Society | A Evan Lennon Story

22 - The Friend That Got Away

I walk downstairs some time after Barrett left. I see my parents in the kitchen, talking quietly amongst themselves. They don't seem to notice me. I walk over to the front door and open it and close it behind me when I step out. I sit on the steps, my knees in front of me as I stare out to nothing in particular. It's only been an hour or two since Barrett left and I can feel the sadness slowly creep its way back into me. Did I only feel okay when I had him here or was is because I was honest? I guess, I wasn't going to, all of a sudden, feel okay after being so depressed for so long, I think that's something that'll happen within time, if at all. This is still all new to me. I'm still trying to figure it all out. I know I'm angry and I know I'm not okay, but it's like, I was free for just a moment, and that felt great; it gave me hope. In the spur of the moment, I take out my phone and go to Jocelyn's post. I haven't looked at it since yesterday morning. I couldn't bring myself to do it because I know people were on her side, people I once called friends. I go to the comments and scroll through some. It makes me sad, angry.

What a fucking dick. I hope he rots in hell.

Against my better judgement, I reply.

You don't know shit about what happened.

I regret it immediately after but I don't delete it. Instead, I make a post. It's a black screen and I type out, No one cares to hear the truth, they wouldn't believe it. That's society. My thumb hovers over the post button. I hesitate and gulp hard. Is this the right thing to do? I'm aware this might backfire, no, I know it'll backfire but I want to believe there's a chance it won't. I want people to hear the truth and believe it, which I know will never happen. But then I remember, it happened with Barrett and Bella. Yes. I need to do this. I press post before I can change my mind and I shut my phone off and place it beside me. I can't stay silent about this anymore.

Barrett

I'm sitting with Celeste and Zamora outside of the school like we always do for lunch. They're on their phones, while I pick at my food with my fork. It's quieter without Evan, lonelier. I wonder if the girls feel the same way. Suddenly, Celeste speaks. "Have you guys seen Evan's post?" She asks. It's silent. Zamora looks at Celeste from her phone then back down at it. I drop my fork and pull my phone out of my jumper. I go to Instagram and Evan's post is on the top of my feed.

"Oh my god.." Zamora says. I don't look up at them. I just smile as I type out a comment. It's just a heart. I know it might seem small, but it'll mean a lot to Evan. I look at the other comments. It's mostly people being mean, in fact it's just me and one other person who left nice, supportive comments, the other by Bella.

I believe you 🩷

It only says. I'm happy that he doesn't just have me to rely on, that I'm not the only one that believes him. "Is he insane?" Zamora asks. I look up.

"I know." Celeste says, shaking her head.

"This will only make things worse."

"It might not." I speak up. They look at me. I shrug. "This could knock some sense into people to stop and think of the possibility that Evan's innocent." I say. Zamora stares at me and for a moment, she smiles.

Celeste scoffs. Zamora and I look at her in unison. She's staring down at her phone with a sort of smile on her face as if she was in disbelief. "Right." She says.

I furrow my eyebrows. "You really think he would assault Jocelyn?" I ask.

She sighs and drops her hands as she looks up at me. "I- look, obviously, I don't want to believe it but come on, clearly Evan hasn't been himself for some time now-"

"He's depressed!" I snap, a hint of laughter in my voice. She stares at me and so does Zamora. "Is that the mood of someone after they assault someone?" I ask in disbelief.

"Of somebody that regrets what they did, yeah." Celeste says nonchalantly.

I laugh again. "Oh my god." I shake my head and look at Zamora. She's staring at me with wide, sympathetic eyes. I wonder if they're directed at me or at the thought of Evan going through what he did. "You believe him, don't you?" I ask, gesturing a hand toward her.

She stares at me for a moment or two before saying, "I don't think Evan's capable of something so bad."

"But do you believe him?" I ask a bit louder this time. I don't think I've ever rose my voice before.

"I-I.. It's.." She stammers. "I think so." She finally says.

"You think so?"

"I mean, you two know him better than I do, you guys know what kind of person he really is. I've only known him for a couple of weeks, so it's hard to say whether I do or not when you two have different answers."

"I'm not asking that. Disregarding mine and Celeste's opinions, for the weeks you've known Evan, gotten to know him, for the times you spent with him, whether you two were alone or it was all of us, do you honestly think he did this?"

She shakes her head. "No, I don't."

I look at Celeste and stand. I don't look away from her as I do and I say, "I don't recognize you." She looks up at me. "The Celeste I know would never turn away from her friends. You've known him longer than I have and yet, you don't believe him. You failed him." I huff out a breath of exasperation. "You sit there and let that sink in. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on him because that's the kind of friend I am, I don't turn away from my friends when everything goes to shit." I shift my attention to Zamora. She's staring up at me with the same sympathetic look on her face. "Come if you want." I look back at Celeste as I say, "He needs all the friends he can get." I don't look away from her, even after Zamora stands and walks toward the school gate. Celeste is still staring at me, her expression cold and unapologetic. I scoff and shake my head, then I look down as I step over the trays on the ground and I slip past her to follow Zamora, who is completely out of my sight now.