When Evan woke up, the first thing he noticed was the dramatic decrease in temperature. His body shook and he tried to bury himself in the blankets on his bed. Charles, who was curled up near his head, sat up, not appreciating being woken up so suddenly. Evan shivered and sat up.

    He climbed out of bed and wandered over to his closet. He felt around for his hoodie and fuzzy sweatpants. He took off his pajamas, laying them on the bed, and put the hoodie and pants on. He grabbed his cane. Charles jumped off the bed to follow Evan as he walked out of the bedroom.

    He held his arms over his chest. Why did his bed have to be by the window? He held out his cane, swinging it slowly around until it collided with glass. He felt around for the handle and pulled the door open. Cold air blasted through the door.

    He kneeled down and touched the ground. A thin layer of snow covered it. Sighing, he stood back up. He closed the door and rested his forehead against the cold glass.

    "It'll be gone later today," he reasoned quietly with himself. He didn't necessarily hate snow, but it wasn't his favorite thing in the world. There's ice that comes with it, it's cold, it's wet, and it gets everywhere.

    Evan felt his phone vibrate on and off, signaling he had thirty minutes until Jared picked him up. He wandered to the kitchen and felt around for his breakfast his mom would leave out if he didn't wake up early enough to eat with her. His small meal that morning consisted of a muffin and a now cold hot chocolate from Caribou.

    He would've made himself something to eat so his mother didn't have to waste time cooking when she could've been at work early so she wouldn't have to work late, but he was too worried he'd misread the instructions and burn the food.

    He found a note from his mom saying Charles had been walked and fed and to have a good day and the usual I'm so proud of you he was sick of hearing. She tries her best, he knows that. But he hears that saying every single day ever since he was ten and frankly, he has a hard time believing it. How could she be proud of a mess like him?

    He crumpled the paper and left it on the counter. His phone buzzed as he placed his hot chocolate in the microwave. He set it for forty-five seconds and fished out his phone.

Connor: I'm picking you up

Evan: You don't have to.

Connor: Too late, I'm already in the parking lot.

    Evan set his phone on the counter and took out his hot chocolate. He sipped it and winced, pulling the cup away. He took off the cap to let it cool down while he raced back to his room for his backpack. With his backpack slung over his shoulders, hot chocolate and muffin in hand, and phone in his pocket, he yelled a quick goodbye to Charles and left the apartment.

    The moment he was outside, Connor tapped his shoulder.

    'You were waiting out here?' Evan asked.

    'Well I couldn't let you attempt to find the right car.'

    Evan gave a weak smile and held onto Connor's elbow. The two walked down the stairs.

    When they got to the car, Evan asked, 'Why'd you pick me up so early?'

    'Zoe has an early jazz band rehearsal and apparently that means I have to suffer too because my parents won't drive her and let me sleep.' He felt Connor shrugged. 'It's whatever though.'

    Evan slid into the backseat while Connor went to the driver's seat. The engine started up and Evan realized he forgot his cane. He reached up to Connor and told him.

    'Too late for that,' Connor said. 'If Zoe didn't have practice, I would let you go get it but if she's late, she'll blame me.'

    Evan slumped down in his seat, the seatbelt's edge digging uncomfortably in his neck but he didn't move it.

When they got to school, they didn't leave the car right away. Zoe did, but she was almost late to practice. Evan had to wait for Connor, and they didn't have to be to class for fifteen minutes.

    Evan shot a quick text to Jared saying he didn't have to pick him up. Jared responded with something about saving gas. Pocketing his phone, he turned towards Connor, reaching over the cup holders.

    'Aren't you getting out?' he asked.

    'To be honest, I was planning on skipping.' Evan frowned. 'You should come with. I mean, I'm skipping whether you come or not so you'd save yourself the trouble of finding classes.'

    'I know where they are.' That was a lie. Evan knew what turns to make but he didn't know where the stairs were or how many steps it took to get to the rooms. 'But you do have a good point.'

    'Hansen, I'm not asking you to join me. But the offer stands. Can't promise we'll do anything fun.'

    'No, I'll go. It's not like I had homework, it was all tests yesterday.' Evan climbed into the front seat. 'And my mom is always working so she won't notice if the school calls her. But this is a one time thing, okay?'

    'Got it, captain.'

And that's how Evan found himself in the bedroom of Connor Murphy. It was awkward to say the least. It was the second time in the Murphy house and first time in Connor's room. He felt like he shouldn't be in there, like he was crossing an invisible line of defense and security. But if Connor allowed him in, he was going to swallow his nerves and bare it.

    Connor knocked on the door or wall, Evan couldn't tell, signaling he was back. He had went down to the kitchen for snacks so he didn't have to face his family when they got home. He sat next to Evan, making the bed dip down, and placed the bag of food in between them.

    Evan fiddled with a loose string on his jeans. He's never skipped before, he doesn't know what to do.

    'You want to watch a movie?' Connor asked suddenly. 'There's a TV on my wall with a DVD player hooked up.'

    Evan gave a small nod. He felt Connor stand up and heard the soft patter of his feet on the carpet. The DVD player whirled to life. Connor returned and laid out some things. Evan assumed they were the movies.

    'We have The Lone Ranger, all the Star Wars movies including the new one, the Babadook, Annabelle: Creation, and The Outsiders,' Connor said.

    'Can we watch The Force Awakens?' Evan asked, head tilted towards the comforter. 'We don't have to if you don't want to, but it's— I like that movie. It's nothing compared to the uh, the original trilogy but yeah, I like it.'

    Connor stood up, taking the movies with him. The case popped open and the DVD tray slid out. Then in. A few beats of silence passed and then the Star Wars theme blasted through the speakers. Evan jumped a foot up, hands placed beside him to keep him from falling off the bed. As the volume lowered, Evan found himself relaxing again, placing his hands in his lap.

    Connor sat himself next to Evan again. Even if he couldn't see it, he kept his head towards the TV, waiting to get lost in the movie.

They ended up watching the rest of the Star Wars movies—minus the prequel trilogy of course. Evan was resting his head against the wall while Connor was in the bathroom. Today was fun, even if he was hesitant at first. He didn't even check his phone constantly for texts from Heidi wondering why she got a call from the school.

    Which. He should probably do that.

    He picked up his phone from next to him and turned it on. The phone read the time, date, and four texts. One from Heidi and three from Jared.

Heidi: hope you had a good day honey! I managed to get Thursday off next week and set a reminder so I won't forget. I love you

    Evan sent back a quick "I love you too" and listened to Jared's texts.

Jared: dude where are you? Why weren't you at lunch?

Jared: you weren't in third or fifth hour. Are you sick?

Jared: not that I care, just my car insurance man.

    Evan felt his stomach drop. Of course that's all Jared cared about. When is he not bugging about the stupid car insurance? He turned off his phone without responding and let the phone drop from his hands.

    Two taps on his shoulder. Evan looked up and reached his hand forward.

    'Bad news,' Connor said, 'Zoe was forced to take the bus home and now she's probably going to tell Larry and Cynthia. They're probably going to think I forced you to skip with me so it's best if I dropped you off at your place.'

    Evan nodded and stood up, immediately grabbing onto Connor's shoulder for support. He had been sitting on his legs and thus, they were asleep. He blushed and when he regained his balance, he let go of Connor's shoulder. But he grabbed onto his elbow and let him lead him downstairs.

    The front door closed. "Connor," he heard Mr. Murphy say. "Why weren't you at school?"

    Evan let go of the elbow so he could sign to his father. He faintly heard Mr. Murphy whisper something.

    "He said that he was tired of the fucking school," Zoe said. She's translating for him?

    "You shouldn't skip school Connor, that's going to affect your chances for collage." Zoe repeated Connor's response. "That's no excuse Connor, you're practically throwing your future away!"

    Evan found words spilling out of his mouth before he could stop them. "He doesn't even skip that much anymore." Silence. And suddenly all of Evan's random courage melted away and his body was caving in on him. "He— I mean, at first yeah. He skipped. A lot. But, but now he, he doesn't because. Because he's my, my friend and I would miss my classes if he, if he didn't help me around."

    "Evan, I know you mean well," Mr. Murphy said, "but stay out of this."

    "But—"

    'Stay out of it.' Evan faced Connor. 'Please.' Evan sighed and nodded.

    "Look Connor, skipping by yourself is one thing," Mr. Murphy continued, "but dragging Evan into this is something else. You shouldn't risk his future because you're careless with your own."

    The sound of a fist hitting something echoed through the room. Evan yelped and jumped back. Tension had a tight grasp on everyone in the room and would not let go. Evan held his breath, waiting with tense muscles and clenched teeth for the next bolt of noise.

    Nothing happened.

    Silence was worse than noise, because at least with noise you know what's happening. But with silence, you don't know what to expect and your nerves scream, sending blaring warning alarms to your brain, and the fear creeps up your back and wraps its slimy fingers around your heart, crushing it with its tight hold. 'Warning, warning! Proceed with extreme caution. Or better yet, turn around. Go home. Cry about it while your dog licks away the tears and is confused about why more keep falling.'

    Evan didn't realize Connor was in front of him until he felt a pair of skinny arms around him. Connor was. . . Hugging him? His breathing went back to normal. Connor felt him relax and let go.

    'Sorry,' Evan said slowly. 'I didn't mean to panic. It's just, you scared me with that noise.'

    'I'm sorry my dad was an ass. But let's get you home, you look like you could use an eight hour nap.'