Timothy needed to pick up a few things as well. He was running out of reading material. Since being in Kansas, he had read through a good two or three novels a week. At first, it was just silly chick-lit books that people would rave about. Then he started to get into crime thrillers for no real reason whatsoever. “Remind me to check out the book section,” Timothy said.
“I don’t know why you go there when we can just go to Sasha’s or the library. With the amount you spend on books, we really should just go to the library,” Noah lectured him.
The tall boy couldn’t help but laugh, “I just finished up to the part that was already released, in that one series. The newest book came out last week. Your mom said they have it in stock. Sasha won’t get it until someone tries selling it for a couple of dollars, after a year of it sitting on someone else’s bookshelf collecting dust,” Timothy pointed out. The other type of book he had been getting into was romance novels. Not gay romance novels - he had read one or two, but they were just kind of weird. It was the straight romance genre that he was into. They weren’t particularly sexy, but he loved the ‘will they/won’t they’ aspect of the books, and you knew damn well they would end up together. Only one of the books ended in the characters not getting together. Sasha had picked that one out for him. Noah made fun of him. The guys that he hung around the school with did as well. He didn’t care. A book was more than its cover, which was the most cliché phrase ever.
Noah finally pulled into the parking lot of the store. It was about as packed as usual. It was sadly one of the nicer stores in town. “Ok, I just need new luggage.”
“You could literally just empty out your backpack,” Timothy rolled his eyes.
“Oh, come on… I just want to fit in,” Noah explained.
It still baffled Timothy that Noah was insistent upon him being rich. He wasn’t. He clearly had more money than Noah, but again it did not bother him, and it wasn’t his money. His dad gave him twenty dollars. He had about a hundred and sixty to his name from saving that twenty each week. It was sad being close to eighteen years old and not having more than a hundred something in the bank. “You’ll fit in being your naturally beautiful self, both on the outside and the inside, which is your daily reminder, that the inner beauty of yours is all that matters,” Timothy said.
“Just your daily reminder as well, that I didn’t fall for your looks, I fell for the fact that you play basketball because I find basketball players sexy,” Noah said, all joking.
The two boys got out of the car. Noah started running towards the door. Timothy just laughed. He was freezing himself, but he had no desire to run right now. “You better wait for me to catch up before you run in,” he rolled his eyes.
Noah turned around. “Well, come on!” he screamed.
Timothy caught up and patted his boyfriend on the shoulder, “If you weren’t so adorable, I’d punch you instead of pat you.” Noah was definitely super energetic once you got to know him. It was obvious that the people around him were not aware of this side of the boy, aside from maybe his boss Sasha and his two siblings.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOAH
The same repetitive soundtrack that had been playing for the last three years blared at his mom’s store. It was so brightly lit and always smelled like makeup and cheap perfume, which Noah secretly loved. It was a change from whatever the rest of the town smelled like, which was ironic considering the entire town shopped here for one thing or another.
“I think that the luggage is going to be over here,” Timothy gestured.
“Um, I believe that my mother is the manager of this store,” Noah reminded him.
Timothy put his hands in the store, “Ok, Mister Son of the Manager, where is the luggage section?”
The blonde boy looked around, “Probably in the same direction you just pointed to.” Timothy rolled his eyes at Noah, which Noah always found sexy. He loved it when Timothy got annoyed with him.
After their first sexual experiences together, the two boys had agreed to playthings very slow. Noah hated it. The only time he really got to see anything was during gym class, which wasn’t very much. He admittedly tried to chase him a few minutes longer during class in order to get Timothy to shower. It worked sometimes but not very often.
The only part that really was a downfall was the fact that he and Timothy were only best friends in public places. It was only in private that they were dating. This wasn’t the worst thing ever. It wasn’t as if Noah didn’t have common sense. They weren’t going to be making out at school, or they would be expelled. A normal couple would just be told to break it up. They would be accused of having a hard-core gang bang in the common area if they even pecked each other on the lips. It was just that he wished they could at least be open.
Timothy had made friends with some semi-decent people at school that never would have given Noah the time of day before. It was weird that these people who had either ignored or made fun of him his whole life were now ok with him. It was just ridiculous that it took the perception from a straight athlete, who thought it was alright, so it must have been ok. It was totally pathetic in his mind. It wasn’t Timothy’s fault at all, though. Noah, however, had yet to really address his feelings on the subject yet.
It only took a few minutes for them to find the luggage. Timothy was, of course, right. “I don’t want to hear it. You are always right, and that is the last time I will admit to it,” Noah proclaimed.
His boyfriend smiled at him. “I know I’m always right. So, stop arguing all the time,” he winked playfully.
“Do you like this red one or the black one better?” Noah asked.
There was a purple one that Timothy found, “I like this one best, obviously.”
Noah picked it up, “Oh, I totally forgot about your purple obsession.”
“It’s just a very neutral color,” Timothy explained.
“You know when I was younger in music class, we would do ribbon day each year. It was just twirling ribbons to different music,” Noah told him.
The curly-haired boy nodded, “I think we did something similar.”
“Well anyway, I picked the purple ribbon. I didn’t really think much of it, but some girl stated it was a girl color,” Noah said. Noah would often remember things from elementary school that he did. He would sit with the girls at lunch. He would insist on getting the pink ball during recess. As he grew into his teens, he would purposely avoid anything that was perceived as feminine. It was funny that after coming out, he still felt the need to hide in the corner when it came to those supposedly feminine items.
The boyfriend just laughed, “That is just ignorance at its best. A color doesn’t mean anything. Well, actually, purple is associated with being gay but still…”