"H-hi, my n-name is Evan Hansen. H-ow are y-you?" He shook his head. "No, th-that's dumb...you sh-should s-say..." He couldn't think of anything to say that would make him seem less nervous. He'd been talking to himself the entire walk over to Cynthia's house. He didn't even know her last name. Should he call her Cynthia or was that rude? Maybe ma'am would be okay?
He checked for cars before he crossed the street and began walking up the long driveway. Evan found himself staring up at a marble white house with more windows than his house had rooms and his jaw dropped. No wonder the pay was so high, these people probably had money coming out their ears!
As if in a trance, he rang the doorbell. Realizing what he did, he began to panic. He still didn't know what he should say when she greeted him! This was a terrible idea, he should just leave now!
The door opened before he could think about stepping off the stoop and a tall woman with red hair and brown eyes smiled down at him.
"You must be Evan! Hi!"
"Evan." he said stupidly. She tilted her head.
"That's your name isn't it?"
"Oh. Yes, yes i-i-it's Evan."
"Okay, Evan, please come in, come in!" She ushered him inside and closed the door. "Would you mind taking your shoes off, Evan? We have white carpet in the drawing room, I never let anyone wear shoes in there." She pointed to a mat that neatly displayed a few pairs of shoes and Evan pulled his off, setting them in an empty space. "Thanks, sweetie."
She started walking down the hall and he quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind. This place was unfamiliar to him and there were many halls that branched off. He could easily get lost and he would not handle that well. They walked into a room.
"Please, sit, Evan, I'm going to grab some drinks. Do you like lemonade?"
He nodded, settling into the corner of a white couch.
She walked out and left Evan alone in the 'drawing room' whatever that was meant to be. The room was practically all white; white couch, carpeting, walls, and even a white painted end table. The room was small, with white framed windows with sheer white curtains. He had no idea how Cynthia was able to keep it so pristine, but it was impressive. The walls had a couple of white framed photos of nature scenes, he noted one of a forest, and another was of the beach. He'd never been to the ocean, but from pictures it looked beautiful.
"Here we are!" Cynthia waltzed back into the room gracefully, carrying a wooden tray with a plate of cookies, a pitcher of lemonade and two glass cups with ice and a wedge of lemon on the side. There was even a small vase with some purple flowers in it. Was this what was rich life was like? Evan wondered. She placed a coaster on the table in front of Evan and one in front of herself, then began pouring. Evan reached for the glass and took a sip.
"Th-this is wonderful, uhm...Ma'am..."
"Oh, please, just Cynthia is fine. No need to be so formal with me. It's not like I'm your boss or anything." she winked at him and Evan felt strangely calm. He found his courage and smiled a bit. "Speaking of being your boss, are you sure you want to do this?"
"Uhm, y-yes. I do. My m-mom..." Evan started, "She works so m-much and I just w-want to help her. If I can help p-pay for even a b-bit of college, th-that would be enough to t-take some of the stress away."
"Oh, you want to go to college?"
Evan nodded.
Cynthia spent the next couple minutes questioning the nervous boy in front of her. She wanted to know what kind of kid he was, but she could already tell, just by the way he spoke of his mother, that he was probably the sweetest person she'd ever meet. And she really hoped that wouldn't be a problem.
"Evan, I just want to warn you," she interjected during a lull in the conversation. "About my son."
Evan looked at her seriously. She finished the last gulp of her lemonade and set the cup down.
"He's...he's troubled." That was the best, nicest way she could put it. "He's uhm, rude, a lot of the time. He's very spoiled, and no matter how hard I try, I can't do anything to make him better. He doesn't have any friends at all. He'd much rather be alone."
Evan nodded slowly, like he understood, but really he had no idea why she was beating around the bush. He'd much rather she told him directly. He wanted to know what he was getting himself into.
"Okay, so I lied, Evan." Cynthia sighed. "Can I be straight with you?" Evan nodded gratefully. "I put out the ad for a babysitter, but that isn't really what I wanted to hire you for." Now Evan was even more confused. What was this lady about? Should he run away before she tries to kill him? "I kind of was hoping to hire you as a friend for my son."
"A...A friend?" Evan frowned. "You want to pay me to be friends with your son?"
Cynthia nodded hesitantly.
"Yes. I'm worried about him. If he continues down this path, I'm afraid the habits he's developed will mess up his future."
What habits could a little kid have developed? Finishing the milk before he could eat his cookies? Something wasn't adding up here...
"Uhm, Cynthia...I don't, I don't really understand...uhm, what k-kind of habits?"
"Well, he talks back a lot." That's normal for kids. "He slams his bedroom door after we get into arguments. He hates his father, threatens his sister, and does drugs--"
"What?! Wh-what kind of little kid gets his hands on d-drugs?" Evan burst out.
Cynthia looked at him for a moment before laughing.
"Oh, Evan, sweetie, I'm so sorry. I forgot to mention. That ad post was mostly made up. My son isn't little. He's seventeen."
Evan stopped fidgeting. He just stared at her.
Seventeen. His age.
He was applying for a job to befriend a boy his age.
He couldn't decide if that was better or worse than watching over a four year old.
"Is that a problem?" She asked.
"N-no, I'm s-sorry. I j-just wasn't expecting th-that." Evan shook his head. He could do this.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't entirely truthful. I was just afraid if I posted the ad like that, no one would apply." She looked so sad, like she was afraid that Evan was going to run out of the room. He felt bad for her. It was clear how much she cared about her son, how much she loved him and wanted better things for him. Evan could relate. He wanted his mother to be able to relax and do thing she enjoyed instead of running from work to class to sleep and maybe seeing him for a moment.
"It's not a p-problem, Cynthia. If you'll have me, I'll do it."
"Really? You'd take the position?"
"Yes."
Cynthia grinned.
"Thank you, Evan, thank you so much. Oh, you have no idea how relieved I am. It means so much that you're willing to help me out.
"It's m-my pleasure." Evan said.
Cynthia stood up to clear the tray, and was about to invite Evan into the kitchen so they could keep talking when she heard shouting from upstairs. She winced.
"I'm so sorry, I have to take care of this." She set the tray down. "This is normal I'm afraid, so you'll have to get used to it. Finish up the cookies if you're hungry."
Cynthia rushed from the room and up a staircase when she heard a crash and Evan was left alone to think about his decision.
So he wasn't going to be babysitting after all. He would be a friend. Who was paid to hang out with someone. That wasn't strange, right?
...Right??
He heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs and looked up, expecting Cynthia to walk in, but he was surprised when Zoe Murphy appeared.
"Evan Hansen?"
"Zoe M-Murphy?" They exclaimed at the same time.
"Why are you in my house?"
"In y-your house?" Evan felt numb. If this was Zoe Murphy's house...then that would mean...
"I'm sorry about the interruption, Evan," Cynthia said, walking past Zoe, looking slightly frazzled. "But I thought you might want to meet my son."
A hooded figure appeared, stepping into the white room. He made such a stark contrast in his dark black hoodie and black jeans. Evan couldn't help but stare at-
"C-Connor Murphy?" He whispered, eyes going wide.
***
Bonus points to anyone who can point out the musical references in this chapter. There's at least one. I've already quoted BOM, but I'll definitely slip a Hamilton reference or two in here, some DEH lines, obvi, and maybe BMC and Heathers, some of my favorites right now.
Also I'm just finishing my fourth year of college and I just switched my major yesterday (for the second time.) 😬 I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, someone help me 😂 have a great rest of the week, see you Sunday 😜
~hamilfan123987