Page 34 of The Wrong Side Of Us

No one would hear me, but it didn’t matter. At least I’d let my anger out.

“Christ, I swear you can wake up a deaf person with your screaming.”

My eyes widened, and I blushed.

Nope.

I’m dreaming.

“Evie, you okay?”

I didn’t turn around for the fear of Nathan making fun of me.

“I’m fine,” I gritted out.

I was lucky enough to at least have friend in Nathan. He was different. Many times, I wondered how he even fit in my family, but there he was, part of a world in which he didn’t belong.

“Did you know they were sending me away?” I asked. Maybe he knew all along and didn’t tell me anything because he agreed with them anyway.

“Sending you away? Where?”

I turned around at the surprise in his voice. Sure enough, his handsome features showed only concern, and his gray eyes stared back at me with sadness. “They’re sending me to Florida,” I said quietly.

“They as in Hannah, right?”

I nodded, biting my lip to stop it from quivering.

“Did she tell you why?”

I shook my head, not trusting myself enough to speak again. My heart hurt. Nathan eyed me cautiously while he waited for an answer. Maybe the pain was more about leaving my nana and him behind. They were the ones there for me, my true family.

“I’ll try to talk to her,” Nathan sighed. “She is unbelievable.”

Again, I remained silent. Of course he’d try to help. But what good would it do?

“Evie?”

Without realizing it, I had lowered my gaze. Fighting back the sadness was proving to be much more difficult than I thought, and when I finally looked into Nathan’s eyes, I broke down. I started crying for the first time in front of him, hugging him like he was the only one that could offer me comfort.

However, Nathan tensed.

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” I sobbed, pulling away from him. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a pain in the ass, aren’t I? I’m just going to go up to my room.”

Before he could say anything, I rushed upstairs, determined at all costs to save me any more embarrassment.

Nice, Evelyn. You get kicked out of the state and then make a complete fool out of yourself with your brother-in-law.

To my surprise, however, when I started to close the door to my bedroom, Nathan stopped me. My eyes widened slightly at the fact that he’d followed me.

“You caught me off guard, Evie,” he said softly. “But no, you’re not a pain in the ass. Come here.”

He extended his hand to me, patiently waiting for me to take it. Nathan sighed in relief when I did and guided me back downstairs to the basement. I sniffled behind him, failing at my attempt to keep the tears at bay.

Sadness soon turned into surprise when Nathan turned on the light, illuminating the basement. In front of me were endless portraits, the colors bringing a little bit of brightness to the darkness that had settled in my heart.

“What is all this?” I asked him, running my fingers over a delicate canvas. “Did you do all these?”

“Yeah,” Nathan stated with pride.

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