Evan stood in front of the Tree. The Hanging Tree, to be exact. Rope in hand, he began to tie it into one of the few knots he knew how to tie: the hangman's knot. In other words, a noose. He sat down on a stump and held his face in his hands. It's not like anyone would miss me. Everyone hates me. Even if they don't say it, they do. What I did to them was horrible. Despicable. My life isn't worth it. "It isn't worth it." He repeated, aloud this time. He opened his eyes and watched as tears fell to the grass beneath his feet. Shouldn't be crying. Not like anyone's going to cry when I'm gone.
"Evan?" He looked up, it was Jared. Great. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think? It's called the Hanging Tree for a reason." He growled, tears rapidly streaming down his face.
"Evan, no, don't do this."
"This is the only way I can escape this goddamn life!"
Jared shook his head. "It's not."
Evan's eyes suddenly darkened. He whipped around. "Why the hell are you here? To watch this? To watch me kill myself?"
"Evan..."
"Because it's hysterical, right? The person you hate the most, deleting themselves from your life."
"Evan."
"Well have fun, Jared Kleinman! Have fun watching the show!"
"Evan!"
"What?" He yelled.
"I don't hate you!" Jared screamed back.
Evan stopped, his breathing heavy. "W-what?"
Jared grabbed his hands. "I don't! I never have, okay? You have this image, in your mind, that every single person involved with the Connor Project hates your guts. But we don't, okay? So just...stop!"
Tears welled up in Evan's eyes. "E-even after what I did? You, you...you don't hate me?"
Jared smiled. "Never have, never will." He suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him. It was Evan hugging him. A soft thud was heard as the rope fell to the ground. He blushed. "Okay, okay, that's enough. People are gonna think we're a thing or something..."
Evan didn't move. Instead, he said, "There's nobody here."
Jared prayed to whatever divine entity was out there that Evan didn't feel his heart pounding.
And luckily, he didn't.
