Chapter 2: Always Looking In
"Mind giving me a tour of the place?" Alex requested.
Evan sighed and stood up. "Sure. Might as well. I've got nothing better to do."
And so the two of them exited the room and began to walk around the beautiful campus, Evan pointing this way and that at various important structures.
They were just walking past the cafetorium where Alex randomly looked at someone, said, "Oh! I know him," and ran off to go talk to that someone, leaving Evan standing alone.
"No way," a voice said mockingly off to the side. "Evan having a friend other than me? That couldn't be true. Must be a boyfriend."
Evan inwardly groaned. "He's my freakin' roomate, Jared. Buzz off,"
He felt an arm drape itself across his shoulders, and finally compelled to, he raised his head and looked at his friend.
"Hey, why you look so down, buddy?" Jared asked. "Guys like us? We're cool in college! You should be talking to girls! Climbing the ladder of popularity!"
"First of all: no." Evan replied. "Second of all: no. And in case you have something else that you want to add to it: no."
"Dude. How do you expect to ever be happy when you don't give yourself the chance?" Jared asked, walking in a new direction and forcing his friend along with him.
The plan of forcing his friend along with him, however, was quickly defeated by another boy dressed in black rudely bumping into Evan, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Jared stopped and extended a hand to his fallen friend. "You alright?"
Evan accepted the proffered hand, picking himself up from the ground. "Who the heck does that guy think he is?"
Jared glanced at the now-retreating figure. "What, you haven't heard of Connor Murphy? The crackhead who's always high?"
Evan blinked. "Connor… Murphy?"
"Yes. Connor Murphy. That's his name." Jared says, lightly slapping his friend on the cheek in an attempt to bring him back to reality.
Evan blinked, shook his head, and finally began to walk along with Jared.
"You know, where are you taking me, anyway?" Evan asked.
"Where am I taking you? I'm taking you to meet some friends! Think of it like me doing your job for you," Jared said.
Evan sighed, and sensing that his friend wasn't going to let up, submitted to getting led along by his friend to wherever the heck he was taking him.
Many hours later, after the sun had gone down and the moon had come up and drinks and stories had been shared, Evan and Jared were stumbling back in the direction of the dorms confusedly.
So many names and faces and drinks. Evan couldn't remember a single thing that had happened, or even what had happened at all.
You know what? Maybe this is alright, he thought to himself. I'm mellowing out. That's good enough.
"So, why were you so confused about Connor earlier?" Jared said, a slight slur to his words.
Evan sighed. "You're my best friend, al-"
"Your only friend," Jared interjected.
"Only. Friend." Evan said, gritting his teeth a little. "So I'll tell you. But only if you can keep it a secret."
"Ah, what the hell. Sure!" Jared replied, throwing his hands up in the air exaggeratedly. "Go ahead. I won't say a word."
Still doubtful, Evan marched on anyway. "Do you know a person named Zoe Murphy?"
"Zoe… Murphy…" Jared said thoughtfully to himself. It was an awkward moment of silence before he replied. "Oh, yeah. Of course I do. Why would you… oh. Oh."
"What?"
"You got the hots for her!" Jared said in realization, a drunken grin breaking out on his face. "Oh, man. That's too good. How do you even know her? Man, I gotta tell everyone!"
"It's none of your business. And clearly, telling you was a mistake," Evan said, turning away.
Jared grabbed him and spun him around again. "Hey. It's alright. I promise I won't tell anyone. Heck, I bet I won't even remember in the morning!" At this, he began to laugh delightfully, despite the lack of humor in any of his words.
"Alright, alright. Real funny," Evan replied.
And the two friends walked forward into the night, ready for whatever awaited them.