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

( CHAPTER XII. 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 )

𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑬 𝑾𝑨𝑺 𝑼𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑹𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵━━ Especially in the jungle that was Grand Army High School. This time though, the school's atmosphere was undoubtedly different. Usually, she received her fair share of looks of admiration from the people who weren't near her level of popularity, cat-calls and whistles from the immature freshman boys who hadn't quite hit puberty yet and nasty regards from the girls who were clearly dying of jealousy but the vixen had an unfortunate feeling in her gut that told her there was something that she wasn't aware of and she was about to put her hypothetical detective glasses and get to the bottom of things. Being gossiped about was one thing, but having half of the student body giving her pity looks and the other half gawking and snickering to themselves was another. Unbeknownst to her, today would mark the beginning of the downfall of her treasured group of friends.

Like every other weekday, the petite brunette had entered the dreaded establishment with George Wright's muscled left arm comfortably placed upon her defined shoulders, an action that they had openly commenced since her breakup with Josh, an action that made Leila Kwan Zimmer want to eat her heart out. The two's relationship seemingly kept blooming as their public displays of affections grew stronger towards one another in public. Evie had no way of knowing that those simple habits would immensely amplify the gossip and newsmongering of her peers that day. On secondhand, the boy walking beside her had just realized the latter.

" I'm gonna go find Luke, I gotta talk to him about something ". He spoke, cowardly placing a kiss on the unknowing girl's cheek and scurrying off in her opposite direction. Now, don't get him wrong, Geo was nowhere near a religious person but in that moment, he was praying that his horrible antics from yesterday would not come to light, hoping that Joey had deleted her Instagram stories far before everyone had seen them. Regrettably, he would soon see that that wasn't the case. George Wright was a deadman walking.

       If there was one thing Evie hated, it was to be put in a fish out of water situation, it was incredibly awkward for the girl as she was usually very secure in herself. It was weird for her to be ogled like a zoo animal the one weekend where she actually behaved. Wasn't it strange ? The one weekend she spent not being a stumbling hot mess from alcohol intoxication, the one time she had decided to spend the most of her two days in the comfort of a bed and not at a party of someone she hardly knew, the only epoch where she hadn't had a drunken argument with a random person in public, that is when she found herself in the center of the weekly hearsay.

       Luckily, a bewildered Evie had accidentally bumped into a familiar face━━ Bre McAdams, who not only would know what everybody was talking about, but wouldn't embellish things to create a bigger drama simply for her own entertainment. " Bre, hey ! Can you please explain to me why the fuck everyone's staring at me like I grew two damn heads overnight ? "

       Poor Bre, if only Evie had known how much of a shitty situation she had put the both of them in by asking her childhood friend that question. It was truly an unavoidable discussion that the curly-haired girl would have to have with the raven. How was Bre supposed to tell the clueless girl that her best friend had completely stomped upon the theoretical girl code by committing the biggest high school betrayal, an act of treason in the eyes of the pretty little vixen ? She knew the moment she would disclose the Sunday night antics of her best friend and situationship, Evie Perez' world would shatter. It would seem dramatic in the point-of-view of outsiders but for those involved, shit would hit the fan. The McAdams girl's mouth opened and then immediately shut, unable to think about the best way to break the news about the infidelities in her friend group.

       " Uhm, I really don't know how to tell you this but... " She stalled, looking for any way out of the storm that she would have to start.

      " Spill it out, McAdams ! " Evie snapped, growing more and more impatient as each second passed, instantly clueing in that there truly was something to be worried about.

       Sighing heavily, knowing that it was hopeless to keep quiet any longer, knowing that it was by no means possible for her to avoid this mess, she blurted out the alleged truth : " This weekend, Joey fucked around with Luke... and George. She posted it on her story and everybody saw it, I'm so so sorry Eves ".

       The girl went completely mute, unable to find the words to describe the sentiment she was feeling in that moment. She knew finding out that her best friend and the guy she had unofficially claimed as hers had hooked up a mere few hours before that same guy had picked her up from a fairly difficult situation a few meters away from her home was a good reason to shed a few tears. Though she had only once been on the other end of a heartbreak, she had assumed it was normal to feel sadness and heartache over such revelations━━ especially considering Joey Del Marco, the last person she would have ever expected to commit such disloyalty, actually did. Evie never would have even thought about hooking up with Tim Delaney, notwithstanding the fact that the two hadn't even been honest to each other about their obvious shared feelings. Call it childish but girl code among friends was something Evie held close to her heart. Nevertheless, in this moment, the Perez girl wasn't sad, she was pissed off.

       " You alright, girl ? " The McAdams' girl asked sensitively, causing Evie to snap back out of her own thoughts, acknowledging once again the presence of her dear friend.

       " Yeah, but they won't be, I'm not about to be made a fool in front of everybody ! "

       With those last words, the Latina thanked Bre for her honesty before quickly rushing away, commencing the hunt for Joey and George. The both of them must've had an idea about what was coming their way.

A fuming Evie Perez scoured the Grand Army hallways, making sure to pay no mind to the judging looks from the ignorant students semi-aware of the group's weekend shenanigans. She had one goal in mind and that was to face the people she had once held closest to her heart. There was absolutely no way that she was going to look elsewhere and sweep things under the rug considering the situation. They were all dead in her eyes, specifically Joey. It's true, George Wright was going to be a victim of Evie's stone cold silent treatment for a while but deep down, she knew her hatred would fade out soon enough as they had never became official therefor the two technically owed each other nothing but nonetheless, screwing her best friend, that was incredibly low. As for Joey, she was in bigger shit. To show the boy a single inclination that he had the chance to fuck her and then actually go through with the scandalous deed, never would she forgive her. Their sacred friendship was over in Evie's eyes.

       " You diarrhea'd in the woods ". She heard the familiar voice of the Del Marco girl from the nearby empty classroom, the same one they would always use during their early morning free period. The group was playing their own version of never have I ever where they would have to consume one of the disgusting flavored jelly beans from the Bean Boozled game if they had done the named act. Anna and Tim Delaney were both sat on separate desks, Luke Friedman, like usual had been laying on a small sofa parked against the wall whilst a jarring Joey Del Marco rested on a seemingly uncomfortable aged wooden chair. George sat on the ground dangerously too close to the caramel-haired girl, on the face of it not even trying to beat the rumours. Classy really ! None of them seemed anywhere near as nervous to her upcoming reaction as she thought they would be. All but Joey who looked like a hot mess, biting her fingers in stress with an uncoiffed head of curly hair flopped on her head. She looked how Evie expected her to look but unbeknownst to her, it was for a completely different reason.

       " Never have I ever fucked George... " She spoke up, all attention zeroing in on her, the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop. " I can put my finger down, but after this weekend, so can you Jo ".

With everything she had been mentally and physically going through, somehow Joey had forgotten the Evie factor of the situation. " Eves━━ " They boy tried to reason, nevertheless being cut off by the livid Latina.

" No, I don't want to hear the sorry ass excuses that are gonna come out from your fucking mouths. I mean George, we all know you stick your dick in whatever moves so I really should've seen this coming. First the trashy 9th grader and now my best friend ? That's rich, honestly ". Her words were as calm as a night in the Canadian suburbs, words soft like snow. She had a sarcastic smile plastered upon her tan face and to those who barely knew her, she seemed fine, like the typical Evie Perez they would see walking down the hall every day but the five people in front of her knew the girl was absolutely furious. I mean, you could practically see the steam coming out of her ears and the anger hidden behind her expressive eyes, all her feminism flew out the window as her outrage discreetly poured out.

       " Eves, I was drunk, I mean, I didn't mean to, I'm so sorr━━ " Joey tried, a single tear streaming down on her rosie left cheek. A loud smack was heard in the small classroom. Evie's palm had connected with Joey's cheek leaving a red mark.

       " No, cause I don't wanna hear this shit from you ! I would never do this shit to you, I have too much love for you. How the fuck do you think this makes me feel, I would've never fucked Tim out of respect for you ! I mean wow Jo, you couldn't have him so you decided to fuck the whole crew ? You couldn't stand to not have one guy's attention ? " The real emotions behind Evie's statuesque expression had started to come out, her look of numbness had finally evaporated as she spoke those words. Hurt was very apparent in her resonance as she spat out such cruel things to her now ex-best-friend, words she never thought would have been expressed. Never would she had thunk to slut-shame her but hurt people do hurt people. She had to leave soon, before they would see the waterfall pouring from her eyes. " This is done, we are done ! "

       That was last exchange between Evie and Joey that day. A friendship she thought would last a lifetime was supposedly over in a matter of seconds. She left in anger, pulling out her phone to text the one person in this moment who change her mind as Joey was stuck dealing with the aftermath of the mess the boys had created.

𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀
hey

𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘆🥺
hey hruuu

𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀
not great tbh

can i come over ?

𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘆🥺
ofcc🥺 2 of my brothers are home tho
i hope that's ok

𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀
yeah that's fine

𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆𝘆🥺
okayyy :) it's 3529 5th st

the building a block next to the Famous Peppers
on 6th if that helps

its app 6

𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀
yep got it thanks cass🫶🏼

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

( CHAPTER XII P.2. 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 )

𝑨𝑺 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝒀𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑶𝑾 𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑺 𝑷𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑬𝑫 𝑩𝒀, Cassie Wayward anxiously awaited the specific taxi that would contain a certain feisty adolescent girl. It was particularly stressful for the timid blonde, nervous that her place of residence, peculiar family situation and her rather lower-class lifestyle did not match the incredible normally extravagant standards that Evie Perez was used to. Ever since she met the coquette, like a dreamer would do, she imagined all the possible evenhanded reactions that could come out of her as she saw their shabby cramped apartment and her mothering of four boys. Even though she saw the sensible Evie, just as she saw in most people, there still was a tiny evil voice in the depths of her complicated brain claiming that a relationship with a girl so dissimilar wouldn't work in no less than a thousand years and she would be better off just biting the bullet now and ending it. That menacing voice was so very hard to shrug off.

Speaking of the devil, that's when she finally saw the girl with the long black hair get out of the humble but expensive taxicab parallel parked right in front of the establishment. The wind was getting into her hair as the thinner meshes awkwardly stuck to her sticky lip gloss, her skin was getting shades paler as the heavy winter approached and the brighter sun-rays grew duller. She had her jacket zipped and her arms clung tightly against her figure as the coldness flew like a bold brute throughout the city. She saw the chilly girl spotting the thick eye-catching 3529 lettering near the wooden entrance.

Call her spoiled, call her lucky but the brunette was pretty unaccustomed to being in the poorer side of town. She didn't make it a habit to do so unless it was to see Joshua Lawrence yet, those instances could only be counted a handful of times. Given her financial privilege, coming from daddy's money, she was a somewhat uncomfortable as she walked upon the older, littered streets of those noisy neighbourhoods. Other than Josh and now Cassie, the Latina never really hung out with people who had major differences in monetary status as she was used to living in that safe, ignorant little bubble of hers. No, Evie Perez was not classist, she did not purposely stick with a group that didn't need to worry about a steady cash flow, it just somehow ended up that way.

It was sad to say that Evie Perez' lack of awareness of the fact that being substantially financially different with a confidante could demonstrate its problems. Some people can't choose to stay home and play couch potato all day like she could and some people can only wish to not have the constant nagging feeling of stress coming from payments, household chores and being an acting mother to four little boys. Because Evie's mother's parenting was fueled by unresolved anger towards her ex husband and her hypocritical bible thumping, it blinded the Brunette's ability to see how hard the matriarch was working as a practically single mom.

Marching inside the concrete walls of the cramped apartment complex, she couldn't help but to notice how nicer it was in comparison to Joshua's older brother's grim place of residence, his home being in a severe state of disrepair as its tenants had a bigger fixation on chasing their next high than sprucing up and upkeeping the slummy crib to make it at least somewhat less of an eyesore with all the clutter and the distinct fetid odour lingering in the free space. Cassie's tight little apartment was kept clean, addicts weren't sprawled at every few steps and the strong scents of cigarettes and bad body odours weren't apparent for the most part. Sure, the place was old fashioned and nowhere near meeting the standard of upper middle class living quarters, but it was sanitary and her pre-formed judgements that she had unnoticed to herself, kept in her pretty little mind vanished.

       She walked the two-story taupe colored carpeted staircase towards the second floor, searching for the sixth door towards the rented home. Knocking on the maple wood entryway in an undisturbed manner, she patiently awaited for Cassie Wayward to allow her access to her beloved abode. The door creaked as it opened, the timid blonde holding the rusty doorknob, a subtle rosiness coming into view upon her pale porcelain skin. " Hi ! " She started enthusiastically, happily dragging the syllable as she greeted the brunette, eyes gleaming, a soft smile plastered across her face. " How are you ? "

       " Honestly, horrible ! My day's been literal hell ! "

       Evie didn't have a singular diffident bone in her body. She was not afraid to make herself at home in other people's places of living, whether she had known them for years on years on years or a mere few hours. She pushed her silky dark locks behind her shoulders in a dramatic manner, sighing deeply before taking a few quick steps forward into the Wayward residence, not bothering to remove to thick black jacket off of her figure. She kicked her dirty white tennis shoes off her feet, placing them neatly at the door before rushing into the compact living room. The vixen plopped herself comfortably onto the tan, visibly lived-on couch in a pretzel style fashion. " Geo is a disgusting, dishonest pig and I hate him. Joey's no better than he is either".

       The blonde girl standing by the doorframe held a visible puzzled expression on her facial features as it had only been a few days since Evie had been shamelessly talking about him as if he was a Greek God even though he had the similar look and personality of more than half the adolescent guys in the United-States. Yes, it is true, the Blonde had embarked onto the George Wright train once, which resulted in her meeting the girl who was sitting on her couch currently. The fact that Cassie had experienced the boy with her own eyes further proved that George was just like any other guy in the city. Perhaps she had missed a side of the latter boy that the Latina saw everyday but that thought didn't stop her from wondering how a girl as fierce with such high levels of self-confidence like Evie Perez constantly let herself be diminished by just another boy.

       Cassie Wayward joined her on the semi-dilapidated sofa, cozily finding room into the left corner side. She put her knees up to her chest, placing her arms over them as she prepared herself to listen to Evie Perez' awful day. " What happened with George ? I thought things were going better between you two ".

       " I swear he's missing half of his fucking brain the way he keeps doing shit to piss me off. It's like it's a game to him. Like, I don't know, I swear he's doing this on purpose ! " She sighed, confused as to what his game was. " At this point it's whatever, we don't owe each other jack shit but he really crossed the line this time ".

       Cassie remained mute, carefully listening and letting the brunette vent about the boy.

       " So basically today, Geo drives me to school, right... and for some reason everyone kept looking at me. It wasn't even in a good way, it just looked like people knew something I didn't and I hated it so I asked my friend Bre and I basically had to force it out of her that George and Joey fucked this weekend ! " Evie added emphasis on the last few words, still shocked herself by the ugly betrayal.

       " Joey and George ? Isn't she your best friend ? " Cassie questioned.

       " Yes ! My point exactly, she straight up fucked George in the back of a taxi ! Zero fucking class, tryna say she was drunk and she didn't mean to. She was just looking at me with that dumb fucking look on her face. If she would've just like kissed him or something, whatever, I would've lived but to fuck him when she literally had Tim and Luke like right there, come on ! She couldn't stand not having all three guys, I swear ! " The Latina angrily vented in a quite obvious bitter tone, talking with her hands in exasperation.

       Cassie truly hadn't expected all the drama that had been revealed. Dropping out fairly quickly had limited her knowledge on high school drama therefore she wasn't quite sure how to respond. Nonetheless, Cassie was an acting mother to her brothers she knew how to lend a compassionate hand. " Eves, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that, you need to ditch George, he's not good for you and I don't like seeing you this upset. Maybe you should go talk to Joey, the way you talk about her, it's just weird that she'd do that ".

       " Nope ! I'm done with that girl. As far as I know she's dead to me. I would've never done some fucked up shit like that to her ".

       In a distressed manner, Evie dug trough her bra as she repositioned herself, now sitting on her knees as she pulled out a certain small device in the shape of a miniature landline. The words Elf Bar were printed upon the green and pink background in bold, capitalized white letters. Evie Perez was in desperate need of a well deserved hit of nicotine after a fairly eventful morning and a decently long taxi ride. She shot the pretty blonde a look of question as to find out whether or not she could inhale and exhale the strawberry-kiwi flavored-smoke indoors. Cassie reassured her silently with a small nonchalant nod.

       " Either way, George is a pig for doing that to you... He's so disrespectful and you deserve better than a guy who doesn't care enough about your feelings to not hook up with your friends ".

       Evie would hate to admit it and she would kill anybody who would dare say it but the girl did have small specs of naivety and delusion in her mind. When it came to George and their long lasting situationship, she tended to blindly put her feelings in which she denied, aside in secret hopes that a fully realized relationship would form between them, even though the latter boy had unfortunately shown time and time again how much of an untrustworthy average teenage boy he truly was.

       Their cycle was on a never-ending loop since their affair had started when the girl had been known to date Joshua Lawrence. They would fight one second and then the next they would be at it like bunnies, the Latina usually being the one to forgive him after taking a few days to cool off. Evie would put on her very best pouty face, pulling the hard to get card until he would commit his acts of seduction and flattery, fulfilling Evie's continuous needs of physical and sexual touch. All logic would fly out the window in that instant as the make up sex was far to good for the girl to stay mad, no matter how hard she so deeply tried.

             " Cassie, I think i'm just weak ! Cause why do I still wanna text him ? It's like the dick hypnotized me or something. Is there rehab for that type of thing ?" Evie stated semi-jokingly, covering up her face with her two hands, her vape safely secured between her index and middle finger as she shook her head in frustration, her long stiletto nails seemingly gripping at her head.

       Cassie's soft giggles filled the ambiance, her cheeks pink as she covered her mouth to hide her budding laughter. She found Evie's dramatic nature to be somewhat entertaining. Looking at the cheesy girl through her fingers in a peek-a-boo manner, the raven couldn't help but join in on the chuckles. The fair girl placed her dainty hand upon Evie's left shoulder in a comforting fashion, initiating eye-contact for a few moments before continuing : " I think you just need to think with your heart and mind and not with your vagina... "

       A single joyful gasp was let out from the Perez girl as she placed her soft manicured hands upon her beating heart, feigning offence before an infectious laugh gushed out of her mouth. " That's rich, Cass ! You're the one who holds your heart in your vagina. You get a little too attached to whoever you fuck. You couldn't willingly hit it and quit it without it shattering down there ".

       " So not true ! I've had so many one night stands before... " The fair-haired sweetheart shyly stated, a peek of champagne pink appeared on her relatively pale complexion, demonstrating to the vixen that it wasn't the full truth. Oh, how she hated her inability to hide her true sentiments and how she wished the tint on her cheeks wouldn't sell her out so quickly.

       With a brow lift and a mocking smirk, Evie pressed her further : " Oh really ? You might've had your fair share of one nights but I doubt you got into them without hope of a relationship ".

       Avoiding eye contact, Cassie Wayward got up abruptly, yawning as she made her way towards the L shaped kitchen countertop. She anxiously picked up the ceramic mug that she had previously left upon the cool surface. The mug was covered with numerous hand-painted smiley faces with different hues and different sizes. In a striking font, the words #1 MOM had been written messily on the bottom. She had received that cherished piece of tableware from Christopher, the eldest brother of the Wayward bunch as a mother's day present the year prior. That gesture had warmed her heart at the same time as it broke it. He demonstrated so much appreciation and love towards her after such a big familial tragedy at the mere age of seven years old, making him a strong little boy. The fact that he considered her his mother and not his big older sister tugged at her heartstrings.

       Evie examined the doe-eyed girl sighing in fatigued as she pressed a few bottoms on the white microwave, about to reheat her cold coffee in the box-like appliance. The topic of hookups had vanished out of the noirette's head as she had now noticed the eye bags and she remembered the yawn she had let out moments prior. The Wayward girl sported an oversized Marina and the Diamonds tee and plaid fuzzy pyjama pants, hardly a productive type of outfit. She then questioned : " Are you tired ? "

" Didn't really sleep well last night and I had to get up early this morning since it's monday ". The blonde answered softly. The five year old, Chase had thrown a fit the night before, refusing to go to bed as he wanted to continue watching more and more episodes of Cocomelon. It took her a while to convince him to get to sleep and by then, it was way past his bedtime therefor the morning wasn't any easier. The boy had missed a lot of sleep and again, there was another hassle to get him up and ready for school. With the youngest napping and the three other boys gone to school and preschool, thankfully offered at the same location, the peaceful aroma present in the small apartment was enough to make the girl a little tired.

" Take a nap, the baby monitors right there and honestly, I could sleep too... " Evie generously offered, a genuine kind smile plastered across her face.

" Are you sure ? " The girl questioned, placing the mug back onto the counter before retaking her spot upon the sofa.

" Yeah, come on ! " She assured, pulling the blonde close to her in a cuddly fashion. Now for those who didn't know the girls personally, they sure would look like a couple and not a mere platonic friendship but who said friends couldn't cuddle ? It felt weird for Cassie to be so close to the girl she had come to feel great affection for, even when she had continuously spoken about her love for the Wright boy throughout their little hang out. The mellow girl held out on confessing to the tan girl about the whirlwind of butterflies in her stomach. Cassie Wayward had never been the type of girl to look for the sexual in a relationship as she often felt smitten simply by to their contagious personalities. The blonde was good at reading people therefore she fell fast and hard when she truly got to know the person.

Evie Perez was another story, the Wayward girl simply couldn't read her. She was a complicated individual that one, as she could spend a moment nearly interlocking her lips with the fair girl but not a second too soon she would be blabbing about her complicated little affair with George Wright, with seemingly no self-awareness. The Perez girl was an enigma in which Cassie repeatedly failed to decipher.

The fatigued fair-haired girl started to slowly doze off into a state of serenity, her brain shifting gears to a peaceful slumber, her thoughts slowing as her eyelids fell heavier. The vixen beside her put their phones on do not disturb before pursuing to softly twirl the ends of the blondie's tied-up locks, she too closing her siren eyes, welcoming tranquility with open arms. An aura of quietude filled the cramped apartment, all parties descending in a world of dreams and lack of problems.

! . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 ࿐ྂ
5024 ! the plan for this chapter originally was for it to have 3 parts but i feel this ended well before all the chaos restartssssss

writing a long ass scene with only 2 people from the same sex is exhaustinggg like there's only so many " the blonde " or " the black-haired girl " i can use omfg

anyways enjoyyy !! hopefully the next won't take me 2 months !!