy on how this turned out.

my favorite cracker finally came out as a gay snow bunny so how y'all feeling about that ?

evie just got an awakening ( as she should tbh ) and this gives me more reasons to write for cassie and evie. which speaking of, next chapter includes cassie, joshua and a little of elijah and evie.