Stopping Time

Chapter sixteen

The plan was going mostly well. Just keep cutting all the classes you have with him until these feelings go away and you'll be fine. Easy right?

    Except it wasn't.

    The dreams were getting less and less romantic and more, for a lack of a better term, dark.

It was always the same thing. Connor would accidentally hurt Evan and Evan would call him names and run.

Maybe I deserve it.

Connor sighed, putting his head on his desk, covering the sketch of Evan with his hands.

    He sat up and stared at his hands, which had some lead on them because they were sweaty from holding the pencil for the past hour. Luckily the picture wasn't ruined.

    He sighed, pushing his swivel chair back. He was beyond bored, he was considering going back to school and getting a sick note from the office. But then he'd have to ditch eighth hour and that would be hard. Mr. Williams will call parents if you're five minutes late.

Maybe he should go. Then his parents wouldn't yell at him for missing his "most important" class two days in a row.

Sighing, he put the notebook away and grabbed his backpack.

    The thought of driving crossed his mind, but his parents wouldn't let him drive his own car to school because they thought he would ditch. So Zoe had to drive him everyday. And since Zoe drove him, suddenly having his car there would send red flags in her head, so she would tell their parents he ditched and then Larry would start yelling, making Connor yell and that's not good for anybody.

    So he walked.

Evan was surprised to see Connor in the halls after skipping most of the day.

He tried to catch up to him, but Connor ignored his voice and walked faster.

Evan frowned. He's been ditching school the past two days and ignoring Evan's texts.

    He hates you, his mind told him. You've been clingy and he hates you now.

    Evan blinked, shaking those thoughts away. Connor must have a good reason. Maybe he's been sick and his phone is dead and charger is broken.

    Evan went with that idea, ignoring the voice in his head telling him otherwise.

    He arrived in his seventh hour, English, and quickly took his usual seat in the back, right by the door. He only really liked that class because the teacher let everyone choose their seats at the beginning and luckily, no one chose the back so he was left alone.

    "Hey there." Jared appeared in front of Evan, startling him and making him drop his phone. "How ya been?"

    Evan bit his lip. "I've been better. . . I saw Connor in the halls."

    "So he's back, huh?" Jared slid into the desk next to Evan's.

    Even nodded. "I tried talking to him but he ignored me. I don't know if I did something. He hasn't responded to any texts, I even called him and you know how I am with phone calls. It just went straight to voicemail."

    "I'm sure he's fine," Jared said. "Didn't you say it was a family thing? He'll be fine, stop worrying all the time."

    "I-I know." Evan picked at his fingers, a habit Connor often did and Evan seemed to have picked up on it. "It's just. . . He's my first friend and I don't know what to do."

    "Just let him– hold on." Jared frowned. "Did you just say he's your first friend?"

    "Y-you know what I mean," Evan whispered, trying to not let the teacher hear.

    "No, Evan, I don't know what you mean," Jared retorted. "Please tell me-"

    "Mr. Kleinman and Mr. Hansen," the teacher called. "Please stop interrupting my lesson."

    "What do you mean he's your first friend?" Jared repeated like the teacher never spoke.

    "W-well it's j-just you al-always say we're just f-family friends," Evan mumbled, "a-and th-that there's a-a difference."

    "Ah shit man." Jared shook his head, gaze directed at his desk. "I-it was a joke. I thought you would-"

    "Mr. Keinlman and Mr. Hansen!" the teacher yelled. "I have told you twice no to be quiet, but since you insist on being disrespectful, I will ask you to go out into the hallway."

    Evan's cheek burned as everyone turned to stare at them. He felt their eyes on him as he and Jared stood up and walked out.

    Evan leaned against the wall and slide down, legs pulled to his chest.

    "I honestly thought you knew I was joking," Jared said, standing next to him, hand shoved in his pockets.

    "W-well y-you should know th-that I don't know what's a-a joke and what's not." Evan looked up at Jared. "A-and at first I thought it was a joke, b-but then you kept saying that and that y-you only hung out with me for car insurance."

    "I won't joke about it again," Jared mumbled. "I'm so-"

    The teacher walked out and stood in front of them. "I hope you two are happy," she said. "You disrupted your classmates' learning just so you could have your own conversation. I sort of expect this from you, Mr. Kleinman. But I never expected this from you, Mr. Hansen."

    Evan wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying to regulate his breathing.

    God, you can't even handle a teacher talking to you in the halls. Pathetic.

    "Evan, hey," Jared whispered. "It's ok, she's gone, you're fine." He kneeled in front of him. "C'mon, breathe."

    No tears came out, which they were both glad for. If Evan started crying, they would end up being out there longer than either of them wanted to.

    "I'm sorry," Evan managed to say. "I just. . ." He shook his head.

    Jared wrapped an arm around Evan's shoulder.

    Evan didn't meet his gaze. He was staring at Connor, who was walking passed them. He thought he saw his eyes flicker over to them.

    Jared noticed. "Go after him," he said. "I'll tell the teacher you weren't feeling well and went to the nurse."

    Evan thanked him and stood up, running down the hall to catch up with Connor.