Evan was scared of the dark. He would never admit it, but Jared could tell. He noticed the way that Evan would glance around dim rooms nervously, or how he would always move closer to Jared on the couch when he would turn the lights off to watch a movie. He noticed that he would squeeze his hand just a little tighter if the old campus lights flickered. Evan may have been the bravest person Jared ever knew, but he was absolutely terrified of the dark.
And so Jared grabbed his hand and led him through the night and into the orchard. Jared thought back to the day Evan kissed him. When he made that flower crown and decided that the orchard would be their spot, even though he had gone there with countless other people. Jared couldn't help his jealousy, so he tried to push it aside. His main focus would be to help Evan take his mind off of everything that was going on that night.
"Tell me a story," Evan spoke suddenly.
"Hm?"
"Just...I want to hear your voice. Tell me a story. It can be anything, I don't care." Jared paused. "Okay...well..." He tried to think of something creative, but storytelling was never his forte. "Remember in fifth grade when we went on the field trip to that museum with all the dinosaurs."
"You cried when you saw the brontosaurus," Evan said softly. Jared couldn't see his face, but he knew he had a small smile. "That thing was huge and terrifying!" Jared justified.
Evan laughed, a sound that Jared wanted to hear on repeat for hours on end. If it was possible, he'd make that laugh his ringtone. "Jared, it was an herbivore!" He grinned. "Don't use that science talk on me, I know it could eat me if it really wanted to."
"You're such an idiot."
Jared bent down to kiss his cheek. "Only for you." The smaller boy let out a happy sigh. "Mm. More kisses." Jared shook his head. "I have to finish my story!" He could practically hear Evan roll his eyes. The two sat down on a fallen tree not too far from the entrance. "Anyway, like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Jared playfully shoved Evan. "We went to the museum and we all needed 'buddies' so we wouldn't get lost." Evan nodded. "And neither of us had friends, but we knew each other because of our parents."
"They were always pushing us together," Evan said, rubbing his hand along the textured wood. Jared chuckled. "Maybe they knew all along." He rested his head on Jared's shoulder. "And so we were buddies. And you knew everything about dinosaurs, and I couldn't have cared less. Still, I was dying of happiness because I had this massive crush on you, and our teacher made us hold hands so we wouldn't drift apart. I swear, she treated us like preschoolers. Then, during lunch, you wanted to see that huge pterodactyl exhibit, but it wasn't part of our field trip."
Evan sighed. "Yeah, I remember all this." Jared pressed his finger to the other's lips. "Let me finish embarrassing you. Anyway, I wanted to impress you and I was already a troublemaker, so we finished our dinosaur chicken nuggets and snuck into the exhibit. There was that life-sized pterodactyl statue that you could walk through and get the idea of what the inside of a dinosaur could have looked like. So, we sat down behind the heart and hid from our teacher while she screamed our names."
"Then you got weird."
"Then I got weird." Evan smiled. "I gave you a hug after we left the exhibit. You pushed me away and ran onto the bus. You really liked me, didn't you?"
Jared smiled back. "Forever and always."
"Evan! Jared!" A voice whispered from behind them. Another said, "Quit being cute and get your asses over here! I'm tired and I swear to god, Evan, I will eat this strawberry donut with sprinkles if you don't get here in thirty seconds." Evan instantly jumped off the log, ready to save his beloved donut. Jared grabbed his hand and pulled him back, giving him a quick kiss. Evan giggled. "Stop, I gotta get my donut." Jared rolled his eyes and let him go, walking behind him.
When he got to the road, Evan was sitting on top of the roof of Zoey's car, devouring a light pink pastry. Alana and Zoey were leaning against the car, laughing at the blonde haired boy. Jared grabbed a Boston Creme and climbed on the roof to join him. Alana did the same as Zoey followed suit, grumbling about how they were going to put a dent in her Chevy. She brought the box with her, and the four sat on top of Zoey's dusty car, staring at the stars.
"You ever wish we had a more glamorous life than this?" Alana asked, mouth full of apple fritter. They all thought for a moment. "Haven't really thought of it," Zoey replied. The other two murmured an agreement. Evan squeezed Jared's hand. "Think about it. We could go anywhere and do anything, yet we choose to stay in this pit of a town. Why?"
"Tuition is cheap. Coffee is good." Jared said with a smirk. "The dates here aren't too crappy either," Evan said, earning a laugh from the others. "Yeah, I guess it's not all that bad here." Alana leaned back as she spoke, pointing out some of the constellations in the sky. Zoey laid down in her lap, which Alana took as a chance to play with her hair.
Jared shook his head. "Nah, it's still pretty bad here."
"Tell you what," Zoey said, sitting up, her hair in a sloppy braid, courtesy of her girlfriend. "When we graduate, we all move to some city together. We leave this tiny town and actually go someplace big. Like LA or Chicago."
"Or NYC!" Evan piped up. He had always loved the idea of living in New York City. "Or Paris..." Alana said dreamily. She had started taking French that year, to her mother's dismay. "God no, everyone there is a raging bisexual," Zoey said with a grimace. "Love, you are a raging bisexual." Alana laughed, grabbing her girlfriend's hand. "Yeah, but they're annoying about it." She replied.
Laughter once again filled the air. "How about Seattle?" Jared suddenly said. "Think about it, Alana can go to med school there, Zoey can take all of the Grey's Anatomy tours she's always dreamed about, I can go to school and become a therapist, and Evan can open up a nursery." The group all thought for a moment. "Okay, but Evan has to promise he won't be like my mom when he opens up his flower shop." Evan shuddered. "I will never be like your mom." Alana snickered.
"So we're doing it? We're gonna move to Seattle after graduation?" The other three agreed. "Yeah," Evan said. "Let's always stick together. To the end."
"To the end."
And with those three words, everything was perfect.
