Evan sat on the ground while Jared was draped across the couch. They were watching The Maze Runner.

"I think Gally's my favorite character," Jared said. "His eyebrows are hilarious."

"How can you like Gally?" Evan asked. "He's, he's mean to Thomas. I like Newt, he's cool."

"You just have a thing for British accents, don't you?" Jared teased. Evan blushed and mumbled incoherently. "Anyways, you ready for school to start in a week? 'Cause I'm not. I don't even have my school supplies yet."

"I got mine in June so I wouldn't worry about it," Evan said. "But I guess, I guess I'm ready as I'll ever be. I'm not looking f-forward to learning where my classes are and bumping into things or hearing freshmen whisper behind my back, but what can I do about it?"

"I uh, I ran into Connor Murphy after my doctor's appointment," Evan continued after a moment of silence. He used the arm of the couch to stand up.

"Oh really?" Jared asked. "Are you guys all buddy-buddy now? You are aware that he threw a printer in second grade, he's not exactly the person you wanna hang out with."

"I know." He decided against using his cane and made his way into the kitchen. His knee hit the counter, making him wince. Maybe leaving the cane in the living room wasn't a good idea. "We weren't hanging out, we just happened to be at the same location at the same time."

Evan opened the fridge and grabbed a can of soda, thumb drifting over the Braille writing. He frowned and put it back. It took him three tries, but he eventually found the grape soda. He slowly opened it, as if it was going to attack him. He took a small sip before walking back to the couch, taking his seat on the floor again.

"Sounds like hanging out to me," Jared laughed. "But whatever you say man. How'd you even communicate?"

"I know sign language."

"Yeah I know, but how'd you see what he's saying?" Jared asked.

"Do you not know how blind and deaf people talk?" Evan asked, looking at the couch.

"Up here Evan." Evan blushed and tilted his head up. "There ya go. But no, I don't. Care to enlighten me?"

Evan sighed, running a hand over his face. He accidentally knocked off his sunglasses. "They sign in each other's hands."

"So you two were holding hands?" Jared rolled over. "What are you, dating?"

"No!" Evan winced when his voice cracked. He sighed again. "We weren't, weren't holding hands. He, he said that he was able to- that he can read lips. So, so I was able to speak as long as I was facing him."

Jared snorted. "So he was staring at your mouth? And you say you aren't dating."

"We're not!" Evan groaned, falling back so he was laying on the ground. He rubbed his eyes. "We just, we just talked. And we didn't even- we didn't really talk about anything. He just asked if we knew each other. That's it."

"Okay, sure." Jared chuckled. "Man, I feel bad for the person that has to lead you to your classes this year."

Evan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The person that has the same classes as you so you don't get lost," Jared explained. "Nobody wants to do that."

Evan bit his lip and turned so he was laying on his side.

"I wouldn't complain if it were me though," Jared continued. "I mean, I'd be able to tell my mom that I hung out with you so she'd pay for my car insurance."

"Y-yeah," Evan whispered, frowning. "Who would wanna do that willingly?" He sighed and sat up. He picked up his sunglasses and put them on. "Do you wanna maybe g-go to Caribou? I uh, I don't feel like going b-by myself."

"Not really," Jared said bluntly. "But hey, I better get going. Make sure to tell your mom I was here and how nice I was."

Jared accidentally kicked Evan's leg as he stood up. Evan flinched as he heard Jared slam the door as he walked out of the house. Evan closed his eyes. He thought to what Jared said about nobody wanting to hang out with him, even if it was just leading him to class. He couldn't blame them, he wouldn't want to do it either.

He wouldn't know what to say so they would just be in an uncomfortable silence. But if he did say something, he wouldn't know how to keep the conversation going which would lead to uncomfortable silence. Even if he could keep a conversation, he was bound to bore the person because the only things he truly enjoyed was nature, Greek mythology, and Caribou Coffee's hot chocolate. What if the person wanted to talk about the latest fashion style, or how hot Justin Bieber is? Evan wouldn't be able to agree or disagree because he has no idea what any of those things look like. Then the person would think he's uncultured and weird and leave him to fend for himself in the hallways. He would be late to all his classes and miss out on important information for a test and fail said test and fail the class and then his mother would be mad and kick him out and-

Evan shook his head. Don't think like that. That would never happen. Would it?

He sighed, sitting up. Maybe he could ask the principle about not having a guide. He has his cane and can read Braille, so he doesn't need a guide. But of course the school thinks he's helpless and can't fend for himself, which he would admit is true to some extent. But he's going to be a junior, so he'd like to think he knows the school pretty well. Besides, during the open house, Heidi made sure he knows where his classes were, what shortcuts to take, and how many steps it would take to get to them.

He didn't enjoy it, walking back and forth between his locker and his classes. He knew people were staring at him. Probably whispering about how he always needed his mom to help him. So of course, that made him feel like a burden and he kept begging to leave.

Evan sighed and stood up, careful to not knock over his soda. He didn't want to leave a stain on the carpet. Even if he couldn't see it, his mom would and then she'd get mad because he wasn't more careful and she'd ground him and he'd end up falling behind in school and fail and then his mom would be even more disappointed.

"Calm down," he whispered. He was starting to shake and the last thing he needed was an anxiety attack a week before school started. "Stop being pathetic, it's only a can of soda."

But she'd have to work to clean the stain and she already works so much. She's already so tired and you making messes wouldn't do you or her any good. There's already a good number of reasons why you're a burden to yourself and her and adding to that list won't help.

Evan groaned and picked up the can. He walked into the kitchen and dumped the remaining soda into the sink. He threw the can into the trash can under the sink.

He was most definitely not looking forward to school.