“You coming tonight?” Julien asks, lifting his beer.
“Where?” I ask.
“Maddie and Becca’s,” Noah says. “They’re having a party.”
I perk up and glance at Silas. Their parties are always fun, andeveryonegoes. It would be awesome for Silas to meet all my friends here.
His eyes slide to mine, and I see the flicker of fear in them before he blinks it away and looks down at his beer.
A small bit of disappointment stirs inside me, but I get it.
I turn to Noah. “I think we’ll skip?—”
“Yeah, we’ll go,” Silas says.
I look at him in surprise, and he gives me a small shrug with a half-smile.
“Sick!” Noah pulls out his phone. “I’ll see who else I can round up.”
I clap a hand on Silas’s shoulder and tilt my head towards the hallway, motioning for him to follow me to my room.
I drop into the chair at my desk and take a sip of my beer as Silas sets his bag down on my bed and looks around the room.
And it’s strange that he’s never been in here before. We talk and FaceTime almost every day, when we can… but he’shere. In my room at school, where he’s never been. Where I’ve been living a whole life without him and have been waiting for the day he could be a part of it.
It’s weird that it feels so weird.
“We really don’t have to go tonight,” I say, pulling his attention to me as he looks over the books on my shelf.
“I know,” he says with a shrug, sitting on the edge of the bed. “But… I’m here to see your life, right?”
My eyes roam over his hoodie with the frayed hem, his worn jeans, and his old backwards hat. Here in the city, he looks more like a farmer than ever.
I nod slowly and smile. “Ok. But tomorrow, and the rest of the weekend, it’s just you and me.”
Silas smiles as his eyes brighten, making my own smile grow wider.
“Yo, let’s roll!” Julien shouts from the kitchen.
I give Silas one more questioning look, but he just pushes to his feet, ready to go.
Alright, then. Let’s do this.
Maddie and Becca don’t live far, so after a short, cold walk a couple blocks over, we step into their apartment where music is already blaring.
“Levi!” a girl calls out as I lead Silas into the kitchen.
I look up and spot Amara crossing the room with a big smile.
She wraps me in a hug, and I glance at Silas as she pulls away. “Silas, this is Amara.”
I’ve told him about her, that we’ve been having… fun. So far, it’s nothing serious, and honestly… I’m still figuring out how I feel about it, if I feel anything at all. She’s sweet, but I think she wants more out of this than I know how to give her.
Silas glances between us, trying to connect the dots.
“Oh, Silas!” Amara pulls him into a hug, and I see the wheels turning behind Silas’s eyes as he finally places her.
He glances at me and awkwardly hugs her back like he forgot how his arms work.
