“I ask myself what did I do to get as far as I’ve gotten…”
Evelyn Covey had practically planned out her life for the next couple of years. Sure, she was just in seventh grade, but that meant she was close to highschool, which is close to college, which is close to the rest of her life, and soon enough she’ll be dead. Planning everything out in her life hadn’t been her first idea, but her mom and dad insisted she and Eric plan things out. After all, they were heirs to a pretty large fortune, they had to be careful what they did.
Basically, Evelyn planned to be head of the yearbook committee in middle school so she’d easily climb up the ladder in high school to be head by, at the earliest, sophomore year, then become head of the student council by at least junior year. Senior year would be more reasonable but, as her mother put it, “my children are exceptional, not reasonable”. She would also be head of the dance team and become a master of point ballet so she’d be several years ahead of her class by the time she gets into Julliard and before she knows it she’s Prima Ballerina just like her mother. Also, at some point soon she was supposed to start dating, but only rich boys that were approved of by her mother.
Along the way, she was supposed to make friends with powerful people’s children and use them to her advantage. For the most part, Evelyn was good at that, with a few exceptions (Odette Jefferson, for one). Evelyn had a pretty tight squad and was pretty well-liked, and she was even cool with Eric and his sporty guy friends who were supposed to help him with his future.
However, there was one friend that was completely unpredicted and probably a liability in the eyes of her mother, and her name was Hazel.
Evelyn had no idea what really drew her to Hazel. She was the cousin of one of her dad’s business partners (and a very powerful one at that, but for reasons beyond Evelyn’s knowledge, she and Eric weren’t close to) but she knew she definitely wasn’t rich like Selena. She was nervous and kinda dorky. She always wore a scrunchie with a messy curly ponytail. She was naturally beautiful, which was all the odder as Hazel didn’t even seem to notice it. In fact, Hazel seemed to always be hiding in a sweater of some sort. Needless to say, Hazel was nothing that Evelyn was used to. Maybe that was it...
She knew that her mom would probably not approve of their friendship, but after the fall formal dance, Evelyn found herself hanging out with Hazel more and more. They didn’t have the same lunch, but Evelyn would find her after school and they’d chat for a little bit, and Evelyn sat near Hazel whenever possible during science and PE. She knew it was suspicious, especially to her friends, but Hazel was just... enticing.
Her smile, her eyes, her laugh, the way she drummed her fingers on her desk when she was thinking, the way she would just ramble on and on until she caught herself... she was...
Evelyn thought Hazel was cute, but she didn’t admit that to herself often. It didn’t matter, she had ‘the plan’ to think about. Grades, friendships, eventual relationships, her whole future couldn’t fall apart because Evelyn thought maybe that one girl was kinda cute.
However, despite the little warning voice inside her head, she had invited Hazel and her cousin (Hazel never went anywhere without Selena) to her and Eric’s 13th birthday party. If anyone asked, Evelyn would say Selena was the daughter and future heiress of Louie Inc. and despite not being big in the social circles, she was still important and her cousin was just a tag along. Eric knew better, of course, but her friends (and more importantly, her mother) bought it.
Anyway, that was how she got to the present moment; at her house eating pizza with her group of friends- plus Eric and Selena- with Hazel in the corner on Evelyn’s window seat, reading something on her phone, and the rest of her friends gossiping and playing games while also posting to Duckigram.
“Enjoying the party?” Evelyn asked, taking a bite of her pizza.
“O-oh yeah! Totally!” Hazel blushed and laughed. “J-just a little tired is all.”
“I get it,” Evelyn gave her a smile, which seemed to relax her. “Selena’s kinda a natural, I didn’t expect her to click with all my friends that well, since she doesn’t really know them and all,” Evelyn commented.
“Oh yeah, she’s very amicable like that,” Hazel nodded. “She just chooses not to get involved in popularity contests- n- no offense or anything-!” Hazel bit her tongue.
“No, it’s cool, I get it,” Evelyn chuckled. “I get a little tired of it too sometimes, but I find my own ways to cope.” Hazel nodded in tired agreement.
“Here- you wanna go outside?” Evelyn stood and set down her plate on a nightstand.
“Y-you wanna leave the party?” Hazel glanced over at Evelyn’s friends.
“Psh, they’ll be fine. We’ll breathe just for a minute, it’ll be fun,” Evelyn offered her hand. When Hazel glanced at it, she realized how stupid the gesture was and was about to pull away when Hazel took it and Evelyn helped her up. The two snuck out of the room and eventually made their way to the balcony. The night air had done exactly what Evelyn had hoped, Hazel seeming to relax in an instant.
“This is pretty cool,” Hazel said, remarking on the fairy lights wrapping around the ledge, giving the balcony a nice soft glow.
“Thanks,” Evelyn said, going to the rail and leaning on it. Hazel joined her.
“You can practically see all of Duckburg from here,” She said, eyes shining like diamonds as she looked out.
“Yep yep,” Evelyn found herself lacking anything else to say, so she just took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?” Hazel asked, which made Evelyn blush a little.
“Yeah, I’m just a little more tired than I realized,” She chuckled.
“I feel you,” Hazel nodded.
“You know, I think you should consider yourself lucky that you weren’t born into all this. There’s so much politics involved in every single friendship and party, it’s honestly one big headache,” Evelyn rubbed her arms and leaned more on the ledge. “I can’t even count the number of times I’ve just sat and wondered what the heck I’ve ever done to get as far as I’ve gotten... It’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t.”
“W-well I’m sure it’s not all bad. I mean, you do have a lot of friends. That’s nice,” Hazel said.
“It’s hard to tell if they’re genuine or not though. A lot of my friends were simply formed because of our parents,” Evelyn said. “Not you though! You’re a lot different than most of my friends.”
“What do you mean?” Hazel questioned.
“Not in a bad way-! I-i mean... you’re actually pretty cool. I choose you to be my friend, you know?” Evelyn cursed internally. Hazel smiled a little.
“T-thanks. You’re pretty cool too,” Hazel said. Evelyn felt her heart give a flutter.
“Thanks,” She smiled. They looked at each other for quite the moment, before returning their gaze to the city. Evelyn took a sip of her soda.
“You know... you’re really pretty. Have you ever been told that?” Evelyn asked, realizing it was a pretty stupid question to ask someone only after she said it.
“I mean- outside of my dad and great aunt and uncle and Selena? No, not really,” She said, scratching the back of her neck.
“It’s true, you’re really... really pretty,” Evelyn glanced at Hazel, but their eyes met, and they went back.
“Thanks,” Hazel smiled more. “You’re really pretty too.”
Evelyn felt her heart do a summersault.
“Th-thanks,” She said, turning her face away as she felt herself become a blushing mess.
There was a moment of silence between the two, minus the ambiance of the night and the background music of the party not too far away. However, it wasn’t unbearable, in fact, it was relaxing. Just two girls enjoying each other's company on a cool Friday night...
“Evelyn..?” Hazel asked.
“Yes?” Evelyn responded, turning to her.
“Y-you don’t... I-i mean... Do you...? I-...” Hazel couldn’t get the words out.
“What do you mean?” Evelyn tilted her head a little. Hazel glanced at her before shaking her head.
“N-nevermind. Forget I asked anything,” Hazel shook her head. Evelyn decided it was probably best she didn’t push and left it at that, taking another sip of her soda.
“You know... I’ve never really been to a birthday party outside of my family,” Hazel said.
“Oh?” Evelyn said.
“Yeah... and I know that sounds a little stupid, but... I’m not the best at making friends... so... I just want you to know... I appreciate you. A lot,” Hazel said, facing Evelyn.
“I appreciate you too Hazel,” Evelyn said, suddenly aware of how close they were. She looked into Hazel’s eyes and Hazel looked right back.
“Y-yeah... I get really shy and quiet around people, a-and you’ve really helped me reach out and grow, even if it’s j-just a little. I never would’ve dreamed of this last year,” Hazel said, leaning in a little.
“You’re really cool Hazel, I’m lucky to know you,” Evelyn replied. Hazel blushed a little.
Just then, Evelyn closed her eyes, leaned in, and kissed her.
To her surprise, it felt good. Really good. It was better than any kiss Evelyn had ever had before. Those countless dares she had taken with her friends were nothing compared to this.
However, right after the moment passed, both girl’s eyes snapped right open, and they jumped away from each other in shock.
“H-hazel- I-”
“Hey, Evelyn, where’ve you- oh hey Hazel. What’s going on here?” Eric appeared on the balcony door right on time. Hazel turned away.
“Nothing much,” Evelyn cleared her throat to quickly get a grip on herself, though her heart was pounding a thousand miles a minute. “We were just about to head back, right?” she said, turning to Hazel.
“Y-yeah,” Hazel said, still not able to look at her. Evelyn’s smile fell.
‘Great job Evelyn, you just screwed up the best friendship you’ve ever had,’ Evelyn facepalmed internally. Silently, the three of them went back to the party and Evelyn did her best to act like it didn’t happen.
It wasn’t easy though, as a voice in the back of her mind kept screaming at her.
‘You’re such an idiot. Hazel doesn’t like you like that! Now she hates you.’
‘You can’t like Hazel, this isn’t with the plan. Mom will totally kill you.’
‘What the hell is wrong with you?! Who kisses a person they barely know?’
‘You can’t risk your future like this.’
‘None of your friends would approve.’
‘How do you even know what love is? You’re thirteen. You can’t like someone like that, especially a girl.’
‘Mom is gonna kill you.’
‘That was a mistake.’
‘You’re such an idiot.’
Evelyn wished she could just turn her brain off.
Eventually, Hazel asked if she and Selena could leave. Evelyn managed a nod, expecting that. They left not long after that, and it was safe to say the rest of the party felt like a waste. Evelyn’s mind was eating itself alive and she wished she could take back the whole thing.
But Evelyn knew she couldn’t. Sooner or later... this was going to have to address itself again. The thought wasn’t comforting; it only got her thinking about how her friends and family would react, which filled her soul with dread.
So for the present moment, it was a lot easier to deny the truth. She just... couldn’t risk what she had built; what she was going to build. She had her whole future, she couldn’t just... drive it all off the rails. Not right now.
She was just confused... there wasn’t anything really there. And even if there were, it couldn’t be worth it... right?
Evelyn took out her phone and gave Hazel a quick text.
“I’m sorry for everything” and sighed. She hadn’t meant to screw this up so badly...
Hazel read the text but didn’t respond.
Evelyn pressed the phone against her forehead, cursing herself for being an idiot.
Evelyn added: “We can pretend it never happened if you want”
Hazel started to type, but after a long moment, stopped. Eventually, she gave the message a thumbs up. Evelyn groaned internally. She hated this, she never wanted to make Hazel feel bad, and yet... she sighed.
Then again... maybe it’d be easier this way. Evelyn could just move on and pretend it never happened. Their regular old friendship would return in no time and everything would be fine and as planned. Evelyn would just play the part she was always meant to, and she’d move on and everything would just be okay. After all, she was only 13, none of this meant anything.
“Evelyn, you good?” Eric asked, noticing her worried looks. Evelyn glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to her, which no one was.
“I screwed up,” she sighed. “But I’ll fix it, it’ll be fine... it has to be,” she muttered the last part under her breath. Eric gave her a sympathetic look but didn’t push further than that, which was good. Evelyn wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to hide this from him. He was her twin after all.
That didn’t change anything though. This whole... Hazel thing was against the plan, so Evelyn would just pretend it never happened, keep being her friend and move on.
She had to.
