1 Chapter 1

Larry angrily slammed his fist on the table in front of his son. Connor looked at the hairy arm with a blank stare on his face, he knew what was coming. "Connor this is the 2nd time and you just got to the new school," he shouted angrily waving a letter that Connor had been forced to carry home that day. "Look at what it says, any more quips from you and you'll get suspended for 3 days. I will not have my son get suspended, do you understand?!"

"Larry... please. He'll do better, lay off him a bit," Cynthia started. Connor tried to close his eyes, to just wish away everything, he just wanted to be normal for once. Larry once again slammed the table, "Damn it, Connor why can't you just be normal?!" Connor tried desperately to blink back the tears forming in his eyes and ended up staring at the floor and his shoes. They were black Adidas, just all black, he didn't like showing too much and the bright colors hurt him. Zoe just stared at her brother from her bedroom, she was cowering in fear not just at Larry but her brother. Things changed after Connor got into 6th grade, he was different. He would have violent outbursts followed by a lot of tears, his mood changed almost every second, the last straw was when Connor tried to fight her dad, who would get mad at their own father? In her mind Connor was evil, and she wondered why she ever got a brother like him. "Larry... come on, into the room." Connor put his head on the table and let the tears flow. Zoe hesitated but walked out of the bedroom to sit on the couch and look at him. Connor got up from his seat at the table and took some house keys, "Zo, tell mom and... Larry that I'm heading outside for a bit."

"He's your dad Connor."

"What?"

"He's your dad, not Larry."

"He's dad to you, Larry to me." Connor walked out of the house in silence shutting the door softly behind him, and Zoe pondered what he said. She rolled her eyes and went back to reading, he was just salty that she could stay out of trouble and he couldn't.

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Evan was alone again, and normally this would be a cause for celebration but Evan wasn't celebrating. This was Evan's new normal, being alone in the house, by this point he wanted to call Jared on the new phone his mom bought him after his fall from the tree. At the same time, he just wanted to get away from Jared for a bit, he actually wasn't too sure if Jared even wanted to be his friend. Sure, he would check up on him every once in a while, but Evan always assumed it was because he wanted to play video games at his place. He put down the phone and scratched the large cast he had on his left hand. The damn microfibers were prodding his skin and he hated the feeling of not being able to move his hand very well. Sometimes Evan would text his mom while she was at work, but she'd respond with a quick, "Sorry, I'm busy." Evan wondered if his mom didn't love him anymore, or if she ever loved him at all. "So, any ghosts here that want to play board games with me?" Dead silence.

"Worth a shot... and actually if you were here I wouldn't be able to interact with you anyways." Evan got up from his seat and stretched a bit before looking towards the time. It was only around 6:30 so his mom wouldn't be home for a while, maybe he'd go to the orchard. He grabbed his computer and phone and stuffed it into a messenger bag. He put on his shoes and blue striped shirt and walked out of the house, then immediately regretted his decision. He loved the orchard because there was an amazing lack of people who went there, most people only chose to go to the park or get their food from the grocery store, the orchard was peaceful. Unfortunately, the walk there was not, and Evan was immediately met with a stranger. Please don't look at me, please don't look at me, please don't-. The stranger looked, smiled, and waved at Evan. Shit. Evan nervously smiled and tried to put his left hand up to wave. Wait no, what if he thinks I'm waving at him with my cast because I hate him. Evan raised the other hand and did a small wave with a nervous smile plastered on his face. He then speed-walked to the orchard hoping everyone was inside spending time with family. He finally made it to the gates and walked into the serene place sitting down under a tree and just taking in all the sights. "May as well get started on those letters..." Evan pulled out his computer and began writing letters to himself about all his problems because the therapist said it would help him. With each typing of a letter Evan began to lose himself into his letter rants.

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Connor had no idea where he was going, he just needed to get out of the house. He breathed in a sigh and walked past people on the sidewalk avoiding eye contact. He finally realized there was no point to going nowhere and that he should find a place to rest for a bit, he walked his way up to a nice old-looking man outside the flower shop and waited for him to finish watering. He looked up and smiled and nodded at the teenager. "Hello! Are you here to buy flowers?"

"Actually, no, though they look great. I was wondering if there were any places nearby to, you know, just rest a bit?" The man looked up as if thinking then smiled at me, "I mean, there's a distinct lack of people there, but there's an orchard just across the street."

"People are the last thing I need right now." The man laughed and pointed at a rickety old sign outside a place covered in trees. "It's right over there."

"Thank you... uhm, good luck with your flowers?" The man beamed and tipped his hat off to Connor. "A good day to you."

"To you as well." Connor walked over to the rickety old sign and pushed the gates open, he began to walk around the place not noticing the pair of legs sticking out underneath the apple tree Connor aimed to climb.

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