13

                                    

                                          
Dawson Daisy
Evaine was lost in thought, much as she had been all morning, when she was meant to be sweeping the shop floors. She normally liked visiting her mom's gardening store, helping out with what little she could do. Stocking and shelving were pretty boring tasks, and she was hopeless at processing online orders, but she enjoyed working with her hands and taking care of the actual plants. Any other day, she would have been perfectly content to be there with the music playing over the loudspeaker and the light chatter as her mom and Parker helped customers.
But today was a day unlike any other, try as she might to put on a smile and carry on. Today, she was seeing the world in a new light, a glaring light that illuminated things that ought to stay in the dark. Today, she had watched out the car window a little too eagerly as they were driving into town, just to catch a glimpse of the monster house. Jesse's house, now. There had been at least three different company vans parked in the driveway, and numerous workers scurried about the grounds, but not a single hint or remnant of what occurred there last night.  Her mother had been quick to notice the hubbub around the house which had been deserted for her entire life, and Evaine feigned ignorance on the matter. She couldn't even begin to explain if she wanted to. That was only one of the many things swimming around her head, keeping her distracted as she halfheartedly went about the tasks she usually enjoyed.
"Uh...excuse me." Parker, her mother's only employee, brought her back to reality. He stood over her by a fair few inches, dark brown hair falling in the way of his glasses, dirt smudging his nose and forehead from where he'd tried to brush it away. His arms were full of soil sacks as he tried to squeeze past her down the narrow aisle where she had been standing like a slack-jawed zombie.
"Oh, sorry," Evaine said, stepping back to let him through. Besides "hello" that was the first time Parker had spoken to her all morning, having busied himself with the physical work and heavy lifting while her mother ran the front. It wasn't like she had expected anything different as he seemed to be the only person in Jericho who was more awkward and shy than she was. 
"E," her mother called from the front desk, motioning her over with a wave that made all the decorative pins on her smock jingle and click together. It was getting close to the afternoon lull, so there were no customers or phone calls, bringing a welcome slowdown to what had been a fairly busy morning.
Evaine gladly set the broom aside, hopeful that her mom would have something more interesting for her to work on so she could finally get her head out of the clouds. She made her way up to the front register, leaning her elbows onto the counter to take the weight off her feet for a moment. 
"What do you think about Parker?" her mom asked, whispering secretively as she leaned in close.
"He seems alright," Evaine said without giving him much thought. "He's worked here for a full year, right? Thinking of giving him a promotion?"
"No, not like that," her mom said with a little eye roll. She made a quick glance around the store to make sure the boy in question was still out of earshot. "I mean, as in someone you might want to invite over for dinner sometime, or out on a date."
Evaine blanched, horrified that her mother was even breaching that subject. She had always shown an interest in her daughter's personal life, but Evaine supposed they had different ideas of where the boundary lay between them. Her mom loved to ask about her social life, or lack thereof, always wanting to offer advice and ideas on how to make friends while Evaine would rather avoid the subject altogether. She hated being reminded how lame it was that she had no friends, no romantic interests, nothing about herself that she thought was worth talking about. She knew her mom only wanted to be helpful and feel involved, but for Evaine, it was a humiliating experience.