Jared braced himself for one of three reactions.
Reaction 1: "Oh my god, you're gay? Ew. I'm gonna go.."
Reaction 2: "Um, I don't want you falling in love with me or anything, so I think we should stop hanging out."
Reaction 3: "You're gay? How come you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends! Ugh!"
But, to Jared's surprise, Evan didn't say any of those. All he said was "Cool." and returned to his ice cream. Jared looked at him strangely. "Wait, what?"
"Hm?"
"You're not gonna..." Jared smiled. "Nevermind."
Evan shrugged. "I so don't want to go to school tomorrow." He said. Jared nodded. "Yeah, school's like, a lot of effort." Evan laughed. Jared hadn't really noticed how nice his laugh was.
A few minutes later, the two were ready to leave. "I'll pay." Evan took out his wallet. "Um, no." Jared replied, taking out his. "Seriously, I got it." Jared shook his head. "I brought you here, let me pay."
"Jackass."
"Nerd." As the waitress dropped off the bill, Jared snatched it out of Evan's reach. He took out his credit card and Evan slapped it on the ground.
"What the hell, man?" Evan giggled and signed the receipt. He slid his credit card into the folder and waved the waitress over while Jared glared at him, seething. Once Evan's card was returned, the two walked out to Jared's car. It was getting late, and the fiery sunset had disappeared, leaving the bright stars.
Jared drove through the forest in silence for a few minutes until Evan shouted at him to stop the car. He obeyed, utterly confused. "What in God's name are you doing?" He yelled as Evan got out of the car. "Stargazing!" Evan called back. He climbed on top of the car roof, Jared wincing at every step he took. "If you dent this car, I will beat your sorry ass!" He growled. Evan laid down on the roof and motioned for Jared to join him. "Fine." He sighed, climbing on top of the car next to the brown haired boy. They laid there for a while, Evan pointing out constellations.
"You're such a dork."
"I know."
Jared rolled on his side to face him. "You've changed. A lot."
Evan's cheeks turned a rosy color. "Have I?"
"Yeah. You're not as..."
"Awkward?" Evan finished for him.
"Oh, hell no, you're still completely one-hundred-percent awkward. You're not as...shy."
Evan laughed softly. "No, I'm still pretty shy," He turned to face Jared. "I'm just comfortable around you." Jared's cheeks turned redder than Evan's. He looked away, a small smile on his face.
"Oh."
