The rest of the week had come to pass without much incident, and it was once again Friday. Oscar walked down the hall of his school, the same as everyday, making his way to the quad to meet Noah. Before he could get there, he got a text. Ding.

Noah: hey Os, my boss asked me to cover for someone at work after school today. we can still hang out but I can't give you ride, sorry

Oscar: that's cool, I'll just meet you at your house later. see you then :)

Oscar made his way down stairs from his room, adorned in his usual sweater and jeans ensemble. His hair was slightly more curly and unmanaged than usual, as he had just gotten out of the shower. Oscar paused at the front door and grabbed the car keys that hung from a hook on the wall. 

Suddenly he heard his mom's voice behind him. "Hey honey, where are you going?" Oscar turned and saw her walking towards him and putting on her coat. 

"Uh, I was just going to Noah's. Would it be okay if I slept over there tonight?" She looked at him with a glimmer of confusion in her eyes. "Yeah... that's fine," she said.

Oscar began again, "Are you going somewhere, mom?" 

Her expression quickly changed to one of determination, "Oh, yes I am. My team manager just called me, there's some problem at the new building that I have to go sort."

"Okay, well..." Oscar rattled his keys in his hand, "I'll see you tomorrow then." 

"Actually honey, I could drive you, if you want. I'm sure Noah's house isn't too far out of the way?" She said. 

Oscar considered her offer for a moment. "Yeah, that'd be fine," he said, and hung his keys back onto the hook. "After you," he said, motioning towards the door.

Together they clambered into his Mom's small Chevy Cobalt, and began the short journey to Noah's house. 

Oscar's mom was quiet at first, as she was staring at her phone resting in her lap, because Oscar had put Noah's address in and it was guiding them there. At the same time she was also trying to keep one hand on the steering wheel and most of her focus on the road in front of her.

She eventually said, "I'm sorry I had to leave in the middle of dinner the other night. It's just that there's been so many problems with the new building... but that's not an excuse, I know I should spend more time with you and your father." 

"No Mom, it's fine. I mean, Dad was there," Oscar looked at her sympathetically. 

She sighed and began again, "I also know that he works a lot too, but there's just no negotiating his schedule these days, with finals and all." 

"Yeah, I know. It's fine, really," he said. 

Yet, she persisted. "And I didn't even get to hear you talk about you new friend. Noah? Is that his name? Tell me about him." 

Oscar was taken back. "Uh..." 

"How'd you meet, again?" She asked.

"Oh, we met at Serenity's house a couple months ago. When I went with Kim? Yeah," he said. 

"And then he transferred to my band class, and we started eating lunch together. We've just been hanging out since then. He's a percussionist. He's really good. His brother has his own band; we went to see them live a couple weeks ago and they were really good. Before that we went to see another band called 'Hush Puppy.' Noah's the one who showed them to me, and they're pretty great. I met his mom the other night, and she was nice. Oh also, when me and Kim went to the movies I saw Noah there. Apparently he works there, so that's cool..." 

Oscar realized at this point that he had been rambling. He looked back over to his mom who was staring forward with a large smile plastered on her face. 

"Oh...sorry for rambling..." he laughed lightly.

"No!" She exclaimed. "Please, go ahead. I never get to hear you this excited anymore. It's nice. I'm glad you have a good friend. I mean, I know you have Kim and we love her, but Noah sounds great." 

Oscar leaned further back into his seat and sighed a little, "Thanks. He is." 

They mostly drove in silence for the rest of the way. Thoughts filled Oscar's head. 

Should I have said all that? Does she think I like him too much? 

His spiral was interrupted by his mom's voice when she said, "I think this is the street. Which house is Noah's?" Oscar pointed ahead to the white, two-story home at the end of the block. 

"Wow, that's nice. What do his parents do?" She asked.

"I think his dad's a cop. I don't know what his mom does," Oscar answered. 

His mom swiftly pulled into the driveway. When Oscar began to get out she said, "Hey, Os?" 

"Yeah, Mom?" He asked.

 "Just, have fun honey," she said, with a reassuring smile. 

"Okay, I will," Oscar said, with certainty in his voice. He watched her back out of the driveway and wave goodbye. He turned and placed a light knock on the front door. 

It was opened almost immediately. 

Oscar was met with Noah's radiant face and soft voice. "Hey, come in," he said, while lightly reaching for Oscar's hand, and pulling him inside.

They were stood in the same threshold that they had once stood in before and met yet again with the familiar smell of pine, but this time Oscar had no coat to hang up. 

Noah was outfitted in some black jeans and a grey t-shirt under the jean jacket that Oscar had given back to him. 

Before he even had time to think, Noah pulled him in and planted an enthusiastic kiss on his lips. He laughed, "Well hello to you too," and kissed him back. 

Oscar felt the other boys hand traveling down from his lower-back. He casually grabbed Noah's forearm and broke the kiss, "Woah, aren't your parents home. Your brother?"

"Nah, they're at some dumb parent's dinner at his school. They'll be gone for a few more hours," Noah said. 

"Oh, cool."

"Yeah. So, you wanna go play video games or something? You hungry? We could order something," Noah said. 

Oscar suddenly felt a small pang in his stomach. In his excitement about seeing Noah, he had forgotten to eat dinner. "Yeah actually, I'm starving." 

Noah pulled his phone from his back pocket. "Whataburger sound good to you?" he asked.

Without hesitation Oscar answered, "That sounds amazing."