In the Sun ||Treebros||

Chapter 22

Monday arrived way too fast. Only an hour until school started means only half an hour left to finish the essay.

"How many more sources do we need?" Evan groaned from behind the computer as he lowered his head into his arms. They'd been googling sources, citing them in MLA format, typing deleting and re-typing their essay for the past five hours.

"I dunno," Connor replied, clicking onto a page with the rubric on it. "Uh, fu-...frick, we need twenty." To be honest, Connor didn't give a crap about the quality, but Evan clearly did, so he had to at least try his best to help. Emphasis on the 'try'.

 Evan didn't need to respond verbally to voice his frustration. Instead, he glared at the computer before turning around in the swivel chair. They'd never finish at this rate! Not only do they have to find ten more sources, but they had to cite each one and make sure the sources were reliable! Not to mention, they had to add even more to the essay so they could include the information! Which they had less than thirty minutes to do!

Connor pressed his lips into a line as his gaze trailed to the floor. If only he could be more helpful. Yeah, he sucked at stuff like this and he was completely satisfied with getting a B, but he can't just drag Evan's grade down. Evan had worked really hard, and it was obvious he cared a ton about this essay.

"We might as well try to finish in time," Evan sighed, turning back to the screen. "Connor, can you find sources? I'll cite them, and then add the information to the essay." He seemed defeated, like he had given up. But Evan wouldn't give up just like that. A small, miniscule part of him desperately begged him to get at least an 90% on this, just in case he makes a mistake later which might make his grade drop, maybe to a B. Which would be really bad, because if Evan wanted any chance at getting a scholarship, he should... no, he needs to get a high GPA. Valedictorian can go to Alana, but Evan needed to be near her rank to even be considered for a scholarship. Not that he has that many talents, if any.

"M'kay, so I found ten," Connor informed, sneaking a quick glance at Evan. "Anything else I can do?" 

Evan's eyes were glued to the screen, darting all over the place while his fingers tore through the keyboard. "Yeah, thanks, uh, can... could you extract some information and add on the, um, the essay?"

"Yeah. Sure." Although he'd never admit it, Connor was just a bit disappointed that Evan didn't look at him. Just kind of bothered him slightly, but not much at all. Okay, maybe it did bother him a pretty decent amount, but still. Ignoring his feelings, he just got to work, doing what he was told like a good kid. 

Isn't that pretty bad for his reputation?

Suddenly, a melodious voice filled the air, immediately recognizable as Ben Platt's. "In case you don't live forever, let me tell you now. I love you than you'll ever wrap you head ar-"

"-Sorry!" The music was stopped short when Evan sprinted toward his phone, immediately turning the alarm off. "It was my alarm," he informed looking sheepish as a small tint of pink spread across his face. 

Connor let out a light chuckle. "It's fine,  no problem." He paused before asking, "You listen to Ben Platt?"

"You know him?" Evan's eyes lit up.

"Mhm," Connor nodded.

"I love him! He's just so, so... so talented," Evan gushed, enthusiastically waving his hands around to express his admiration for the man. "His voice is so amazing, and smooth, and-"

"-His vibrato," Connor added, unable to stop a smile from spreading across his face. Evan definitely looked great smiling. From the light in his eyes to the laugh in his voice.