Stories Of The Past

Strangely enough, May and Ashley treated her with absolute kindness. Even though she showed distance in the beginning, they didn't mind and kept on approaching her. It baffled her, extremely.

What shocked her was when they apologized to her.

"I am sorry, Evelyn. I know it wasn't right of me to ignore it when you were being bullied by the rest," apologized May.

"Me too. I am sorry for being a coward. I was scared of what Annalise and her friends would do to me. But now, I have changed my mind. J will stick to you no matter. Well, if you allow me to," Ashley expressed.

Nonetheless, slowly, she found herself opening up to them. After all, as a teenager, one of the things she had looked forward to more than having friends, and they did sound sincere. Even the rest were bothering her less these days.

Maybe she could be finally be hopeful towards being happy.

And the next few days went by so well that Evelyn almost felt as though it was a dream. She went out to have snacks with Ashley and May everyday after classes. During the weekends, she had fun with them in the amusement park and movies.

She had to admit that it was draining on her wallet, but that didn't make her mood down.

Caspian paid her pocket money. Although it was much lower amount than Annalise, it still could be considered more than enough. Of course, many times it was simply forgotten. Nevertheless, Evelyn didn't have the habit of overspending and hardly had any demands. Therefore, she saved up comparatively a lot.

Evelyn was helping Grandpa Parker search the storeroom when she noticed a photo. It was dusty and framed. There were two men and a women standing. The photo appeared to be from long back.

"Grandpa, is that you?" Evelyn asked, pointing at one of the younger men. He did seem a lot similar to Grandpa Parker.

At this, the old man moved close to her, and nostalgia crossed through his eyes as he smiled before voicing out, "Yeah. That's Sam and Rose, your grandparents."

Evelyn shot the old man a quizzical look at it. She wanted to know more.

Grandpa Parker laughed. "You have been curious about it for a while, right? Boil me a cup of tea, and come to the yard."

Evelyn enthusiastically nodded.

Later on that day, Esther stared at the old man with anticipation in her eyes, and he began, "Rose and I were childhood friends. Sam came into the story later on. He and Rose fell in love. As for Sam, he became my best friend. I was young back then and filled with vigor, had my dreams.

I wanted to make it big on my own and had Sam and Rose join me. They fought with their family due to this, and it eventually led to separation. It wasn't easy starting a business. We suffered from countless setbacks, and keeping a roof over the head was difficult.

And one day, a car accident on a rainy day took away the couple. On the hospital bed, Sam had me promise to take care of Marie, your mother. She was just a toddler. I was determined to do all that I could, but having lost both my friend and business, I was down in a slump.

I had no money, and my mental state was horrible. That's why, when Sam's parents came, I had no choice but hand Marie over to them, hoping they would provide her with a better environment.

It was only recently have I learned that Marie passed away a long time, and she broke off relationship with that family way before. She suffered a lot. Even if it is through you, I wish to make it up."

Evelyn obviously knew it was due to her mother that the old man took responsibility of her. But what she wanted to know was whether or not he had loved her for herself. Of course, she didn't have the courage to let her thoughts out.

Following that, wearing a smile on her face, she continued to listen as Grandpa Parker poured out about the stories in his youth.