Chapter 5: One of Those Guys

Jared just sighed a little as he watched Evan's new "friend" scream and shout at the front of the history room. Just what he needed. Now, he'd probably have to babysit two insane people instead of one.

Eventually, Mr. Washington had passed out the syllabi, the bell had rung, and everyone slowly began to pack up and move out. At long last, lunch had arrived.

The young man just waited for Evan to come out, and the two of them walked over to the nice preplanned lunch area. Shade, quiet, a view that didn't strain the eyes. What more could a person want?

Two other people appeared and walked towards the area the moment Evan and Jared had gotten there, seemingly talking and laughing with each other. Both of them were very recognizable.

"Jeremy! What is up?" Jared shouted, genuinely excited. He gave the fellow student a friendly punch on the shoulder.

Jeremy practically fell over from the force of the blow, and it was only thanks to Michael catching him that he didn't end up splayed on the ground.

"Hi, dude," he grumbled, before hauling himself back onto his feet.

"What's up, man?" Jared said, only marginally quieter. "How many girls have you been with?"

"None. What are you talking about?" Jeremy muttered.

"How is that possible? Anybody who looks like me must be completely balling," Jared said, grinning.

It had long been a common joke of Jared's that he and Jeremy looked similar. Indeed, people who didn't know the two of them all that well would often confuse them for each other. Nobody thought this brand of humor was humorous except for Jared himself.

While Jared continued his one-sided banter, Evan and Michael looked at each other awkwardly. They'd always been the friend of a friend, a member of a common friend group. They'd never really been close, and neither of them had been eager to really extend the hand of friendship.

At long last, Jared seemed to be done with whatever he was saying, and he sat down and stopped gesturing around excitedly.

"How's college?" Michael asked politely, finally getting a word in edgewise.

"The classes? All boring and easy," Jared said with a smirk. "The social situation? Meh. Boring, until you guys came around."

The group ate the food that they had, and simply relaxed and talked and enjoyed themselves. An actual good time. It felt like things could go on like this for a very long time. Maybe even for forever.

But alas. It had to end at some point. Time passes, just as it always does, and it was time for the group of friends to part. (were they friends, though? So Evan thought to himself as the meeting concluded. After all, even though they'd known each other a very long time, he hardly knew that many intimate details about anyone. And he barely felt a connection with any of them, on an actual, personal level. Did that make him a bad person? Did he just need to reach out more? Why weren't they reaching back? Why couldn't he just have a normal life and normal friends? Why couldn't-)

"So what's next for you guys?" Michael asked.

"I got Psych with you guys. Didn't I tell you already?" Jared said.

"Eh. Sounds like it could be fun," Jeremy mentioned.

"I got a free period," Evan muttered, but the threesome was already walking away, happily joking with one another and leaving him behind.

He sighed and hung his head, examining the sight of his shoes and the concrete below them.

It always happened like this. It always happened like this. Why? Why couldn't he ever be appreciated, like a normal human being? What was wrong with him?

He just needed an opening. An opportunity. Somebody to unlatch the window from the other side. Once that came along, he'd jump on it, and then! And then, he'd finally be accepted.

The sudden buzzing of his phone in his pocket cut through his unhappy thoughts.

Evan fished the device out of his pants. His mother was calling him. Of course. He loved her to death, but sometimes, she felt way too overbearing.

Still, though. It was a free period, and it wasn't like he had anything to do.

Sighing, he resigned to his fate and trudged off to the nearest computer lab.

"I just… I've never felt this way about anyone before," Alex explained as he walked down the hallway.

John rolled his eyes, while Herc laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Man, nobody's ever gonna trust you with a secret!" the young man replied, nearly guffawing.

"Alex, you've literally just met her today," John said, trying to reason with his friend. "You haven't even exchanged a single sentence."

"I met you guys literally three days ago." Alex shot back. "And we're friends."

"That's different," John said, looking away. "We actually ARE friends. Eliza, on the other hand, is still a total stranger to you."

"Why are you so adamant on me not liking her? Does she already have a boyfriend or something? Just say the word."

"No, no, she's single at the moment…" John conceded.

"Wasn't she going out with that Andre guy? Something Andre?"

"John Andre? No, no, no. They broke up ages ago. Haven't you heard?" John said dismissively.

"So what you're saying is there's a chance!" Alex exclaimed, throwing a fist into the air.

"Good luck with that," a familiar, deep voice said.

Aaron Burr cut through the rest of the crowd. Despite the many people and conversations that were going on all around, he had pinpointed exactly where Alex and his friends were, and had made a beeline right to them, others moving out his way.

"How do I get everyone to do that?" Alex asked when they finally stood face to face.

The boy grinned, two sets of shiny teeth appearing between his lips.

"Being son of the dean does have its perks, you know," he said with a slight smirk. "Class is going to be in session."

They had stopped right next to the door of the chemistry room. Alex stood on his toes to look through the window inside before immediately ducking back down.

"Yep. She's in there," he said.

"Try not to mess it all up in the first minute," Aaron suggested.

"This'll be fun to watch." Hercules laughed.

"Do tell me how it goes. I'm off to Stats," John said.

"Yeah, yeah, we will," came Hercules' sarcastic reply.

The three of them walked in, Alex politely letting his friends go first.

John watched the back of his new best friend's head enter the science classroom, admiring the way the sun hit the red curls. How he wouldn't like to just run his hands through them…

The door closed with a nice, quiet hiss between them.

The young man sighed. He pinched his thumb and forefinger together, and held it up high as though he were still at the bar, getting drunk.

"Raise a glass to freedom…"

One last quiet moment, and then John turned tail, ready to continue his walk alone.

Be More Chill. The musical that absolutely nobody asked for, but what would you know? It's here anyway.

I apologize for the abrupt months-long hiatus that this went on. However, now that I've finished my other various projects, and gained enough time and sufficient motivation, I should be able to get chapters out with much greater frequency.

Mr. Assassin (man, cool name), I'll see what I can do about adding other musicals. I've got big plans for this fic. BIG plans. Many, many musicals will be included.

But for now, you're going to have to wait for it. Until next time, reader!