We Make Mayhem [boyxboy]

Chapter Twenty-Six

"I'll never touch it again," Noah promised.

That was the only real opposition we faced all day. Everyone was lovely—either congratulating us, gently ribbing us, or just being extra friendly. At lunch, we went back up to the rooftop garden. It wasn't raining so there were other people there, but we found a spot semi-hidden behind some leafy plants and holed up on a bench. We kissed until we gasped for breath.

It was a nice day and I was thoroughly enjoying it, until I saw Chloe in the hall at one-thirty, before art class. She must have arrived partway through the schoolday, because on any other day I would have seen her a dozen times throughout the morning. Her makeup looked terrible. Her foundation was patchy, her eyeshadow looked like bruises, and her mascara had left marks on her bottom eyelid.

I wanted to talk to her, but every time I saw her, she was hurrying in the opposite direction. On purpose, it felt like.

Hey, I texted her during the last class of the day. When the bell rang, I still didn't have a reply. I let it go. She probably didn't want to hear from her ex on the day his shiny, new relationship was revealed to the whole world. Who would?

I just hoped that she was doing okay.

*

Noah sat in on the recording session that day—we recorded two hours of Starguild Adventures, Josiah's D&D podcast—and then we waited out front of the school, hanging onto every last moment before Dad came to pick me up and spirit me off into the weekend. I wrapped my arm loosely around Noah's waist, feeling tingly all over. The drizzling rain of the morning had stopped. Everything was fresh and damp and cool, the kind of weather that made you excited for fall.

"Monday is so far away," Noah sighed, leaning his head against my shoulder.

"But just think how awesome it'll be," I said. "I don't record on Monday, so after school we can do whatever we want."

"I can just imagine all the possibilities," he said.

I laughed. "Are you going to take me to L.A.? New York?"

"Wherever you want."

"How about we spin a globe," I said, "and close our eyes, and go wherever our fingers land?"

A slow grin spread over his face. "I like the way you think."

"Why, thank you, sir."

He kissed me once—his restraint was better than mine. "When's your dad getting here?" he asked. "I'm helping Mom with dinner tonight. Gotta start the prep soon."

"Go," I said. "I can wait by myself. I'm a big boy."

"You certainly are."

I swatted his arm, but of course that lead to him playfully shoving me, which in turn made me try to trap him in a headlock, which... well, however it happened, we ended up making out for a couple gorgeous minutes, until a few drops of rain splattered down onto our faces. We toughed it out for a moment, but soon it became obvious that it was another downpour, not just a few stray droplets.

"You should go," I said. "I'll wait undercover by the doors."

Noah squeezed my hand. "Okay. See you Monday?"

"See you Monday."

One more kiss and he was gone. I watched his back as he walked around to the student parking lot, and when he swooped the Edison through the drop-off loop, I blew him a kiss as he sped out to the street. Long after he'd gone, I had a big, goofy grin lingering on my face.