Wake-Up Call - Evan tag Brittany

[Evan Hughes]

It was another school morning where Evan found himself having to wake up way earlier than he was comfortable with. And annoyingly, he stumped his toes a few times as he made his way from his bed to the other side of the room, where he had wisely set up his alarm clock the night before, thinking he’d have a better chance of staying up if he had to actually get up. And make his way through a floor covered in clothes and candy wrappers along the way.

But he made sure to set the time disgustingly early this morning. 7 am. No one should have to wake up at that time, it was cruel. But in an attempt to try to wake himself up a bit, he hopped straight into the shower, putting it on full blast. Then when he was finished, he made a nudie run back to his room when he realised he didn’t bring any clothes to change into with him.

Dressing nicely, in his mind anyway, he put on jeans and an old Star Wars t-shirt, making his way out the door and straight into his car. Blasting the radio helped wake him up just a little, as did remembering what he wanted to talk to Brittany about. His girl was cool, and he figured she trusted him, so he wasn’t too worried, well, wasn’t extremely worried, about her reaction to him. He just didn’t want her to start a fight with Syn either, and risk Dare finding out. But he couldn’t tell Brit why he didn’t want Dare finding out either. So it was a tricky situation. Far too tricky for anyone to have to deal with at this ungodly hour.

Still, remembering that breakfast might be on the cards perked him up a bit, as did the chance to annoy Aly so early in the day. As well as the slight chance that Brit might still be sleeping, and so he would bust her in hopefully skimpy, or at least funny, pjs. So, pulling up in front of the Barnes / Durrand household, Evan hopped out of his car and rapped lightly on the door. Lightly to him.

[Brittany Barnes]

Brittany wasn't exactly a morning person. Still, she'd set her alarm early since she knew that Evan would be stopping by. Sure, he'd requested she was still in her PJ's upon his arrival, however she knew her mom wouldn't really be as cool with Evan coming up to her room if she wasn't dressed yet, so she figured they'd have to work out a slumber party another time. Well, that was her intention at least, but Brittany wasn't exactly good at waking up and after turning off her alarm she'd fallen back asleep and only woke up when she heard the loud knocking on her door.

"Shoot!" she said, jumping up, she forced herself to get up, tripping slightly as she climbed down from her lofted bed. "I'll get it! I'll get it!" she yelled as she hurried down the stairs...she didn't care so much about her mom or step-dad answering...it was more Aly that concerned her. She tripped twice more only to realize no one else was really around. All was quiet from Aly's room and the kitchen and living room seemed to be parent free. Panting slightly, Brittany opened the door, smiling at Evan and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You came--sorry, I haven't brushed my teeth yet," she said sheepishly.

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him inside. "Come on, I think we're actually alone," she said, feeling much more energy now, a little hyper even. A run downstairs could do that to a girl. "So...want breakfast?" she grinned as she headed into the kitchen. She pushed a note from her mom off to the side informing her that she was heading into work early and went straight for the breakfast foods. Brittany wasn't much of a cook usually, but she could handle breakfast foods. "Waffles?" she asked as she plugged in the waffle maker assuming that he'd want some. Now that it seemed that they had the house to themselves, she figured she might as well take her time getting ready. No one would notice if she was a little late.

[Evan Hughes]

He couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Brittany in her pjs, hair sticking out all over the place, looking as though she had just gotten up, which was probably the case. And yet she still looked hot. Which was why Evan playfully pouted when she tried to settle for a mere kiss on the cheek. And he was about to insist that he didn’t care if her breath wasn’t minty fresh, he demanded a morning kiss, (or make out session if she insisted) when she mentioned that they were alone. That was a perfect distraction.

Letting her lead him into the kitchen, he attempted to look shocked at her question. “Do I want breakfast? Do I...want breakfast? It’s like you don’t even know me at all!” he complained before bursting out laughing. “Waffles would be awesome! Got any ice cream too? Chocolate syrup? Sprinkles?”

Evan let her set up the waffle maker without trying to distract her too much. Because she was about to make him breakfast and he was really hungry after all. And it was kind of interesting anyway, watching her set up, make him breakfast. “Ok, I don’t care about morning breath, you look hot.” he laughed, giving in when she looked like she was just about done. Grabbing her, he planted a big, sloppy and noisy kiss right on her lips. It was a very good thing they were alone.

“So...” he started, propping himself up on the kitchen counter. “Why don’t we skip the first period or two, and just stay here? Eat waffles, make out, avoid learning stuff, it’ll be awesome!” he offered, before his smile faltered just slightly, remembering the unfun reason he came in the first place. “And, uh, I want to talk to you about something.”

[Brittany Barnes]

Brittany giggled when Evan went on about the breakfast. Of course she'd known he'd want it which was why she'd gotten started before he gave the official go. "I think we can do that," she said about the ice cream and sprinkles. She started to whip up some waffle mix and threw in some chocolate chips too. She also made sure to double check they had ice cream...and yes, score!

"Oh really," she said, doing a little dance across the kitchen after she'd poured the mix into the waffle maker and went to grab the sprinkles. "I know...it's the hair isn't it," she said, messing it up further she she headed back towards him. "If you insist," she grinned letting him kiss her, although she had to admit she was a little self conscious about it. Brittany was also really glad that they were alone. What luck!

"Exactly what I was thinking," she said, when he suggested maybe skipping a class or two. She started grabbing the rest of the ingredients as well as some plates as the waffles cooked on their own. "Orange juice, apple juice, or chocolate milk?" she asked, peering out from behind the door to the refrigerator as he jumped up onto the counter. But then she heard those words. Need to talk to her about something. Brittany paused. What? She'd never really been in a real relationship before but she was pretty sure things had been going well. The talking to her about something made her a little nervous though. "What is is?" she asked, stepping away from the fridge and letting the door close. She'd worry about beverages later.

[Evan Hughes]

Chocolate chip waffles. With ice cream. And sprinkles. That had to be the best kind of waffles ever. Plus, with his hot girlfriend for company, only his hot girlfriend, and also chocolate milk to drink, it seemed, it was going to be the best breakfast ever. Especially as it was going to be a longer one. With possible making out on the side. More would be nice, better than nice actually, but he wasn’t go to push it. Especially as he would just be happy that Brit still wanted to kiss him when he got everything off his mind.

Which was going to be sooner than he thought. He knew he shouldn’t have mentioned he wanted to talk until after they ate. And kissed. It was a bad, bad move. But he figured it could be like a warning system of sorts, he would tell her he wanted to talk, she would nod and grin that cute grin she often gave him, then the eating and kissing would come. Followed much later by the talking. They had all morning after all, he didn’t want to ruin it so early.

But he didn’t think she’d let the issue slide now, and by the look on her face, Evan figured she might be a little bit worried, and he didn’t want her worried all morning. So, might as well bite the bullet and get it over with. Besides, it wasn’t that bad. Well, he didn’t think it was that bad, so she wouldn’t react badly, right?

“Well, um, it’s nothing major.” he assured Brittany, pushing himself off the counter to stand instead. And the next few sentences he spoke were spoken so fast and so blurred together, unintentionally, but he figured she was used to that by now. And he really didn’t want to have to say that all again.

“It’s just that yesterday I was hanging out with this girl I kinda know, a sister of one of my friends. And she knows about you, but she kissed me, and I pulled away, and she kissed me again, and I got further away and told her no, and nothing else happened after that. And I didn’t kiss her back I swear.”

[Brittany Barnes]

The words sort of rung in Brittany's head like a bell...echoing over and over again...only they weren't really fading out the way a bell did. Shock...that's really what it was. Once the thoughts settled, she was sure that it would all be okay...but she really couldn't get over the surprise of it all. It was just so unexpected...she never would have even considered that Evan would cheat on her. Did he cheat on her? If he pulled away but their lips still touched did that count as cheating? Brittany didn't know. All she did know was that there was kind of an uneasiness about it in the pit of her stomach...which made her not really want her ice cream anymore.

The waffle maker beeped and it sort of snapped Brit out of it. "Oh...let me get that," she said, sort of ignoring his words and not really addressing what he'd told her. She took the waffles out and placed one on each of their plates, topping it off with a scoop of ice cream on each, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles. "Uh...there ya go," Brittany said, placing the plate on the table. She was almost sad that she was finished making it because it had offered a nice distraction even if it had only been momentarily.

The thought was still sort of nagging in her brain as she sat down at the table, but she wasn't really processing it all either. She started to eat, not really saying anything to Evan. She chewed slowly, kind of hating the sweetness in the meal she'd created even though it was something that she'd normally love. "Did you do your reading for American Lit?" she asked sort of changing the subject and talking about homework, which she almost never talked about. "I sort of skimmed it but I don't really remember the specifics," she said before taking another bite of her waffle.

[Evan Hughes]

Once he managed to get everything out, Evan kept his eyes straight on Brittany, trying to read her expression, gauge how angry she was at him. And he expected her to be angry, hopefully only a little bit angry, either at him or Syn, or both, but angry. So her reaction, or non reaction, completely threw him. And unnerved him more than a screaming Brit would.

He watched her make up the waffles for them both, the delicious looking waffles, but he could have cared less about food right now. Which was a rare occurrence for him. But he was crazy about his girlfriend, and was seriously starting to get freaked out the way she was acting. He never wanted to do anything to change things between them, cause they were pretty mad, he figured, and if a couple of kisses he didn’t want in the first place did change everything, he was going to be so angry at him.

Sitting down at the table because she did, Evan waited a moment before digging in, and he only started when she did. He figured she needed a moment to think about things, which seemed reasonable, but when she started to eat, and still didn’t talk, it took a moment for him to stop staring at her and force waffles down his throat.

He almost never did the reading for American Lit, she knew that. He either bugged her or someone else for helped, winged what he could, and if it was a book they had to read, he’d watched the movie version if one was available. And so since she asked him, he got more nervous.

“Uh, no, didn’t read it.” he answered, before putting the fork down on his plate. Turning his chair around a little to face her better, he grabbed one of her hands to hold in his own. “Brit...we should talk about this. Cause you’re making me nervous. Are you angry? I’d understand if you’re angry. Guess you should be.” he reasoned. “But I didn’t kiss her. And I didn’t want her to kiss me. So, um, talk to me. And not about school.”

[Brittany Barnes]

The thing was, that Brittany didn't even comprehend the fact that she was acting weird. She was so out of it still based on his words that she just wasn't really thinking clearly. Was it all normal? Did this happen to other people? Even if he pulled away, why had the girl tried to kiss him in the first place. Brittany wasn't stupid...Evan was sort of a flirt. Maybe he'd led her on. No...no...she was just being crazy now. Evan wouldn't do that....would he? It had only been a few months...maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought. These were the thoughts swirling around in her head....causing her non-reaction to it all.

"Right...a sorry, I should have known that," she said calmly about the homework. As he went on telling her that she was making him nervous...asking her if she was mad, Brit realized for the first time that she was going to have to address this. She couldn't just leave it go until she sorted it out like she usually did. Right...boyfriend...this was what couples did. Up until now Brittany never understood all the fighting and drama of normal high school relationships. Now it was all dawning on her and it had come out to hit hit like an bag of bricks.

"I'm not angry," she finally said, although it took her awhile to get the words out. She paused again. "I don't think I'm angry....I guess...I guess I'm just still...processing it all," she said speaking slowly and choosing her words carefully. "I'm just surprised...ya know...I kind of wasn't expecting this." She looked back down at her plate...the sugary sweet breakfast of the gods that her mom would never let her eat and it actually made her sick to her stomach. She wasn't mad...she was pretty sure of that...but she wasn't okay with it either. Even if it shouldn't bother her...something about it did. She didn't understand why it had happened or how Evan had even gotten himself into that situation.

Evan tended to talk to a lot of girls. It was something that had never really bothered Brittany before because she tended to talk to a lot of guys. Her entire band was guys and almost all of her friends were guys. So, all the girls Evan had ever talked to, she assumed to be friends. But what had he done to this particular girl to make her want more? Although these were all questions that Brittany should be asking Evan, being rather inexperienced in the relationship area, Brittany didn't ask any of them. Instead she looked back over at him and asked, "Who was she?" as if the who, was more important than the why, which really wasn't the case at all.

[Evan Hughes]

He could believe she wasn’t angry. Evan equated angry with yelling, or shouting, or telling him to leave, and Brittany wasn’t doing any of those. She also didn’t look angry, so that helped sway him. But he also wasn’t experienced with relationships, proper ones anyway, where you dated one girl for a period of time. And his parents had been divorced for a while now. So he had no idea about cold shoulders, or silent treatments, but still, he knew Brit. And though she said she wasn’t angry, he knew something was off.

He wasn’t expecting it either. He still was kinda surprised himself that Syn made a move on him. Not completely, cause he started to catch on, the way she looked at him, and spoke to him, that she was interested. But he figured letting on he wasn’t single would be enough. He never would have made a move on someone who was dating someone else, back when he was single himself, but not everyone was like him. And he could kind of see why she did what she did.

Evan wasn’t keen on naming Syn though, and he had really been hoping his girlfriend wouldn’t ask. He didn’t want Brit confronting Syn about it, and he really didn’t Dare to find out. He knew his friend would still be really fragile, and he didn’t want anything to upset him. And Evan figured that this would. But he couldn’t lie either, and he figured trying to avoid the subject wouldn’t help. He owed it to her to be honest. And it felt really odd, out of character for him, to be so serious. Part of him was really looking forward to this being all over.

“Well...” he hesitated, forking in another huge mouthful of waffles, trying to delay his answer, and figure out the best way of saying it. “Her name is Syn. You don’t know her, she’s the sister of a good friend of mine. She didn’t mean anything by it, I’m sure. She told me afterwards, she’s just really lonely, ya know? And she’s new in town and all, so she probably doesn’t have any other friends here yet and just wanted some company. And she’s going through some real tough family issues, so would be down about that. She felt bad, I think, after she kissed me. And I didn’t kiss her back.” he repeated.

And for probably the first time in his life, Evan didn’t feel like eating, so he pushed his plate lightly away. “Look, I’m really sorry about this babe. I didn’t mean for it to happen, you know I would never do something like that. That’s not me. I’m really sorry. So, um, think you could maybe forgive me? I’ll do anything you want to make it up to you.” He never was one to worry so much about things, and so now, he really felt like a fish out of water.

[Brittany Barnes]

"Syn," Brittany said, repeating the name. She wasn't really religious but she still found the name sort of ironic...as if this girl was some sort of temptress really. "Which friend?" she asked. Brittany didn't really have any plans of confronting her...or at least she didn't think she did, but she was still curious. She wanted to see who she was. New in town...so she wouldn't be in the yearbook... She tried to remember which of Evan's friends had sisters, but was sort of drawing a blank.

She simply nodded when Evan repeated that he didn't kiss her back. She tried to imagine it the other way...what she would do if someone had tried to kiss her. She supposed she'd turn her head away...maybe kick them in the shins or something, but she knew Evan could never kick a girl...at least not seriously.

Brittany watched as Evan pushed his plate away...it seemed that he'd lost his appetite too. To Brit, that oddly enough struck her as him showing the most remorse. If Evan couldn't even eat junk food, he must be really torn up about it. And while she still wasn't completely okay, she supposed she could try to be. If she acted normal, things would eventually be normal again, right? She sure hoped so.

"You don't have to do anything to make it up to me," Brittany finally said, for the first time in the conversation she cracked a smile, even though it was on the small side. "Like I said before, I'm not mad...just processing. I think it will be okay though...I know you'd never do anything like that on purpose...I trust you," she told him and as the words came out of her mouth, she knew it was true. Or at least for right now it was. Who knew what the aftermath would be, but at this moment in time, Brittany was actually starting to feel better about the whole thing.

She rubbed the back of her neck and glanced over at him once more. "I should probably start getting ready," she said, standing up. "I think I'm gonna take a quick shower if you don't mind waiting then it shouldn't take me too long to get dressed and stuff," she reasoned.