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Evelyn kept her books and note-books back in her bag, watching Ariana whiz by. That girl was such a sucker when it came to Algebra, Evelyn smiled as she picked out her phone to check for any message from Michael. Nope, none, nada, she sighed. Honestly, after all the stuff she had been hearing him say since the past four days and after seeing the way he had been acting towards her since the past four days, she sort of expected something better.

But then, there was also the lifetime of the past nine years to be judged by. Of course, she shouldn't raise her expectations merely because of the last four days, she silently sighed as she made her way outside the class. Only to be snuck upon by the one voice she had been wishing to hear all along.

"Hey, Eve."

"Hello Michael!" She exclaimed, a little too excitedly maybe.

"I'm sorry for sneaking up this way upon you," he said, apologetically.

"Oh, that's okay. I was actually kind of expecting you," she smiled at him.

"Expecting me, eh?" His smirk said everything that was ready to make her blush.

"No, I just meant that I was hoping you would let me know of our plans today. If there were any," she replied sheepishly.

"Yeah, now that you mention that, I was wondering --"

She mentally cris-crossed her fingers hoping what she would hear was not what she was expecting. Not that he had changed his mind at the last moment and that perhaps, the dare that he had with his so-and-so friend was finally over and that he did not want to as much as see her anymore. Not that, please. Please not that.

But it could be. They were supposed to meet last Thursday. But had bailed on her one day before saying he had to leave with his family. Maybe he had the same excuse this time?

However, before he could tell her exactly what it was that he was wondering, the bell rang, shutting both of their mouths up. Evelyn took a note of the time. She had exactly five minutes if she did not want to be late for her Advanced Mathematics class with Mr. Arora and she still had to change her books from her locker and reach the right classroom.

"Yes, you were wondering?" She questioned him, at the same time gesturing him to follow her as she made her way towards the lockers. From the corner of her eye, she could see Ariana and Theodore making their way towards their respective classes and she wished she didn't have to be late for this one. But she was oh-so-badly dying to hear what Michael had to say at this moment.

"Well, I was wondering how about we meet at the Grizzly at about five today evening? That way, it won't be so late for a school night and we could still get to spend some time together. What do you think?"

"I think that's a brilliant idea!" She exclaimed, all the while forming the correct code to open her locker. She had three minutes to get to the class if she did not want detention.

"Great! I'll meet you there, then?"

"Sure. I will be there right on time," she replied affirmatively, while exchanging her books.

"Great! Oh, and Eve," he began before turning around and leaving for his own class. "Thank you for giving me this chance. I assure you it would be fun."

With that he was off once again. Like, poof and Evelyn was left to hurry up for her next class to a very strict teacher.

____________

At five p.m. that evening, Evelyn found herself standing across the road, at the gate of the Grizzly, gathering up her courage to get inside. It wasn't as if the Grizzly was this amazingly cool and expensive place that only the rich kids or the plastics hung out in, the kind that was adorned with beautiful club lights on the outside, neither the kind which was wooden on the outside, magnifying its authentic looks, the kind with no drugs though, and no sex, and activities of the likes, definitely not just a place to chill out and enjoy being sober, and obviously not just the place where she would expect herself to hang out if she were rich and had that kind of money. Oh, who was she kidding? The Grizzly was exactly that kind of a place. The kind that she had dreamed of going to but never really tried because of the expensive prices. But how could she say no to Michael Adam while he was looking at her with that breath-takingly dashing face?

Breath-takingly dashing? Seriously, Evelyn, grow a leg!

And yet, here she was standing across the road to this very place, mustering up all of her courage to try and get inside. Unfortunately, this was just not possible. Why was getting inside being so hard for her?

She looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a black jeans with a white coloured t-shirt on top. Add to that a denim jacket of blue that seemed to go perfectly with her blue eye-colour. Her blonde hair were left open because for the first time in such a long while, they were not creating any sort of trouble so she just let them be. Not to forget her beautiful black boots that seemed to just match with the outfit. With no make-up on, except a light eyeliner and one layer of lip gloss, she preferred to think that she was dressed pretty decently for the occasion.

And yet, unfortunately, she was unable to gather enough courage to cross the road and get inside the Grizzly. Why? She wondered as she fiddled with her boots.

Providing herself with another minute or two to prepare for what might come today, she took a deep breath and made her way towards the road. With another deep breath, she opened the gate, only to be smiled upon by a waitress.

"Table for one?" She asked.

"I'm actually here with someone. Let me check if my friend has arrived and then, I shall let you know," Evelyn replied to her.

"You wouldn't happen to be," the waitress began, whose name-tag Evelyn read as Wendy, as she searched for something specific on her note-pad, "Evelyn Stevens, would you?"

The sixteen year old blonde gasped.

"How did you--?"

"Relax," she smiled encouragingly at her. "We at Grizzly always keep a note of the people our guests are waiting for. Mr. Adam informed us of your arriving before-hand. If you follow me, then I shall take you to his table."

"Sure, thank you," Evelyn replied with a smile, all the while wondering how amazing and at the same time creepy this business seemed to be.

She followed the waitress to a corner table by the window, surprised to find Michael sitting there patiently waiting for her. Sure, the waitress said that she would lead her to his table but she had assumed that the girl would lead her to his table and not to him. She had assumed that there would have been a pre-reservation. Michael Adam surely seemed that kind of a guy. But to actually arrive on time and be punctual? Evelyn never really expected that from him.

"Hello Evelyn," Michael said as soon as she reached him.

"Hello Michael," she smiled appreciatively at him. And then, taking her seat, she muttered a quick 'thank you' to the waitress as well.

"Do let me know when you are ready to take your orders," she said as she placed two menus in front of them and left.

"I did not really expect you to be the punctual-kinds," Evelyn remarked as she tried to look everywhere but at the guy who was sitting right in front of her. And she had to note, the place was extremely amazing and beautiful. As if right out of a book.

"Well, it hurts to say this but I did not really expect you to be the not-so-punctual-kind either," he remarked back and Evelyn took her time to stare at him in shock.

"What? I-I was--"

He showed her his watch before she could speak anything for long. Rolex, so typical, she sighed. But before she could think any further on the matter, she heard Michael continue speaking.

"Three minutes late, Eve. Three minutes! Do you know how much of a damage that could have done to you!" He exclaimed, mimicking their headmaster and Evelyn could not help but laugh along.

"Okay yeah, I'm sorry I was late by three minutes. How shall I make it up to you, Mr. Adam?"

"Perhaps, we will have to think over it," he replied with a smirk. This smirk of his made her a little uncomfortable, uncomfortable being a small word here but really, there was nothing much that she could do about it and so, she let it be.

Ignoring the topic at hand, she asked him whether they should place their orders or not.

"Sure, what would you like to have?" He asked her, gesturing towards the menu.

She picked it up and her eyes probably popped out of their sockets merely by looking at the price of the snacks. A simple plate of spring rolls was over 100 bucks and that was just to get started. Who would pay for the final bill and what shall she order?

Michael probably would have signaled the waitress to come and take the order for here she was, expectantly waiting for her to speak something.

"What would you like to have, madam?" The waitress asked and she did not know what she would. The Grizzly had such high prices that it was always hard to decide. Finally, having settled on one thing, she gave her order.

"I think I would like a plate of chow-mein," Evelyn replied.

"And you, Mr. Adam? The usual, I suppose?"

"Yes Senorita, I will have my usual," he replied with a smile. So was he a usual customer here, then? Evelyn wondered. Of course, he would be! She realized a moment later. This was probably the place where he would come and bring his sympathy dates like her, she thought with a pinch of sadness. Sympathy case, but really, what more could she be than that?

"What do you think?" Michael's voice brought her back to the reality and she found the two people looking at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"What drink will you have, madam?"

"I, uh," she wondered what she should say. What drink will she have?

"Just bring the hour special, Senorita," Michael replied and with that, the waitress was off.

"So, do you come here often, then?" She asked him once the waitress was out.

"Well, this is kind of a special place for me. Not many friends come here because of its, let's just say, soberness and so, it is more of like my alone time kind of place," he replied genuinely and Evelyn wondered if what he was saying was true. If the only time he would come here would be for his alone time, as he quoted.

_____________

"Hey, excuse me please, I'd like to go use the washroom," Evelyn replied after she burst out laughing for the nth-time. She hated to say this because of the history the two of them shared, but she was really enjoying her time with this guy. Who would have thought the school nerd and the basketball team captain would actually have a nice time together. All so unexpected!

"I don't understand why is it that girls need to use the washroom so much," he replied with a pout.

"Well, I don't know about the other girls but you have really made me laugh my arse out and now I really need to pee. This is why I want to go the washroom," she answered back, still lightly laughing at the last joke that Adam had cracked. It had been more than an hour since she entered the Grizzly this evening and she was really having the best of her times. Why did the two of them not become friends earlier?

"Okay, okay. Just don't take much time inside, okay? I really don't like waiting for people," he said with a smile. Evelyn snorted at that and made her way towards the washroom.

Once inside the cubicle, she began wondering about how her evening was going so far. Adam's usual had happened to be a cheeseburger. And the house's special drink was some French drink whose name Evelyn found hard to pronounce. Apparently, it was also the most expensive drink and the waitress brought it for the both of them saying that the manager wanted it to be on the house since it was the first time that Adam brought a girl to the restaurant. The first time! Could anyone imagine Evelyn to be the first time girl for anyone? Her eyes had widened at hearing that because she definitely would never have imagined that.

When the sixteen year old blonde was about to open the door of the cubicle, she heard a shrill voice enter the washroom that made her stop in her tracks. However, it wasn't the voice that made her stop. It was what the shrill voice was saying.

"Robert Stevens?" The woman's voice said with a laugh. "But I thought that he was still on one of his duties, protecting the borders and stuff."

There was a pause in which Evelyn wondered what had happened. Her ears were at the sharpest, trying to hear whatever they could about her father. Who was this lady and how did she know about father? When father had sent her in this city cum town, he had done so because he knew that no one knew their family here. How, then, did this lady know of him?

"So you mean to say that his daughter is in this town?" The shrill voice spoke again and Evelyn then realized that perhaps she was talking on the phone. Risking peeping through the door, she opened it to see who this lady was. Unfortunately, Evelyn really could not see her face. Nor could she see the mirror that the lady was standing in front of.

"But why would Robert Stevens, so wealthy and successful a man send his daughter in this rotten town?"

And that was it, Evelyn decided. She had to see who the lady was.

"Sure, I will ask Emma to look into it and I'll make sure that the lady returns with a positive research. Thanks for the information, Henry!" And with that the shrill voice kept her cell phone back in her bag, re-applied some of her make-up, while Evelyn watched her from the side, completely hidden from the lady's view. She knew who the lady was. It had been a long while since Evelyn had last seen her, but she could recognize those vile brown eyes even in her dreams. She was glad that she was hidden from the lady's view. Because although she did not assume her to remember how Evelyn looks like; it had been a long while since the two met each other; but there was no point in taking chances.

She was a nightmare. One that had ruined her family long ago. She was the reason why Evelyn's father had to send her to this rotten town. She was the reason why her mother lived in hiding. She was the reason why Harold could never fully recover from his problem, the reason why Brittany turned against everyone who cared for her, the reason why her father lived in constant fear at the border and the same would be reflected through his letters. She was a dream that Evelyn never wished to dream ever again, someone Evelyn wouldn't hesitate deleting from her memories.

She was her father's third cousin. Matilda Stevens.

_______________

Okay, so there is a new character in the book, finally. Who do you think Matilda Stevens is and what do you think she wants? Why do you think she is after Evelyn and what is her motive? And lastly, what do you think the chapter was like? Do let me know the same in the comments below. And don't forget to vote if you liked it.

This chapter is dedicated to vaishuvd who is an amazing friend of mine and is always excited about an update. Love you Vaish! And if you all like some tinge of poetry, then do go to her profile and take a read. Believe me, the girl has magic in her words. They are amazing.

On second note, if you would like to, then check out MY poetry book, too. It is called Heart To Heart. I hope you poetry lovers like both of these books (Vaish's Words From The Soul and my Heart To Heart).

Next on Blended Fates: Read how a person of significance (and maybe even interest) joins Elite High and enters Anastasia's life and how she finally rips open the envelope that her friends had been on and on about.

(Unfortunately, the next chapter will be a little late because I have my exams, but I would upload one by the 4th of May, definitely if not sooner.) Thank you for your patience and sorry for being later.