4: ____________ Hi, Carter. It has definitely been a while since we talked, but I am glad to hear from you. Bailey sent Abel a letter? I didn’t know that. I hope your grades have gone up since we last talked. I definitely miss being close with you. I really hope you're doing well. What music are you into now? My favorite artist is Phoebe Bridgers. Hopefully when we start writing again, we can be like pin-pals! Except we are in the same country. Evelyn My alarm was blaring and woke me from my once again dreamless sleep. “How long is this gonna keep up?” I said to myself. I drug myself out of bed and knocked on my sister's door. “Get up, Bailey!” I headed to the kitchen for some cereal. I watched the milk swirl around the cereal, waiting for that first bit of crunch to wake me up. The routine felt steady, like a slow-motion restart for my brain. The morning light filtered through the window, highlighting the dust motes dancing in the air, and for a second, I just watched them drift. I leaned my chin on my hand, listening for the telltale creak of Bailey’s floorboards. It was going to be a long day, sure, but I’d managed to get the bowl to the table, and honestly, that felt like a decent start. I heard the familiar thud of feet hitting the floor, followed by the agonizing creak of Bailey’s bedroom door. She stumbled into the kitchen, looking like she’d survived a whirlwind, her hair a chaotic nest of knots. She didn’t even look at me as she reached for the milk, her voice a gravelly rasp that cut through my morning fog. "You know, Ev, most people use an alarm, not a siren meant to signal an incoming air raid," she muttered, leaning her weight against the counter. She cut me a look that was half-smirk, half-grimace. "If you’re going to wake up the entire neighborhood, the least you could do is have the coffee brewing. It’s basically a human right." “I don’t drink coffee.” I said dryly to Bailey. “Jeez, it was just a joke. Are you good?” Bailey asked with a concerned look on her face. “I’m fine.” I replied coldly. With that I placed my bowl in the sink, grabbed my bag, and ran out the door. As soon as my feet hit the pavement I broke out into a run to get to school. Some people might say that there's no reason to school that fast. Well, there is and for me it’s because I use school as an escape from home. There’s no point of being home when I just get yelled at all the time for no real reason. Unless there is and I should use it as a learning opportunity like everyone always says I should. According to everyone else I'm just being dramatic and that there’s no way my mom could be that bad. She is, trust me. I am constantly getting sent to my room and grounded at anything below a B in school. It feels like I'm stuck in my head with no way out, at all. When I got to my first period, I pulled out my book and began reading. I lost myself completely in the book I was reading and eventually found myself wishing to have the main character's life. I’m sure that sounds so stupid, but reading is my escape from reality. It’s like you can read and just get lost, I love reading so much. All of a sudden the bell rang, and the people that were up ran to their seats. The teacher walked in and told us to open our textbooks to page 37. I watched the clock tick by slower with every minute. My friend Ashlynn passed me a note inviting me to go have a sleepover with her. Ashlynn is the type of person who if she wanted to, she could date any guy in the school she wanted. She has strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes. She always says she’s not pretty but I think she’s the prettiest girl you could find. I expected the invitation, as we have been wanting a sleepover for a while now. “Who all is going?” I asked, genuinely curious. She replied, “Just a couple people, Anaya, Madeline, Hannah, and Alya.” “Ok, I'll be there then.” I said back.
Chapters 5-9 are planned out and five should be out soon!!
