Ok so apparently I can only get one chapter out a month. Thanks school :(

This chapter is a little shorter because I glossed over some of the events at the end because I just wanted to get it done. Enjoy! And happy holidays!

Connor can tell something is off with Evan. This morning, when Connor had approached Evan in the halls before school, Evan had looked like he was looking for something and trying to hide at the same time.

Even now, as they sit in the student parking lot, Connor on someone's car and Evan on the ground next to it, Evan keeps shifting. He fidgets with his hands, fingers running over the edge of his kaki shorts or his cast, switching between them at times. Connor munches on another saltine cracker, wondering how he should ask the question that's been nagging him.

But subtlety has never been a skill of his, so he doesn't bother to try and learn it now. "What's wrong?"

Evan jumps, Connor's question startling him out of his thoughts. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Connor repeats, taking the last cracker before continuing. "You seem like something's bothering you."

"It's nothing." Evan swallows. "Nothing important."

"Spill it. It's obvious something happened." Connor tucks away the container, noting the fear that shadows over Evan's face.

"Ob-obvious?"

"To me." Connor shrugs, and Evan relaxes slightly.

"It should blow over soon." Evan mutters, drawing into himself. "Hopefully."

"Let me guess." Connor rests his arms on his thighs, holding out a closed fist. He raises one finger, "Parents," he raises the next finger, "school," the third finger goes up, "or Kleinman."

There it is. Evan flinches, and Connor narrows his eyes.

"It's not a b-big deal, really- well, maybe it's a little bit of a big deal since Jared suddenly hates me for no reason but I can't figure out why. I have an idea or two but none of them really give him a right to be mad considering all the stuff he's-" Evan stops, eyes wide. "W-well, I mean, it's not-"

"What did he do?" Connor snaps, butting Evan off. "Sorry." He mutters as an afterthought. "It isn't you."

"He just got m-mad and-" Evan is stopped by the bell this time, to Connor's annoyance. He jumps to his feet, snatching his bag from where it had been sitting on the ground beside him. Connor slides off the trunk of the car, grabbing his messenger bag and lazily swinging it over his shoulder.

"Are you going to class or…?" Evan asks, trailing off instead of voicing the second half.

Connor considers it, then gives a half-hearted grunt in response. "I guess."

"That's good!" Evan smiles.

"Is it?" Connor shoots back.

"Y-yes, it is." Evan stands his ground, a hint of thorns peeking out from his fingertips. "You h-have to go to class if you want to do b-better in school."

Connor raises his eyebrows, it's nice, but Evan's apparent faith in Connor's academic abilities is completely unfounded if you ask Connor. He's gone most of his life half-assing his classes. Even if he wants to get his shit together now, it's far, far too late.

Connor can't really find something in him that cares about that though, so he's never given it much thought. As him and Evan part ways though, Connor can feel his lips quirking upwards in a smile that's almost genuine. It's weird, but not completely unwelcome? Connor doesn't try to sort through those kinds of emotions as much.

His afternoon classes go by painfully slow, and Connor honestly considers just slipping through one of shadows in the school hallways. By that point though, he's already lasted most of the day so he might as well stick around for the next hour and a half.

In his sixth period, he draws a messy scribble of some demon-esque figure that resembles Jared. Connor scratches it out, probably with a little more ferocity than he intended, considering that the old lady subbing for the period gives him an odd glance.

Connor's never liked Jared, ever since they halfway met in eighth grade. Jared has always been kind of a prick, at least whenever Connor had been stuck in any area near him. All Jared has is sharp jabs for anyone he comes across. At least Connor has some sense of when to keep his mouth shut.

Connor shouldn't be getting this defensive, not like his track record with Evan is much better- at least from what he knows- so seriously, he should just let Evan handle whatever happened on his own. He has other things he needs to worry about.

Still, that doesn't stop the itch under his hands that makes him want to punch something. Connor settles for snapping his pencil instead.

That reminds him, Alana is coming over afterschool to work on that stupid project as of this morning. Wonderful. One barely coordinated apology and she had jumped on board to do the project with him. Mr. Reyes hadn't been any help either, only saying the project had to be done in a group or else no grade would be given. It's bullshit, considering Zoe is going to be breathing down his neck the entire time, or giving Alana doe-eyes. Connor can't decide which one is worse.

Then his parents will be a whole other issue. His mother should be fine, but Larry is going to be giving him some sort of lecture after Alana leaves. And if Connor doesn't sit through at least the first half he'll only get hell later for it, even though Connor is sure that Larry has already gone through his list of prepared speeches and is now just recycling them.

At least he might not have to listen as long since its Alana. Zoe's already brought the girl over too many times for Connor to remember. For now, he shoves of what might happen later in favor of drawing some ugly demon with a ring of flowers and intestines looped around its neck.

When at last the final bell rings, Connor is ready to bolt into the nearest shadow the moment he gets away from the crowd, but he's stopped when he got about halfway down into said shadow.

"Connor! I just wanted to confirm the time we're meeting up." Alana plows towards him, already smiling. Connor scowls, lifting himself out of the shadow.

"Five." He spits out.

"That works for me." Alana agrees, her eagerness grating against Connor. "I might be a bit early, since tutoring ends at four thirty and it's simpler to go straight from there to your house. It's better to get projects done early anyways, I learned that freshman year in Earth Space Science. I had Mr. Moore, did you have him? Or did you opt out of the class? Anyways, I actually have to get to tutoring now so I'll see you a little before five."

She scoots away with a wave, one that Connor turns away from. The trip home is nice and quiet, considering there was nothing else beneath the shadows besides for him. He doesn't bother with stepping inside the house, just going straight up to his room.

Once he throws his stuff down, he checks his phone for the time. With a sigh, he realizes it isn't even 3:10 yet.

He moves over to his desk, wondering if he should try drawing something. The movement somehow gets his mother's attention, and he grits his teeth as she calls out. "Connor? How was your day?"

Connor doesn't bother to answer her. Every day she asks the same question at one point or the other, and Connor's just tired of it. What was she expecting?

"Yes mother, my days are just getting better and soon I'll just be the perfectly happy little boy you've always wanted." Connor mocks under his breath before flopping into his bed.

"Connor?" His mother calls out one more time. Connor ignores her once again. Maybe he should text Evan while he waited. Connor turns on his phone, fingers flying over the keyboard. He sends the message before really reading over it, but it isn't that bad anyways.

You: hey

Connor puts down his phone, trying to figure out if there was anything he wanted to do. His mind comes up blank though, so he supposes that answered that well enough.

He's almost at the 148th little ceiling spike before his phone buzzes.

Evan: Hi!

Evan: Are you still coming over tomorrow?

Evan: My mom wants to know. I also want to know but my mom wants to make sure so that she can take off work. I probably should have just assumed yes since you said yes Sunday. Sorry.

You: im still going

You: not like i have anywhere else to b

You: and stop apologizing i dont care if you ask me again

You: like seriously i was counting the little ceiling spike bumpy things

Evan: That's good! I'll see you then.

Connor assumes that their conversation is ending there and flings his phone over to his desk. His mother must have heard the noise but he doesn't hear her say anything. But he does hear when the front door closes, Zoe's obnoxious voice ringing throughout the house. Connor wishes he still had a door just so he could slam it.

He doesn't have a door though, so he settles for the next best thing and puts a pillow over his ears and turns to his side. Within a few moments his eyes are blearily drifting shut, and sleep comes too quickly for him to fight it off.

When he wakes up, it's to Larry's voice. Connor growls as he hears Larry announce that the office had and early day and how lucky it was. That's bullshit; now Connor just has to deal with him while Alana's here.

For once, Larry's first stop isn't Connor's room, and Connor sighs in relief when he hears Larry pass him by to go to the master bedroom.

Then he gets up and grabs his phone, groaning when he realizes it was right around 4:45, just when Alana had said she would be there.

And who would have guessed, two minutes later someone is at the door knocking and Connor can just feel that it's Alana. Zoe is already at the door before Connor is even out of his room.

"Hi Alana!" Zoe greets, ushering the older girl inside. She probably thinks Connor can't hear her whisper, "I'm sorry you stuck with him."

"I'm sorry I'm stuck with her too." Connor trudges down the stairs, glaring at the two with unimpressed eyes. Alana has what looks like her entire collection of school supplies resting in her arms; Connor wonders how she was able to knock at all.

"Fuck off." Zoe snaps back.

"Connor be nice to guests." His mother admonishes from the kitchen.

"Why the fuck do you care?" Connor shouts, and his mother gives a horrified gasp. "Connor!"

Connor ignores her, barely registering some grumble coming from Larry. The old bastard doesn't get involved when other people are around, like he's afraid of ruining his reputation or something. He turns back to Zoe and Alana, the latter seemingly rethinking some life choices and the former furious on her behalf. "Where are we doing this thing?"

"Dining room." Zoe cuts in. "I'm not leaving her alone with you."

Before Connor can spit back a comment, Alana speaks up with a strained voice. "I'm fine working wherever, as long as we can start on it. A sperate room might be nice so that we don't disturb Mrs. Murphy."

"My room then." Zoe decides, her chin tilted stubbornly.

"Whatever." Connor snarls, walking up the stairs again. By now he just wants to be done with this and it wasn't like he could stop Zoe from spying if she wanted to- which she definitely did. Zoe and Alana chatter incessably behind him, but they're following him anyways.

Connor plops himself down on Zoe's bed, crossing his arms as Zoe rounds on him.

"Off. Now." Zoe points to the floor adamantly. "I stay out of your room and you stay out of mine. Just cause Alana is here doesn't mean you get to act dumber than usual."

"Who the fuck is dumb here? Wouldn't you rather have 'lana on your bed than the floor." Connor takes full advantage of overhearing Zoe's nickname for the senior, and he gets the intended reaction.

"Shut up." Zoe sounds dangerously close to throttling him but Connor couldn't care less, smiling slightly. "Sit on the goddam bed if you want, but you get that corner." Zoe pointed to the furthest edge of the bed, and Connor scoots over. He might as well give her this.

"Okay." Alana is all business, unloading her supplies onto Zoe's bed. She turns to Zoe for a moment, "Do you want to sit with us or…?"

"I'll do some homework and make sure that dumbass doesn't try anything again." Zoe scoots back to her own desk, a pretty little thing decorated with old pictures of herself with friends or family, while Connor rolls his eyes.

"First question," Alana's focus is on Connor again, and he has to resist the urge to jump into the first shadow he can see and flee to do something else. "have you started to read the book?"

"Already read that shit in fifth grade. I remember most of it."

Alana looks impressed, it's a weird look to have directed at him. "Your memory must be excellent then. You should be excelling at your classes with a skill like that, but you don't seem to care much about your classes. That's not a very productive mindset, and plenty of studies show that your thoughts going into a classroom can greatly affect your performance in it. Of course, I also figured that out around middle school; in less scientific terms of course, but never the less it's something that I utilize to this day."

"Enough." Connor stops her. "What are we supposed to do for the actual project?"

"We have to each write an 800 word essay on the thematic symbols present throughout a book then make one combined essay or presentation to show the class." Alana ticks off the steps with her fingers. "Honestly we shouldn't have any trouble as long as we set a schedule and use our time constructively."

"Fine." Connor snaps. "So are we just going to make a crappy powerpoint or…?"

"Well, we could." Alana admits with a sideways glance that tells Connor everything he needs to know. "But it might be beneficial to both of us if we come up with a more creative presentation. Mr. Reyes stated that he would be giving extra credit to any that impressed him. I'm at a low A and the extra credit would be very useful. In fact-"

"Whatever." Connor cuts her off again. "I don't care."

"Okay then. We might as well start working on points for our essays." Alana pulls out a notebook and starts to write down bullet points. Connor is once again wondering why she even bothered to work with him at all.

After about 15 minutes Alana looks up and finally realizes that Connor hasn't moved an inch. "Aren't you going to start working?"

"Why? This isn't due for weeks." Connor shrugs, and Alana's eyes widen, her grip on the pencil tightening momentarily.

"Yes," Alana agrees, a frown creasing her face. "but it would be much more beneficial if we started it now. I have a lot of other projects due soon, as well as a multitude of school related activities that will be taking up a lot of my time. It would be much better if we started on this now rather than later."

"For you." Connor points out. "But not for me."

"I-"

Connor stands, walking out without another word. He goes straight into his room, and since it's right next to Zoe's, he can hear them talking in bits in pieces. He gets the general gist of it though.

Fine. Maybe he had been a little harsh, but none of what he said was wrong.

With a huff, he goes to his desk. He might as well try and draw something now.

He is fully immersed in a detailed drawing of a sea serpent. Meticulously drawing each and every jagged tooth set within its gaping jaw, and then coloring in where the bloodstains were.

"That's a good drawing." Alana's voice rings out from beside him.

"So?" Connor shoots back, trying to hide the fact that he had nearly jumped out of his seat.

"It is." Alana sighs. "I'm not being sarcastic."

Alana sits on his bed, and Connor immediately snaps. "Get off."

Alana ignores him though, staring at the ground with her eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched. She mutters, "There's a reason I wanted to partner with you."

Connor can't help but snort at that, his eyebrows rising. "Sure there is."

"You don't have to be angry or worried." Alana smiles.

"Forgot that you like to snoop around in people's heads." Connor growls, turning away with a glare.

"I can't stop it." Alana shoots back, and Connor thinks that's the first time he's ever heard her raise her voice. "Like when your head gets fuzzy."

Connor can't think of anything to say after that, but Alana continues like she already knows that- she probably does.

"You're not the most… welcoming person. You don't care much for other people and you're not afraid to show that. You tend to get bitter and angry whenever people approach you, even when they mean well. You lash out first and ask questions later."

"Are you always this blunt?" Connor asks.

"I've learned its better to be blunt when it comes to emotions." Alana explains, regret laced in her words. "But regardless, you do have a softer side."

Connor opens his mouth to retort, but Alana is the one cutting him off this time. "Don't get me wrong. You're tend to be a jerk most of the time. But I've seen you with Evan, and once or twice with Zoe- her mind tends to stay away from those kinds of memories though. Regardless it would be dumb to assume a person is completely evil."

"Your point?"

"I want to understand you." Alana continues at Connor's disbelieving expression. "People aren't easy for me get most of the time. My own head confuses me more than anything." Alana chuckles softly, and Connor can't quite keep up with her at this point, his mind still stumbling over her words. "Whenever I'm near enough to see your mind though, it's strange. Your mind- your mind is like a cloudy sky. Sometimes it's clear and easy to read, and sometimes there are so many clouds I can't even begin to get past them.

"It confused me a lot, and I won't lie and say that I didn't spend a lot of my time poking around your mind in class. That's why I never told Zoe what you said to me the first time I asked you about the project. Your head was so fuzzy I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I would be surprised if you could have then." Alana sighs. "I can relate, on a level."

"Not paying attention in class or the not telling Zoe anything?" Connor leans back, checking to make sure Zoe hasn't been standing outside the door the entire time.

"You're not the only one whose mind gets a little scrambled at times." Alana stands up and walks to the door way. She turns to leave after a moment of silence, and Connor lets her go.

Connor gets a lecture from Larry that night, berating him on his behavior towards Alana when she first arrived. He sits through all of it, but he doesn't bother to pay attention, his mind still a little stuck.

When he walks into school that morning, all he wants is for the day to pass by in peace. He's going over to dinner at Evan's house tonight, and as long as Larry doesn't stick his nose into it Connor should be fine. He just has to make sure to keep his mouth shut.

And surprisingly, it works. The day passes by with relatively no problems. Alana's stare lingers on him when he enters AP English though, and he glares at her for a moment before diverting his gaze. He doesn't let his eyes land on her for the rest of class.

Lunch with Evan goes as usual, which is to say, it's peaceful and gives Connor a chance to unwind.

Of course, trouble has a way of sneaking up on him, and Connor tenses as the hairs on the back of his neck stand, the static electricity almost tangible. He had been walking down the hallway on his way to meet Evan- they both figured that Connor might as well just go home with Evan if he was going to be there for dinner- and he had almost been to the doors.

"Dipshit." Connor greets, turning around with narrowed eyes.

"Fuckface." Jared returns, grimacing. The hall way is empty, so only him and Jared are there to stare each other down.

"What are you doing?" Connor asks, taking a step forwards and smirking when Jared inches back.

Jared doesn't back down completely though, in fact, he looks even angrier now, and he steps forward to match Connor. "Stay away from Evan."

Connor barks out a laugh, on that evolves into fully-fledged laughter. "Seriously? You're telling me to stay away from him? Isn't that what you've already been doing?"

"Everyone knows you're psychotic. A lunatic ready to snap." Jared snaps, and Connor's laughter cuts off immediately. "I don't know how Evan hasn't seen through it yet."

"Maybe because I can be a decent person when I'm not surrounded by assholes." Connor grits out, his hands clenched. His shadow squirms beneath him, begging to be unleashed and play around with Jared's awaiting one. He actively forces his magic back; he has to keep the upper hand, or Jared will only be proven right.

"Sure, says the kid who threw a printer in second grade." Jared rolls his eyes, and Connor can feel his desire to keep collected crack into little pieces.

The stink of Jared's breath clogs his nose as Connor shoves him against the nearest lockers. One arm lays across Jared's chest to keep him pinned, and Connor hisses, "That printer fucking fell. I didn't do shit."

"Really?" Jared is apparently feeling lucky enough to get away with a comment like that, and Connor digs his arm deeper into Jared's chest. Connor has his other arm pulled back, ready to swing and give Jared what he deserved. He pauses though, when he suddenly realizes he's doing exactly what Jared wants.

Connor's fist lands hard, denting the lockers right beside Jared's head. His teeth grind together to block the pained sounds that threatened to escape him. Shoving away from Jared, Connor snarls, "Whatever Kleinman. Just fuck off already."

As Connor begins to walk away though, he hears footsteps pound behind him. His magic flares up before Connor has even turned around, and by the time he does he's met with a frozen Jared, arm in a punching position, with Connor's shadow just touching Jared's.

"What the hell!" Jared grunts, and Connor watches him try and move. "What kind of creepy shit is this?"

"This is a warning." Connor spits out, a new wave of vehemence bubbling to the surface. He reaches out a hand, smirking slightly as he forces Jared's arms to come to his sides. "Stay away from me and from Evan if you know what's good for you. Nobody needs someone like you lurking around just to be a prick."

"Says you." Jared manages to slip out, and Connor masks his fury with a smug smile.

"Why don't we just take Evan up on this? On which one of us is actually a prick." Connor suggests, his smile growing as Jared pales. "You're an even bigger asshole then I am when it comes to him."

"You- you can't just waltz in here and steal him like that." Jared's face contorts and Connor actually thinks he can see tears forming.

"Steal? What the fuck do you think this is?" Connor jabs, ignoring Jared's pained expression, it means almost nothing to him when compared to the panic that Evan has been in for the past two days. "People leave you because they want to or you made them. Nothing else. Get the fuck over it already and get out of my face before I make you." Connor waves a hand, pushing Jared back against the lockers.

This time Connor doesn't bother with turning around, sinking into the nearest shadow as fast as he could. He's still fuming, leftover anger spilling over in the way he kicks and punches at the floor of his shadow realm.

He doesn't even have words to explain how utterly pissed off he is at Jared. God, he almost feels sorry for Jared though, Connor's life would have been much more difficult if he was that goddamn ignorant.

That's probably how everyone surrounding him feels.

Connor shakes his head. That isn't how he is.

But it is.

So when he slides up next to Evan, he tries to watch himself, to hold himself back. It doesn't work that well, and Connor knows he won't be able to keep up an kind of façade around anyone else. Because if Evan is giving him concerned looks as the stroll to his house, who knows how his family would react.

Still, Evan's house is small, cozy and homely. Part of Connor relaxes as he steps inside, the other part tenses up and shrinks back, hissing at everything Connor passed.

Evan is talking at a hundred miles an hour, stopping and checking Connor's face every few breaths.

"Hansen, you're fine. This is better than my room anyways." Connor stops Evan from his current ramble of how the plants in his room are probably kind of weird.

"G-good. That's good." Evan nods, almost to himself.

By the time Evan's mom gets home, Connor thinks he's gotten his act together. Evan offers to help with dinner and Connor follows suit, if with a little more of a forced lilt in his voice.

It's nice though. Evan's mom, or Ms. Hansen, is bright and cheerful. She asks both of them about their day when Connor was expecting her to only ask Evan.

Even at dinner, she keeps the conversation rolling.

"So Connor, how did you guys meet?"

Connor freezes, sending Evan a glance. Evan has gone white like a sheet, and Connor knows he's going to have to bullshit his way around the complete truth.

"The park."

"Oh, that sounds nice." It's clear Ms. Hansen wanted more details, but it should be just as clear that Connor and Evan aren't going to say much else on it.

By the time dinner is over, Connor is stuffed, and the sun is long set below the sky. He can't remember the last time he had actually enjoyed dinner, without strange new food fads and inevitable bickering.

"Thank you for dinner." Connor says on his way out, already knowing he'd stayed long enough for Larry to be annoyed.

"Thanks for coming." Evan returns, Ms. Hansen coming up too.

"No problem Connor, it was nice to have you over. Evan doesn't usually get guests."

"M-mom!" Evan squawks, a hint of red spreading across his cheeks.

"But really," Ms. Hansen looks at him, like Connor is worth more than even he knows, and Connor feels trapped under the kind stare. "thank you for being friends with him."

Connor pauses, noticing how the words, which should feel sweet and warm, ring hollowly in his ears despite their sincerity. She doesn't know what he's like. "It's nothing."

Connor slips into a shadow, not risking a look back to see how Ms. Hansen reacted to it. He would rather not see the disappointment or fear.

When he steps up from the shadows into his room though, Larry is the first thing he sees.

"Did you finally decide that you were going to tell us where you were going?" Larry huffs, and Connor knows he's in for a rough night. With a sigh, he snaps out a retort, steeling himself against the argument that's about to come.

Side note please tell me if I'm completely screwing up anyone's character. I get really nervous writing dialogue cause never feel like its true to character.