Something Beautiful.

"Alright, class, you can put your stuff up and visit for the five minutes remaining." Madame Delacour's voice rang out across the classroom and I gladly put my homework into my folder. French wasn't my best subject, but it wasn't that hard. I had almost finished my the worksheet, and since Jules would be at my house a after school I knew I could make him help me finish if I threatened to not feed him.

Everyone is starting conversations around me, and I want to talk to Noah. Like I said, there's just something about him that draws me in. He obviously doesn't want to really talk to me, but the kid needs friends. Jules and I turn around in our desks to where Noah is trying to hide.

"I can't believe she heard me, man!" Jules complains. He seems genuinely pissed off and he's running his fingers through his hair. What was he expecting? Madame Delacour is also French born and fluent in both English and French, so it's no surprise she understood him. Heck, several other people in class understood him and we're all disabled when it comes to speaking a second language.

I just laugh at him and turn to look at Noah. He's so cute. Noah's looking back at me with a blank stare on his face, and before I lose my nerve I wink at him, a huge smile still on my face from my laugh. Noah's cheeks begin to flush and he hides behind his hands again, as if I can't see him just because he can't see me. He really does do that a lot, and quite frankly, I think it's absolutely adorable. I can't stop staring at him, and I realize I'm already transfixed with him. Damn, I wonder what Nick would say if he knew I had a crush on his little brother.

Yeah, I said it. I kinda-sorta-in-a-way-maybe-just-a-little have this crush on Noah. Sure, I haven't known the kid for a full six hours, and sure, he acts like he'd rather sit in a room full of spiders than socialize, but something obviously made him that way and I really want to know what it is. Noah's peering through his fingers at me, and it's my turn to blush when I realize I've just been caught staring at him. Again.

"What did you expect? This is French class, bro," I say to Jules as I pull my eyes away from Noah.

"So you didn't cuss in Russian?" Noah whispers. Jules and I both turn to look at him. Wait. Noah thought Jules was Russian? Oh my gosh, that is freaking adorable! Jules starts laughing, but I'm staring at Noah again like a total creep. I should probably stop before I freak him out, but I just can't.

"Why would I cuss in Russian?" Jules is laughing harder and a snort escapes. "Did you think I was Russian? I'm French, dude! Russian accents sound nothing like French!" I can't help it, I bust out laughing with Jules, probably a little louder than I should have. The funny thing is, this is so true, and yet people mistake Jules's accent all the time. When I first met him I thought he was Italian. In fact, the first time I stayed at his house I asked his mom if she made lasagna very often. I'm not really sure what went through my mind, but for some reason red hair and a foreign accent equaled Italian to me.

I'm laughing so hard I'm afraid I might start crying, and Jules is in the same boat. I turn to look at Noah so I can tell him about my mistake, but then I realize he looks close to tears too, only not because he's laughing. Shit.

"Oh shut up!" I say. I'm still half laughing, but I'm trying not too. I don't want Noah to think we're actually laughing at him. I study his face, but he's hiding behind his hands again and I don't think he's going to be coming out any time soon. "Didn't I think you were Italian or something?" Jules starts laughing again, but Noah hasn't budged at all.

The bell rings and before I can blink Noah has fled the room. I turn to look at Jules with wide eyes. Noah is upset, and that much I can tell. Hell, the boy was almost crying because we laughed at a simple mistake. Something's just not adding up with him.

"Jules..." I say slowly while I stare at the door frame where Noah had been seconds before. "He was almost crying." I stare at Jules and I can feel the worry lines that are etched into my forehead, but Jules is still laughing.

"No," he replies. He's staring at me incredulously as if the very thought is ridiculous. "He couldn't have been almost crying Shane. It was just a joke, the kid knew that. It was just..." The look on my face makes Jules trail off, and his own expression falls. Now he's looking like one a child that got caught doing something they didn't realize was wrong at the time, confused and afraid of the punishment. "I don't understand. Why was he so upset?"

"I don't know," I reply. I had been hoping Jules had the answer to that, but he was even more lost than I was. What if he hates us now?

"Well, we'll figure it out. Come on, we've got English with Nick next," Jules tells me. He lightly punches me in the arm and starts walking towards the door with me hesitantly following him.

I want t o talk to Nick as soon as we get into English, but Mr. Riddle has different plans. Mr. Riddle is super strict, but he's one of my favorite teachers. When I was a freshman I had his wife for English One. I love writing, and so English is naturally my favorite subject, but freshman year was so hard on me I was falling behind in all of my classes, even English. We had been assigned a book report right before the end of first semester, and it was going to be a huge part of our semester grade.

My parents had been hounding me for weeks about my grades, so I decided I would actually try on this paper. I finished a week early, and my writing was almost as good as it had been. Mr. Riddle offered to proofread it for me since I had extra time before it was due, so I sent it to him in an email. The day the paper was due I was absent from school, and when I returned I didn't bring it with me. Mrs. Riddle has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to late work, so I was looking at a huge part of my grade being a zero. I was in the office trying to call my parents to see if they could bring me a copy of the paper, but I couldn't reach either of them at work. I was about to give up and tell Mrs. Riddle to give me the zero when Mr. Riddle came into the office and overheard me leaving a message on my mom's phone. He took me to his classroom where he had saved my paper on his computer and printed me a copy making me promise I would write the rest of my papers like I had written that one.

Because of Mr. Riddle I started trying in English again, and after that day he has helped me with every paper I've written. He's an easily likable guy and having him for English this year has been great. All we've done for the first three weeks is creative writing, and today we were presenting our free-verse poems we had been assigned.

Mr. Riddle introduced Nick to the class, and as always, he was generally well accepted. The few girls who hadn't seen him yet today looked impressed, and the guys just nodded towards him. Nick is much more outgoing than Noah, that much can be told just by looking at them. When Nick was introduced to the class he didn't even blush. He told everyone they moved from NYC for a change and that he's glad to be in Comfort. Mr. Riddle gave him a summary of everything we had already done, and Nick came back to sit behind me and Jules. It was deja vu from last period, only with a different brother.

"Okay guys, who wants to present their poem first?" Mr. Riddle asks. We all shy away, because really, who wants to read a poem they just wrote in front of the class? There's an awkward silence in which everyone looks at everyone else, and finally Mr. Riddle clears his throat. "Okay everyone, I guess I'll have to draw names if nobody volunteers," he threatens, but still nobody moves.

While Mr. Riddle looks for his jar with our names in it to draw from I turn around to talk to Nick. "Hey man, how was last period?" I ask as I turn around.

"Pretty good. I mean, I it's school right? But then again I don't really have any complaints. Hey did you see where Noah went after French? I waited down the hall for him after class but I never saw him," Nick says. I don't know where Noah went. I'm assuming the kid went to the bathroom or to his next class, but I'm not about to tell Nick why he left so fast.

"Uh, about that," Jules starts, but Mr. Riddle calls up a girl to read her poem and the whole class falls silent. I'm lost in thought all during class and my mind keeps drifting to Noah. Not in a mushy way, but I'm worried about the kid. Plus, I've seen how protective Nick is of him, so I'm sure Nick's gonna be absolutely pissed when he finds out what happened.

When Mr. Riddle calls on me to read my poem I'm honestly a little nervous. I don't have a fear of speaking in front of people or anything, but my writing has always been personal. Jules is the only one besides Mr. Riddle who has ever seen any of my poems, and even then he's only seen a few. We were supposed to write a poem about ourselves, which just makes it even worse. I mean, tell me to write a haiku about nature and I'll give you 'Lightning strikes again/ Rain hits against my window/ Thunder claps loudly,' ten seconds flat. But ask me to write a poem about myself to read to the class? That's where we run into a problem.

Poetry never takes me very long to write, but the whole letting the class see into myself is where I draw the line. I'm always afraid I sound like a total chick in my poems and on top of that, as much as I love my class, I don't want them to see into the recesses of my mind. So as you can imagine, I spent all weekend writing, deciding it was too personal, and throwing the piece of paper away.

I slowly get up from my desk and let out a long huff of air. This is just out of my comfort zone. Mr. Riddle is smiling at me from is desk and I decide that right now, he's definitely not my favorite teacher. "My poem is called I Am," I say. I clear my throat and wipe my sweating palms on my jeans and my cheeks heat up. I try to not look at anyone in my class as I begin reading.

"I am real, I am unique. I wonder what life may hold for me. I hear the sound of a voice calling me from far away. I see my future as an undefined blur. I want to know how to live, not just to be alive. I am real, I am unique. I pretend I have everything figured out, even when I don't. I feel that life's secrets lay far from me. I touch the clouds as I float away. I worry that goodbye is the wrong choice. I cry for the ones I have hurt and the ones that have hurt me. I am real, I am unique. I understand life is a precious, precious gift. I say things that just graze the surface of my mind. I dream to know everything will turn out fine in the end. I try to get the most from life. I hope for a better tomorrow and a stronger today. I am real, I am unique."

There's a light spattering of clapping, and most of the people are still staring at spots on their desks but I'm completely embarrassed. I quickly hand my poem to Mr. Riddle who tells me I did a good job and rush back to my seat.

"Dude, you're such a loser," Jules tells me. "Why not just use one you had already written? I mean did you really have to write another poem?"

"Shut up," I hiss back. I like writing. Shoot me. The rest of the period passes by boringly, the only highlight being Jules reading a poem about his red hair and freckles not making him evil and that he promises to not steal our souls. It got a lot of laughs, and Mr. Riddle couldn't even help from cracking up.

Two more people went after Jules and then we were left with ten more minutes of class. Mr. Riddle told us our week's poem would be a sonnet about something we love, and then told us to get started, which naturally translated to go ahead and talk.

"Nice poem, Fries," Nick says to Jules. We've all already turned around to face each other, and Mr. Riddle doesn't' object. There's another reason he's my favorite teacher.

"Don't call me Fries," Jules grumbles as he puts a folder into his backpack. "I like you and all, Nick, but french fries aren't even from France!" This is Jules's argument every single time he's called fries, and everyone knows. I don't think he's ever gonna understand that people don't care though. From France or not, the name Fries has stuck with him, and it's not gonna go away.

"Whatever, man," Nick laughs. "Hey, what were you saying at my brother earlier?"

There's a slight pause and Jules and I look at each other. I bite my lip and look down at my desk, a clear sign for Jules to take over. "He left as soon as the bell rang," Jules says. "He was upset."

"What?" Nick asks. His expression breaks my heart almost as much as seeing Noah upset. The bond between these brothers is closer than I've ever seen before, and its like I've hurt Nick too, not just Noah. "What happened? Did someone make fun of him? Why didn't you two stop it?!"

"Nobody made fun of him," Jules replies quietly.

"Why did he leave so fast then?"

"We were laughing, and uh, I think Noah thought we were laughing at him," I tell Nick. "He thought Jules was Russian. So we laughed. But I swear man, I was laughing because I thought Jules was Italian when I first met him. I thought it was funny we were both way off. But Noah... Noah was almost crying."

"What the hell, Shane? You didn't tell him that?" Nick's voice is earnest, but his expression is more worried than mad at me. For that, I'm thankful. I figured with how protective of Noah he is he'd be totally and completely pissed at us.

"I tried to, but the bell rang and he was gone. I couldn't find him," I admit. Nick is staring me straight in the face nodding slowly.

"There's something wrong with him, bro," Jules whispers. Oh shit. I study Nick's face and it changes from worried to furious. My breath catches in my throat and I wait for him to blow up.

"There is nothing wrong with my brother," Nick spits at Jules. "If you two had kept your mouths shut there wouldn't have been a problem at all, now would there?" Nick turns his head to glare at me too and I'm taken aback.

"Nick, we didn't mean it. He just acted like he was going to cry-" I try to say, but I'm cut off by the bell ringing. Nick grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulder, beginning to turn away from us. "Nick-"

"Don't," he says with ice in his words. "Just don't, Shane." Nick turns and walks out and for the second time in two class periods I see a White brother leave upset with me. Fuck. It hasn't even been a whole day yet and I've managed to meet two boys and piss both of them off. That's gotta be a new record.

*****

When Jules and I get to my house after school I'm surprised to see my mom's car at home. She's usually not home until at least seven or eight, and her being home means I'll get fed. Hell yes.

Tiger meets us at the door and goes absolutely crazy at the sight of Jules. For some reason Tiger absolutely loves Jules. Usually she's pretty indifferent to others. In fact, she'll hardly even let my dad pet her if anyone else is around. It's not that she doesn't like other people, I'm just her favorite. Well Jules and me.

"You're home early," I call out to my mom. I smell something baking and I've already decided tonight was going to be a great night. Jules had suggested we go to the Whites' house and apologize, but now that I smell the food I'm thinking it can wait until after dinner, or at least until after I eat whatever I can smell. Just as I start to walk towards the kitchen my mom comes around the corner to see us.

"Hey baby, hey Julius" she says. "They let me of early because they had over scheduled, and it turns out there's actually a point when extra nurses becomes a problem. Did you have a good day at school?" She's wearing a big smile, sweats, and one of my dad's big Tshirts, her hair thrown into a messy bun, and she has her glasses on. I smile back at her. I'm glad she's home. Not just because I'll get food, but I've been missing my mom since she got her new job. I rarely get to see this side of my mom anymore, and this totally laid back side of her is my favorite part.

"It was... good," I reply. I wonder if I should tell her what happened with Nick and Noah, but I decide that can wait till later. I pull my mom into a hug and she smells like whatever she's baking. My stomach growls causing everyone to laugh. I'd really like to know what's in the kitchen. I try to peer around my mom and she catches me.

"Come on, hungry boy," she laughs, hitting me with a potholder she's holding. "I'm making cookies. You coming, Jules?" My mom turns to the kitchen and I follow her. From behind me I can hear Jules telling Tiger to stay before Jules follows behind us.

"Enjoy those, and then take these a street behind us and a few houses down to the Whites' house, okay?" My mom says as she places a plate of cookies wrapped in colored saran wrap and ribbons in front of us. Jules and I are sitting on the bar in my kitchen dipping our cookies in milk like we were five. I look at him and he grins back. At least now we don't have to have an excuse to show up unannounced.

Jules and I finish our cookies and head out my door just as the sun begins to set. "How do you think this is gonna go?" I ask him. Honestly, I'm nervous. Noah was devastated and Nick was pretty pissed off. I don't think either of them will take so kindly to us being at their house.

"It'll be okay Shane. Everything turns out okay in the end. If it's not okay then it's not the end," Jules tells me. I look at him for a moment before letting out a little giggle. He cracks me up when he tries to get all deep and meaningful. Jules is definitely the farthest thing from wise.

Before I'm ready we're facing the house that is now occupied by the Whites. "Here goes nothing," I say, and Jules and I walk across the front yard before knocking on the door. A small blonde lady who reminds me of Noah opens the door with a smile on her face. She's dressed almost identically to my own mom, and it brings a smile on my face. Nick and Noah seem like they have a great mom.

"Why hello," she says. "Are you from the boys' school?"

"Kind of," I reply. "I'm Nick's guide, Shane, and this is my friend, Julius. I live a street over and my mom sent me to give you this as kid of a house warming, welcome to Comfort gift." I hold the cookies out and her smile widens.

"That's just so sweet of you!" She exclaims and opens the door farther, stepping to the side. "Why don't you come in? I'll call the boys down." Jules and I step inside and she puts the cookies on the counter before heading up the staircase and calling for Nick.

Jules and I stand awkwardly in the living room and I take in my surroundings. The house is almost completely unpacked, which is pretty impressive. Then again, their mom is a writer and spends most of her days at home, so I guess she had a lot of time she could have put stuff away. Their house is beautiful, and even with boxes on the floor I can tell their mom has great taste for interior design.

"You have ten minutes to be in this living room," I hear Mrs. White to say. She reappears down the stairs followed by Nick. I glance at him sheepishly, afraid he'st still upset with us from earlier. He doesn't look upset though, and he gives me a sad smile. "I'll be in here if you need anything, boys," she says and heads the opposite direction to where I assume Nick's parents have their bedroom.

"Okay," Jules says.

"Thank you, Mrs. White,' I call.

"Oh don't call me Mrs. White, she laughs. Call me Rebecca. Or Mom. Or just whatever!" She continues on back, and I decide I like Nick and Noah's mom. She's sweet, and I can see where Nick gets his personality from.

"So, uh, I'm sorry about earlier," Nick says awkwardly as he scratches his head. I smile at him and glance up the stairs to see if Noah is coming down yet, but he's not. I wonder what him and his mom were arguing about?

"Its cool, bro. We were out of line," Jules tells him.

"Hey Nick, where's Noah?" I ask curiously, my eyes still on the stairs. I keep thinking he'll walk down the stairs at any moment, but each moment pass and Noah doesn't show up.

"He's in his room," Nick replies. "He didn't have a very good day, and he won't come down." I look at Jules and Nick, and before I know it I'm walking up the stairs with the two boys following me.

"I don't know if he'll talk to you, Shane," Nick tries to tell me, but I'm ignoring him. If I upset someone so much that they shut themselves in their room, I'm going to fix it. I walk through an open room with two couches and a ping pong table, past an open door that I'm guessing is Nick's room, past a bathroom, and I finally come to a shut door. I knock softly, suddenly unsure about apologizing. What if he doesn't forgive us?

"Mom, I told you I don't want to come downstairs!" Noah cries as he throws open his door. He looks frustrated, and when he realizes there's three boys outside his door instead of his mother he looks really surprised, and then the embarrassment sets in, painting his face bright red. "Oh..."

"Noah, I'm sorry," I blurt out. He stares at me blankly and slowly looks each of us in the face and starts to close his door again, but Nick reaches past me and puts his hand on the door to stop it.

"Noah," He whispers. The two stare each other in the eyes, and I feel like I'm intruding again. The silence seems to stretch on forever, but Noah finally yields to His brother and slowly opens his door. Noah looks different from the way he did at school. He's still hidden under his clothes, but at his house he seems less guarded. He's wearing a different hoodie than he was earlier, and his beanie is gone. He's also wearing sweats instead of jeans now, and his brown hair is sticking up like he's been laying on his bed.

"We weren't laughing at you, bro. Hell, Shane thought I was Italian. Everyone gets it wrong. That's what we were laughing about," Jules tells Noah.

"It's okay," Noah replies, his voice barely audible. He wraps an arm around himself and leans against the door. He doesn't look as scared or hurt as he did all day at school, and It's adorable. He wears it really well.

"So, friends?" Jules asks. He's grinning at Noah and Noah looks back at him with a slightly confused look on his face.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he says like he doesn't care either way. Jules's grin breaks into a full out smile and he pushes past me to pull Noah into a hug. Noah shies away ad tries to pull backwards, but Jules won't let go.

"Come on guys!" he says to Nick and me. "Friendship hug!" I glance at Nick skeptically, and he shrugs, pushing me forwards with him and into the room. Jules grabs me and pulls me and Nick forwards. Noah groans and mutters something about getting away, but Nick laughs at him.

Then I'm hugging Noah. Hesitantly, none of us really touching each other much, but my arm brushes up against his, and his chest is momentarily pressed up against mine before Jules releases us and we step back. I'm blushing and Noah is still grumbling about going back to sleep, but all that really matters is that second.

My heart is beating fast and I can feel myself blushing like never before I don't know what this kid does to me, but that second was enough to embarrass me like crazy. "I really am sorry, man," I say to him. He's blushing too, but probably from the whole thing. Nothing must be more embarrassing than two guys you barely know and your brother trying to pull you into a group hug. "Honestly though, I asked his mom to make lasagna. It was terrible!"

Noah gives me a small smile but he still won't look me in the eyes. "It's okay, Shane."

The boys' mom calls up the stairs and her voice reaches us, asking if Jules and I want to stay for dinner. Nick shrugs and tells her we will, but Jules is a hundred times more excited. He jumps up and down, doing and excited little dance. "You mean we can stay for dinner? Oh my gosh, the four of us are going to be best friends!" He cries.

Nick looks amused at his display and I just shake my head. "If we really are going to be friends you're gonna have to get used to that," I tell him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's worse when he's also singing at the top of his lungs. Or running through the mall. Or dancing and singing in public. Pretty much, this is as calm as you'll get him." I say to Nick. He claps Jules on the back and the jumping stops.

"Didn't you have cookies when you came in?" Nick asks. At this Noah actually looks interested in the conversation that is taking place in front of him. Apparently the kid likes cookies.

"Yeah, your mom put them in the kitchen," Jules says.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Nick replies. "There's freaking cookies downstairs!" I laugh at my best friend and new friend together, and I'm starting to think we should have gotten more move ins if this is how they all act.

As we cross the game room again Noah silently pushes past me, melting back into his brother's shadow as he did at lunch. I smile fondly at him, and then stop when I realize I probably look like a total idiot.

"We get to stay for dinner!" Jules exclaims again from ahead of me. I laugh again, silently thanking my mom for making the cookies. We head to the kitchen, Noah silently following behind Nick while Nick, Jules, and I talk about the funnier points of the day. I'm comfortable at the Whites' house.