Before the Morning [BEING EDITED]

14 | Max

The next thing he knew he was watching an intense match of Dance Dance Revolution.

"Come on, Andy!" Max said. "You gonna let this six-year-old beat you?"

And, floundering on a metal mat, glared over his shoulder. "This isn't a six-year-old!" he yelled. "This is a machine!"

"Actually," the little boy said, "I'm five."

"You're a machine, kid."

The boy's eyes lit up. "I'd love to be a robot."

Andy missed an arrow. And then another. And another. The little boy's feet danced rapidly across the mat, making every single note. Nolan snickered. This was priceless.

His phone vibrated in his pocket.

noooolaaaan i'm booooored

Nora. She'd gotten into the habit of texting him. At first, it had been weird, but now his lips pricked upward as he typed, Sorry.

You guys should come shopping so I have something to do

We'll get right on that

Thank u (':

He looked up as the little boy cheered. "Rematch!" Andy shouted.

"This is getting pathetic," Max muttered. Nolan snorted.

The boy shrugged. "Okay."

Did we get hole in one? (:

Yup. After sending the first message, he sent a second. You know why it's called that?

Candy Cane forget to tell you?

Yup

"Oh, come on! You picked this song on purpose."

"I chose random," the boy said.

Nolan chuckled again. Wow. This was the most he'd laughed in a long time. As long as since he'd last had—

His smile fell. Friends.

His stomach clenched. He looked at Max, Andy, his phone, Max again. At the front desk...he'd called Nora a friend—so smooth, so natural. He hadn't thought twice.

No. This couldn't happen. He wouldn't let it.

"Guys," he said, "after this round, I need to get home."

"Okay."

No, he thought. It's not okay.

✝

Nolan went into the next filming session with three rules:

1. No speaking unless spoken to or otherwise necessary,

2. No laughing, and

3. No listening attentively to their conversations, unless germane to the production

These were basically the same rules he'd lived by since moving to Greeley—be polite, sure, but otherwise keep to himself. In the past, it was easy. But now?

Andy draped himself along Ashfield's slide and propped his head up on his elbow. When he sent the camera kissy faces, it was all Nolan could do not to laugh.

Why did they have to be such good people? This would be so much easier if they weren't amiable...

He looked dutifully away, at Willow as she sprawled on the grass. He filmed her picking at the shards, her lips twisted into a frown, and as she turned to face the sky. He stood over her so he could get a direct shot of her looking upward. "Okay," he said.