Back In Time

Chapter 10

Sorry about skipping Requiem! There's really nothing I could say for it, so I skipped past it. Just know that Evan handed some emails to Heidi, and now she's looking forward to more emails later. Cool.

"Hey, Evan! It's Con. How are you? How is everything?"

Con decided to video call Evan, so even though it was awkward, they were both in this hellhole together now. The hell of video calls.

"Um, fine," Evan said, looking down at the bed. "Thanks..."

Stressful was a better word.

"Oh, definitely," Connor nodded. "Very stressful."

"It's been chill," Jared shrugged.

Connor glared at him. "Stressful."

"Chill."

"Stressful."

"Chi-"

Shut up!

"Oh my god, Zoe has been telling everyone about you and Jared. How close you guys were," Con said, frowning a little. "You guys were like, best friends."

"Yeah..." Evan mumbled.

"Everyone is talking about how brave you've been this week," Con replied.

"They are?" Evan asked. "What have I done that's b-"

"Anybody else in your position would be falling apart."

"Why is this my other version?" Connor sighed. "It's nothing like me!"

"Yeah, it's weird seeing you both side by side, that's for sure," Jared shrugged.

"Sabrina P was crying so hard yesterday at lunch that she pulled a muscle in her face," Con said, glancing over at Evan. "She had to go to the hospital."

Evan and Jared both spoke at the same time. "She didn't even kno-"

"That's why she was crying," Con interrupted, silencing the both of them. "Because now? She'll never get the chance."

"Sabrina sounds like one of those white girls who are over dramatic about everything." Jared rolled his eyes.

"That's a fair definition," Connor replied, remembering Dana from his school and how she did the same thing. "Having to go to the hospital is a bit extreme."

"I actually started a blog for Jared. It's kind of like a memorial page," Con stated.

"A memorial page?" Jared asked. "That's-"

"Really dumb because it's all based on lies?" Connor completed.

Jared shrugged. "I was going to say it's kind of cool, but I mean, that works."

"Were you friends with Jared too?" Evan questioned, focusing on the computer.

"Acquaintances," Con nodded. "But close acquaintances."

"Not really," Jared mumbled.

"Can I tell you something? I think that part of me always knew you guys were friends," Con said, smiling a little. "You did a good job at hiding it, but I don't know. I could always just tell."

Jared just laughed. "Oh my god, Con's dumb."

"He's trying," Connor shrugged.

Jared chuckled. "He's still dumb."

Connor rolled his eyes as Evan and Con said their goodbyes and hung up the call.

"Con's doing his best for the information he has. You have to appreciate that at least," Evan said, looking over at the spirits.

"Why are you always agreeing with Connor?" Jared asked, crossing his arms.

"Uh, because he's right? And I'm not trying to side with him, but you said it yourself earlier, he's wiser than you are," Evan replied, picking at his cast a little. "And because of that, I'll probably be siding with Connor more often. Sorry."

Jared shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going to explore the house, see you guys later."

"Oh, uh, bye," Connor said, watching him leave.

"You think he'll take the parent information well?" Evan asked, glancing over at Connor.

"I mean, yeah? It's just another switch. Just know that Heidi being your mom is going to be as weird to him as Larry being your dad," Connor responded. "And it's really weird. We both know that. It'll take a long time to get used to it, and time is something we really don't have."

"Why not?"

"Because we want to get back home as fast as possible, right?"

Evan nodded. "Yeah. Definitely."

"Well, your dad's coming in, so get prepared for that," Connor said, hearing his footsteps down the hallway.

Great.

...

I have to act like I'm still talking and shut my computer screen when he enters. That's what I did the first time.

Connor shrugged. "Okay, then do it."

And what do you know? Larry walked in the room, and Evan closed his computer instantly.

Larry glanced over him, a bit curious. "Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, um, just Zoe. It's Zoe," Evan replied, facing his computer.

"It looks like you and Zoe are spending more time together." Larry smiled. "I always said she'd be a good friend for you."

Well, at least in this timeline, the amount of time Zoe and Evan hung out was apparently equal to him and Jared. That meant he was following the storyline well, right?

"Yeah... she's uh. Yeah. Really great," Evan mumbled, feeling a bit awkward that at this point of time in the other dimension, he'd be fangirling over her. It was still really weird.

"I'm proud of you." Larry had a slight chuckle in his voice. "You're putting yourself out there."

"Thanks..."

"Well, I'm leaving," Larry replied. "But I left money on the table. Order anything you want, okay?"

Back in the day, Evan would talk to Heidi about missing Taco Tuesday, but now? He just wanted Larry to leave, so he didn't say a word. "Okay..."

"Alright... bye, Evan," Larry said, walking towards the exit of the room.

"Bye."

And then he left.

Evan was quick to leave, too.