HeartStopper: Haunted

3. Halloween

Tuesday, October 31st. 

Colors are always dull for him. The sparkle blinds, the lights are always too bright, this is his life and he's okay with that. Today was worse. Sound was taken away. Alone at every corner and in every class distant conversations were muffled. He didn't even hear Darcy's performance in fifth period this afternoon. 

It's not like his ears are ringing. He just feels so far away. Angry is only half of it. 

Now, with a nervous look on his face, he stands in the choir room before Mr. Evans office door. School let out twenty minutes ago but he hung around. Why? As handsome as he is, that pointed jaw, long nose, deep tan, and perfectly quoif hair do little to hide his pain. 

'I... am here... for a reason.' He thinks and then he pushes the wall into it's self. 

It opens surprisingly easy. A short corridor attaches to the small candle lit quarters of Mr. Evans. 'A bit dramatic, this man is.' He thinks as he enters the yellow glow. 

The teacher looks up from an extensive amount of paperwork with a look of surprise in that close shave of his neatly trimmed facial hair, "Benjamine Hope. Of all the students I'd have thought would be the first one to visit me in my office after school hours, I have to say, you weren't on my list."

"Why are you torturing us?" Asks Ben as he crosses his arms over his chest. 

Mr. Evans raises a brow without taking focus away from his paperwork, "This is torture for you?"

There's a brief pause and when Ben shows he doesn't have a response Mr. Evans continues, "I've read your file, Ben. None of your friends associate with you anymore. You're mouthy and rude. You were written up for disorderly conduct during the Paris field trip last year. Even right now you smell like whiskey. What's the real reason you came to see me today, Mr. Hope." 

"I'm struggling... wi-with my identity." He swallows hard and turns to face the small window overlooking the nearby forest outlining the perimeter of the school, "I've hurt people. There's no one I can talk too. My dad works all the time and my mom doesn't know that I know she's having an affair. I want to change."

He sinks into a chair and covers his face with his hands worried he'd said too much. 

Mr. Evans thinks out loud, "Darcy Olsson has some sevier issues with her mother too. She might could use someone to talk too who understands that. When it comes to making friends with people, the first thing you need to do is try." 

There is silence between the two of them for sometime. Ben's anxiety rises. He wants to say something but he's at a loss. His mind is spinning too fast and that hoodie can't protect him from the vulnerability. All he can do is turn his face up in a way that looks scared. 

"Listen Benjamine. I am not going to let you drowned." Mr. Evans turns all his attention to the young man, "Okay? Right now, I have to get some work done then I have a meeting in an hour and we have our mandatory practice later this afternoon. I'll keep an eye on you, okay. It's Halloween. Go make some friends." 

This is a dismissal. The student nods. He stands to his feet. He offers a soft nod and then leaves. 

...

The intern is back in his room. Charlie Spring doesn't hate her but she keeps looking at him like a puppy someone stomped on. Is she studying him?

A muffin rests on his table. It's been there for hours untouched. His tea has been drank. He's particularly fond of his hot teas. 

"How are your hallucinations today, Charlie? You think you're up for visitors?" She asks.

He struggles to sit up as she adjusts the pillows on his back. Working up the nerve to speak is harder than breathing for him most of the time.