"So, Evan. You ever played Apocalypse of the Damned?" Michael asked, practically shouting over the blaring music.

"Um... no, I haven't. What's that?"

Jeremy feigned offence, glancing over at him. "Only the best video game in the world!"

"I wouldn't know, I don't really play a lot of video games," Evan explained quietly, with a weak smile.

"Dude, you've gotta come over some time, we need to play!" Michael grinned, turning towards them. "We can hook up a third controller or something. You—"

"Michael! Look at the fucking road!" Jeremy half-yelled. Michael rolled his eyes, facing back to the front before violently twisting the wheel to one side as the car nearly collided with a tree. "Jesus Christ, are you trying to kill someone?!"

"No! I'm trying to take our new friend here home," he replied haughtily, before breaking into laughter again. "Sorry, man."

"Don't worry," Evan mumbled, his voice shaking a little with the shock of the near-crash.

"So, are you gonna come over one day?" Michael asked eagerly. "It'll be so cool, I promise."

"Um..." Evan thought for a moment. It was a very nice offer — in fact, he'd like nothing better than to be playing video games with a couple friends instead of sitting at home alone with just his laptop and Jared's snarky sense of humour for company. But he didn't want to intrude; they seemed like such good friends and he'd hate to get in the middle of that. "Maybe. That'd be fun, but I don't want to be a bother—"

"Are you serious?" Jeremy turned to him.

"Uh, what?"

"We invited you, dude! We wouldn't ask you to come if we didn't want you there."

Evan smiled slightly. "Yeah, that's true. Thank you."

"Don't even mention it." Michael grinned back through the rear view mirror. "I can invite Jared, too. You know Jared, don't you?"

"Jared Kleinman?" Evan nodded. "He's a family friend."

"Oh, really?" Michael sounded surprised. "I didn't realise he had any friends. But yeah, I might invite him. He's my cousin, by the way," he added.

It was Evan's turn to look surprised now. "You guys are cousins? He's nothing like you, is he?" A pause. "You're a lot nicer."

"Aw, thanks," Michael laughed again. "But it's not exactly hard to be nicer than him. He's sweet underneath, though. Sort of. Uh... sometimes." He shrugged. "Depends on his mood. Oh well. Is this your street?"

"Oh— yep, it is," Evan replied, after a brief glance out of the window. "Thanks for driving me."

"Don't mention it," Michael repeated, with another small smile. He pulled over to the side of the road, unlocking the car so Evan could get out. He did so, giving the two still inside the car a little wave.

"See you tomorrow!" he smiled cheerfully. Both Jeremy and Michael smiled back, and Jeremy returned the wave.

"See you," he answered, as Michael turned the car around (at high speed) and drove it back up the little road where Evan lived.

He started to walk the brief distance from where the car had stopped to his door, unlocking it and heading inside. Much to his surprise, his mother was still there — clearly in a rush, but there nonetheless.

"Evan! Did you have a good day at school, sweetie?" Heidi asked, as she fished around in her jacket pockets for something. She pulled her phone and keys out, shoving them in her jean pockets and looking up. She offered him a hopeful smile.

"Yeah, I did."

Heidi seemed a little shocked by his answer, which she did her best to hide; Evan still noticed, however, though didn't point it out. "Well, that's great, isn't it? Did you make any friends?" Now she was tugging on a new coat, still half-focused on his answer.

Again, Evan nodded. She broke out in a huge grin.

"That's amazing, honey! I'm so proud of you," she said happily, picking up her bag from the ground and giving him a tight side hug. "Listen, I've gotta go. It's an emergency," she explained. It was the same explanation every single time — 'it's an emergency' or 'they need me there' — but this time Evan wasn't particularly bothered.

"Don't worry, mom," he managed to smile.

"Alright. There's money on the table, you can order something to eat, or there's some frozen stuff in the freezer," Heidi spoke hastily, halfway out of the door. "Leftovers, too. Make sure you eat something. Finish that letter to Dr Sherman, too, if you can." Of course, he'd completely forgotten about the letter he'd printed at lunch. This sudden realisation caused a sudden, brief moment of panic; Connor still had the letter. He barely had time to think about it, at that moment, while his mother was leaving.

"Love you, sweetie. See you later." With another small smile, she shut the door behind her, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Something he tended to avoid.

He took a brief glance at the money on the table before deciding to make himself a sandwich with some leftover chicken instead, beginning to butter some plain white bread. He'd prepared it in no time, bringing it into his room. His backpack fell discarded next to the bed, and he pulled out the laptop. The sense of panic was building, and talking to Jared probably wouldn't help, but it was the only option he could think of.

Jared
Are you online?

What??
This better be good Hansen
I'm in the middle of something

Evan sighed softly. Of course, this wouldn't get him anywhere. If anything, it was making the situation worse.

Sorry
You know Michael

He's my cousin
Idiot
Of course I know him

Yeah well do you have his @ or anything
I need to ask him about something
Or his friend's too
Sorry

Evan waited for Jared's slow reply, just finishing off the sandwich and dropping the plate on the bedside table. A minute or two later, Evan had Michael's username, alongside a couple 'gay' comments from Jared.

Hi Michael
Sorry if this is weird
This is Evan
The one you dropped off

Hi Evan
I know it's you, Jared told me
What's up?

Evan contemplated for a moment. He could just ask Michael straight up, but he didn't have all the context — however nice he was, he couldn't offer much. His best bet was Jeremy, who'd been with him in the cafeteria and at play rehearsal, plus when they'd seen Connor afterwards.

Do you have Jeremy's username?
I need to ask him about something
For school
That sounds weird
Sorry
But it is for school

Michael handed it over, offering to message him first so Jeremy knew who it was. Evan agreed, waiting for the first message from Jeremy. It was strange — he felt calmer already, just the idea of talking to him, and a lot more comfortable speaking to him than anyone else.

Hi Evan!!
This is you, right?
Michael said message you
He said you had something to ask me

Hi Jeremy
Thank you by the way
I'm sorry if this is weird
Connor has something of mine, he got it when I left for the computer lab
I dunno what to do

I'm sure it's okay!
He's probably forgotten about it anyway
He looked pretty... out of it
If you get to school early tomorrow we can talk about it then
See if I can do anything

All Evan replied with was a little, 'yes, thank you', but already relief was washing over him. Jeremy was right; Connor had probably forgotten. Plus he'd offered to help, which was reassuring in itself. It was doubtful they'd be able to actually manage anything if Connor had remembered, but there was still the hope. Normally, he wouldn't have accepted it that easily, but he trusted Jeremy — he wouldn't have believed him otherwise.