The Boy Next Door

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Two weeks. Two weeks it'd been since I'd first woken up to Evan's praying.

Oftentimes I would wake up and be getting ready when I'd hear someone mumbling or a sniffle that was rather loud and knew he was at it again. He would always take the mornings to pray that I would forgive him, but then he would move on to other things.

Like this morning, it's Friday, so I guess almost three weeks since I first heard him. Anyway, he was praying when I woke up, and this is what I heard.

"I know I did wrong, I know. But can't she understand that everyone makes mistakes? I want my friend back. Megan, she doesn't get how important she is to me. I don't know why, but she is. Everything everyone says about me, good or bad, I remember clearly. I know I messed up, but did she really have to say that we weren't friends? Father, Brianna is her only friend. If she won't forgive me, please bring someone else into her life to care about her as a friend. She needs that much at least, someone who she can take her anger out at, but who will always come back no matter what."

And for some reason, I had a feeling he wasn't just talking about me.

But, do you see how he was praying? This petition wasn't selfish, it wasn't for me to hear, it wasn't just so he could be friends with me. He wanted me to have another friend, not just Brianna. He said he would be content if that friend wasn't him.

He praised God at the beginning of his prayers, petitioned in the middle, and praised Him again at the end. I began to wonder, what could I gain from praying constantly about the things I truly, unselfishly wanted?

Brianna wasn't at school, she called and told me she was sick. As I arrived and saw Evan and Scotty, I decided to try to talk to him. After all, we were friends per se, meaning it wasn't like I was walking up to a stranger.

In Biology I was sitting behind him, so scribbled on a bit of notebook paper and tapped him on the shoulder. He leaned back a bit.

Placing the paper over his shoulder, I felt for a brief second our fingers touch as he grabbed it.

After class I gathered up and slowly walked out, since Evan was much slower than me in getting his stuff together.

We met in the halls.

"Hello."

"Evan," I jumped right in. "I wondered, do you mean for me to hear you in the morning?"

His face turned red. "No. After the first time I thought I was quiet enough."

"Okay, well I did. Now, I also wondered if I could have a ride home? I really don't like the bus."

A smile grew on his face so big it reminded me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. "Of course. I parked just out front. I'll meet you there after school, yeah?"

"Okay." I nodded. With a grin at me, he ran down the hall to his next class. I didn't even realize we'd been walking really slowly and sped up.

The beginning of the ride was awkward, because I didn't know what to say or how to say it. He broke the silence. "Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why now, after weeks of ignoring me, did you decide to talk to me?"

Shrugging, I looked out the window at the speeding scenery. "I was tired of ignoring you, I guess. Besides, Brianna was gone, there was no worry that she would get angry at me for it. I think if I talked to her about it though she might not be very upset."

"So...are you still mad at me?"

I shrugged again. "Depends on how Brianna reacts."

"Will you ignore me when she's around?"

I began thinking about that, and didn't even realize how long I'd been thinking until he pulled into his driveway. There we sat for a few moments while I made my final decisions. 

"Come over to my house." I said finally. "Let's work on our homework in the same house for once."