Evan's POV

The school day is finally over, and with minimal embarrassment too! Except with Zoe Murphy. She went for a handshake and I pulled away and wiped my hand on my pants. She probably thinks I'm weird now and I'll never have a chance with her.

I walk out the doors of the school and take a glance to my left. There's a boy running into the woods nearby. Isn't that the guy from earlier? And aren't those woods extremely dangerous?

In a moment of sheer impulsiveness, I take off running after him. I try not to let the stares I'm almost definitely getting sent my way get to me but they still bother me.

What was his name? What was his name? "C-Connor!" He turns his head in my direction before turning it back and picking up his speed. "Connor! W-wait!" I pick up my own speed as well.

He runs into the woods with me following shortly after. The constant crunch and crackling of leaves and twigs ahead of me gives me an audible trail to follow.

My breath hitches in my throat as I stumble over rocks and fallen tree branches. The wind gets knocked out of me before I even realize I fell. A realization dawns on me. What if he's luring me out here. He could be plotting something to get me back for writing about Zoe in my letter.

I get up and pick up running again. My eyes widen. My letter. He still has my letter. He could blackmail me with it, he could embarrass me with it! It occurs to me that the foot steps ahead slowed down. I pick up my speed.

I take a short cut of the trail to catch up to Connor. I see him stop and lean against a tree while digging through his pockets. I make my way closer, only to see a small orange bottle in his hands. I freeze as I watch him dump a small pile of pills into his hand. When he starts to move his hand to his mouth I start running again. When I finally reach him he's in the process of swallowing them. "C-connor stop!"

He lifts his head and glares. I notice the tears in his eyes and the tracks where previous tears rolled down his cheeks. "Fuck off Stammers."

His breathing is shallow and he looks to be in a daze. I reach to my back pocket to grab my phone. Connor's eyes seem unfocused and he's looking away from me now. I dial the three digits into my keypad and press call.

Connor's body falls limp.

"911, what's your emergency?"

One Hour Later

The hospital waiting room is bland. It's so pale. Why do people decorate it like this? I can understand that the building is meant for health and physical appeal isn't a priority but seriously, throw on some half decent curtains please. I guess you could care less and probably want to know what happened though, huh.

I finished the call and struggled to carry Connor's limp body out of the woods and to the front of the school. An ambulance showed up shortly after I made is out with him and let me ride with them. They took him into the ER and left me to wait in the boring, pale, sleepy waiting room.

"Evan what are you doing here?" my mom says walking into the waiting room. "The other nurses said you came in with another boy. Where is he?"

"H-he's the reason-he's the reason we're h-here actually."

"What happened? Do you know if he's okay yet?"

"No-no, not yet."

"What happened?"

Here's the question I was dreading. "H-he, uh, he overdosed?"

My mom's mouth drops and she brings her hand to her face. "He overdosed? On what?"

"Th-the bottle looked like, like anti-depressants? I could be wrong though."

"He tried to-" I cut her off.

"C-can we stop t-talking about this right now? Please? Uh, s-sorry."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Of course honey."

"Th-thanks."

A hurried family stumbles through the door.

"We're Connor Murphy's family, where is he? Can I-we see him? Is he okay?" the woman-Connor's mother, I assume-rushes out to the receptionist.

"He's in the ER being treated. The doctor will be out eventually to give you details," the receptionist replies in monotone.

"How'd he get here?" the man-Connor's dad I'm assuming again-asks.

"A boy called and rode with him over here. He's the boy with the cast over there," the receptionist points at me and I force my head down to my lap so the family doesn't know I was listening in on the conversation. I hear shuffling and people sit down next to me and my mom.

"Excuse me?" Connor's mom asks. I look up to see her looking at me with red, puffy eyes and a sad smile.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You were the one who called about Connor Murphy right? That's what the receptionist said."

"Y-yeah. That's me...th-the kid that rode with y-your kid to the hospital. S-sorry, that probably sound really weird. I didn't really mean that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you for...helping. Were you two friends?"

"Y-yeah...I guess you c-could say that."

She turns to Connor's dad."Look Larry, they were friends," she directs her attention back to me. "That's nice. I'm so sorry that you had to see him go through this," she says while resting her hand against my arm and doing that rubbing thing that's supposed to be comforting but if it's done by anyone except your mom it gets awkward. I offer her an awkward smile in return to distract her from my suddenly tense shoulders.

I feel eyes on me and glance over the woman's shoulders. Zoe Murphy. Of course Zoe would be with them, she's Connor's sister. She tears her eyes away and looks around the room. I wonder if she's contemplating the home decor like I was earlier. I draw my attention back to Connor's mom. "I-uh, th-thanks."

Suddenly, Connor's dad-who's name I now know is Larry-looks at me skeptically. He looks like his trying to inspect me. I grow self conscious and start messing with my sitting position and the way I'm holding myself. His eyes direct themselves up to my own and I look anywhere but his eyes. I don't do well with eye contact. "How do you know Connor?"

"Oh, we-we have, uh, we have some classes together," I stammer out.

"Oh, nice," his eyes drift to my mom. "I'm guessing you're this young man's mother?"

"Yes that's me. I'm Heidi Hansen," she holds out her hand for a handshake which Larry takes and gives a firm shake. "I'm Larry and this is my wife Cynthia and our daughter Zoe."

"Nice to meet you guys," she glances at her watch. "Oh shi-shoot, I have to get back to work. I'm so sorry, it was nice meeting you."

"The same goes for us," Larry answers. My mom runs back to where she came and I'm left alone with these strangers.

Zoe gets up and moves to where my mom was sitting. "How is a guy like you friends with a guy like my brother?"

"Zoe! Don't be rude," Cynthia scolds.

"It's just a simple question!"

"W-we have s-similar interests?"

"Like what?"

"W-we both have a p-passion for...for writing! Y-yeah we both love writing."

"Really? I thought he was more into art," Zoe says.

"H-he is! He just, also likes writing."

Before Cynthia can intervene between Zoe and I's interrogation, a doctor walks out.

"The family of Conner Murphy?"