Something Beautiful.

I release Noah from the hug and try to look him in the eye, but he won't meet my gaze. The poor boy's embarrassed. Not that I don't blame him, his reaction to Tiger was crazy, and I'd be embarrassed too. The thing is, his reaction wasn't 'oh shit, I'm afraid of dogs'. It was 'oh my fuck, I'm afraid I might die if that thing gets any closer to me', and it seemed like he was really thinking that. I feel sorry for him, but I wish I knew why he was so scared.

"So how about we get started?" I ask him, trying to diffuse the tension. Noah shrugs lightly and turns to pick up the bags of groceries he knocked off the counter in his panic. He's still so flustered and I want to hug him again, but I think the limit of friendly hug time has been reached, and I sure as hell don't want him to think I'm a creeper trying to hit on him wile we're alone at my house, especially after lunch today. I mean, Jules just straight up assuming Noah's gay, and then blurting it out? That's not cool. Not that I don't agree think there's a pretty good chance that Noah is gay, but it's just that Jules shouldn't have pointed it out like that and called him woman-like. On the other hand, I guess that means if we ever get together we won't have to worry about who's the 'man' and who's the 'woman'.

"Shit." Noah turns to me holding the carton of eggs we bought. I look at them for a second, not sure what he's shitting, but then I realize there are egg whites dripping off the carton and onto the floor. He gingerly opens the carton and reveals what's left of the dozen eggs, all of them shattered beyond recognition. "I can't believe I just broke all the eggs! I'm such a fucking fuck-up."

"Noah, it's cool. Seriously, don't sweat it. We'll go to the store and get some more, okay?" Noah bites his lip, but nods slowly at me. "Just one more thing before we go. I've gotta check if we have rum or not, because I need to text my mom before she leaves work." I check everywhere, but after seeing three lonely bottles of beer in the back of our fridge it's apparent we don't have any rum, which means Noah will have to stay for dinner. The thought brings a smile to my face and I shoot a text to my mom telling her we need rum for a cake and that I have a friend over for dinner. I look over at Noah who is still looking embarrassed and smile at him. "You ready to go back to the store?"

He mumbles something incoherent, but follows me out of the house anyways. I'm thinking I could get used to this, doing little errands with Noah while he tags along and picks music to listen to. It's cozy. When the front door closes I can hear Tiger barking from the back yard, and the sound makes Noah flinch closer to me.

"She's fenced in," I tell him, but he ignores me and climbs in the passenger side of my truck as fast as he can. I'm expecting him to grab my ipod and find a song to listen to, but after he buckles in he just crosses his arms and stares at his lap, unwilling to interact with me. "Hey Noah? It's okay, ya know. If you're afraid of dogs, be afraid of dogs. Hell, you could be afraid of little fluffy kittens and I wouldn't say you were a freak and demand you leave. It's okay to have fears. Even if I don't understand them, I'll remember what they are, and I'll help you however I can, okay? Tiger, she's old. She's already past the average life span, and honestly, she's missing about half her teeth. The other half are so dull and weak that we have to give her wet cat food to eat. It's kinda pitiful, but she's not vicious at all, I promise." Noah doesn't look up, so I continue on. "But if you're afraid of her, I'll put her outside every time you come over, I promise. You won't even have to know she's there. I just want you to be comfortable, okay Noah?"

"Okay," he whispers, and that's enough for me. I start my truck and pull out of my driveway, heading into town. Noah still doesn't find a song for us to listen to, and he's staring out the window, rather lost in his own thoughts. Maybe he's pondering me saying'every time you come over'. Honestly, I'm thinking about that a little. It would be nice to have him over more often. Really, nice, actually. I like Noah at my house. I like the thought of him being comfortable at my house, and I like the thought of him being comfortable with me. I clear my throat, ready to fill this empty silence.

"I actually used to be afraid of fluffy kittens," I tell him. He shifts his weight and turns towards me with a curious look on his face. I have him interest now. "When I was younger my dad was a business man. He was away on trips all the time, and I never got to see him. Until he quit and started working in town when I was seven, it was like I was growing up in a single parent home with my dad visiting sometimes. That's how bad it was. Anyways, whenever he was home he'd take us to do outrageous things. I guess so I wouldn't forget about him or something, he never really said. It was just our 'father-son bonding time'. Mom never came with us, but that was okay with me, because I saw her all the time.

"One time when I was six he came home after being away for two weeks. He has a friend that owns a zoo about two hours from here, and he pulled some strings to let us have a backstage tour of everything. I got to see baby penguins hatch that day, and a koala bear had a two week old baby I got to see also. It was the best time I had ever had, but then my dad thought it would be so cool to see them feed the lions.

"Now let me clear this up, I still lived in a world of innocence where I didn't realize they fed actual meat to lions. When I was that age I was a Teletubbies and Dragon Tales kind of kid, not the whole Animal Planet, survival of the fittest thing. So yeah, going to the lion feeding was an eye opener. We have a deer problem here at a place north of town where there's more deer than the ecosystem can support, so a wildlife control organization keeps the numbers where they're supposed to be by constantly hunting around there and meeting a certain quota of does vs bucks and stuff like that. Well when they kill the deer apparently they donate them to the zoo who then feeds them to the lions.

"When my dad and I arrived I saw them unloading the deer and I was all 'Daddy, why are the deer sleeping?' but he just told me to watch. When they dumped the deer into the pen I thought it was a game between the deer and the lions, but then the lions started ripping them apart limb by limb and fighting over the heads and stuff. Over the sound of ripping flesh and crunching bones I remember starting to scream and then running as far away as possible before sitting down and crying by the sea turtles. Oddly enough, I think that was the last trip my dad and I ever took."

I look over and Noah is staring at me with a slightly confused/amused look on his face. I smile back and realize I left out being afraid of kittens. "Anyways, I had nightmares about that for weeks. I always dreamed I was the deer and the lions were ripping me apart, and I slowly started hating cats. Not that I had to worry about it, the only thing feline about Tiger is her name, but a month later when we visited my grandma my cousin had a new kitten. It was about a month and a half old, white, and a complete fluff ball. It may sound super cute, but I was freaked out by that thing.I tried to hide it until it tried to play with me and started gnawing at my hand. Then I started screaming and crying that it was going to eat me and everyone thought I was absolutely crazy. Pretty much, I was afraid of big cats on TV and house cats for about a year after that."

Noah's giggling quietly now, and I smile back, shrugging my shoulders. We just pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store so we both get out and when he walks he's more confident, close to how he had been before. Honestly, I think this afternoon might be salvageable. With Tiger outside and me admitting my used to be fear of kittens, we might just be able to have fun. Plus when my mom gets home I know she'll love Noah and then she'll cook for us and everything will be great. This could actually be fun.

"You know, this doesn't seem too hard," Noah says. I turn to look at him and he's gazing at the recipe as we walk down the cold food aisle. "Really, it won't be bad at all. It takes like an hour total, plus cooling time I guess. So we should be done pretty soon."

He's looking at the piece of paper muttering to himself like he's an expert baker. "Can you cook?" I ask him. He blushes and pulls at his earlobe.

"Well, yeah, kinda, I guess." he mutters back, blushing deeper. I chuckle because he's just so cute when he's embarrassed, but the the laughing just makes him blush deeper, so I grab a carton of eggs and head to the checkout, Noah following behind me.

We get to the front of the store and get in line. There's only one register open, but then again, it's Thursday so most people in town are at the junior varsity football game tonight, so I understand they're short on employees. I don't mind waiting for a minute or two. My phone buzzes with a message from my mom, and I quietly curse under my breathe. My dad's at a workshop in NYC and the hospital asked my mom to take on a second shift tonight so she won't be home until tomorrow morning. Looks like it's time for plan two for getting the rum for the cake.

"Hi Madison!" I hear Noah say. I look up and realize we're at the front of the line and that Madison is checking us out. I had totally forgotten she works here, honestly. She greets Noah and looks back and forth between the two of us expectantly, her eyes boring into Noah's, who blushes in return. He gives her a look I can't read and she returns another look I don't understand. It's like they're having a silent conversation, but knowing them they probably are. I sigh to remind them I'm there, and Madison blushes.

"Hello, Shane. What brings you two here today?" she asks me like the exchange between the two of them didn't just happen.

"French project. We need more eggs for a cake we have to bake," I tell her, and she nods. "You know, Jules really does mean well and everything."

She shoots me daggers, and I wonder again why Jules is so caught up on her. I've seen her give him worse looks before, and the one she just gave me nearly scared me shitless. Damn, I admire his stupidity. I could never do it. "That will be two dollars and seventy-five cents," she says, skating over my comment. I hand her three dollars, but I'm not done yet.

"Seriously Madison, I wouldn't be telling you this if I was trying to be mean. You've sat at lunch with us and I've only gotten to know you a little, but that little bit I have gotten to know is enough for me to honestly say I'd be pissed off at anyone who purposefully tried to hurt you. I like you, Madison, but do me a favor and give Jules a chance please? Just one chance. I can't stand to listen to him for much longer. It's always 'Madison this, Madison that'. I admire your hard-to-get tactics, but he's hard to shake off. You're gonna be stuck with him until you give him a chance."

"He talks about me?" she asks, frozen at the cash drawer with her back to me as she reaches for my quarter. The back of her neck is slowly working itself into a pale pink, and I almost laugh. I may not know girls super well, but she so likes him.

"Yeah," I sigh. "It's getting fucking old."

"Here's your change," Madison says curtly as she turns back to me, shoving a receipt and a quarter into my open hand. "Have a nice day."

I'm awestruck by her reaction, but Noah bids her goodbye and turns to me expectantly, so I begin walking to my truck, Noah on my heels like my shadow. When we get to my truck I sigh and drive us to our next location: Mason Jar, our town's only liquor store. It's an odd name, but it's run by the Mason family and they supposedly have a thing about drinking beer out of a mason jar or something. Heck if I know.

It's a little risky, I know, but it's the only possible way we'll get this project finished. I'm not twenty-one, and I definitely don't look twenty-one. Even if I did, a fake ID would get you nowhere in this town. In a place where everyone knows everyone, everyone also knows everyone who's old enough to drink and everyone who's not. I'm not relying on fake age here. I'm relying on being a good kid and people knowing that, and I'm also relying on small town trust to get me what I need. When I pull up to the store front Noah looks at me curiously, but I ignore him, grabbing the recipe off the middle seat where he put it and motioning for him to follow me into the store.

I've only been inside Mason Jar a handful of times with my dad, but I know the Masons pretty well. They're a nice family. All but one of their kids have grown up and moved off, so that leaves Mr. and Mrs. Mason along with their son John to run the store. As I walk in I'm praying anyone but John is working. Mr. and Mrs. know my parents pretty well, and they'll be understanding. John on the other hand? I don't really care for the man. He acts like he has something stuck up his butt all the time, and he'll probably threaten to call the cops on me for just being in the fucking store. I really can't stand him.

The store itself is kind of dark and depressing, and if I were the Masons I would not want to be growing old in a place like that, but it's their whole life, the store. It pays for everything they do, so I guess it's understandable they pour all their time into it. I just make a mental note to never open a liquor store in a small town. I don't want to be tied to something like this when I get old. Lucky for Noah and me, Mrs. Mason is behind the counter when we get inside. Mrs. Mason is in her mid fifties with half silver half black hair. She's kind and motherly, and I've been to her house a few times when I was younger.

"Why hello Shane!" she exclaims when she sees me. She comes out from behind the counter and gives me a hug. I introduce her to Noah and she shakes his hand. He's looking uncomfortable, but I know Mrs. Mason and he has nothing to worry about with her. "What can I do for you today Shane? You know I can't sell you anything without your father here."

There it is, that minor little I'm-only-eighteen problem.

"Yes ma'am, I know I'm not twenty one. You see, the problem is, my dad's at a workshop and my mom got another shift at the hospital and she won't be home until tomorrow morning. Noah and I have a French project due tomorrow where we have to bake this cake," I say apologetically, hoping my parents being busy is enough of an excuse for her. I hand her the recipe and she reads it, nodding a few times.

"Well it seems you're in a pickle here, Shane." I sigh, crossing my fingers in my mind, hoping she can help us out. "But what's a little rum going to do? I know you're a good kid, and I know your father would kick your ass if he came home and found you drunk, so I'm going to trust you on this. Wait here, I'll be right back." Mrs. Mason turns and walks through a swinging door to a back room. I grin and Noah turns to me, looking clearly confused.

"When did your mom get another shift?" he asks me.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got a text when we were in line at Greg's. I was hoping this would work, and voila! We will soon have rum." Noah just responds with an 'oh' before looking down to finish his text message he had been typing before Mrs. Mason left. About that time my phone buzzes again and it's from Jules. I open it and he's telling me to be safe because STD's suck, and I blush. The asshole.

Mrs. Mason reappears with a small bottle of what I'm assuming is rum. At least, I hope it is. I don't know anything really about alcohol, so I'm relying on her to give us the right unmarked bottle, because I'd never know the difference.

"Okay," she tells me as she wraps the bottle in brown paper. "This is the smallest bottle I could find that we had. There's a little over two cups in there, and since you only need 1/3 cups for the recipe, there's quite a bit of room for having to start over. And don't worry about trying to pay me, okay? We usually give your dad two free six packs a month, but he didn't come by last month, so this is on us."

"You sure?" I ask her surprised. I knew the Mason's were generous, but I didn't know about their little favor to my father. I just assumed he bought the beer. "I have money with me."

"Really Shane, it's nothing. And I called your mom to let her know I was giving this to you so she doesn't wonder why there's a random bottle of rum at your house. Just do me a favor, and you two boys don't tell anyone I gave it to you, deal?"

"Deal," Noah and I mutter together, and before I know it Mrs. Mason is handing me the rum like it's a normal occurrence and we're back in my truck, Noah picking up my ipod before I can hand it to him and picking a song like the dog incident never even happened.

*****

"Are you sure?" Noah asks hesitantly as he sniffs at the measuring cup he's holding. He's nervous but at the same time he looks a little excited too, like he wants to break some rules. It's an odd mixture of emotion.

"Not at all. But come on, how bad could it be?" We're standing in my kitchen, each of us with a half cup measuring cup partially full of rum. Neither of us have had rum before and the only alcohol I've ever drank is beer and wine plus a small swallow of whiskey once. I don't like beer either. Call me a total woman, but I'd choose wine over beer any day. Parties are the only times I'd choose to drink beer, and I honestly don't go to many parties.

"On the count of three?"

"Okay, sounds good too me," I tell Noah. "One."

"Two."

"Three," we say together. Ugh, the rum is disgusting. I read somewhere that dark rum taste similar to whiskey, and it was right. I almost spit it out, but I manage to swallow it, coughing slightly, because I absolutely hate drinking. I look at Noah and he has a disgusted look on his face, his cheeks full.

"Just swallow it!" I tell him, and he shakes his head no. I laugh for a second, and he tries to swallow a little bit, but changes his mind at the last second, spewing the rum out of his mouth and all over me. I reach a hand up to wipe the rum-saliva mixture off my face and Noah squeals.

"Ohmygosh Shane, I'm so sorry!" He blushes and covers his face with his hands, but I chuckle lightly, knowing it was just my luck. When Noah mentioned he had never drank rum either, I figured it would be a good idea for us to know what we were putting into the cake before it actually went in, but obviously not. "Seriously, I'm so so so so sorry. I've never had alcohol before and I wasn't expecting, well, that. Now you're all covered in rum," He groans and peers at me from between his fingers, clearly mortified by his reaction. I just laugh it off though, telling him I'll be right back before running to change my shirt. He's apologizing over and over again, but it's no big deal. I was gonna have to wash the shirt anyways.

We already have the cake in the oven and we're just relaxing while it cooks. I ordered pizza already and he texted his mom to tell her he was having dinner at my house. Honestly, this is going really well. Noah is actually a pretty good cook, so we've got everything under control, and it looks like we're headed for a 100.

"Hey do you want a smoothie?" I ask him as I walk back into the kitchen, pulling a new shirt down over my head. His eyes linger on my bare chest for a minute before he looks away blushing like crazy. I'd like to think I have that affect on everyone, but I'm pretty sure it's just Noah. He agrees, so I start getting the ingredients out. A few strawberries, bananas, yogurt, milk, and ice. I look at the ingredients on the counter and hope I remembered everything. To be honest, I've never made a smoothie before, but my mom makes them for me after my morning runs all the time, and I think that's everything I need. There's only one problem. "Uh Noah? I don't exactly know how to make a smoothie."

He giggles quietly and moves in front of me to look at what I have out. "Well you'll need to cut the tops of some strawberries. I'll begin peeling bananas, and then you add the ice and yogurt, a little milk, and then you're good to go," He says. He picks up a banana and takes the peel off before dropping it into my blender. This can't be too hard.

"That's all we need, right?" I ask him when we have all the ingredients in the blender. "And now I just blend it?"

"Yeah Shane, just blend it," he laughs quietly "Honestly, it's not that hard."

Not that hard. Hmph, I'm not totally useless when it comes to baking. I mean, I can cook macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles. How hard can a smoothie be? I check to make sure all the ingredients are in the blender and that the pitcher part is secure on the base. Noah's picking up banana peels and strawberry tops to throw away, so I decide I'll go ahead and blend it. After all, it's not that hard. I look at the buttons for a minute before deciding on the 'puree' setting. I figure a smoothie basically needs to be pureed so press the button.

All hell breaks loose. One second I'm looking forward to a strawberry-banana smoothie, and the next second I'm dodging a chunk of banana and being pelted with a strawberry. "Aaargh!" I scream as I'm hit with yogurt this time, and Noah whips around to see what's going on. I try hitting the buttons on the base of the blender, but nothing turns it off. What the fuck is going on?

"The lid, Shane!" Noah says as he grabs the power cord and yanks it from the wall. I bury my face in my hands and sit on the floor. Not that hard. Oh my gosh, I'm such an idiot."Did you... Did you forget about the lid?"

"Mmhm," I groan from behind my hands, and Noah giggles quietly. I look at him from the ground and he has flecks of the smoothie ingredients on him. He's covering his mouth with the fingers of one hand and his giggles are so freaking adorable. "I thought you said it wasn't that hard?" I ask him feebly.

"Well it's really not, if you just put the lid on."

Of course. If I had just put the lid on. Noah picks a piece of a strawberry off of his hoodie and throws it in the sink, wrinkling his face in disgust.I laugh and slowly stand up. I guess things could be worse. I mean, the house could have burned down, or we could have burned the cake, or Noah could have left after the Tiger incident. Considering that, today is a lot better than it could have been. Noah is still giggling as he starts to wipe up stray splatters of yogurt and milk along with the fruit. As soon as I get up the doorbell rings and when I open the door a boy I vaguely recognize from the pizza place a town over is standing there. I take our pizza and thank him, giving him the money. He gives me a funny look because I'm covered in smoothie bits, but I shrug and laugh. There's no way to explain this.

The cake comes out exactly how the recipe said it would and while it cooled we ate. After eating we finished the cake by adding the syrup and fruit-whipped cream mixture. Jules told me it was one of his favorite cakes, but after tasting the rum I'm not too sure how much I'll like it. I want to ask Noah to stay and watch a movie or something after we finish the cake, but when we finish it's already nine thirty. We're placing the cake into my fridge when there's another knock on the door. Noah and I look at each other confusedly, and when I open the door Nick is standing on the other side.

Nick looks past me and into the kitchen, seeing Noah putting up the ingredients. His mouth forms a small 'o' and he blushes. "I uh, hi Shane. I didn't know when you were going to be done. Noah, um, Noah wasn't answering his phone," he says apologetically.

"I would have brought him home," I tell him and he nods in return.

"I know that Shane. It's just that I uh was worried because he wasn't answering me, ya know." I stare at him incredulously, thinking of the text Jules sent me telling me to be safe. It's like the whole world has gotten together and decided to be suspicious of everything that Noah and I do. I mean for crying out loud, it's me and Noah. There's nothing going on here. We're not even together!

"I'm coming, Nick," Noah says dully. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm safe." Woah. Noah just said he was safe. He's with me and he just told his brother he's safe. Maybe, just maybe we're getting somewhere.

Nick apologizes again and him and Noah leave into the darkness. My front door closes and I sprint up to my room, pulling out my journal for English. We were given an assignment, a poem a day thing, so that we would continue writing even after our poetry unit was over. I sit for a minute and stare at the blank piece of paper. I love writing poetry, but nothing will come and I don't know why.

"Walking down this road
This little thing called life
Turning and turning
Looking for a path
Running to and from
Never knowing for sure which way to go
But trusting little things
Tiny minuscule moments
Whispered words
And feather-light touches
To save us."

I finally write a poem and sigh, unhappy with my product. I'm not sure where it came from, but it's usable at least, and it works as my assignment, so I close my notebook and start getting ready for bed even though only a little past ten. I'm already tired, so when I get the text from Noah I'm in the middle of brushing my teeth.

Hey. I have an idea for tomorrow. With the french food thing. It says. I ask him what his idea is, and he replies with I'll tell you tomorrow. But do you think you can get out of fourth period tomorrow and go somewhere? I tell him it's a possibility, and that I'll see him tomorrow even though I'm confused. We already made the cake and we have it ready. What else do we need?

When I'm finally about to get in bed there's another knock at my door. For the third time tonight. I groan in exasperation and get to my front door to find Jules on my porch with a squirming and panting Tiger in his arms. "She must've gotten out of the house when you had the door open, Shane. I found her in my front yard."

"Jules," I tell him as I take Tiger from his arms. "I'm not stupid. Tiger was in my backyard and there's no way she could have gotten out. Did you seriously just steal my dog out of my yard so you'd have an excuse to get in my house at ten thirty at night?" He grins back sheepishly and shrugs a little.

"Did you just invite me inside?" When I sigh Jules takes that as a yes and runs to his car to grab a bag before running inside my house. "Okay," he says when we get up to my room. "Tell me everything that happened. Did you have a good time with Mr. Ark?"

"Jules, you are worse than a twelve-year-old girl. Seriously man," I say to him, but he's pouting like a puppy so I collapse on my bed beside him and begin recounting the events of the afternoon, skipping over the dog incident but covering everything else from seeing Madison and going to Mason Jar to the smoothie exploding all over the kitchen and having to clean it up.

"So you put in a good word with Madison for me?" Jules looks hopeful, but it's a kind of helpless hopeful that makes me feel bad for him. He has it so bad for her. I nod and roll over on my stomach. I'm so freaking tired and it's past my bedtime.I have no clue how I'm going to wake up to run in the morning. "Do you think I have a chance?"

"Jules, I'll tell you what I've told you all along: That girl doesn't want to be with you, but if you can get her to trust you, you're gonna have a prize on your hands. I just don't want you to hurt her, okay?" Jules glares at me when I say that, and I raise up on my elbows so I can look at him better. "It's not that I expect you to hurt her. I even told her you would never do something to purposefully hurt someone. It's just that you kind of have a tendency of jumping from one girl to the next to the next really quickly. I don't want Madison to be another stepping stone for you, especially since her and Noah are such good friends now."

Jules scoffs at me and rolls his eyes. "You sound like my mother trying to lecture me. Come one, give me a break. Those other girls didn't mean anything. They're just fun to flirt with. Madison's different though. Kind of like Noah's different for you."

"How is this anything like that? I've had two relationships before. One was with a girl in seventh grade, and the other ended before junior year," I reply and Jules shrugs. My track record with relationships is kind of lonely, but I like it that way. I won't date someone unless I really care about them, and I only let myself really care about someone if they're going to be worth my time. Like Noah. "Hey Jules?"

"What's up Shanebear?" Jules uses his little nickname for me, but for once I don't actually mind it. Jules may be a total failure when it comes to his own relationships, but when it comes to talking to him about my interests, he's a good listener. Not that he's had to listen very often. Usually it's the other way around and I'm listening to him.

"What do you think... I mean, do you think... Would Noah say yes if I asked him on a date?" Jules is grinning at me like an idiot and I cover my face with my hands. Even though he's my best friend, this is so embarrassing. Like I said, it's usually him talking to me about girls, not the other way around.

"Shane, that would be absolutely amazing! Yes. He would totally say yes!"

"I just... I'm not sure." I pick at my shirt and I can feel my cheeks heating up. I'm not good at this stuff at all.

"Just do it Shane!"

"Are you sure?" I ask him. I'm not 100% sure he'll say yes. I mean, yeah, we had a good time today, but that was just two friends hanging out. I'm not sure how he'd react to taking that to something a little more intimate.

"Of course I am! I can't believe you're laying here all self-conscious about being rejected," he chides and tries to pinch my cheek, but I swat his hand away. "You have nothing to worry about Shane-o, I promise. I've seen the way that boy looks at you. He's totally going to say yes! So when are you going to do it?"

"I don't know," I admit. I don't have like a concrete plan for this, it was just something that occurred to me sometime between the spitting out of rum and explosion of smoothie. I was just standing there looking at Noah, and all of a sudden I'm thinking Look at the way he blushes. Listen to how he giggles. That boy is so fucking adorable, and I want to ask him on a date. At the time it seemed like a far off fantasy, but saying it out loud makes it seem more real, like it could actually happen. "Just don't tell Nick, okay?"

"It's a deal. He was totally playing overprotective older brother by coming over here earlier. Even if Noah freaked at lunch like nobody know's he's gay, he's out at least to his brother. Won't that be weird though, dating your best friend's little brother?"

"Hey, nobody said anything about dating." I don't think Noah would be ready for that, if he even agrees on a date. I mean sure, he's trusting me. He even said he was safe with me earlier, but that doesn't mean he'll want to be my actual boyfriend. Becoming someone's boyfriend is another huge step, something I'm not even sure I'm ready for.

"Okay, whatever. Not dating, going on a date with. Either way, I won't tell Nick. You can tell him yourself or do whatever you want to do." I look at him thankfully and he laughs at my facial expression. "Anyways, I'm going to sleep. You're crazy, waking up so early. Tomorrow's Friday so I get to sleep in. Please, please, please don't wake me up when you run or I swear I will murder you," Jules says. I say whatever and grab my ipod and throw my earbuds in, because I know in a few hours I'll wake up on the floor while Jules is stretched clear across my bed snoring like a freight train.

*****

"So you said you have to go get your French project?" Mrs. Woolsley asks me looking over the rim of her glasses. Noah and I are in the front office at the beginning of fourth period starts trying to get out of class so we can pull off the prank Noah came up with.

"Uh, yes ma'am. I need to pick up my project I forgot at my house and Noah here really needs some Excedrin for his migraine. I already talked to my teacher and got the okay, as long as I'm allowed to check out." I shoot her a sincere smile hoping that all my cheesing it up will pay off in the end.

"Shane, I can let you go I suppose. But I cannot allow you to check Noah out because he's a minor and I have not received a phone call from his parents to check him out. You know that don't you?" Noah had been hiding with a hand over his mouth, and when she says this he turns and looks at me shooting me an 'I told you so' look, but I'm not quite done yet.I make a pouting face and make my voice sound a little sad, but more worried than anything.

"Yes ma'am, I know that. I was just hoping, well I'm only asking because his migraine is so bad and he's sensitive to light and it's making it hard to focus in class. None of the teachers can give him any medicine so I was hoping that just this once you could make an exception. But I understand that your hands are tied here..." I finish, shooting Noah a piteous look that causes Mrs. Woolsley to sigh.

"I get migraines too," she says sympathetically, stretching a hand out to pat Noah's arm. She grabs the sign out sheet and holds it out to me. "It's fifteen minutes into fourth period right now. I'll wait until your teachers take roll and then count you present so that nobody knows I let the two of you go, okay? It'll be our little secret. I only have one condition. Medicine, food, straight back to school, understood?" Noah and I both nod and I sign for us, handing her the clipboard back. She smiles up at us and nods her head back. "Good. Be back by lunchtime and you'll blend in with everyone else."

"Yes ma'am," I say again as we turn to leave. "Thank you so much. Really, this means a lot, and it'll just stay between us." She smiles again and waves us off with her hand.

"Oh, and Noah," she says when we're halfway out the office doors. We freeze and turn back around, but her smile is warm. "I hope your head feels better hon."

Noah mumbles a thank-you and then we're out the office, out the school, to my truck, and free. I start to pull out and Noah picks up my ipod to find something to listen to. I smile over at him but he's too absorbed in my ipod to notice. I started thinking this yesterday, but I'm feeling the same today. I like this. I like this little routine of ours. I have this urge to reach over and take his hand, but I fight it. I can't do that. Not yet. He catches me looking at him smiling and he rolls his eyes.

"I can't believe you made me come with you," he mumbles over the music. "It would have been so much more simple if you would have just left me at school. If Nick finds out I'm skipping fourth period with you I am so dead."

"Oh come on," I chide. "This was your idea. Of course I'm gonna make you come with me! As far as Nick goes, who cares? This is fun. You can't tell me you've never skipped class before." Noah's cheeks grow visibly redder and he looks away. "Holy shit, you've never skipped class before! Damn, I'm such a bad influence on you. First I give you your first sip of alcohol and now you're skipping class for the first time? No wonder you don't want to tell Nick! He'll hate me for corrupting his little brother."

"I didn't actually swallow the rum," he retorts. "It kind of ended up all over you, so I still haven't had a sip of alcohol. But Nick wouldn't be to thrilled if he found out about either thing. So just don't tell him, okay?" Noah looks worried about the thought of his brother finding out and he's picking at the bottom of his hoodie. The kid needs to cheer up. We're about to have the funniest lunch ever.

"Ah, lighten up a little, bud. We'll go to my house, McDonald's, and back to the school in time for lunch. Nobody will even know we left! And when Nick asks where we got the stuff, we'll tell him I skipped fourth. No big deal, see?" He looks up at me and gives me a small smile. I grin back. I'm enjoying this car ride more than I should. "Plus, this is going to be the best lunch in the history of lunches."

"You think so?"

"I know so. I can't wait to see Jules's face! It's going to be hilarious. Now, wait here. I'll be right back." I run inside my house to grab the Baba au Rhum out of the fridge so we can move on to round two of our mission. Noah is seriously such a genius.

We get back to the school right before the lunch bell rings, so we seamlessly fall into the flow of students. After dropping our cake off in the French room we decide to head to lunch knowing that we're about five minutes late. That way,everyone is already at the table when we get there.

"Shane! Where the hell were you fourth period!?" Jules calls across the cafeteria causing a few people to turn around and look. Noah glances at me and blushes furiously shooting me a look that is clearly reminding me that I'm supposed to cover for him.

"Getting the French food, salop," I call back as Noah and I snake through the tables to get to Jules. Nick and Madison are already there too and judging by how red Jules's cheeks are, Madison has already turned him down at least once in the five minutes we've missed. Noah is following me like a lost puppy, and it's super adorable. I know he's nervous about this, but it's going to turn out perfect, just like I promised him.

"Do you have it with you?" Jules asks scanning my empty hands and giving Noah a once-over. " I want to try it before class. Please?" His expression is begging me and honestly it's more than I was hoping for. We had just planned to offer him to try a piece of our cake but since he's asking it will play out even nicer.

"Um actually," Noah says from my right. His voice starts as a whisper so he clears his throat and begins again. "Actually, Julius, we were hoping maybe you'd sample our food for us and tell us if it's authentic or not?" As Noah is saying this he brings his hands out from behind his back, revealing a plate of McDonald's french fries. Jules stares at him for a minute, his face first falling from disappointment which turns into confusion, and as Madison and Nick begin snickering, he displays anger.

"What the fuck?" Jules splutters, and I begin roaring with laughter. "French fries aren't fucking French! Putain! You American people and your fucking deep fried potatoes that you call french fries!" He takes the plate out of Noah's hands and slams it on a table before he stands on his chair which causes a few people to turn and stare. "French fries are NOT French!" He screams again across the cafeteria, and now he has everyone's attention. He grabs a few fries and holds them up. "Deep fried potatoes, not French!" he says as he holds up the french fries. "Me, I am French," he clarifies, pointing to himself. "Not French, French. Got it? Okay. Good!"

By the time Jules collapses into his chair the whole lunch room is at least snickering, and our table, even Madison and Noah, are rolling with laughter. It was pretty much the best idea anyone has ever came up with. I tell Noah he's a genius, and he blushes crazily which causes Nick to narrow his eyes at me a little. "You done?" I ask Jules, but he just glares at me. He's not angry I know, this is just how our friendship works. He grunts back and I laugh.

In the calm that follows as we start to control our laughs, Noah speaks again. "So Julius, do you think we'll fail the project?" Everyone except Jules laughs again, and he throws his hands in the air, muttering in French. In my laugh I secretly watch Noah who has a laugh almost as beautiful as his voice. His head isn't hiding in his hands, and when he opens his mouth to laugh I catch the most brilliant smile ever. Noah catches me staring at him and we both blush, but he doesn't break the eye contact as I smile back at him. I think this French project might be the greatest thing that has happened to me all year.