High Anxiety - Dear Evan Hansen

Feel it Out

This is another chapter from Quia in Aeternum. Please go read that if you like this sorcerer!Evan Au, because I enjoy writing it and would appreciate feedback, at the very least.

 "So I know you said that none of these do anything bad, but wouldn't it be cool if I could just feed a few drops of this to that annoying theatre kid in History and have her head explode?" Jared stood staring at Evan's potion shelves. He picked one up and tossed it between his hands, watching it flip in the air, glass glinting in the single beam of sunlight that filtered into the room.

"No. You've, you've been wanting me to hurt Christine for you since Sophomore year. P-please put that, put it down. Just because--just because it's not dangerous doesn't mean you, you really shouldn't throw it around. Hey, please."

"What? Is it going to explode?" Jared caught the bottle and smirked at Evan, peeking over his glasses.

"No, no it won't, but agitation can mess it up! Please just--" Evan snatched the bottle from his friend's hands and set it back in its proper place on the shelf, where it clinked in line with the other bottles. "Just leave it alone." Jared shrugged and perched himself on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his elbows and casting his eyes around the room, taking in the jumbled stacks of parchment and spellbooks, mixed with school textbooks and sheets of looseleaf. Evan had returned to the small, steaming cauldron that was perched on his desk, stirring and sifting in powders and leaves from a few of the oddly colored plants scattered about the room. His laptop sat next to him, open to what looked suspiciously like a standard recipe site.

"Please tell me that isn't Pinterest. If you get potion recipes from Pinterest, that's the first reason your potions are shit."

"What?" Evan glanced back at him, brow furrowed. "No, no it's--there's this forum for all kinds of magic stuff, um... I should really be using the older recipes, but um, this is like, updated? I don't know. The old ones never seem to work and, and I thought I'd, I'd try this instead." Jared snickered.

"Right, because cooking anything else has changed so much over the centuries. Not like I could make the same chocolate chip cookies my great-great-great grandmother did. No, I need to look up something new." He got to his feet with a grunt and strode over to his friend, looking over his shoulder at the bubbling sludge. Evan added a handful of flower petals and it turned from pond sludge to something the color and consistency of Mountain Dew.

"Look, maybe--maybe I just need practice. I, I have to get better eventually. Besides, it's only--it's only the last two that didn't work."

"Believe me, your boy was a right fountain of truth after your last experiment. That went just fine. He wouldn't shut up. You just didn't see it because he doesn't lie to you. Who knew you were so special." Jared eyed the concoction in the cauldron. Its steady boil was starting to froth. "Is it supposed to look like acid?"

"I, no. No, it's supposed to be apple green."

"Hate to break it to you, dude, but that's not apple. That's fucking acid. Smells like it too." Evan turned to him with a desperate, tearful glare. His teeth were clenched and his lips trembled a bit. Jared wiped the smirk off his face. He probably would've kept joking, but then he remembered Evan could turn him into a chicken or something if he wanted to. "Shit, man. You expect me to know what you did wrong?"

"I followed the instructions exactly! I don't--I don't know what it could've possibly been!"

"Well there's your problem. Exact instructions are bullshit. Just mess around with it. Is any of your other magic exact?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, have you ever had to like, pronounce something perfectly and do it with fancy fucking hand motions or anything?"

"No, not really. I kinda just like, let it happen? It's um, it's instinct, I guess?" Evan's face relaxed as he talked, slowly realizing Jared's genius. Jared gave him a slap on the back. Evan shouted and stumbled forwards a bit, catching himself against the desk.

"Right, so exactly what you've done with all the other magic-y shit you've shown me since second grade. You just feel it out. And if you're good at it, you can go try it out with HotTopic, too." Jared winked. Evan went bright red.

"Jared! We don't--Connor and I don't, don't do things like that!"

"Suuurreee." Jared turned and threw himself back on the bed, bouncing as he settled on the blankets. "Probably safe, I mean, who knows what would happen if you get too excited. I'm seeing fireworks at best, both of you turned into rabbits at worst."

"Please stop." Evan buried his face in his hands.

"Yeah, whatever. Just be glad I'm here. You'd go nuts trying to do all this witch stuff on your own."

"I'm not a witch." Evan didn't look at him. He was busy making his failed potion disappear into thin air and starting over.

"Oh, right. Witches have cats." Jared caught a wriggling ball of fur from beside him on the bed and held it up, dangling by its long pink tail. "You've got Reepicheep here." Evan turned, eyes wide, and snatched the mouse from Jared's grasp, cradling the tiny rodent in his hands.

"Leave Daisy alone. What did she do to you?" Evan pet it's snowy fur with one finger as it curled into his grasp. Jared couldn't suppress his laughter.

"You named it Daisy?" he said, gasping for breath. "A little tame, don't you think? I would've guessed wisteria or goldenrod or foxglove or eucalyptus. You know, something that screams I'm a plant nerd?"

"It, it was Jeremy's idea. I got her when Mom was still just, um, just dating his dad and he came with. They said it would be good for us to bond or something. He, he likes video games and he suggested it because, because it's the name of a princess character. I, I know it's stupid, but..." Evan drifted off, tucking Daisy into his pocket. He had gone pink again.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm leaving." Jared stood and stretched, cracking his back. "You two stay here and feel it out. Good luck. Let's hope Murphy isn't scared of mice. Later!" He was chased out by Evan shouting his name in his flustered half-anger. Jared cackled to himself a little. Man, he'd have to figure out how to get Evan to spill the magic beans. Imagine the chaos they could get into if Evan would actually use his witchy powers for petty shit. He'd pay to see that. 

Also, I'm open for requests for this book. I won't write smut, but everything else is pretty much on the table. Thanks!