Zoe and Evan

The Insanely Cool Jared Kleinman

At 11:30AM, Evan got a text from Jared. He had no idea Jared had even kept his number. 

Jared: Hey, you wanna hang out today?

Evan wasn't sure if he was seeing this right now. Was Jared Kleinman, the guy he had insulted a year ago in the worst way possible, wanting to hang out? He'd forgiven him, but that's way different than them being at the "hanging out" level.

Evan: Why?

Jared: Because why not?

Evan: Okay. Sure.

He was about to leave when his mom came in. "Hey, where you off to?" Heidi leaned against the door frame. "O-oh, I'm hanging out with Jared." Evan avoided eye contact with his mom. "Wow. You too are friends again?" She smiled at the thought. "No... we're just... hanging out." Evan says. "Oh. Well... have fun." Heidi walked off to her room. Evan felt good now that him and his mom were bonding and he didn't have to lie to her anymore.

Evan met Jared at a restaurant on the edge of town. "H-hey." Evan sits down in the booth across from Jared.  "Hey." Jared was looking at his phone. Evan wanted to break the silence but didn't want to ruin the moment. After a few awkward moments where no one said anything, Jared put his phone down. "Sorry about that, my parents kept texting me." Evan was confused. Jared rarely apologized. "It-it's fine." Evan smiled. "So how's everything been?" Jared asked. Evan fidgeted with the salt shaker. "G-good. Working at Pottery Barn, finished taking classes at the community college." Evan informed. "And you?" Evan added. "Pretty good. My parents payed for my car insurance, thanks for that." Jared laughs. Evan didn't think they'd pay for it since they weren't friends. 

They ordered food and ate. Evan chewed on a fry as Jared talked about his year. "So, how's Alana?" Evan asks. He assumed Jared might still be in touch with her. "I assume good. She went to Yale." Jared explains. "So I guess all those extracurriculars payed off." Evan knew she'd go to some Ivy League. 

Evan's phone buzzed and he saw that he had a text from Zoe. 

Zoe: Hey, how are you?

Evan was shocked and confused. He looked up at Jared who was still talking, not even acknowledging him. Evan looked back down.

Evan: Good.

Zoe: What are you doing today?

Evan: I'm out with Jared.

Zoe: Really? How is he?

Evan: Good, considering he's still telling me about his year and we've been here for about an hour.

Zoe: Haha. Hope he had a good one.

Evan smiles at the text. He hadn't even noticed that Jared had stopped talking. He looks up, Jared was staring at him. "S-sorry." He looked back down, feeling horrible. "That Zoe?" Jared motions to Evan's phone. "O-oh. Y-yeah." He says. Jared laughs, "Figures." Evan shrunk in his seat, feeling like crap. "It's cool." Jared said defensively, seeing Evan's distressed expression.  "I meant that as a joke." He kept trying to calm him. Evan tried to control his breathing. You're good Evan, he told himself, just breathe and you'll be fine. 

Evan calms down and sits there. He was hoping for a text from someone, anyone. Just then there was a text, he looked down.

Heidi: How's it going?

Evan sighed quietly in relief, he could get out. "That was my mom. I should get going." Evan motioned to the waiter to bring the check. "Oh. Well, tell her I said hi." Jared says. Evan payed and stood. "See you." Evan waved goodbye and walked away. "That was good. You did good." He says to himself. He pulls out his phone and texts his mom back.

Evan: Good, I'm heading home now.

Heidi: Okay. I'll be home in a couple of hours.

Evan: Cool

Heidi: BTW I'm proud of you

He was too. He had finally built a stable relationship with his mom and even became a little more confident than he had been a year ago. He was proud of the progress he'd made.

He puts his phone back in his pocket and heads home. When he pulled up, Zoe sat on his front porch. "Hey," He said as he closed the car door. "Hey." Zoe looked up. "What are you doing here?" Evan smiles. "Oh, I just thought we could hang out." Zoe said, standing. "O-oh, sure." He says, unsure how to react. He didn't understand how she had all of a sudden decided he was worth being around. He did the unthinkable to her family, he gave them false hope, he lied to everyone, and he managed to make the entire internet blame them for Connor's death. But he still loved her, and if she felt the same, it's worth it to find out.

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Hey guys, PSA for you guys. By the time I finish this series, it will be maybe April. And in May I'm actually seeing Dear Evan Hansen. But I promise all facts are accurate as I do have the libretto with all the lines and songs, so don't worry and don't try to poke holes in my story. This is merely for the purpose of giving you a possibility for what could happen after the events of the play. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story and I hope you'll read my other story called Zombies Rise. Bye!