(warning for parental rejection)

“A member of the church saw you kissing two boys and a girl. And those punks nonetheless,” He spat. Without giving Evy a second to interject, he continued: “You’re not part of our family anymore.”

“What?!”

He had just dropped the bomb like that. Evy couldn’t believe it. She got rejected by those who were supposed to be her family. Sure, they were strict at times, especially her dad, but never unreasonable. Until today.

“We packed your stuff,” her dad motioned to a set of duffel bags and travel cases, his eyes cold and emotionless all throughout, “We expect you to be gone in an hour.”

“An hour? Where do I sleep for the night?! And what about Anny and Mary? And mom?” Evy’s voice cracked, her thoughts rambling, and already she could feel those damned tears begging to escape. Emotions were spinning in her head, like a whirlwind, anger, sadness, maybe even hate. It quickly became too much.

This was not! Really! Happening!

“You’re eighteen now, figure it out yourself. Use your hour to say your goodbyes.”

Everything came crashing down on her, everything was falling apart. She tried to look at her dad’s face, looking for a glimmer of guilt or sorrow, anything, but she was met with the cold stare he had given he throughout the whole conversation.

The tears she had desperately tried to hold back, came falling like a rainstorm. She fell to the floor, overwelmed, ugly crying now. She wiped at her red eyes, but it was no use, she had no control. Dad turned around, with his back facing her, leaving his daughter sitting on the floor. Had he no heart?

Minutes passed and when there were no more tears coming, even though she felt like continuing crying, she peeked up at the sound of whispers. She could see her sisters’ and mother’s heads watching her from around the corner.

“What?!”

She didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but she couldn’t help it. They could have consoled her, they could have prevented all this mess, but instead they didn’t do anything but watch.

Her mother approached her first. Evy saw that she had been crying earlier too, her puffy eyes showing it. Of all her siblings, Evy resembled her mother the most. Not only in looks, but also emotionally. The woman couldn’t really handle stress either and prefered to avoid conflict all together if possible.

“I’m so sorry, Eveline,” Her voice was cracking, guilt seeping through her words, “I begged your father to let you stay, told him that it could all be a misunderstanding, but he wouldn’t listen. You know how he is.”

She crouched down to her daughter and cautiously pulled her in for a hug, afraid the girl would push her away. When Evy didn’t, she held her with a bit more confidence.

“I...” The girl didn’t know what to say. It was all chaos in her head and she tried her damned hardest not to succumb to it. Not now.

After a while she felt her sisters join in, silently. Then they let her go and helped her with her bags, placing them on the stone porch that sheltered them from the rain that had been pouring down for half an hour now. Nobody knew what to say, so they just hugged her.

Dad called them back in, her hour was up. She watched as they disappeared through the front door, back into the warmth that she wasn’t allowed anymore. There was a numbness setting in. In slowmotion she fished her phone out of her jacket and called Liv.

“Hey Liv, can I stay over at yours tonight?” There was no trace of emotion in her voice, and she felt as if she was watching someone else make the call. Had she died for real this time and was her soul leaving her body right in this moment? She didn’t know.

* * * *

Evan and Jamie had come too. They hoisted her bags into Evan’s car, then settled in to got to Liv’s place. She would stay there until they had a more detailed plan.

“So he just threw you out? Just like that?” Jamie scoffed. He was balling his fists, having trouble to contain his anger. Evan placed a hand over his fists, calming him down.

Evy nodded, but not really being there. Her brain had shut down. Thoughout the years she had learned there were different stages in her emotions when it came to things like this: Crying, panic attack and emotionless. She had now arrived at the last stage, her energy had drained so badly that she couldn’t feel anymore. It was the worst.

When they arrived at the house, Liv guided her up the stairs to her room. The boys placed all her bags neatly into a corner of the room, and then left the two alone. They figured Evy needed Liv’s motherly touch, and Jamie was still shaking from anger.

Liv’s room wasn’t big, but it was cozy and for some reason it made Evy feel safe. Just like her friends now possible lovers made her feel. The walls were a soft yellow and covered in colorful prints of kawaii cats and dainty deers, the multi-colored fairylights giving everything an ethereal glow. The bed was made of wood, in a style that you would find in most fairytales, sturdy and handcrafted, but with a soft finish. The pink round rug felt soft to Evy’s bare feet. Liv had helped her change into a loose set of flanels that she had grabbed out of her own closet.

“Sleep honey, tomorrow will be a better day,” the blue-haired girl said softly, after having tucked the girl in under the feather-soft bedding, “I’ll be in the room next door if you need me, okay?”

Evy reached out a hand to her, still trembling because of the whole ordeal.

“Stay please,” was all the girl could manage, but Liv got the message.

She returned a caring smile, and walked back to the bed. She ran gentle fingers through pink strands of hair.

“I will then. Mind sharing the bed? There’s not much room on the floor anyway.”

She watched as Evy shook her head slowly. The girl’s head must feel stuffed from all the tears. She pulled away part of the cover so she could crawl in next to the so fragile looking girl, and carefully settled in, trying not to disturb her too much. She tapped the foot of her bedside table lamp to turn it off.

Liv turned on her side, being mindful of however much space Evy needed.

“Hold me.”

She had almost missed the whispered request if it wasn’t for the small hand that had grabbed Liv’s wrist and tugged at her. Silently she obeyed and wrapped her arm around the girl’s waist, scooting just a bit closer so she could hold her properly. If she needed this, who was she to not give it to her?

After half an hour she could hear Evy’s breathing evening out, her chest rising and falling in a steady rythm. There was a lot to unpack, litterally and figuratively, tomorrow. But no matter what, she, Evan and Jamie would guide her through it. They would be there for her.