Young Writers Society

Evaline took a moment to try to read James, but he turned away from her, and she didn't get anything of sustenance. As usual.

Hesitating, she turned to face forward again, looking at the ground while trying to ignore the fact that him calling her Eve made her heart flutter. It was used as an alias before getting to know James, but now this was different. This felt like discovering an old identity.

"Someone important to me called me by that nickname," she softly said in response after a brief pause. "And I wouldn't mind if you wanted to do the same."

James was quiet for a moment. He took in a measured breath in hopes of stuffing down the spike of anxiety that he knew the source of and didn’t care to feel or explore.

He turned his face back within Evaline’s view but didn’t quite meet her eyes. A small smile tugged at his lips.

“Well,” he said after a small pause. “I guess I’ll just have to take you up on that offer.”

Another brief, second’s pause. The grin fighting against his lips finally won.

“...Eve.”

Evaline didn't like how her stomach did a little flip when he said her nickname like that. It made her nervous. Anxious? It was a different type of anxious she normally felt. This felt invasive.

James grinned and looked her way, but she quickly looked off to the side and nervously laughed, her crossed arms tightening and tensing more than it should have.

She thought about what to say, but her mind blanked, and she paused for far too long.

For a moment, she completely forgot she was in a mage camp.

While James normally didn’t mind silence between them, this suddenly felt different, and he rushed to fill it.

“For the record, this doesn’t mean I don’t like your full name, Evaline. I think both are lovely in their own right.”

Evaline rushed to answer, suddenly wanting to avoid any more awkward silences.

"Oh, thanks, and—I know," she quickly said, inwardly cringing when she realized it sounded like she agreed her name was lovely.

She hurriedly changed the subject.

"I was just thinking about nicknames for you, but you can't really beat a one-syllable name like James." She paused. "Guess I'll have to call you Tibby after all."

James stared at Evaline and his eyes widened ever so slightly when she called him his real name. Instinctively, he scanned the area after a momen’t delay.

He found himself too distracte by the sudden spike of paranoia to be too bothered by the dreadful nickname.

”Tibby,” he emphasized, “Is an awful rendition of Tiberius. And it sounds more befitting of a four year old or a dog than a man.”

It felt like a few seconds passed before it again dawned on Evaline that she truly had forgotten she was in a mage camp. She was careful to keep her voice low and not say anything to reveal James's true identity, but she was so caught up in her thoughts, she slipped and said his real name out loud. His panic was only confirmed when she glanced at him and saw it in his eyes. He even seemed to emphasize Tiberius for extra measure so that she'd get it in her head.

Some heat rose to her face, but it wasn't out of embarrassment. It was out of disappointment.

"Sorry about that," she said softly, still staring at the ground.

James had to take in a deep breath when he noticed the coast was clear.

One little name wasn’t the end of the world. He could easily explain it away as a nickname. A middle name would make most sense. It would be fine. It would be fine.

He looked back at Evaline and noticed the way she looked away, and her face flushed in shame.

His expression softened.

“Oh-“ he said quietly. “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

How the conversation turned to this train wreck, Evaline didn't know. She just wanted to change the subject again and move on.

Her fingers rubbed along her arm as she quickly thought of what to say without messing everything up again.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" she blurted out even though she didn't know what she was going to do either.

James almost laughed, but ended up just smiling.

“Considering this is the first time I’ve been in a mage camp - no, the first time I’ve really been amongst people for more than a few brief hours? In say, a year? I have no idea what to do with such freedom.”

Evaline wanted to facepalm herself for asking such a dumb and obvious question, but she was still glad for the topic change. James mentioned some things she wanted to ask more about, but she knew now was not the time to ask about it.

"Well, as a free man, if you could choose what you wanted to do, what would it be?" she asked, her gaze falling back at the camp ahead of her.

His smile faded slowly, and he looked over to Evaline, observing her.

The braid he’d given her that morning was still intact, but a stray hair has escaped around her face. He wanted to tuck it behind her ear, but felt that now, perhaps, was not the time.

He wished Eve has asked him this question at a different time, so he could comfortably answer in full honesty. And yet, at the same time, he wasn’t sure he actually knew the answer anymore, or if he had the courage to say it.

His gaze lingered on her as he answered.

“I think I’d just have to buy us more books,” he said softly. “After I got a job, of course.”

Evaline let out a small laugh, glad that she could relax her posture and the heat in her cheeks had finally gone away. She turned to face him, noticing that he was looking at her with gentle eyes.

"Oh yeah?" she said. "Maybe I could do some freelance art work. Between that and your rancher job, we might have enough money to build a small library."

James smiled softly, still looking at her and the wisp of hair by her ear.

“I would like that,” he said gently. “I would like that a lot.”

For a second, he hesitated, and then he reached out to slowly tuck the hair behind her ear, before pulling his hand away.

Evaline met his deep blue eyes, and for a second, she could see more than the stone wall behind them. She could see a sort of longing and desire in them. And she heard it in his words too, like he truly, deeply, sincerely wanted her hypothetical story to happen.

She felt the heat returning to pool by her cheeks at first, but then it drowned her entire face when he reached out to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Although this was barely anything compared to the teases she had done to him before, this felt different, knowing what she knew now. He reached out to touch her, even if it was a little thing.

She found herself staring at him with a slightly opened mouth, partly in shock, partly in embarrassment, and partly in... well, she didn't really know how to describe it, really.

And she didn't have time to figure it out, because she nervously started to glance around and then noticed Maisy approaching them with Leah in her arms.

Evaline cleared her throat. Loudly.

"Incoming," she said quietly, looking forward again and trying to look normal.

Turns out, purposefully trying to look normal was a lot harder than she thought, especially since her face still burned.