Beyond Evolution

Three weeks ago, Molly had handed him a plain paper envelope, unsealed, the flap held down with a piece of scotch tape. Pictures, she'd said. Not that he didn't believe her, he just hadn't actually opened it and looked. The first week after Cherry's death, he hadn't even had the guts to take the envelope from her - he'd been all confusion and raw-nerve anger, so unlike he'd expected to be, and he'd been scared. Too damn scared to look at a couple of pictures, to even hold them in his hands. He'd finally taken the envelope, and then he'd found he still wasn't brave enough to open it; for another week, just looking at it sitting on the edge of his desk had been all he could do. And then Sabretooth had snapped, torn through the school and dragged them all out of their heads for a little while, and it hadn't been the distraction he was hoping for but it had been a distraction. It had at least given him something else to think about, something else to be the first thing on his mind. After that, when he'd finally been able to concentrate on something other than Cherry and the lack thereof, looking at those pictures had seemed like going backwards. It felt good not to be so angry, not to be so searingly focused. There had been other things to distract himself with - secrets, dances, costumes, a girl with a pretty smile - and it had been easier to just let himself be distracted.

( He hadn't expected the distractions to last forever )

( NARRATIVE )