Noah wanted to take him right then and there but knew that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, they walked into the living room. There were old magazines layered on the coffee table along with the mail. The couch looked lived on, but Noah knew that he had to offer the boy somewhere to sit, so he did, and Noah sat next to him. They instantly sunk into one another. They looked into one another’s eyes. Noah couldn’t help it, he kissed the boy again and again and again.
“Your lips are perfect,” Timothy said.
His lips were perfect too. He had beautiful dimples and amazing eyes. Everything about him was just amazing. “Thanks,” was all that Noah could say.
“So, what do you watch on TV?” Timothy asked.
“Uh… I don’t know, just whatever is on.”
The brown-haired boy nodded, “Do you watch that drag queen show?” he sort of whispered as if someone would overhear.
“I’m not really into drag queens,” Noah explained. He looked at Timothy, who looked a little saddened by this. “It’s cool if you do, though. I’m sure we could find a bar to sneak in and see one or something if you wanted.”
Timothy laughed, “Oh, I’ve only ever seen a few clips of it. They look cool, but no, I don’t watch it or anything. I was just wondering,” Timothy said.
Noah felt his phone vibrate and looked down. It was Lily asking where he was. He considered texting her back but chose not to.
“Who is it?” Timothy asked him, “You don’t have to answer. Sorry, didn’t mean to be intrusive.”
“What? Oh, no, it’s fine. It was just my friend Lily,” Noah explained.
The Brown-haired boy nodded, “Yeah, she really doesn’t seem like a great friend, to be completely honest.”
He knew this, and his family knew this. Lily just happened to be the only person at that godawful school that would willingly associate themselves with him regularly. “I mean, she is what she is. I doubt I’ll stay in touch with her after high school.”
“You don’t have to stay friends with someone that is kind of, well… like her,” Timothy pointed out.
This boy had a lot to learn, “Eh… Lily is tame in comparison to some of the people at that school.” He couldn’t help but think of some of the people he had been going to school with since elementary school, which was most of his class if he was honest. “We could hang out with her sometime. I’m sure you won’t completely hate her,” Noah said.
Timothy put a small smile on his face. It was obvious that this wasn’t something he was going to be looking forward to.
CHAPTER EIGHT
TIMOTHY
Today was one of the best days of his life. It was beyond boring in explanation and yet such a rush. Timothy would never have skipped school back in Connecticut, even with his group of friends. The curly-haired boy had to admit that he wasn’t very fond of Lily or her boyfriend and wasn’t looking forward to having to spend time with her. There was just something off about both of them. There was something off about a lot of people in the town. They were very Stepford.
Timothy walked into his bedroom and sat down on his bed. He looked around the room. He had sat on this bed for a good ten years of his life and used the dressers for almost as long. The desk where his computer sat was about four years old, along with the desktop that sat on it. He tried to place the furniture in the same place they were in his old bedroom. There were a few differences in things. His window was no longer in the middle, but now off to the side closest where he woke up in the morning, which felt off. He also had his own bathroom in this house, which meant that his dresser was centered where his bed was. Something about everything going on made him realize that change had happened. He obviously wasn’t in Connecticut anymore.
The teenage boy stood up from his bed and pushed it aside. He moved his desk to where it currently stood and pushed the bed next to where the dresser was. That way, he didn’t wake up to the sun blaring even with the blinds supposedly covering it. He then went into his closet. It was a small walk in. He looked around at his clothes. Were they really him anymore? He heard footsteps and turned around. His mother was standing there, confused.
“Are you ok?” she asked him.
He laughed, “Yeah, you scared me for a second.”
She turned and looked at his room, “Reorganizing already?”
Timothy shrugged, “I just felt like I needed change. We aren’t home anymore.
His mother frowned, “This is your home, though.”
“Yeah, I know it is my home now, which is what I mean. I felt like I was holding on to a person that I wasn’t anymore,” Timothy sighed. His mother didn’t seem to get what he meant, and he felt bad.
Ana put her hand on his shoulder, “Oh, honey, I don’t think we ever really asked you how the move was affecting you.” She walked out of the closet and sat on his bed, which was now further from the closet.
There was a distance between them. Timothy walked out of the closet himself, “I’m honestly fine with it. It isn’t like I can never go back home. It’s just one year of my life, I suppose,” which now that he met Noah, he wondered if that year would end as quickly as he thought. Could he return to Connecticut for college? He knew he wanted to be around his friends again, but he also felt weird thinking about that life when he now knows Noah. Timothy had to remind himself that he has known Noah all of two days now. It wasn’t as if they had known one another for years on end. “Do you miss back East a lot?”
She shrugged, “My entire life is back there, Timothy. My family, friends, the school that I had attended, the little diner that I had met your father in years ago, my childhood home, and the list go on. My life was in Connecticut.”
If that were the case, then why on earth did they move? Timothy knew why because his father got a new job. It just seemed weird to suddenly uproot their life out of nowhere, especially when it was a job that his father could have just traveled to. He understood that it would have meant months away, but it would have only been for a year or so. This was his senior year of high school, and he was in a different district in a different state clear across the country.
He got a text message, and it was from Collin. Timothy looked up at his mom, “Collin wants me to get on our live stream.”
Ana smiled and nodded, “Dinner will be ready in an hour or so. I’ve been baking a brisket all day.”
“Perfect leftovers for days!” Timothy joked.
“The best kind of leftovers!” Ana joked back. She blew her son a kiss and walked out.
Timothy ran over to his computer and sat down. He logged into the group chat, and Collin logged on. “Hey, man! Is Phillip joining us?” There was something off about Collin’s face. He looked kind of sad, but also not really.