Just Another Lie, Right? [Kleinsen]

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Woah why does this chapter exist?

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One of the first things Evan said after he signed the contract was "You gotta introduce yourself to the Murphys."

I guess he forgot about that one time Alana and I went over there to introduce the Connor Project. I bet the Murphys forgot about me, too, though. I mean, I didn't seem to play a significant part.

Of course, they didn't know what was happening behind the curtain. Evan and I writing fake emails and making up fake stories. They didn't know that I was the Connor in those emails.

Hopefully they never know that.

The doorbell rang and I jumped to my feet. I was dressed semi-fancy today since I was going to a big, rich, fancy sleepover.

"It's not a sleepover-" Evan told me earlier on the car ride back from Workout Heaven.

"Of course. You just eat dinner and then nap on their dead son's bed until school."

So now I was answering the door, in a t-shirt and a button-up that was actually buttoned up! That's as semi-fancy as I can get, really. If you want me to dress more semi-fancy, you better have a dang good reason.

"Hey Evan." I said. He nodded in response before walking. I followed him.

"Wait aren't we gonna drive?" I asked, "I can drive, you know."

"Oh, I was completely unaware." He said sarcastically. I didn't know wether to be scared of proud that Evan has finally picked up on some sarcasm.

Either way, I assumed that Evan would just rather walk on days like these. The weather was relatively nice, especially for September.

We walked in silence for a few moments, but I knew it was going to be a long walk, so I started conversation. "So, what's it like being Connor's best friend?"

Evan made a quiet growl noise.

"Woah! Someone's upset!"

"I just- I don't feel like it right now, Jared." He said quietly. I could tell he was upset.

And something came over me that hasn't came over me since 7th grade - sympathy. That's kinda weird. I've been training myself since middle school to fit in. To be a bully, per say. And apparently I'm an expert bully, since I haven't been made fun of since then. It was like a spell kinda.

I'm not a soft person.

But I know how to stop picking on people.

I looked at Evan. He was looking at the ground. I have no idea how he could see where he was going, but he hasn't bumped into anything yet.

I felt something hit the side of my face.

I stumbled back and looked up. I bumped into a lamppost. I realized that I was paying so much attention to Evan that I wasn't looking where I was going.

Evan looked back at me with a blank face. Not even a smile. Weird, if this happened to him, I'd be bursting out laughing.

Well, I guess he isn't me.

"Ha." I said, because sometimes you just need that sense of comic relief.

"Are you okay?" Evan said absent-mindedly.

"Are you okay?" I asked, ignoring the pain in my face and walking to catch up with Evan. "You've barley said anything, you look like you're about to puke, and there's no personality in your voice! Are. You. Okay?!"

He finally shook his head. "This-" He gestured around him. "This is bad."

I was a slight bit confused. "The... Environment is bad?"

Evan huffed, "No, this. The Murphy thing. Connor."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing, "Damn right it's bad! We've been doing this for what - three weeks now? - and you just now noticed that its bad?" I said between laughs.

I finally cleared the tears out of my eyes and was able to get a good look at Evan. He had tears in his eyes too, but definitely not from laughing.

"Evan..." I said, feeling extremely bad. It's sometimes hard to remember that not everyone has my sense of humor.

But I'm not too good at stepping into other people's shoes.

Evan stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. His eyes went wide and his voice was suddenly panicked. "Jared, I'm... I'm... I'm gonna-" He started swaying slightly and I ran up to him and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Evan? What the hell is wrong with you?" I said, trying to joke with him, but my voice came out panicked, too.

Evan grabbed on to my arms, trying to keep himself stable, "Jar-"

And he passed out.

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Idk where this book is headed.

Published: 6/9/19
Word Count: 762