Friends with the Babysitter (a Dear Evan Hansen Fanfic)

Ch 2--Interview Prep

Evan was a mess.

He had no idea how to prepare for an interview!

As if his body knew he was going to need a lot more time than his mind anticipated, he woke up at seven am. When he remembered what he had to do today, he started panicking.

Why did he think this was a good idea? He couldn't handle watching a kid, he could barely watch himself! His stomach growled, reminding him that he didn't have dinner the night before. How was he going to provide for another person when he couldn't even feed himself? He sat up in bed and pressed his fists in his eyes, trying to stop the tears. Why was he like this? Normal seventeen year old boys had jobs. He could do this.

He repeated that mantra and tried to breathe normally, but just couldn't seem to take in a deep breath.

His bedroom door opened a crack and his mom peeked inside.

"Evan!" she cried upon seeing him in his panicked state. She rushed to the side of his bed. "What's wrong, honey?" He opened his mouth but no words came out, instead he managed a strangled choking sound. She made sure to give him enough space and reminded him, "In, out, in, out," and breathed deeply with him. He rested his head on her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around him. He closed his eyes and tried to match her deep, steady breaths. When he calmed down, he sat up. She smiled at him and brushed the tears from his eyes.

"Sweetie, what's the matter? Why are you awake so early? Did you take your meds today?"

     He shook his head and she leaned over and opened the box next to his bed. She popped the cap off and shook some pills into his hand. He swallowed them and took a swig of water from a bottle on his night stand.

"I...uh..." He needed to start making things up to tell her. "I'm going to a f-friends house, a-and I d-don't know--" he burst into tears again and clutched his moms sweater.

"Evan, honey, you don't have to go." She rubbed his back and rocked him back and forth. He calmed down enough to talk to her.

"N-no." he shook his head. "I h-have to."

"Why?"

"A school p-p-project." He lied. He knew he should feel guilty about lying to his mother, but right now he was too nervous to feel anything else.

"All right, what time are you supposed to go?"

"T-ten." he said, grabbing a tissue from the nighttable.

"Okay, you still have a couple hours. Why don't you go take a shower, and I'll make you some pancakes, all right?" Evan nodded. That sounded like a good plan. "And then I can help you pick out an outfit, and we can pack your bag to make sure you don't forget anything, and then you can sit with me in the living room and tell me all about your friend and the project, okay?"

"S-sure." he muttered. So much for a relaxing shower. He spend the whole time trying to figure out what he was going to say about his friend and what the project was going to be about. He rehearsed his entire cover story as he got ready.

After he got out of the shower, he put on a t-shirt and basketball shorts before being drawn to the kitchen by the smell of breakfast.

"I thought you were making pancakes," Evan said when he saw the stack of waffles in front of his seat.

Heidi smiled at him.

"I know you like waffles better, so I decided to bust out the waffle iron for you." she walked over and kissed the top of his head, setting a bottle of syrup and can of whipped cream in front of him. Whipped cream was kind of expensive, but Evan loved the stuff so she tried to buy it if there was extra shopping money. She went back to the counter and grabbed the second waffle before putting it on a plate for herself. She sat across from him at the dark wood table.