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“Is everything alright?” Michael asks over breakfast the next morning.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Evan spears a pancake on his fork, watching the syrup drip onto his plate. Gregory’s leaning against him, still half-asleep.
“We heard crying last night,” Elizabeth says, using the side of her fork to cut into her pancakes. “We figured you were having a nightmare.” She looks up, guilty.
“Oh.” Evan tries to ignore the pang in his chest. “No, I…Gregory, I mean, had a rough night. He misses his mum.” He glances down at Gregory, who’s eyeing their siblings with weary eyes. An unsyruped, half-eaten pancake held in a loose fist.
“That’s to be expected,” father announces, joining them at the table. They all grow visibly tense, even Gregory goes rigid, free hand grabbing Evan’s arm. “But I’m sure he’ll get used to us eventually, right?”
Father looks at Gregory, smiling widely. “Afterall, we are family.”
-x-x-x-
“Do you want to come over to my house this weekend?” It’s not what he means to say, but one glance at Cassidy he can tell she’s considering it.
“Why not today? My parents won’t care, as long as I’m home by six.”
The idea of Cassidy going anywhere near his father makes him nervous. Having her anywhere near his father and without her parents knowing where she is makes him feel the same sort of panic he used to feel during the worst of his nightmares.
“What if I come to your house?”
“Why? What’s wrong with yours?” She asks, leaning across the table. “Is it haunted?”
More than you know.
“No,” he shoots back, defensive even though she hasn’t said anything bad. “I…I just wanted to see what your house looks like.”
“Ah, okay,” she says, giggling. “I guess that makes sense. You can be so silly sometimes.”
Evan smiles, taking another bite of his PB&J sandwich.
-x-x-x-
He calls his mum using the office landline during recess. The secretary had been using it beforehand, and she hadn’t been the least bit pleased when he had asked to call his mother. She eyes him now, looking between him and her wristwatch.
“Hi-hi, mum,” he says when his mum finally answers. “Is it okay if I go over to my friend’s house after school?”
His mother answers with a long-suffering sigh. “I suppose that would be fine,” she says in a way that implies it really isn’t. “But I need you home by seven. Not a moment later. Your brother has a date tonight, and Elizabeth is having a sleepover with some friends, and I need someone to watch Gregory.”
Evan frowns. “Okay, I’ll be home before then. I promise.”
The call disconnects, and the secretary snatches the phone from his hands-accidently leaving a small scratch behind on one of his knuckles. He rubs his thumb over it, blinking back tears.
He didn’t know what he had done to make his mum so angry, but he had to have done something. Right? Maybe going to Cassidy’s house wasn’t such a good idea.
Evan heads for the office door. A sign catches his attention. He looks at it, heart dropping into his stomach.
Susie.
Her missing person’s poster. They’re all over town now, and father has even put one on the bulletin board at the diner. He had called it “an act of goodwill.”
But somehow Evan doubts that.
He shakes his head, stepping out into the still busy hallway. No, he has to tell someone what he knows.
-x-x-x-
It’s a bit after four when they finally make it to Cassidy’s house. The house is within walking distance of his, which Evan finds alleviates his guilt just the tiniest bit. And is the only one that stands out on her street. It’s painted a bright pink, versus the other houses’ plain beige color.
“Welcome home,” Cassidy’s dad greets upon them walking into the house. He’s short and stout, with a balding head and eyes similar to Cassidy’s.
“How was- wait, hold on!” He looks Evan up and down, fixing him with a stern expression. Evan, growing just the tiniest bit uneasy, hunches down, trying to make himself look smaller. “You’re that boy my Cassidy has been talking about.” He drops the stern expression, smiling brightly. “She said you have quite the imagination.”
Rubbing his arm, lamely, Evan tries to process the rollercoaster of emotions he just went on. “Yeah, I guess, I do.”
“Good, not many people do. We need more people like you in the world.” He ruffles Evan’s hair. “You can call me Jian.”
“Yes, sir- I mean, Jian.”
Her dad laughs. “Why don’t you kids go play while I get dinner going?”
Cassidy, evidently growing bored of this display, takes him by the hand and leads Evan up the stairs. She pauses at the top landing. “Can you make grilled cheese? Pretty please?”
“I suppose that would be fine,” Jian says, and from his tone, Evan can tell he actually means it.
“Thank you, daddy!” Cassidy yells back, tugging Evan further down the hallway.
“This is my older sister’s room.” She taps the first door on the right, letting go of his arm. “And that’s the bathroom. And this room is my older brother’s…”
She continues to tell him all about her family. How she’s also the youngest of her family, and all about how her older siblings ignore her. All things he can relate heavily to.
Cassidy’s bedroom is sparsely decorated. Her walls are an off-white with scribbles of color here and there, like someone had taken a crayon or marker to them and then tried to scrub it away.
“Sorry, my bedroom’s a mess,” she apologizes, dropping her backpack on the floor. “You can put your bag down, if you want.”
Evan does so, allowing it to thud to the floor, eyeing her “messy” bedroom. Which, in all honesty, is one hundred times cleaner than his has ever been at any point in his entire life. Still, she’s looking at him like she’s waiting for confirmation that he isn’t disgusted, so he nods.
“You should see my bedroom. Looks like a tornado tore through it.”
She laughs. “Is that because of you, or Gregory?” She bends down to look underneath her bed.
Evan shifts. “Uh…. both? I think? Although, he’s less prone to putting things away than I am. What’re you looking for?”
Cassidy pops back up, box in hand. “Just this. Come, sit,” she plops down on her bed, patting the spot next to her.
He joins her, sitting at the very end.
“This,” she opens the box, “is something I do with all my friends.” Cassidy shows him the contents.
Evan tilts his head, confused. “String?”
She rolls her eyes. “Not just string. This, Evan Afton, are the beginnings of a friendship bracelet.”
“A…a friendship bracelet…?” Despite the current situation he can feel himself getting choked up.
Cassidy shuts the box, turning it away from Evan. “It was a stupid idea,” she murmurs.
“No!” He shouts, startling Cassidy. “No,” he repeats, softer this time, fidgeting with his fingers. “It’s just I’ve never made one before. Can you show me?”
“Duh,” she says, reopening the box. “First, choose a color….”
-x-x-x-
After a small break for food, they continue making their bracelets. He had picked yellow, the color of his Fredbear plushie, safety, and Cassidy’s favorite jumper. She picked blue (“it’s almost the exact shade of your eyes,” she had said, proudly).
They’re half-way done when Evan finally works up the courage to talk about Susie.
“Cass, I have to tell you something.”
She doesn’t even look up, humming. “Yes?”
“It’s about Susie.”
He watches her shoulders rise, entire body going tense. “What about her?”
“I saw her on the day she disappeared.”
“Is that all?”
“Well, no, but-”
Cassidy interrupts him, hitting his arm. “No if, ands, or buts. What happened?”
Evan can’t bring himself to look at her. “My father,” he starts, awkwardly, “he isn’t…. nice. Well, I mean, he can be. But he isn’t usually present, not unless something bad happens first.”
Cassidy blinks. “What does that have to do with Susie?”
“Yes, sorry. It would probably help if I started at the beginning.”
In between braiding in colors and tying off the ends, he tells her about his father’s odd behavior and his and Uncle Henry’s partnership. He tells her all about the diner and his nightmares and Charlie’s disappearance followed by his father’s elevated mood. And then he comes to the day of the incident. It takes him a solid hour to explain himself.
All the while Cassidy remains silent.
“And then we walked home.”
“Without Susie…?” She asks.
“Without Susie,” he confirms, cringing. “I didn’t think anything of it. I was tired and-”
Cassidy holds a hand up, silencing him. “You don’t need to defend yourself. It’s not like it’s your fault. At least not entirely.”
“Huh? You aren’t angry with me?”
“No, well, maybe a little. But I don’t think it’s your fault. We should tell someone, though. Don’t you think? Someone should know, right?”
He shakes his head. “I was going to tell Susie’s parents, but my father is always right there.” He can still picture the desperate look on their faces. “Besides no one ever believes me,” Evan mumbles, fidgeting with his newly gifted bracelet.
“My daddy would,” she says, earnestly. “Maybe we can tell him?”
“Maybe….do you know what time it is?"
“It was 5:30 when we ate, and we’ve been up here for a while. So, probably 6:30, 6:45. Why?”
Evan jumps up. “I promised my mum I would watch Gregory. Oh, she’s going to kill me if I’m late. We can talk more about this at school.”
She wishes him goodbye.
-x-x-x-
He makes it home at 7:05. Michael is waiting for him at the front door. Gregory is on the couch behind him, watching some old cartoon on the VHS player.
“Where have you been, little man?” He asks, putting his hands on Evan’s shoulders. “Because of you, I’m going to be late. The park is a twenty-minute walk from here, so thanks a lot.” Michael lets go. He turns around to pull on his coat, sending Evan a scathing look.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, looking at the ground. “I lost track of time.”
Michael scoffs but otherwise seems to calm down. Chuckling, he reaches over to mess up his hair. “Don’t stay up too late. And lock the door after I leave. Don’t want some weirdo to snatch you guys up.”
“I will,” Evan tells him, pushing him towards the front door. “Now leave.”
After locking the door, Evan joins Gregory on the couch. “What’re you watching?” He asks, trying to make sense of the black and white cartoon.
Gregory shrugs, scooting closer. He rests his head on Evan’s lap, eyes fluttering shut. Soon after Evan joins him, head lulling to the side and eyes growing heavy.
Tomorrow is another day.