Chapter Text
Zoe walked through the same tree scaped orchard she had been years before with her family. She needed some air for a bit. Her whole morning and half of her afternoon was spent studying for her finals, and she needed some time to rest. The orchard smelled like apples, cherries and nostalgia. She remembered how her family used to go to this orchard every week and how her brother would chase her around the trees– sometimes when she and Connor played hide and seek, he’d cheat by going up the trees since she couldn't reach him.
As Zoe stepped across the leafy dirt under her shoes, she had found a nice place to sit and relax. She sat down and sighed contently, the light didn't hit her, and the bench's temperature wasn't hot, so it was the perfect place to relax. Her life had been so stressful recently, she needed a break. Senior year was definitely not her year– which was ironic as she’d always dreamed of having the perfect senior year. There were so many reasons why it was going horribly– so much so that she could literally list said reasons down! Well, firstly, she had been falling behind all her classes, which made her have to study twice as much; second, her band leader had given them a hard piece, and she hadn't had any time to practice it; lastly, her boyfriend had cheated on her with her with her best friend. Out of all of them, the betrayal with her boyfriend and best friend had really beaten her down. It was hard when the two people who you had trusted so much betray you. It was also her finals week, so she had been busting her ass off over it– constantly studying and studying.
This was a nice break, she really needed it. Just her, the trees, the soft wind, and the smell of apples sitting in the air. What could she need more?
But turns out, it wasn't just her. Zoe had been too busy in her own world to notice the boy that sat next to her. He had dark caramel blonde hair and dark azure eyes. She questioned why he sat next to her and what he wanted. Zoe carefully examined the boy, she seems to remember him from somewhere, she just doesn't know where. He seemed shy. Fidgeting with his hands, looking away, avoiding her gaze. It was like he was waiting for her to speak first, like he didn't want to disturb her, but still wanted to talk to her. She ultimately decided to break the silence and try and chat with him
"Hi"
The boy, finally looked at her— well more like looked up at her, he didn’t meet her gaze— and spoke
"Hey"
The boy's voice was soft and quiet, even if he just said one word, Zoe could already sort of make up what kind of person he was. He didn't say anything further, and looked away again after Zoe didn't say anything. That's when Zoe realized that this wasn't gonna go anywhere if she didn't try to interact more. It sort of seemed like he had a hard time trying to connect with her, or even just speak normally to her
"My name's Zoe. What's your name? "
The guy slightly raised his eyebrows, looking at her for just a millisecond before yet again looking away. It looked like he wasn't expecting her to speak to him, as if he thought the simple “hi” was the only thing they were gonna exchange to each other
"Oh, uhm my name's Evan" Evan said, almost stuttering
"Thats a nice name" Zoe said softly, she didn't know what else to say but she still wanted this conversation to keep going
He looked away, letting out a little "Thanks"
Zoe looked at the view they had in front of them, it was just a collection of apple trees. In the far end, you could see people walking around, and even some having picnics. None of them near Zoe or Evan though. They sat there for a while in comfortable silence this time. Zoe looked up back at him, and Evan was already looking at her, but when he realized Zoe had seen him looking at her– he immediately looked away, probably not expecting her to catch him. He looked just about her age, but it wouldn't hurt to ask right?
"So, how old are you? "
"I'm eighteen”
“Cool! That means you're a freshman in college? "
"Oh I- I uh actually I'm taking a year off actually"
"Oh, I see. That's smart"
"Well- uh, what about you?"
"Oh, I'm seventeen. Senior in high school."
≠
From there, they started to speak more, and more. And, the more Zoe and Evan spoke, the more they learned about each other. You wouldn't really expect two strangers who had just met each other to click so fast, but they just did. It was surprising, and comforting. Zoe found out that Evan liked trees, and he even told her what kind of trees they had in the orchard– pointing to the ones near them. He also said that he wanted to major in Botany— which Zoe had found out was the study of plant life and stuff. I guess his love for trees seeped into what he wanted to major in too. He also told her how he had social anxiety. Which probably explained why he was so nervous and fidgeting, waiting for Zoe to engage with him first.
Zoe also told him stuff about her. About how she liked Jazz, and played guitar in a jazz band. How she tried to paint lately and even though she wasn't good at it, she had been trying harder recently and found out she really liked it, even if it looked like a seven year olds drawing at times. She told him about her favorite artists, how she was kind of falling behind in her studies and other stuff. But she especially told him about what happened with her ex boyfriend and best friend. He looked softly at her, sympathizing, letting her speak out her unsaid emotions
Zoe didn't realize how long they were talking for, because it suddenly started to get late. Zoe originally came here to have a quick break from studying and life in general– but it seems like she just made a new friend. Zoe checked her phone from her pocket and saw the time, it was already 4:00. She didn't realize that she was out here for that long. Time didn't usually pass this fast, especially for Zoe. Time had been going by excruciatingly slow lately, but when she was with Evan, when she made a friend,,, it seemed like it went by faster. It became better and less depressing.
She quickly looked up towards Evan who stopped talking so that she could speak
"It's getting really late, I should head home" Zoe said, looking at Evan and putting her phone in her pocket
Evan looked a little sad, but he understood and nodded "Oh, ok. I hope I'll see you soon"
Zoe was about to stand up and leave before she had an idea "How about we exchange numbers? Y'know, so I can contact you and we can keep talking"
Evan looked surprised, as if he wasn't expecting her to actually want to talk to him after this "Oh” he said processing her question before quickly saying “Oh! Yeah sure!"
He realized he got a bit too excited, so he said it again— trying to sound more chill “I mean I'm cool with that” He grabbed his phone and gave it to Zoe
"There, I saved it as Zoe so you can remember"
"Oh, of course. It's not like I would forget you, not in a weird way, you don't really have a forgettable face— I'm not saying your face is weird! But like, I don't have any other friends so yeah I probably won't forget"
Evan smiled nervously as Zoe chuckled softly at his ramble, before standing up
"Well, I'll see you Evan"
Zoe said, waving goodbye and walking away. Evan also stood up and waved back at her
"See you too"
≠
When Zoe opened the door, she immediately heard her home setting up the dinner table. She waved at her mom before telling her she’ll eat later. Heading upstairs into her room right after. She opened the lights to her room and sat down on her chair next to her study table. That was a nice three hours spent with Evan just talking, but now, she had to get back on her studies. Zoe promised herself that she couldn't fail senior year. Not when so many bad things had already happened. She had her break but now she had to go back to studying
♪
“I'm awake inside a dream” (Must be love - Laufey)
♪
Evan flopped onto his bed, staring blankly at the wall as he tried to process everything that had just happened in the past few hours. He couldn't believe it. He just spoke to Zoe Murphy and had a full conversation with her. Then he became friends with Zoe Murphy, and he got her number. The Zoe Murphy. The girl he had a crush on almost all throughout high school— the girl who he tried to talk to after her jazz band concert in Junior year, but then he ended up getting so worried that his hands were sweaty that he chickened out. He couldn't believe it, even in the moment. He had been so hesitant to go up to her— especially with how peaceful she looked alone— but he still did it! And now, he has her number, and they will probably talk again. Unless Zoe just gave him her number to be kind— but even if so, why'd she offer it? Maybe she was just doing it because she noticed how sad and alone he looked and felt remorse. But even if she did do that just because she felt bad, he still had her number! You don't just give out your number to strangers, let alone strangers who you met at an orchard and had a three hour conversation with. She did want to be his friend. Evan never thought there would be a day where he actually made a friend by himself.
How should he strike up a conversation?
Should he be casual?
[ Hey Zoe, just wanted to say goodnight ]
That sounds weird.
[ Hi Zoe! I just got home, and before you head to sleep, I wanted to say goodnight. ]
Nope. Too formal
[ Yo Zoe, goodnight ]
No! That is not how you speak to girls! Let alone girls you used to have a crush on.
Used to. He doesn't like Zoe anymore, he had accepted that he would never get to talk to her or let alone date her when he graduated long ago, especially since they'd probably never see again
But.. He did speak to her earlier.
.
.
.
Before he could think again, his phone buzzed. He carelessly grabbed it, mindlessly checking it, thinking the message was from his mom,
(Zoe)
[ Hey Ev! ]
[ Mind if I call you Ev? ]
[ Anywho, I was just texting to see if you got home safely, text me back when you can! ]
Evan blinked twice to make sure he was seeing this correctly, he had initially thought that Zoe was gonna message him, obviously. Why else would she exchange her number for his? But he didn't actually expect her to do it. As he said, he thought she just did it because she didn't wanna leave him alone and empty handed. Evan opened his phone, immediately going to the contacts list to answer Zoe
(Zoe) :
[ Hey Ev ! ] 5:31
[ Mind if I call you Ev ? ]
[ Anywho , I was just texting to see if you got home safely , text me back when you can ! ]
: (Me)
5:33 [ yeah you can call me Ev! ]
[ Not that I care or whatever ]
[ Because it'd be really weird if I did ]
[ But yeah I just got home actually ]
(Zoe) :
[ Ahh nice nice !! ] 5:33
[ Well I have to continue studying now so , ttly :) ]