Falling For You (Treebros)

Chapter Ten: Bonding

Jeremy placed a hand on his shoulder and Evan did as he instructed.

"Th-thanks," Evan said, a bit more calm now. "Sorry."

Jeremy shook his head, removing his hand and placing it in his lap. "No need to be sorry. So, what were you saying before?"

"I have r-really bad s-social anxiety, so I-I'm not very g-good at being around, uh, people I d-don't really know."

Jeremy nodded. "Oh okay, that makes sense. We'll just have to do something about that, won't we?" He smiled.

Evan smiled back and nodded. Jeremy seemed really nice.

"Okay, Evan, what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?"

"Well, I, um, I r-really like trees, and g-going to parks and th-things like that to l-look at them. I a-also really like m-musicals. And s-singing," he added. "What a-about you?"

"I love playing video games, especially with my boyfriend, and acting. Also singing and playing guitar."

Evan smiled. "Th-that's cool. You have a b-boyfriend?"

Jeremy smiled dreamily when Evan mentioned his boyfriend.

"Yeah. He's really cool and sweet. His name's Michael."

"How did y-you guys start d-dating?"

"We started dating about two months ago. Michael and I had been best friends since like kindergarten, so we were obviously really close. My ex-girlfriend, Christine, broke up with me, and Michael was... there for me. I started to develop feelings for him, and yeah. We started dating."

Evan smiled. "Th-that's sweet."

"What about you?" Jeremy asked. "Do you have a significant other?"

Evan nodded. "I h-have a, uh, a boyfriend. H-his name is Connor. He's really c-cute and he cares a-about me."

"That's cool. How did you guys get together?"

Evan briefly panicked for a second. How was he going to tell Jeremy, a boy he had only just met, that he and Connor had met when Evan was about to attempt to take his own life?

Then he decided. He wasn't going to tell him the full truth.

"Oh, um, see I-I was at an orchard, c-climbing a tree, and I, uh, fell. I broke my arm," Evan shakily raised his left arm; the one with the cast, "and he h-helped me. H-he took me to the h-hospital and just s-seemed to really, uh, care about me. W-we started dating just o-over a week later. I-it was the o-other day, actually."

"Well, that's the cutest story I've ever heard. How is your arm, by the way?"

"G-good, thanks. Better now, b-but it still hurts a l-lot from t-time to time."

"Ah, right," Jeremy said. "Also, you mentioned something about enjoying singing before? Are you a good singer?"

Evan shook his head. "Not really. I-I mean, my friends th-think I'm good, b-but I don't know." He chuckled nervously.

"Can you sing something for me?" He asked.

"I-I don't know..."

"Come on, Evan! Please?" Jeremy whined.

"F-fine."

Evan looked down at his hands and reluctantly began to sing the first song that came to his head. "There are moments that the words don't reach, there is suffering too terrible to name. You hold your child as tight as you can, and push away the unimaginable. The moments when you're in so deep, it feels easier to just swim down. The Hamiltons move uptown, and learn to live with the unimaginable."

He nervously looked up at Jeremy, who was looking at him in amazement.

"Okay, first off, wow. You've got a lot of talent, Evan. Secondly, why that song? It's so sad!"

"Oh wow, th-thanks. I o-only really l-listen to m-musicals, although th-there are a few exceptions. You kn-know Hamilton?"

"Uh, who doesn't?"

"G-good point."

"By the way, have you heard about the competition at school?"

Evan shook his head. "W-what competition?"

"The singing competition! You have an incredible voice, Evan. I think good enough to actually win."

"Oh, I d-don't know. I'm n-not very confident..."

"I think you'd be amazing at it."

Evan looked at Jeremy. "Tell m-me more."

"Okay." Jeremy stood up and walked over to his bedside table, pulling a flyer out of the top drawer. He then sat back down and handed the piece of paper to Evan.

"It starts off with auditions. Out of the people auditioning, the judges choose a certain number of people- I think it's ten- for the next round. In that round, they choose one person to compete against other schools. First place in that round wins $5000, second place wins $2000, first place wins $1000. It's a lot of money."

Evan's eyes widened. It was a lot of money, and he and his mom needed all the help they could get for college...

"I-I'll do it."

Jeremy grinned. "Great!"

Evan then sat there, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.