As usual, I shuffle to the entrance of the high school. I turn my head towards the ground as I open the door. Chatter and footsteps stop. Odd. I glance up, and everyone is looking at me. I stand still, and stare back in disbelief. Do people see me? There has to be a celebrity behind me, right? I turn around, nobody. I rotate back towards the crowd, and then I spot Jared. I sprint towards him, beginning to panic.
"Jared," I whisper, "what's going on?"
"Didn't you hear? You saved Connor, Evan!"
"Well of course I saved Connor, Jared. I was there."
"Word got around, dummy! Somebody saw it and now the entire school knows!"
My face begins to prickle into numbness. They do see me. A door opens, and I turn my head towards it. In walks Connor. Like me, he pauses when he sees all of the eyes. Once again, confident Evan makes a return.
"Yeah, it's true, I did it. But Connor didn't deserve to disappear, along with all of you. Nobody should be forgotten."
My lip begins to quiver and a pit grows in my stomach. My vision begins to blur and I feel glued to the ground. Using everyone bit of strength in my body, I remove my feet from the ground and push through the endless sea of bodies. It feels like they are chasing me with their darting stares. Beads of sweat accumulate on my face as my hands wail through the air, pushing people away. I keep running until I get to the bathroom, where I rip the door open and flee to the empty stall. I choose the handicap stall because it is the biggest, and begin to take deep breaths. I look down at my clammy hands, which are slightly shaking, and lean up against the wall of the stall. The door to the bathroom opens and I hop onto the toilet.
"Evan? It's me, Connor. Are you in here?"
I step down from the toilet and creep over to the door of the stall. I unlock it, my hand still shaking, and peer out. Connor runs over to me, and I invite him into the stall. He slips in, and locks the door behind us. My back reunites with the wall and Connor looks down at my vibrating hands. He begins to whisper things to me, telling me that it's okay. He walks me through taking deep breaths, and I find that he is more comforting than my therapist. He steps outside of the stall and returns with paper towels, which he uses to wipe the sweat from my face. He pulls me into a hug, and continues to tell me that everything will be okay. I nod into his shoulder. His hands brush against my back, and I relax in his arms.
"Why were they all looking at me," I mumble into him.
"Because," he says, "they found you. You saved me Evan, and you saved them."
A/N: Hello! I know this is a shorter chapter, but I felt it would sound better this way. Thank you for all of the reads, votes, and kind comments! Each one means a lot to me <3