Work Text:
Eva was driving home from work after a long three hours of delivering pizzas. It was just after nine o’clock and she was already exhausted. Between school, cheer practice, and then work, she was surprised that she had made it this far without falling asleep at the wheel. She had turned her music up as loud as she could without getting pulled over, nodding along and singing under her breath in an attempt to stay awake.
By the time she pulled into her driveway, she was half asleep. But Eva knew she still had to do her homework and her chores, so she let out a yawn before grabbing her things and trudging up to the front door. She was careful to open it quietly, not wanting to disturb any of her siblings that might already be asleep. She took off her shoes and crept across the main room. She was about to go upstairs when she heard hushed tones coming from the kitchen.
Changing directions, Eva peered around the corner. Her parents sat at the table, whispers floating between them. They both cradled some sort of hot drink in their hands. On occasion they would allow for their eyes to dance about, glancing out the window, at the clock, or around the room. Their eyebrows were knitted together in apparent concern. Eva stayed hidden in the cloak darkness provided for her. Eavesdropping had become one of the few ways she had to get information from her parents over the years. They always said they would tell her things she needed to know, but seldom did that actually occur until it was far too late.
“It’s good that we at least know when we’re going, even if the where could still change,” her dad spoke.
“I think the late summer time frame is perfect. It’ll give the kids time to settle in before school starts,” Eva did her best to make out her mom’s muffled voice, “ The high school in the area seems to have excellent testing scores.”
It was too hard for Eva to make out much of what was said next, her head already spinning. She heard her name mentioned once or twice, and something that sounded suspiciously like “She’ll be so upset,” from her mother.
Eva’s eyes went wide and her hands started shaking. She slowly started back away from the door, not trusting herself with words. She walked quietly, but quickly, up the stairs to her bedroom, shutting the door tight behind her. She was careful not to wake her sister who was sleeping on the bottom half of their bunk beds. Eva slipped under her covers without changing her clothes, now too exhausted to care. It was then that she allowed for tears to slip out of the corners of her eyes, replaying that moment over and over again in her head and thinking about what it could mean.
Eva considered herself a relatively level headed person. She was a good student and an even better cheerleader. She did her school work and was always on time to class. She was your typical overachiever, keeping herself on the straight and narrow at all times. And she needed to be like that.
The girl had gone to many different schools over the years, constantly moving with her father’s changing position. She had spent her whole life with her dad teaching her that nothing is ever set in stone, especially when it came to the military. She had made it her own mission to be that one thing that was constant. These were the things she had told herself every night for years. Every time she worried that with a single order her entire life could be flipped on its head, she reminded herself that she would be a constant.
And now she might have to move again.
She tried to remind herself not to get worked up over nothing, but she was more than a little bit irritated. After so many schools, she had finally found a good group of friends, and a wonderful girlfriend who she loved very much. Now she was going to potentially be told that all that would be ripped away from her. She would have screamed if she would not have woken everyone else in the house up by doing so.
The next morning when Eva’s alarm went off for school she had hardly slept. To make matters worse, she realized that she never got around to completing her homework last night. It still layed untouched in various folders, notebooks, or binders in her backpack. She mentally cursed herself as she got ready knowing full well that all her freetime before and in between classes would be spent working on it.
Eva threw back her covers and dragged herself from her bed, still exhausted. She changed out of her work uniform and into some clothes that seemed to vaguely match, throwing on her jacket and running her fingers through her hair to complete the look. Her phone buzzed and she braced herself knowing that she would not want to deal with anyone so early. However, she was pleasantly surprised seeing that it was just Kate saying she was on her way to pick her up for school.
This was short lived because Eva quickly realized that she had less than ten minutes to be ready to go. She brushed her teeth, grabbed her backpack, and pulled on her shoes and jacket. She practically ran out the front door to meet Kate.
Eva slid into the passenger seat, her girlfriend smiling at her. She forced her own smile before averting her eyes to buckle her seatbelt. She retrieved a homework assignment from her backpack and began working on it. Kate’s gaze burned into the side of head, but she continued working without looking up.
“Are you alright?,” Kate asked, concern evident in her voice.
“Mhmm,” Eva responded, “I just didn’t get to finish this assignment last night.” If anything that response seemed to make Kate more concerned, but instead of pressing further she simply reached one of her hands over and placed it gently on Eva’s arm. The latter girl smiled. It was a small gesture but it was comforting nonetheless.
When they reached the school both girls were reluctant to get out of the car, each for their own reasons. Eva was upset and shaky, the memory of her parents conversation still fresh on her mind. Kate, on the other hand, knew there was something her girlfriend was not telling her.
Kate kissed Eva’s knuckles and offered her a soft smile before gathering her things and getting out of the car. Eva followed suit, walking around to meet her girlfriend. They walked into the building, hand in hand, before separating for their own classes.
Eva felt her stomach sink as she watched Kate go without her. The two would not share a class until after lunch. While she looked forward to that time everyday, she was now desperate for it. She found the presence of Kate, and the rest of the cheer team, comforting. It was something she deeply needed at the moment.
Her day only seemed to get worse from that moment on. Her morning was full of disappointed looks from teachers over uncompleted homework assignments and scoldings over not paying attention. On multiple occasions she was called out for dozing off or staring out into space. A couple of her teachers held her back afterwards, though most of them just briefly told her that this was unlike her.
As if she did not already know that.
Lunch was a shining light in the distance; a sign that she would soon be free. But that hope once again came crashing down around her when she realized she really should spend her lunch period working on everything she had fallen behind on. Between late homework and assignment she had failed to complete in class, her usual after school workload had nearly tripled. She sighed, packing up her bookbag and slowly making her way through the crowded hallways, doing her best to avoid any of her friends' classes.
Eva pushed the door to the restroom open. It was her best bet, knowing any of her friends would be less likely to follow her if they saw. The library, while also a fair option, was generally more crowded and was often used for lunch detention anyway.
Eva sat against the wall with a textbook in her lap. She ignored the side eyes cast at her as another girl left the room and instead focussed on her schoolwork. It, however, seemed to not be enough to occupy her mind because her thoughts eventually drifted back to her parents' conversation from the night before. She replayed over and over in her mind, looking for anyway out of the panic she’d built herself into, but found none. Slowly, tears once more began dripping from her eyes and running down her cheeks. She pulled her knees to her chest, allowing for her book to fall to the side, and sobbed silently into her arms.
“Eva,” came Kate’s hesitant voice. Eva’s head instantly snapped up and she began wiping the tears away from her face.
“I- I’m fine,” she stuttered, “Just.. Had things I needed to finish.” The girl began frantically putting things back into her bag but Kate knelt beside her and grabbed her hands. Eva looked up, meeting Kate’s gaze. She then set her things aside and allowed for Kate to wrap her in a hug. Her touch was comforting and warm. They sat like that for a moment before Eva finally pulled away, sniffing and wiping her eyes once more.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice nearly a whisper as she looked away. Kate looked at her, concern plastered all over her face.
“Hey,” she said softly, “Whatever it is that’s upset you, you can tell me. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, that's fine, but I’m here if you need someone to talk to. And you certainly do not need to apologize.”
Eva looked up and met her eyes, seeing how genuine she was. For a second this lifted her spirits before she realized why she was upset in the first place.
This could be gone soon.
After a couple minutes of sitting in silence, wrapped in each other's arms, and a large amount of consideration on Eva’s part, she told Kate about her parent’s conversation. Kate sat there, listening intently. When her girlfriend finished, she squeezed her hand and looked at her. There was a deep sadness in her eyes, though she was concealing it well.
“Well,” she started slowly, “You said so yourself; nothing in the military is ever set in stone. Try and relax, but talk to your parents, when you’re ready and when you get the chance.” Eva nodded and the two sat cuddling in silence for the remainder of the lunch period.
Later that night Eva stood outside her parents room. Their voices were hushed and muffled from outside of the door, and she couldn’t make much out of what they were saying other than their slightly more angered tones of voice. She was turning away, deciding that this would be best left to another night, when she stumbled and fell into an open closet door. It slammed shut and echoed throughout their small house. She cursed herself mentally, knowing it had probably woken up her younger siblings.
The heavy footsteps of her father approached the door. She quickly stood up, taking a deep breath and preparing herself mentally. She steadied her shaking hands by pressing them to her side and watched as he door creaked open. Almost immediately she apologized for the noise and asked if she could talk to her parents. Her father gave her a confused look before stepping aside and allowing her to enter.
As soon as she heard the door shut, Eva launched herself into a lengthy explanation of why she was there. Her parents listened to her with mildly amused expressions frozen onto their faces. By the time she completed the retelling, she was far more exhausted than before.
Her parents exchanged looks that were read along the lines of “Are we really doing this now.” Her mom sighed and ran her hand through her own hair before providing clarification on the conversation from the previous night. As it turns out, they weren’t moving this summer, but the next one. This would be after Eva had graduated from high school. When they had mentioned her being upset, it was because them moving would make things all the more hectic when Eva was trying to get ready for college.
Eva nodded slowly, a blush coming to her cheeks. As embarrassing as it was, however, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest. She was quick to apologize to her parents once more before leaving the room in a hurry. She locked herself in the hall bathroom where nobody would hear her and took out her phone. She selected Kate’s contact information and called her immediately without thinking.
Kate picked up on the first ring, trying to hide her hopeful tone when she answered, “Hey Eva. Everything ok?”
Eva could not and did not want to contain her excitement. Keeping her voice at a reasonable level as to not wake her family, she told her girlfriend about her conversation with her parents. She was practically jumping up and down as she spoke. This happiness remained with her long after the two girls hung up with soft words and “I’ll see you later”’s. Eva went to bed that night feeling much better about the day ahead of her.