Jump (Dear Evan Hansen)

Standing Up and Stepping In

Connor and I walk down the bustling school hallways. People are talking, getting books from lockers, and heading to class. Jared approaches us and stares for a minute.

"Would you look at that, it's Connor Murphy. What's in the bag, drugs?"

"It's books..." Connor mumbles.

"Hey," Jared says obnoxiously, "what tools do you use to carve out the pages inside of the books? I've been looking for a place to hide my secret stash too."

"Jared, stop-"

"Scissors, or a butter knife? And how do you do it so precisely? Oh wait, you must put your crazy hair up in a bun or something, thanks Connor."

"OKAY JARED THAT'S ENOUGH," I say loudly enough for him to hear. "Why don't you go find another friend to help you with your 'secret stash'. I would, but we're just family friends."

"Woah, Evan. You're actually acting like... a human or something," Jared says as he backs off and leaves us. Connor puts his hand up and I high five it. We go on our ways, Connor headed towards biology and me headed towards Spanish. We memorized each others schedules so we would always know where the other one was if we needed to talk. I'm surprised with how Connor took the whole thing the other night. I expected he would call me a creep for standing up for him that much and never talk to me again. He's nicer than you would expect.

I shuffle into Spanish class and sit in my desk located in the middle row of the class. Next to me, sits Jared. He looks at me when I sit down.

"Where did your entourage go?"

"You know Connor's not in this class, he has biology this period. And anyways, he's not my entourage, he's just a friend."

"JUST a friend," he says sarcastically. "And you MEMORIZED each other's schedules?! Are you in love with Zoe or Connor? Make up your mind, Evan. You can't just date the entire family," he says, laughing.

"Friends... memorize each other's schedules, right?"

"Yeah, two girls. Or two lovers," Jared jokes making kissing noises. I choose to ignore him, and pay attention to the teacher. Connor and I aren't lovers... we're just good friends. He comforts me, he brings out the best in me. Oh god, Jared's right. I sound like I have a major boy crush on him. My face reddens as thoughts float throughout my head. I pull out my notebook and scrawl out a Dear Evan Hansen letter in attempt to take my mind off of Connor.

Dear Evan Hansen,

Today is going to be a good day and here's why; today, you get to go to Connor's house!

"Oh god," I say under my breath as I attempt to erase it, but Jared rips the paper from my hand.

"Dear Evan Hansen," he whispers. "Oh my god, Evan. What is this? Are you writing creepy letters to yourself... about Connor Murphy?" I watch him with nervous eyes as he takes a pen, scribbles over my words and tears the top of the paper off. He begins writing with the pen. He sighs, hands the paper to me, and snickers. Nervously, I begin reading.

Dear Evan Hansen,

You have a boy crush. It's so obvious. Just walk up to Connor and give him a peck on the lips. He'll probably think you're a creep, but hey, worth a try.

Your (family) friend,
Jared Kleinman

"Jared, what the heck?"

"Just trying to-"

I see him look up slowly and stop talking. I follow his eyes and see the Spanish teacher towering above his desk. She walks over to my desk, and the class is silent as she removes the letter from my hands. She holds it for a minute, gives a dirty look to Jared, and announces the verdict.

"Jared Kleinman, I'll see you in the principal's office."

"Señora, I'm sure we can work this out! Evan tends to fantasize sometimes, and tends to write letters to himself. He just happened to sign my name."

"Evan, would you mind joining us while we work this out?"

I gulp, "n-not at all."

"Excellent," she says sternly as she walks towards the door. Jared and I get up and trail behind her, slowly. Eyes follow us, making me uncomfortable. I try to keep my eyes on Jared, who is only a couple steps in front of my. Jared and I leave the room, with the Spanish teacher now behind us. "Class dismissed," she announces before exiting the room. She speed walks to arrive in front of us, and takes us to the principal's office. The walk is long, and tense. We enter the door to the main office, and are instructed to sit. Señora walks to the principal's door, knocks, and heads inside, closing the door behind her.

"Whatever happens, try to prevent them from calling my parents, okay? I need them to pay my car insurance, and from the looks of things, I'll be shelling out for a while."

"Jared if this wasn't for you we wouldn't be in here. Can you just drop the car insurance for once?"

"My fault? Evan I was saving you from your creepy self! Of course I can drop though, and you can go talk it out with Connor," Jared says in a snarky voice.

"Okay Jared! How about we just wait and see what happens."

Just then, the principal walks out and calls, "Evan, Jared; come on in."