Evan woke up early on Saturdays. He'd told his mother that it was unintentional, that he was just an early riser. Truth be told, Evan set alarms until he trained himself to wake up early enough to spend time with her on weekends. Even with Heidi being as busy as she was, she genuinely tried to make an effort to be close to her son, and it wasn't fair for it to be one-sided.
His mother grew used to his early awakening. It became a weekly tradition for them to have pancakes every Saturday morning, eight o' clock sharp. Evan smiled as he opened his door and the scent of pancakes awakened his senses, filling him with a joy for life that he really only felt on these Saturday mornings.
His mother was pouring coffee into two mugs when he reached the kitchen, two plates of food already set on the table with a warm bottle of syrup between them. Heidi smiled up at him as they exchanged good mornings, sitting down as she handed him his coffee.
"How was your week?" she asked, sipping her coffee, glancing up at him expectantly.
"Not bad!" Evan replied cheerfully, cherishing the moment, "I have a pen pal."
"The email your counselor set you up with?" Heidi's eyes were shining, and all of her attention was suddenly on Evan who just nodded as he chewed his food, "That's wonderful, honey! You're making a friend!"
Evan shrugged, not quite sharing Heidi's excitement anymore, "My partner doesn't seem too into it... I'm not sure what to talk about."
The two continued talking as they ate, laughing every few minutes about what the other said. Evan wished it was always like this. He wished "mom" was all that she had to be. Alas, as a single mother, Heidi was doing all she could to support herself and Evan, along with his meds and therapy sessions.
Evan took care of the dishes as his mother rushed to get out the door, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before shutting the door behind her. Having nothing else to do with the empty house, Evan grabbed his laptop and typed an email to his "friend."
To: anonymous420@support.com
From: Evan Hansen
Dear anonymous420,
I'm really happy you opened up. I sound like a therapist, sorry. Just a concerned... friend? Acquaintance? Pen pal? I don't know.
Don't compare yourself to your sister. Everybody is different and you shouldn't put yourself under the pressure of being like her. You're not her. You are you, and that's enough. Also, you don't just have Hannah from the Smoking Circle. You have me. I know it's not the same, I'm just some weirdo you're being forced to talk to online. But I'm here for you.
Thank you for emailing me. I don't have anyone to talk to except my mom, which sounds sad. It is, but it's fine. That makes it sound like I don't have friends. I do, two actually, but I don't want to annoy them, or anyone with my problems and they've put up with it for so long that it doesn't feel fair to put them through it anymore. Thanks for listening.
Sincerely,
Me
Evan decided to make himself look and feel like less of a wreck as he waiting for a response. He showered and brushed his teeth after popping two pills into his mouth. Meanwhile, Connor was barely awake, fighting a smile as he read the email. Nobody cared about Connor enough to tell him that he didn't need to be Zoe, yet here was this online stranger telling him that he was enough.
To: Evan Hansen
From: anonymous420@support.com
dear evan hansen,
bro, it's saturday. how do you wake up so early on the weekend? as a teenager, it's like, an unspoken rule that weekends are for sleeping away all the stress you endure during the week.
