Page 10 of Our Moon (JACT #1)

On Saturday, Evie came to pick me up in her adorable little red Volkswagen Beetle for our shopping trip. The car suits her sassy personality to a T, especially the eyelashes over the headlights.

“Thank you so much for taking me shopping,” I tell her. “Trevor or Alex would have, but shopping with them is just awkward. Either they get recognized, and we’re swarmed, they complain that I’m taking too long, or they have something to say about every single thing I pick up.”

Evie laughs, “I grew up with four older brothers. Trust me, I more than understand what it can be like. ”

I realize I don’t know much about Evie, aside from her relationship with Joey and her ever present spark. “Are you from around here?” I ask her as she backs out of the driveway.

“Nope, Texas.” I thought her accent was a bit different than the rest, more of a drawl than I’ve heard from the guys. “That’s where Joey and I met, when they were playing a show in Dallas.” “Playing” comes out like “playin.’” I could listen to her smooth drawl all day.

That’s right, I remember the guys saying they met at a tour stop on the road, but I don’t recall if they mentioned where. “Is your family still there? That’s a long way from here.”

“Yeah, they have a ranch. I was not cut out for that kind of life,” she laughs, and I think to myself that I can’t picture her on a ranch so I can see her getting out of there at her first opportunity.

“I was always a city girl at heart, even though I sound totally country,” she laughs, and I laugh with her.

“Do you miss them?” I wonder.

“I do,” she nods. “I miss the people, not the place though. Joey and I’ve been back to visit a couple times since I left. So that helps.”

“Do your parents approve of your relationship with him?” Not that it’s any of my business, but nothing seems to offend Evie .

“They didn’t in the beginning. My brothers were more of an issue, actually.

But I sat them all down and told them how I felt.

I’ve never been shy about my feelings, ever, so I just laid it all out.

They knew I wasn’t happy living on the ranch.

That was a given. They all supported my need to see the world, but they weren’t crazy about the fact that I’d found me a man to do it with. ”

I can imagine that Trevor and Alex would probably react the exact same way if I met a guy and wanted to basically run away with him. “So what changed?”

“They met Joey and saw the two of us together. My momma said it was like seeing two halves become a whole. She still wasn’t crazy about me running away with him, but she could tell I was happy and she couldn’t argue with that.

Again, my daddy and my brothers were a tougher sell, but my momma told them to take a real look at me and how happy I was, and asked how they could try to get in the way of that?

They couldn’t, and they knew it. I was the baby, and they all did everything they could to make me happy.

They were just sad that they maxed out their abilities, and I needed someone else to carry it on. ”

“That’s kind of sweet,” I say.

“It is. I love them all, and we talk almost every day. I miss them like crazy, but they know I’m still happy, probably more so than ever before, so it’s all good.

And I know that their door is always open to me, not that I will ever need to use it, but just knowing they’ve got my back is a good feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, leaving home was terrifying, but I know I made the right choice, and I couldn’t be happier. ”

I wonder if I ever considered leaving home. I know I planned to go to The Art Institute after high school, so I must have liked it here in Charlotte, but was I going to stay at home or find an apartment in the city? Was there a person involved in my future plans? Or was I planning to go it alone?

“You okay over there?” Evie asks, pulling me out of my head. The car is parked and I look up to see we’re already at the mall.

“I’m just wondering if I was happy here. I mean I guess I was since I wasn’t planning to go very far for college. But I wonder if I’d made plans after high school with any friends. Was I going to continue living at home? I wish I could remember.”

Evie looks thoughtful. “That must be tough. I couldn’t even imagine.” She shakes her head as if to clear the thoughts from it. She looks over to me and smiles, “I think you’ll get your answers. One way or another, I think you’ll get them.”

For some reason, her firm statement makes me believe her. She seems certain, and I decide that I’m going to borrow her confidence and believe I will get answers.

** *

We’ve only been in two stores, and I already have six bags full of clothes. According to Evie, we haven’t even put a dent in Trevor’s credit limit yet, but we haven’t hit the shoe store yet, so there’s that.

We’re sitting in the food court, munching on some bourbon chicken, a mall food court staple according to Evie, when she says she needs to go to Victoria’s Secret.

“Yeah, I could use some new bras and panties, too,” I say in response.

Evie giggles. “That’s not why I’m going there.”

I give her a puzzled expression, “Why then?”

“I feel like a whale and need some sexy nighties and shit to feel more desirable,” she says simply, like that answer should have been obvious.

“But you’re pregnant,” I say obtusely.

She full out laughs now, drawing attention from neighboring tables. “Exactly! I swear my libido has gotten a million times worse since I got knocked up. I thought I was horny before? Man, pre-pregnant Evie has nothing on pregnant Evie.”

“Huh.” Interesting, I guess.

“You should get yourself somethin’ sexy, too.” I shoot my eyes up at her, and she winks .

“What’s the point?” I ask, looking down again as I fiddle with the remaining rice on my plate.

“Every woman should have a little somethin’ in their wardrobe that makes them feel sexy. Even if it’s just a lacy bra and panty set.”

“It’s not like there’s anyone to see them,” I say to my plate.

“Are you a virgin, Ally?” Evie asks quietly after a moment, and with what sounds like wonder in her voice.

My eyes shoot up to hers again. “I don’t know,” I spit out.

Her eyes widen. “Oh my Lord. I didn’t even think about that! You don’t have anyone you can ask?”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “Let me go ask Alex if I’m a virgin. I don’t know my former self at all, but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have shared that with her brother.”

Evie rolls her eyes at me. “I meant a girlfriend or something. Boyfriend?”

I shake my head. “No. I know I had a boyfriend, Blake, but we broke up a year before the accident. Apparently it was bad, so I’m not sure I’d get anything out of him.

My former best friend, Lucy, is MIA, and my brothers said I only ever hung out with them and the band outside of school.

And I’m pretty sure I never shared my sex life with the band. ”

“Well, there are other ways you can find out,” she offered.

“Like what?” I wonder as I sip my Sprite.

“A doctor can tell you if your hymen is broken,” she says so matter-of-factly that I spit my Sprite out in a spray across the table. Lucky for her, it didn’t reach her side. “Gross, Ally! Man, you’ve got to be a virgin considering how much you’re blushing right now talking about this,” she laughs.

I glare at her.

“But seriously, if you can’t find your Lucy friend, maybe you can talk with a doctor. Surely they’d understand your situation given your history. You need to go for annual lady doctor appointments anyway, so it wouldn’t alert your brothers at all.”

“Honestly, I’m not even sure I want to know,” I tell her. “On the one hand, I want to know everything. On the other hand, I’ve been given a clean slate. Not too many people get that.”

“But what if there’s somethin’ worth remembering? Someone worth remembering?” she questions.

“Then where has he been all this time?” I ponder .

I think about the other day on the couch with Chase and wish he could be that person to me.

But that would be so complicated. I doubt we could ever be together like that.

Not if my brothers had anything to say about it.

I don’t know them well, but I get the impression that they’re super protective of me, even more so I’d guess since having me back.

And while Chase is their friend, their brother, I’m still their little sister, and I have a feeling that would trump anything else.