She never wanted anything. She didn’t want to choose what the family had for dinner, she didn’t want to think about the future, and she didn’t want Evelyn to leave.

Nora pressed her hands over her ears and curled up on the couch as her father screamed. He pressed his finger into Evelyn’s chest and spat in her face, his face redder than the mark he had left on Evelyn’s cheek.

“-OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

“FINE!”

That snapped Nora out of her trance. Evelyn secured a bag over her shoulders and stepped out through the front door.

Nora let out a distressed sob, pushing herself off the couch and fighting with the blanket entangling her legs.

She ran down the moonlit street, crashing into Evelyn’s back. “Don’t leave!” She cried. “Please! I don’t want you to go!”

The body in her arms twisted and a hand a placed on the top of her head. It stayed there, lightly massaging her scalp, and Nora relaxed her hold on her sister.

“Oh, Evanora,” Evelyn croaked, kneeling down and bringing the two of them to sit on the cracked concrete. “I can’t stay. I want to leave. I want to see what’s out there. And when you’re older, I want you to join me. We can see the world together! I can play my guitar and do little concerts and you can join me! Do you want that?”

Nora didn’t want that. She didn’t want to leave everything she knew, even if it left them with bruises that the teachers ignored or hard flares from the people around them.

“I don’t want you to go…” Nora whispered, burying her head into Evelyn’s chest.

There was a beat, the hand on Nora’s head pulling her close, and a deep sigh. “Okay, Nora… I’ll stick it out for a bit longer. Just until I can find us a place, okay? But I don’t think our father will let me back in the house, so how about we go to Jason’s house?”

With Nora’s hand in Evelyn’s, they walked down the silent neighborhood bathed in street light. Maybe things would be better tomorrow. Maybe they wouldn’t. As long as Nora had Evelyn, she was happy. And as long as Evelyn had Nora, she could keep going through with her dreams.