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Zoe had never been to a Connor Project meeting. It was understandable, considering her relationship with her brother hadn’t been that great when he was alive. They would yell at each other, he would threaten her, their parents would ignore her while trying to deal with his issues. However, something had changed. When Evan started talking about his friendship with Connor, Zoe couldn’t help but remember the good times she’d had with her brother when they were little. He may have been a monster, but he wasn’t always that way.
However, something felt off during the meeting. She knew why Evan was there, as Connor’s friend it made sense that he was the president. She didn’t know Jared well, but she knew he was Evan’s friend and a bit of an opportunist. However, one person’s presence didn’t make sense. So Zoe decided to ask about it.
“Why do you care so much?” Zoe asked Alana point blank once everyone else had left.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Alana asked, “we were close acquaintances.”
“Right, you were acquaintances, not friends,” Zoe said. “Being co-president and vice whatever of a memorial group seems a bit much for someone who was only your acquaintance.”
Alana was taken aback. She started giving the same speech she gave on the Connor Project blog posts and videos. Zoe looked unamused.
“I’ll ask a different question,” Zoe said, “when you were working on that English project. Did Connor do anything else other than call it Fuck Hinn?”
“Well, he was going through a lot and-”
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Zoe said.
“Well, if I was going to fault someone for leaving me with all of the work on a project, I wouldn’t have as many acquaintances as I do,” Alana said. Something about that phrase caught Zoe’s attention.
“You keep saying that,” Zoe said.
“Saying what?” Alana asked, genuinely unsure of where Zoe was going with her statement.
“That people are your acquaintances,” Zoe said, “I mean, why not just call them your friends?”
For just a second, Zoe thought she saw hesitation on Alana’s face. Concern. Fear. Something that was actually a human emotion rather than a facade for accolades.
“I fully respect people’s boundaries and I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable associating with me,” Alana said. The sentence moved slowly, exposing the fact that each word was carefully chosen.
“You know we’re not acquaintances, right?” Zoe said. Alana looked mortified before Zoe clarified. “We’re friends.”
Alana was trying to respond, but before she could, Zoe pulled a notebook out of her backpack. Then she grabbed one of the markers she kept handy in case she got bored and wrote something down.
“Let me know if you want to hang out sometime,” Zoe said, “I know you’re busy, but you seem to be good enough at time management to make time for friends.”
“Thanks,” Alana said. “I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“Okay,” Zoe said, and she left the room. When Alana checked her phone, she checked her phone. Amongst the retweets of her Connor Project tweets, she noticed something.
ZOE started following you. She smiled at the little star emoji by Zoe’s name.
Even though she had dozens of acquaintances, Alana was comforted to know she had a friend.