Back In Time

Chapter 12

"You what??" Zoe yelled, looking at Evan on the other side of the computer.

They were back at home now. Evan was on a video call with Zoe since, again, repeat the story. He didn't want to talk about Alana to anyone else, but here they were.

"I didn't mean to, it just happened!"

"I can't believe you tried to kiss Alana Kleinman on her brother's bed. After he died!" Zoe laughed.

"Oh my god," Evan mumbled. He didn't want to!

"Hey, asshole, aren't you going to say something?" Zoe asked, pointing to a button attached to her shirt.

Evan's eyes widened with shock. Seeing Connor's photo last time wasn't a huge deal, but seeing his best friend on there was rather odd. Well, this Jared isn't your best friend. Whatever. "Is that a button with Jared's face on it?"

"I'm selling them for a nominal fee at lunch tomorrow." Zoe smirked.

Evan couldn't help but be angry at that. "You're making money off of this?"

"I'm not the only one," Zoe chuckled. "Haven't you seen the wristbands with Jared's initials on them that Dana P started selling during free period? Or the T-Shirts Chloe Valentine's mom made?"

Evan shook his head. "And you think this is actually a good idea?"

He remembered that he brought up Zoe and ignored the business rambling in the past, but now, the last thing he wanted to mention was Alana.

"Well, yeah," Zoe laughed. "We're at the peak! Which is why I've got to move these buttons before the bottom drops out of the Jared Kleinman memorabilia market. Because pretty soon? There's going to be some third world tsunami to raise money for, and Jared Kleinman will be that dead kid whose name no one remembers."

"Good," Jared mumbled, leaning against the wall.

Connor looked over at him. "Jared-"

"Save it."

"That's... that's terrible," Evan mumbled.

"Hey, at least it was fun while it lasted. You got to have some quality time with your fake family, snuggle with Alana Kleinman..."

"But that's- that's not why I was doing it!" Evan frowned. "I was trying to help them. I just wanted to help them."

"Regardless, bro. It's over," Zoe shrugged. "A week from now? Everybody will have already forgotten about Jared. You'll see."

And a week later, Evan was on a new video call with Con, and Zoe's words were exactly what happened. "Everybody has forgotten about Jared! A week ago, the entire school were wearing these wristbands and buttons with Jared on them. People who never talked to each other were talking, and now? Now that's all gone! Completely. You were his best friend, you can't let this happen!"

"Well, I- I know, but," Evan mumbled.

"Maybe you can ask Alana to do something. Or maybe you guys could do something together," Con suggested, glancing over at him.

"A-Alana?"

"Well, yeah, she's the perfect person to build interest again," Con replied. "You guys could write something together for the blog..."

"It's kind of funny. They make me feel like my life was a game somehow," Jared shrugged. "Once I die, you gotta build up interest to make sure I don't disappear! Why can't you just let go and let me fade away?"

Evan felt a shiver run down his spine.

Can we not talk about letting go?

"Uh, I guess?" Jared said, glaring over at him. "Sure."

"Well, ye-yeah, I just... I don't know if that's the best way to get people to remember him," Evan replied.

"Well, I can guarantee that if you don't do something, then no one will remember him. Is that what you want?" Con asked, crossing his arms.

"But I- I'm just..."

Con hung up the call, causing Evan to sigh. Jared and Connor stood in silence, just looking at him.

He picked at the bed sheet, thinking of everything he's done, and by everything, he meant everything. All the way from the beginning of the original timeline, just. Everything he's done that had ultimately led him up to this point. And for what?

"Evan..." Connor frowned.

"What am I supposed to do?" Evan glanced over at the two of them, his eyes almost filled with desperation. "My awful choices have led to two timelines almost colliding with each other. How... how did it lead to this?"

"I'm sorry, Evan," Connor sighed.

Jared shrugged. "Why don't you talk to Alana?"

"I can't talk to Alana," Evan replied. "I already ruined everything with Alana."

"Says who? Zoe? Why are you even talking to Zoe about this?" Jared asked, causing something to snap inside of Evan.

This is exactly what Connor said to him. And Connor was right there- right next to Jared, not even saying a word. It's like the similarity didn't even phase him.

Evan felt tears come to his eyes, getting up from the bed and putting his phone in his pocket. "I can't do this anymore."

"Evan," Connor sighed. "What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving. I'm leaving here for a bit, and I need you two to shut the fuck up if you're planning on following me," Evan said, putting on his shoes before opening his bedroom door.

"Why? Where are you going?" Connor asked. "Running away from here isn't going to fix anything."

"Who said I was running away? I'm not as fucked up as you are," Evan snapped.

Connor's eyes widened with shock. He definitely wasn't expecting that, and honestly, that hurt. "Evan-"

"Look, I'm just taking a walk," Evan replied. "So can you both leave me the fuck alone for a few hours?"

Connor sighed. "We can."

"Thank you," Evan said, running down the hall and opening the front door. "Bye."