PITIFUL CALEB [III]

Evie folded her arms tightly across her chest as she trudged toward a familiar figure. She was extremely cold and cursed herself for going out to the seaside wearing light clothing. Under Tori's insistence, she had worn a black off shoulder chiffon blouse over her blue jeans.

It had looked great when she saw it through the mirror especially since it had a pair of spaghetti straps to hold it in place. And when Tori had told her that she looked beautiful in it, she hoped Mike would say the same. But she regretted wearing it as the wind was very cold.

"Hey Mike." She said and forced a grin as she sat beside him on the shore. He seemed distracted as he threw what looked like a giant spider into the sea.

"I've been here for almost an hour. What took you so long?" Mike said and turned to look at her. She looked very beautiful. His heart raced when she looked up at him and their eyes met. Time seemed to pause at that moment as they did nothing but look into each other's eyes.

"Sorry I made you wait." Evie said as she looked away. She caught sight of a crab and realised that was what he had thrown into the sea. "You said you were leaving."

"Yeah. David suggested that Mom send me overseas and she agreed."

"Wow that's great. When are you leaving?" Evie looked at him as enthusiasm wrote itself all over her face.

"A week from today." Mike said as he looked back at the sea.

"You don't seem happy." Evie said when she noticed that he wasn't as enthusiastic about it as she was. "You don't want to leave?"

"I watched the video. Where David and Eloisa planned to kill Mom and make you go crazy." Mike's eyes darkened as he spoke. He hated to imagine what would happen if Evie didn't find out that they were putting hard drugs in her food.

"I'm sorry you heard that." Evie smiled apologetically at him. She had meant to prevent him from seeing the video.

"No need. I never expected that was his plan when he told me I could finally get to live with Mom. I didn't expect any better from him but it hurts. It's not everyday you find out that your father is trying to kill your Mom, you know."

"I know it's hard on you right now but everything is going to be okay." Evie placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"I'll make sure of it." A determined glint flashed through his eyes. He had buried every single expectation and emotions he had for David the night before. All he wanted to do was to make sure that David goes away from their lives and never come back. But Joanna didn't want him to get involved. That's why she agreed to David's request.

"I'll miss you. We all will." Evie removed her hand from his shoulder and folded them across her chest. The wind was very cold and she was sure she would begin shivering anytime soon. She felt it useless that she had done a lot to impress him and he hadn't even noticed it. She made a mental note to herself to dress for her comfort and never to impress anyone.

"I'll miss you all as well. And by the way, you look beautiful in that blouse, Evie." She heard him say as he took off his jacket and spread it across her shoulders. Then he stood up and held out his hand to her. She smiled as she took his hand and he pulled her up. Her efforts to look beautiful didn't go unnoticed.

"Actually Evie, there's something I want to say to you before I leave. I know I shouldn't be saying this unless I don't want Mom to adopt you which is going to be unfair and selfish of me. But I want to say it even though it might ruin our friendship." Mike hesitated before taking her hand in his. He gazed into her hazel eyes before continuing. "I like you but not just as a friend. As something more than that."

Evie blinked as she tried to break eye contact with him. She never thought that he liked her especially since he was nice to her on some days and other days he avoided her. But he did. And he just confessed. Evie wanted so much to say she liked him too. But if she did that, she would have to ruin Caleb's chance of getting a mother.

"Mike... You.. I.." She struggled with a loss for words. She had rejected a lot of boys she didn't like before and that was awfully hard to do as she didn't want to hurt their feelings. How could she possibly reject someone she liked without pushing him out of her life forever?

"You don't have to say anything. You don't have to like me back. You just need to promise me that you won't avoid me because of what I just said."

Evie nodded. The first guy she liked was someone she could never be with. Things would have been easier if Joanna had adopted them before she met him. She wouldn't have fallen for him if he were her brother. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply to clear her mind of the thoughts of what could have been.

Almost suddenly she felt Mike's breath against her cheek and his lips upon hers. It was soft and gentle. And brief. Her eyes widened and her hand subconsciously rose to her mouth as he pulled away. Without thinking twice, she turned on her feet and ran. She heard him call out to her but she didn't stop or look back.

She ran down the path that led to the road and waved down a taxi. Sitting down on the back seat, she sighed and touched her lips.

The tender kiss still lingered. That had been her first kiss. Just a few minutes ago, she had been determined to forget everything she felt. But he just had to kiss her. How could she ever maintain a brother and sister relationship with him anymore?

She reached into her pocket for her phone when it beeped. It was a message from Mike. He was apologising through the text for his 'mistake'. Evie sighed and wrapped herself with his jacket. He deemed it a mistake so she would do the same. The kiss never existed. Neither did their feelings for each other.

***** ***** *****

Caleb wiped a tear off his face as he watched Mike leave. He had convinced himself the previous night that it was best for Mike that he left. But as he watched him go, he couldn't hold back his tears. Since he heard from Evie that he would be leaving the country, he had grown sad.

Mike had come by everyday to keep him company afterwards. He had even given him his Xbox that he loved so he wouldn't feel bad. And he had snuck out of the airport to see him one last time before he left. Even though he felt the time they had spent together wasn't enough, he was grateful to him for being a great older brother.

He waved goodbye as the taxi Mike had entered disappeared out of sight. Pressing his lips together, he walked back into the house. He frowned at Evie who was sitting on the couch, reading her book like she had no concern for anything that was happening around her.

He was sure that something had happened between them but he didn't know what. Ever since she had gone to to meet him at the beach, she didn't treat him the same. The last few days he visited, Evie treated him like he was invisible. It was almost like they had fought but he knew they didn't because Evie would have ripped his jacket into pieces instead of placing it securely in her wardrobe.

He pushed his thoughts away and walked to Evie. When she raised her head to look at him, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She didn't show it but he knew she was hurting.