Spot's first note had been almost subconscious. He'd just gotten two new notebooks, and while one already had three pages full of writing, the second had barely been opened.
It was second nature to reach down beneath the coffee table and grab a notebook and pen while the news played, and when he saw the blank page he wrote down the first thing he thought of.
March 18
His tiny smile when the dog sighs.
And after that, that particular notebook was always kept with the others underneath the coffee table, and whenever Spot noticed Race do something he thought was cute, he jotted it down with the date.
April 10
The way his nose crinkles when he laughs.
April 16
The way he pauses when his voice cracks while he's singing.
May 2
The way his hair looks with flour in it.
Slowly, page after page filled with little notes, and slowly, Race started to notice how the smallest red notebook came out and was put away pretty quickly.
June 4
His weird laugh when he's really tired.
Spot scribbled a little title for the notebook inside the front cover in July, and was halfway through the notebook by October.
November 23
The way he raises his eyebrows when there's a ridiculous answer on one of his tests
December 13
How excited he gets about setting up the Christmas tree.
December 25
How he gets up at six for Christmas even though he's a grown man.
Slowly, note after note, the little notebook filled up, until Spot finally filled the last line.
Feburary 23
The way he dances while cooking even though there's no music playing.
And the next morning, right before Race left for work, Spot slipped the notebook, wrapped neatly in paper, underneath the food in his lunch bag.
And Race found it while eating, and before anyone commented on it, he hid it in his pocket for later.
Period six was a planning period, so there weren't any kids in his room at all, and he unwrapped the package to find the tiny red notebook Spot had been writing in for almost a year.
Reasons I can't fall out of love with Antonio Higgins
March 18
His tiny smile when the dog sighs.
March 19
That weird little half smile he has when he doesn't want to admit he finds something funny.
Page after page was full of tiny, one sentence, sappy things.
April 1
The way he thinks I'm still really falling for the same five pranks every April Fools.
April 9
The way he keeps laughing about the same five pranks because to him they never get old
May 3
The way his eyes light up when a song he knows comes on.
Page after page was filled with dates and phrases. Some were things Race recognized, like June 8, "the way he chews on the ends of his red pens." Some, he had no idea he did.
July 3
The way he automatically reaches out to touch my arm when I sigh.
Spot had made a note of every little thing he'd noticed, and Race thought it was the sweetest thing he'd ever seen.
With a smile, he pulled out his phone and sent a text.
"February 23. The way he thinks he can hide how much of a sap he is."
