Sincerely Three ➶ Dear Evan Hansen

Sixteen

Jared's POV

There was something about wearing his boyfriend's tie that made confidence a bit easier to fake. Jared straightened Connor's tie to align with his gray button-down. He pulled the sleeves down over his sweating palms as he eyed his neatly brushed back hair in the mirror. He took one last look at himself before spraying some cologne, and he was off. In the back of his parents black sedan, a tension in the air made him slightly more uneasy. His dad drove silently while his mom was too busy on her phone to pay attention.

It took only a few minutes to drive up to a school. Relieved, Jared stepped out of the car while his parents found a place to park. He arrived about 45 minutes early for warm-ups, trying desperately to spot a familiar face. Rather, Evan or Connor's.

"Hey," a voice spoke behind him. Jared turned around to see his fellow soloist, Henry.

"Hey." Jared returned a smile.

"So tonight's the concert." Henry gestured for Jared to walk with him, awaiting his reply.

"Yeah. Good luck, I guess," Jared stated awkwardly, stepping forward.

"You too... I guess." Henry laughed, heading towards the doors of the chorus room. Jared sighed as a rush of A/C came to meet him. "Are you nervous?" Henry asked, grabbing two empty chairs at the front of the room.

"Who wouldn't be?" Jared sat, suddenly conscious of how many people were here.

"Just--chill, okay? It's annoying, I know. You might hear that a lot. It's fine, it's just one night of your life."

It seemed Henry wasn't just trying to convince Jared anymore, but himself as well.

"Seems pretty damn important to me." Jared scoffed.

"It's not, really."

"Wow, coming from you," Jared replied to him; Henry, who's been worried about this for months.

"But hey, you came!" Henry perked up, trying to lift the mood.

"I said that I might," Jared replied sarcastically, as if this were some dance rather than a concert. The tapping of the choir teacher's clipboard on the piano silenced the room, and everyone gathered around to start warm-ups.

-

Two minutes. Jared and Henry stood at the front of the line leading into the chattering auditorium. Henry was much taller and was ahead of Jared, so it was harder for the shorter boy to see who might be sitting in the audience. Their choir teacher had planted himself in front of one of the microphones Jared would be using, welcoming everyone here tonight. They had to agonizingly sing through two songs before he could get this solo over with. Processing down the right aisle, everyone took their places on the risers. It was a small chorus, not more than 50 people all together.

Within a minute, they were started.

Jared tried to keep his focus on the score, but his mind betrayed him as he began to wonder where Connor and Evan were. It wasn't long before it was finally time.

Henry gently nudged Jared as they made their way down to the microphones waiting for them. He looked over at Jared, smiling. Jared gave him a nervous look and tried to steady his breathing as the intro began. Right as he was about to start, he spotted two smiling boys giving him thumbs up in the 5th row. The smile on his face became a genuine one as he flowed through the notes.

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry. You don't know how lovely you are...

The entire time his eyes were on the only people in the room that mattered, dancing back and forth between them. Henry tried to lock eyes with Jared as his solo followed behind, but Jared's attention on him only lasted a couple seconds before he had to look into the audience again.

Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions. Oh, let's go back to the start...

Jared sang to the boys who seemed almost right in front of him, as if the rest of the world didn't matter. They gave him something genuine for this song to really speak to him, and that was love. He looked over at Henry one last time, who was desperate to make a connection. Clapping erupted from the audience right before they stepped back to join the chorus, but the brightest faces in the room were the two staring right at him, beaming with pride. Before he knew it, the auditorium lights flicked on and they were leaving the risers to gather in the chorus room. Jared couldn't help but try to catch a glimpse of Connor and Evan's faces one more time. Once safely in the room, Henry turned to him.

"When you're up there you look like a star," he breathed out.

"Oh, I do?" Jared answered, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"And you are." Henry smiled. There was an awkward beat. Silence ensued before Jared quickly grabbed his coat.

"Bye, Henry." He rushed out the doors, not stopping to answer Henry's,

"Wait!"

Jared pushed through the crowd, watching Evan and Connor emerge from the auditorium.

"Guys!" Jared shouted, waving frantically.

"Jare!" they exclaimed in unison, running up to meet him. An embrace soon followed, as many compliments were thrown his way.

"Here." Connor handed him flowers. "This is what people give at performances, right?"

Jared grinned, taking the flowers as Evan kissed him on the cheek.

"You sounded amazing," the blushing boy told him.

"Couldn't take our eyes off you for a second," Connor added.

"You sound like parents." Jared giggled, mumbling an 'I love you' as they all leaned in for another embrace.

"Jared!" his father's voice sounded stern, awaiting his son at the doors.

"I have to go," Jared said reluctantly. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

The two boys watched nervously as Jared walked over to his parents, who didn't say a word as they led him to the car. Meanwhile, Jared only stared at the ground as he wondered what Henry possibly could have meant earlier. He climbed into the back of the car, his head resting on the glass, his eyes out on the world, and his mind wandering elsewhere.