A week later, Evan found himself in his mom's car. She drove into the school parking lot. The doctor told them to let him rest for a week before sending him back to school.

The boy looked at his arm. It was still sprained, but it hasn't been hurting as much so Evan decided to unwrap it. It made walking up and down stairs a lot easier.

The car stopped and Evan unbuckled his seatbelt. He stared at the building. Students were filing into the school, most were in groups. Evan swallowed and pushed the car door open. He said a quick goodbye to his mom and slammed the door shut.

He got to the curb and looked at it. There was ice near it and one wrong move could send him to the ground. He carefully placed the crutch on the curb and hoisted himself up. He stumbled a bit and automatically reached an arm out to hold something.

He accidentally grabbed a girl's shoulder. He mumbled an apology and started making his way to the front doors. The sound of students talking and laughing filled his ears. His eyes glazed across the hallways, taking in everything. He shifted so his backpack wouldn't fall off his shoulder.

He searched the crowd for Connor, wondering if he was there. A tap on his shoulder made him turn around. He lifted his hand to greet Connor, but the person in front of him wasn't Connor.

"Hi Evan!" the girl exclaimed. She bounced on the balls of her feet. "How was your break?" Evan opened his mouth to respond but the girl beat him to it. "Mine was great. I got all of my homework done on the first day so I could spend time with my grandmother. She helped me create filers for the fundraiser." Her eyes traveled towards his bulky leg. He had carefully put on a pair of large sweatpants over his cast. "Oh my god, what happened?"

"I uh, there was a crash—"

"I hope you heal soon." The girl rocked a bit on her heels. "I heard from Zoe who heard from Connor that you can see now."

Evan nodded quickly. "I— yeah, it's weird— not weird, I didn't mean that, but I'm just. I'm not used to it."

"That's understandable. If you ever need help with anything, I'm usually available during lunch." The girl walked off before Evan could reply.

She had seemed familiar but he couldn't remember where he'd heard her voice. He was about to look for Connor when another voice called out to him.

"Evan!" Jared's voice came from next to him. Evan jumped and looked to his left. Jared was walking down the hall that lead to the gym and art rooms. "What the hell, man? You haven't answered my— oh." Jared caught sight of his cast. "Shit man, what happened?"

"My mom didn't tell you?" Evan asked. He very badly wanted to shift his weight to his other foot, but he would have to deal with the pain until he sat down.

"If she did, I don't remember," Jared admitted. "Although you'd think I'd remember how you got all banged up."

Evan pursed his lips. "There was a car crash."

Jared's eyes went wide. "Wait, again?"

Evan winced at the memory Jared brought up. He looked around at the student body as they filed into the classroom halls. "I can see."

"Shit really? Congrats." Jared put his hands on his hips. "I'd love to stay and chat, but class starts in ten minutes and I'm on the other side of the building." And with that, Jared walked off.

Evan watched as he left. He wanted to call out to him, that he needed help with classes. Just because he can see, doesn't mean he knows where to go. He didn't remember what numbers looked like, let alone large room numbers. He remembered the basic ones, but they were blurry too.

Connor was nowhere in sight. Maybe he was already in class.

Until Evan found him or magically remembered the shape of numbers, he'd have to rely on the Braille writing on the plates next to doors. Which. That's fine. He'll be fine.

He got to the classroom right as the warning bell rung. Students mingled with friends, laughing and talking loudly. A group of girls stood in the corner of the room, giggling and looking around at everyone. Evan diverted his eyes away from the group and counted the desks until he got to his.

The late bell rung and he sat down the best he could. His casted leg stuck out and his non-broken leg was tucked under the chair. The girl he spoke to before class slid into the desk next to him. He blinked in surprise and met her gaze. He looked away when the teacher walked up to the board.

Evan tried to make out the words and numbers on the board. He hoped he looked like he was actually reading them and not digging through his brain to remember what they were.

A single tap on his shoulder made him jolt out of his thoughts. He looked over at the source of the disturbance and saw the girl next to him staring at him with concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Evan nodded quickly. "Why, why wouldn't I be?"

"I mean, you frowning at the board and not taking out the worksheet," she explained. She pushed her glasses up.

Oh.

Evan looked away sheepishly. "I um." How did he say this without sounding pathetic? "I haven't been able to, to read normally for ten years? I don't remember how."

What was that girl's name?

The girl gasped. "I'm sorry. I probably sounded so rude." She shifted herself so one leg was crossed over her knee. "I can help you if you want. Not now, obviously. But during lunch or after school. Actually, after school might not be a good time. I'm tutoring Zoe in Spanish."

Evan blinked, his mouth hung open but no response came out. He nodded dumbly. The girl flashed a smile before turning back to her work.

Evan struggled through his first few classes. History was the worst; the teacher made them read three pages from the textbook and Evan had forgotten his own at home. It was either take an hour to read a page or fall behind in a day's work.

He was glad lunch was right after his first aid class. He wanted to relax and try to forget about things. Which was close to impossible given his thoughts were always spiraling.

The teen held his lunch tray in one hand and tried to not tip over while he moved his way through the ever-growing crowd. He got to his table and found Zoe already sitting there. That was a surprise.

Evan slowly approached the table. Zoe glanced up from her phone when Evan sat across from her.

"Hey, Zoe," Evan said. He placed his crutch so it was laying across two seats. "I might be— this might— not to be rude, but. Why are you sitting here?"

Zoe pushed a strand of hair over her shoulder. "My usual table was full already. And they're talking about things I'm not interested in."

"Like what?"

"Boys."

Evan looked up from his tiny milk carton in surprise. "Oh." That was. . . Not what he expected to here. Good for her though.

The short conversation drifted to an awkward silence. Evan picked at his food of lumpy mashed potatoes and cold chicken strips. A tray was set down next to the boy and he looked up in surprise. The girl from his math class took a seat.

"Hey Alana," Zoe said, glancing up from her phone.

So that was her name.

"Hello Zoe," Alana chirped back. She turned to face Evan. "Alright, Evan. I'll admit, I've never had to teach someone how to read again, but there's a first time for everything."

Zoe gave a questioning stare. Evan sent back a silent plead to stay silent. The sophomore pursed her lips and went back to tapping on her phone screen.

"You don't really have to do this," Evan said.

Alana smiled. "It's fine, Evan. I can handle one more task in my schedule."

Evan frowned but let her shift through her backpack. She pulled out a white notebook with small blue and pink swirls in the top right and bottom left corner. She took out the pencil from her ear and flipped the notebook open to a clear page. She started scribbling on it.

When she finished, she stuck the pencil back on her ear and slid the notebook in front of Evan. "Can you tell me what you already know?"

Evan studied the paper. He knew the writing were the letters of the alphabet, but to him it looked like chicken scratch. "I know the sounds and how to spell words," he mumbled. Alana had to tilted her head towards him to hear what he said. "But I don't know what they look like."

Alana nodded. "Alright. That should be fairly easy to teach." She proceeded to point and list the letters to Evan. The teen repeated each name in his head, along with the symbol for them. Alana finished and looked at him. "Can you repeat them back to me?"

Evan bit his lip and quickly recited the list of letters.

Alana stared at him. "You must be a fast learner."

Evan looked away. "They were in order, it was easy."

Alana smiled and closed the notebook. She fished around in her notebook again. Evan took a small bite  of his potatoes. The black haired girl held a small stack of notecards and a sharpie in her hand. She put the cap in her mouth and yanked the pen away from her body.

She started writing on the notecards. She put the cap back on the sharpie and shuffled the deck of notecards. She held up a random card. "What letter is this?"

Evan stared at the card, eyebrows furrowed. "Q?" he guessed.

Alana shook her head. "It's 'O'." She handed him the deck of cards. "Your phone reads off the letters right?" Evan nodded. "When you get home, quiz yourself with these cards and type them onto your phone to see if you were correct. We'll meet up during lunch again tomorrow and I'll quiz you to see if you studied."

Evan blinked. His eyes lowered to the short stack of cards in his hands. He opened his mouth to respond, but noticed Alana had hopped over to the table next to them and was chatting excitedly with a girl.

Evan looked at his lunch and poked it with his fork. The fork went right through the potatoes. He pushed the tray away, not hungry. He glanced up at Zoe, who had her backpack on the table and was writing furiously across a sheet of paper.

"Zoe?" he asked. She hummed in response, but didn't look up. "Can I— do you mind giving me a, a ride to your place? After school?"

Her pencil stopped. "What for?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I uh." Evan fiddled with his styrofoam tray, accidentally ripping a piece of it off. "I need— I have to speak to Connor about something."

Her pencil began to dance across the paper again. "Yeah sure. But be careful, he hasn't been in the mood to talk since our dad grounded him."

"His door is the first one on your right, upstairs," Zoe said as she unlocked the front door. Evan was too busy slowly walking while admiring how large the house was to pay attention. The building was pure white; there wasn't a single drop of dirt or paint chipping off anywhere. There were two garage doors, the front porch that lead to the front door was huge, a small garden was next to the sidewalk, and don't get Evan started on how many windows were on the first side of the building.

Evan was snapped out of his trance when Zoe waved her hand in front of his face.

"You alright?" she asked.

Evan nodded. "Your house is really big."

Zoe shrugged. "It's average at best. If you go towards the edge of town, those houses are big." She turned and walked inside the house.

Evan followed as best her could. He closed the door behind him and was about to bend down to untie his shoe but stopped. He looked around to try to find a chair to sit down in, but the nearest one was the long couch in the living room. He didn't want to get the carpet wet.

Zoe caught his stare and sighed. "Leave it on," she said. "It'll dry before anyone else gets home."

Evan nodded. He slipped off his backpack and put it on the floor against the long table that was across from the shoe closet.

He attempted to get some of the snow off by scraping the bottom of the shoe against a metal leg on the table. It semi worked.

He frowned and made his way over to the staircase. He took a deep breath and placed his crutch on the first step. He put his weight on the crutch and lifted himself onto the step.

It took him longer than he'd like to admit to get to the top of the stairs. He paused to catch his breath. He lifted his head up from its bent down position. The hall was dark. Evan had to press his hand against his wall to find his way, which he didn't complain about. He did that for a few years of his life; what's one more day?

His fingers brushed against a doorknob. He stopped and lifted his fist to knock on the door. He heard shuffling and quiet coughing before the door opened a bit. The shuffling continued and Evan pushed the door so it was wide enough to walk through.

Connor was folding a hoodie. He set it on the end of his bed. The room may be dark, but Evan still saw the marks on Connor's arms. The short boy's heart sank. His eyes darted up to Connor's face after he realized he'd been staring for too long.

Connor's eyes bored into Evan's. Evan hunched over, as if he could disappear from the intense stare.

'I didn't mean to stare,' Evan said. 'Sorry.'

'Don't be,' Connor replied, moving to grab his folded up hoodie. 'I'm not used to having to cover up around you. My mistake.'

Evan gulped.

'So,' Connor continued once he had his hoodie on, 'Why are you here?' He sat on his bed and patted the open space next to him.

Evan walked over to the bed and sat down. 'I needed to ask you something.'

Connor lifted an eyebrow. 'This couldn't've been done over text? Not that I don't like seeing you in person, but I'm kinda grounded.'

'You're parents aren't home,' Evan pointed out. 'We're fine. But this is important.'

Connor blew out a puff of air. 'Alright, ask away.'

'What are we?' Connor looked at Evan, a questioning look displayed on his face. 'I mean. We kissed twice, and we haven't talked about it.'

'What do you want us to be?' Connor asked back.

'I'm not sure.' Evan sighed. He paused to pick at the loose thread on the thick comforter. 'More than friends? I'd like that, but I'm scared.'

'About what? Your mom seems pretty chill about everything.' Connor let out a loud series of coughs. Evan jumped at the noise. Connor caught his look of worry and waved it off. 'We don't have to be anything other than friends if you're not ready.'

'No! No, I really want this. I just. . . I'm worried about people at school and Jared's mom finding out.' Evan blinked away the tears piling up in his eyes.

Connor shifted so he was fully facing Evan with his legs crossed. 'Jared's mom?'

'It's a long story.'

'We can keep it a secret for now,' the long haired boy suggested.

Evan nodded. 'Yeah. Yeah that sounds good.' He raised his head and locked eyes with Connor.

Connor's eyes darted to Evan's lips before moving back to his eyes. 'Can I?'

Evan slowly nodded. Connor leaned down and captured Evan's lips in a quick kiss. The two stared at each other, both with large blushes covering their cheeks.

Connor cleared his throat. 'I hate to ruin this moment, but you should probably go before my parents get home. I'm trying to get my car privileges back and you being caught by them won't help that happen.'

Evan nodded. 'Yeah, that makes sense.' He held onto the tall boy's shoulder to steady himself as he stood up. 'See in school, right?'

Connor gave a small salute in response. Evan laughed and made his way to the door. He let it close behind him. The hallway was significantly brighter and the teen noticed the row of pictures on the walls. They were mostly family photos or pictures of Zoe and some other people that Evan assumed were relatives. There were hardly any of just Connor. He wasn't smiling in any of the group photos.

Evan frowned.

"Connor never did like his picture taken."

Evan jumped at the voice. He looked over and saw Cynthia walking up the stairs. She had a sad smile on her face. She stood next to Evan and looked at the pictures.

"What?" Evan asked.

She sighed, taking a frame off the wall. "We would have to argue with him just to agree to them. And when he did, we were too tired to make him try to smile." She sniffed. "I just. . . Maybe if we tried harder, he would."

Evan knew what she meant.

She looked at him. "You're good for him. You may not see it, but you're helping him."

Evan took a step back in surprise. "How?"

"He hasn't smoked in a month. I've noticed his room smells nice and his eyes are never red." Cynthia smiled and hung the picture back up. "The withdrawal symptoms are hell to get through, I'm sure. And he's more irritable but it's a start."

His scars don't look fresh either, he wanted to say. He wanted her to hear that so badly, but didn't know the reaction he'd get. Did they already know? He doesn't want her to worry more than she does.

Cynthia took a deep breath to compose herself. "Well, I should let you go. I won't tell Larry you were here."

Evan gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"Don't worry, hun. Do you need help getting down the stairs?"

Evan shook his head. "I can manage."

"If you say so." She leaned her head back and spoke a little louder. "I'm sure Zoe can give you a ride home."

Zoe's response was a book slamming shut and keys clinking together. Cynthia gave one more smile towards Evan before descending down the steps. Evan followed closely behind, one thought running through his mind.

I'm helping him.