High School {Dear Chill Heathers}

Chapter 3

(Connor's POV)

I trudged through first, second, and third period without Evan, but my mind couldn't stop going to him. Last night... I fell asleep on his lap while studying and woke up like that too. Now, I'm not one for sentimentality, but last night was different. I've grown close to Evan ever since he stopped me from killing myself. We usually get together for either of us to vent emotional problems or get ice cream and climb trees, but last night was so... normal. We just hung out, had some mac 'n cheese, studied a bit, then watched TV. We never have any normal hangouts. One of us always seems to have a panic attack.

Evan is honestly one of my closest friends, but he means so much more than that. Every day I stay alive because I know that I can see him the next day. He is adorable, sweet, innocent, and truly one of the only rays of sunshine in my life. I stopped weed and cutting after I fell for him, because I knew he would never be with me if I continued those two things. I'm thinking of asking him to be my boyfriend soon, and Veronica has helped me with a lot of the planning.

She is my second closest friend. Her and I have similar experiences with JD, and we've both loved him. He was one of my best friends when we lived in Maine, and after coming to California I missed him a lot. I forgot about him until he moved out here for junior year. I was ecstatic when I saw him happy with Veronica, but when he sacrificed himself so that Veronica could be happy, I was devastated, but his leaving helped me see something. Him showing that love can drive you to do crazy things made me realize that I liked Evan. I would do the exact same for him.

Fourth and fifth period rolled around, and thankfully I had them with Evan, I would go insane if I didn't see him until lunch. I needed to talk to him.

"Hey, Ev, you wanna ditch school and go grab some lunch then head up to that one tree?" I asked him, meeting him at his locker after fifth period. He wasn't one to miss school, but it was Wednesday and he looked kinda stressed anyway.

"Uh, sure," he said somewhat hesitantly.

"Great!" I grabbed his hand and led him out to my truck.

DeadGirlWalking: u ditching school again? Saw u leave with Evan

InsaneAndGay: ya

DeadGirlWalking: oooooooh

InsaneAndGay: shut up

We stopped by Subway, grabbed two subs, and then headed out to the nearby wilderness park. "So, you wanna go to the usual clearing with the one huge tree in the middle?"

"Yeah, sure!" Evan replies happily. He loves trees; it's super adorable.

We pull up into the parking area, then silently take the short hike to the clearing. I felt a lot like Evan while rubbing my very sweaty hands against my jeans.

As we get into the clearing, I tickle him and pull him down, and he is trying to scramble away from my grip on hips. He lets go of the bag with our sandwiches, then turned around to face me. He is on top of me and is in a giggle fit. I sit up so that he is sitting on my lap and his legs are wrapped around my waist.

I take a deep breath to steady myself, then say, "Evan, there's something I need to tell you. You mean so much to me, and I like you a lot. You've kept me from doing some super stupid stuff, and I am so thankful for that. I want you to be mine, and I really hope I can be yours."

He was bright red and smiling so wide. His forehead was against mine and he managed to get out, "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words." He closed his eyes and leaned into me, then his soft lips were on mine. My heart jumps, stops, and restarts, but I kiss back softly. My mind is in oblivion, my heart is trembling from joy, and my body is holding Evan. I wrap my arms around his waist, and I feel his around my neck. We pull back to take a breath, and I smile so wide.

I push him down and start attacking him with kisses on his lips, cheeks, and jawline, and he erupts into laughter. "You're laugh is so cute," I tell him and we finally calm down and lay in the middle of the clearing beneath the tree.

"Not any cuter than you last night, curled up on my lap like a cat," he remarks and I blush.