EVAN POV

"And then they took my picture and I sneezed during it, so I looked crazy! Anyway, that was the worst school picture I ever took," Zoe finished. She looked to me and smiled. "Do you want something to drink? I'm going to go get some milk or something."

"No thanks."

"Okay! I'll be right back."

I picked my phone up off the ground and saw one text message from mom. She may or may not be home late again. I'm used to that by now.

I also had an email from C.

"Ugh, Connor finished the milk!" Zoe shouted from downstairs. I giggled and opened the email.

Zoe came back into the room and set down her glass of what I assumed was orange juice. "Evan?"

C..?

"I.. I have to go. R-Right now. I- Sorry."

I stood up and dashed to the front door. Mrs. Murphy waved as I left. She's really nice.

•

CONNOR POV

I hear stomping upstairs. Now it's coming downstairs. Now they're leaving the house. Zoe's calling after her friend. I look back at the front door and see a blue polo. Evan?

He looks upset. Did I do this to him?

Why did I have to send my stupid email. Why didn't I say something in person?

•

EVAN POV

I got home and set down my backpack. I didn't set it down, actually. More of a toss, a throw, an anxious and dramatic swing.

I'm barely even crying or sobbing. Why am I so upset? I like C. That means I like Connor, right? Now I can actually hug him, instead of sending a kitten saying "sending virtual hug in 3...2...1..."

I'm overthinking everything. Right? Yeah, I'm totally fine.

Totally fine, I say as I'm feeling lightheaded and dizzy. I'm also pacing. I also just hit my head on the corner of the wall. I fell back onto my bed and either fell asleep or unconscious.

I woke up about a half hour later with a washcloth on my head and my mom sitting on the bed with me. "Hey sweetie. Look, I'm home early!"

I managed to crack a smile. She gave me a cup of water. "Here, drink this. I got to come home early because Maureen finally came back to work. Maternity leave, you know. She's still not all the way back into her routine yet, but Roger's helping her out. Oh and get this, Tom is covering Angel's shifts now, so I can get home at five instead of, what, eleven o'clock? Twelve? I'm sorry I haven't been here. You know what? I'm going to take an art class or something. Yeah. That'll be fun. You can come with, huh?"

I shook my head slowly. "I'm not good at art."

"Sure you are, honey. Besides, you can learn. It's a class, after all."

"I'm okay."

"Well okay. It starts at six, so I'd better go. I'll be back in an hour or so, okay?"

I nodded, then she left. I'm glad she's back and all, but she never asked about why I was upset or passed out or anything.

•

HEIDI POV (yas a new pov boi)

I got to the community center two minutes late. Apparently all of the people in the class seem to think that's the worst thing ever. I sat down in the empty chair in the back. I felt eyes all over me.

The class was mostly made up of women my age. When we introduced ourselves, I noticed that most of them are moms. They're also kind of uppity.

The first thing we did was a self-portrait. I'm not a great artist, but I tried. It looked like a blonde Picasso painting. Some other students were really talented. I complimented one person's work, but she said, "Thanks. Yours is..nice too."

After we cleaned the supplies and headed out, someone poked my shoulder. "Heidi, right?"

"Yeah. And you were..?"

"Cynthia," she said, shaking my hand.

"Right! Hi."

"Well hi!"

We chatted for a few minutes. She apologized about Megan and Brenda, two of the people in the class. She felt bad because they were being kind of rude to me. She has two kids. Oh and they're Evan's age!

She invited me over to her house for dinner tomorrow, Saturday. I told her I'd be there. Oh, Evan is going to be so excited!

I went home and checked on Evan. He was sound asleep in his bed.

~•~•~

Honey you gotta big storm comin

-Me to Evan at this point ;)