The Obscure Downsides of Fame (New Edition)

53 || capable of being loved

He looked down at his plate, swirling some of the noodles around in his bowl before taking a bite.

"And I suppose you managed to figure it out?" my mom asked, not seeing through his obvious lie.

"Yeah," Nolan answered with a forced smile.

The conversation—which was more like an interview—went on without me as I had Nolan's obvious yet logical lie in my head for the rest of the meal. When we were finished, Nolan offered to do the dishes, which both my parents adamantly refused, so I dragged him to my room as I let my parents whisper about us while taking care of the cleanup.

I wasted no time asking him about the lie from earlier, as I had to know the real reason now that the most logical explanation was clearly not it.

"Why did you go to high school?" I asked him.

He was perplexed when I asked him, his mouth hanging slightly open as he blinked.

"Don't tell me what you told my mom, because I know you. Your media training kicked in for that one."

"It's nothing," he mumbled, sitting down on my bed.

I sat down next to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Please tell me. I'm listening."

He sighed, lying down on my bed. I followed his example, laying right next to him as we watched the stars on my ceiling.

"Remember when I told you about that one friend who didn't want anyone to know we were friends?"

I nodded. He spoke of the situation once before, but never brought it up again. I'd figured he was more of a friend after we started dating, but I didn't want to bring it up unprompted.

"He was my first boyfriend, sort of," he said, a slight frown on his face as he brought up the memory.

"I thought so," I admitted. He went quiet again. "What happened between you?"

"Lots of things," he said. "It was like I was his little secret at first. I didn't mind it in the beginning, but at some point, I just wanted to be out to at least some friends or cast mates you know?"

"You did?"

He nodded and then turned to face me with a smile. "I used to be very confident."

"You still are," I told him, my smile matching his. "A bit conceited, even. But only when you're with me."

He rolled his eyes, and after a short moment of silence, he continued.

"He convinced me it wasn't a good idea, but I was really stubborn."

"As you still are," I whispered. He used his hand to cover my mouth.

"Let me finish my story," he said. I threw my hands up, and he let go of me, his smile not fading yet. "Anyway, he told me it wasn't a good idea for a few reasons. Like if word spread out, I'd be safe because of my parents, but he would be screwed and lose all his opportunities. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to take care of his family anymore."

"So what happened? You broke up?"

"Well, I tried to. Because I didn't want to hide anymore, you know. But he promised me a lot of things. Like, when he turned eighteen and he moved out, we could come out to a small circle. But a few months later on his birthday, he moved out, and nothing changed.