Different || Evan Hansen gets a SQUIP

Chapter 3: Evan Hansen

NOTE: short chapter! next one will be longer!

I lay on the ground like a helpless bird that fell out of its nest. I guess my fall wasn't terrible. Jeremy grabs one of my sweaty hands, and Michael carefully holds onto my arm and pulls me up from the floor.

"Y-You really didn't have to help... I could have got up on my own," I say, letting go of them and rubbing my hands on my shirt.

"It's uh... It's the least I can do," Jeremy says. I nod my head.

I check my phone for the time. There's about 10 minutes till first period starts. I pick up my bag from the floor and look up from the ground.

"Well uh... G-Good talk, but I should start heading to uh- to class," I say hesitantly.

"What's your first class? I have uh.. play rehearsal first, and Michael has some math class or something..." Jeremy says while I try to walk away.

"I uh- I have algebra first... I assume that's w-what you mean?" I say. Michael nods his head.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it. See you at lunch?" Jeremy asks.

"Uh, yeah. See you at lunch," I say, walking away with Michael.

Michael starts going on about something, but I zone out as we walk. When I come back to reality, I hear a voice approaching us.

"AYY MELL!!" the voice yells. I turn around to find Jake Dillinger grabbing Michael's bag while holding a Sharpie.

I don't see what Jake writes until Michael turns his back towards me to talk to Jake. Written on his bag is:

RIENDS

"RIENDS"? Does he mean 'friends'? Or-

"Ah! I see you have a friend with you! What's his na- Yo!" Jake says but sees Rich Goranski heading towards us.

As this happens, Michael grabs my hand and runs down the hall to our classroom.

"W-What was that about..?" I ask.

Michael lets go of my hand and takes off his backpack to see what Jake wrote. He looks at it for a moment, rolls his eyes, then puts it back on. I look at him, hoping for a response, but he opens the classroom door for me and we both walk in. I nod at our teacher and take a seat towards the back.

4 minutes later, the bell rings and our teacher does attendance.

"Michael Mell?"

Michael has his headphones on, and cannot hear the teacher.

"Michael Mell!!"

"What? Oh. Here," Michael says, taking off his headphones.

"Next time I see you with headphones on, I'm taking them,"

Michael sighs and puts his headphones away as the teacher continues down the class list.

"Mark Hansen?"

"H-Here," I say hesitantly. I almost forgot my name for a moment.

The rest of the class goes on like any class would on the first day. Introductions, a syllabus, an exam schedule, etc.

The bell rings, and everyone rushes out the door. I stay behind and walk up to my teacher's desk.

"Hey Mark! You should be heading to your second period! What do you need?" she asks.

"I uh- Can you... Is it okay if you refer to me by my uh, my middle name?" I ask.

She flips through the class list and looks for my name.

"You want me to call you Evan? Is that correct?" she asks.

I nod my head in agreement as she puts down her clipboard.

"Well, I'll be sure to remember to call you Evan, alright? Now head to class! You don't have very long and those hallways are crowded,"

I nod again and walk out the door.