Chapter 1

How was your day Eva?”, her dad asked; not looking away from his food. 

She didn’t know what to say, with the bullying she faced in school and the tension that stirred up at home every time they sat together as a family, she was lost in her own

mental space trying to look for a suitable answer…

“EVA!”, Her dad yelled, calling her back to reality. She shook a bit, a wave of realization washing over her, and said “I’m sorry

about that… my day was good, sir” a sigh of relief followed swiftly at the end of her sentence.

Everyone looked up from their food; staring at each other,looking for who sighed, before they all faced back to there food.

After everyone was done eating, Eva cleared the dishes and washed them in the kitchen. The moment she was done, she stood up and went upstairs to her bedroom.

A few minutes after entering her room “Back in my safe space” she thought to herself or at least, she thought. A pair of

footsteps were heard coming towards her door. Footsteps too light to be her father, yet, too collected to be any of her siblings. Alas! it was the one she called ‘mother’. Her mom walked in, demanding for her phone. Eva knew the rules, ‘few minutes to bed time she must submit her phone’. She picked up

her phone by her bed side and handed it to her mom before she left the room.

Eva walk up to her bathroom took a shower and went straight to bed.

She woke up the next day and prepared herself for school , as soon as she was done, she came out and met her brothers who

stood atop the stairs waiting for the argument between their parents to end before they walked down.

“When do you think they will stop this time?” Aiden, the second Child  of their parents, asked. 

“I don’t know. To be honest, I just

want you guys to stay up here so what happened before won’t repeat itself” Ethan spoke; the first child and first son of their

parents. As they both looked at Eva who was now standing at their back.

They looked down at her as if waiting for her to make her move.

She walked up in front of them and daringly took on the first step.

They all silently waited until they saw their mom furiously walking away from the kitchen. They knew they could now

leave for school.

Eva got to class, she sat in her usual sit; the front row at the edge of the class. Immediately, water was poured unto her. It

was cold and she was soaked down to her skin. she just looked at her body not even flinching. It was obvious this was a norm

to her.

“Hey there weirdo. So, you are still gonna remain quiet?” a girl named Alice spoke with a maniac and mischievous grin stretching from ear to ear. She grabbed Eva’s hair, pulling it until she fell out of her seat but Eva still chose to remain quiet. This was beginning to get frustrating for Alice who was looking for nothing much other than a reaction. She didn’t do anything

more because she knew it was less than a minute before class starts and a teacher will soon come in.

Alice walked away to her sit and Eva stood up, picked up her

bag and left the class, heading for the washroom. She  stood at the mirror of the washroom for a while, staring at her

reflection and battling the tears welling up in her eyes. She fails and a few tears trickled down her face. She cried softly

After a while she changed to her extra uniform and dried her hair and eyes. she then left for her class.

As soon as the bell rang; it was break, everyone left the class leaving her to herself. “Eva… Eva!” a girl shouted in an almost

panicked expression, running towards her, she then stopped in front of her desk, using her eyes to scan her body and rolled up

her sleeves. After making sure there were no markings on her,she calmed down and grabbed a chair sitting down beside her

“It is a good thing that asshole didn’t touch you, this time I would have called the police” the girl spoke, Eva gave her a

reassuring smile but deep down, she could see the sadness that covered that once big, bight blue eyes . Her once cheerful,

vibrant bestie has turned into a grandma who just lost her whole family.

“Eva, I want you to be honest with me are you alright?, I don’t like this new quiet version of you, I miss the real you, please talk to me if you have anything or something bothering” she spoke.

 A sigh escaped Eva’s lips and she replied, her voice breaking.

“What do you want me to tell you Lisa? my dad got so angry at my mom for the hundredth time. I, who didn’t know what was  going on, got beaten by him, their fights only gets worse and I might be losing my family, anything else I’m missing?“ she asked turning towards Lisa.

Lisa could only control her tears to see her bestie in this position and there was nothing she could do but be there for her, she hugged her tightly has Eva started to sob a little.

 “We will get through this, ok” Ethan said, walking through the class door towards Eva. As soon as Lisa saw who it was, she quickly

stood up and adjusted her dress before saying hi to him in a shy manner and he nodded in response to her. Eva just watched her friend shyly speak to her brother, tripping over her own tongue before she excused herself.

“You can’t tell me you don’t know she is in love with you” Eva said flashing a smile at him, he stared at her blushing a little

 “ I don’t want to trap her in my problems, until things get better at home, I have you to take care of, even though I like her too, our

feelings will have to wait” Ethan answered her, 

Eva stood up and held Ethan hand

“You only live once and this is my life, you

deserve to be happy. Just go for it before it is too late, relationship life and home life don’t always have to interfere, you  know” flashing a knowing smile towards him that made them both laugh. Ethan placed his hand over his sister’s

shoulder “what will I do without you?, I am the oldest and you’re the one giving me advice“.

 “You will always have me and… can’t I be smarter than you?… just this once?” Eva repliedhas they both laughed and walked out of the classroom.