“Just a sketch,” Noah said, suddenly shy. He didn’t know why the thought of Ramin looking at his art made him so nervous. They swapped notes all the time. Ramin helped him with his homework. He filled Ramin in when he missed a class for one of his mom’s appointments, which seemed to be growing in frequency.
“All right, you don’t have to show me.” Ramin said it lightly, but there was something under the surface, some lingering hurt. Noah didn’t want to hurt Ramin. Life was doing that enough as it was. His mom wasn’t getting better.
Noah would’ve done anything to change things.
“I don’t mind,” he said. “Here.”
He slid his sketchbook over. Ramin studied it for a long time, so long Noah’s heart started racing. He’d never been a nail biter, but all of a sudden, he wondered what his cuticles tasted like.
“Wow,” Ramin said. “You must really love her.”
“Huh?”
“You put so much care into this. It’s beautiful. She’s lucky.”
Fire crept up the sides of Noah’s neck, trailed along the shells of his ears, blotted his cheeks.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
“You should be an artist,” Ramin said.
“Huh?”
“For a job. You could draw stuff.”
“Nah. It’s not practical,” Noah said automatically. His dad had made it quite clear this wasn’t a career. Just a hobby.
“So? If you like it, that should be all that matters. What doyouwant to do?”
Noah licked his lips. Whatdidhe want to do?
He’d never thought about it that much. What his parents wantedhim to do had always loomed so much larger. Or what Stacy wanted him to do. Or what his teachers wanted him to do. Or his coaches.
Ramin was the only one who ever asked him whathewanted. And he couldn’t even give an answer.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I guess I’d better think about it.”
Now
“Dad?”
“Yeah, buddy?” Noah helped spoon scrambled eggs onto Jake’s plate. “You want some cheese, too?”
“Sure.”
Noah grabbed the tongs. “What were you gonna ask?”
“When can we have another guys’ day out? With Ramin?”
Noah smiled. Ever since their day with Ramin, Jake seemed to have mellowed some. He’d stopped being so cranky with Noah. Had held Noah’s hand as they crossed streets, or even when they were just taking in the art in a museum.
He still wasn’t sure why Jake had been so surly with him for so long, but he was glad they’d finally turned a corner.
“Tell you what,” Noah said. “I’ll ask him when he’s free. Maybe we can do something this afternoon. That sound good?”
Jake beamed. “Yeah!”
Jake took his plate to the table, then ran for a second one. When it came to breakfast buffets, Jake always separated his savories from his sweets. And there were alotof sweets on offer. Noah nearly got a cavity just looking at the pastry table.
