The next morning, Noah woke up six minutes before his alarm.
For a moment, he remained completely still beneath the blankets, staring at the ceiling with the vague feeling that something was different.
He couldn’t immediately remember what had disturbed his sleep, because nothing had.
The room was quiet, the early morning light was only beginning to slip through the curtains, and his phone rested on the bedside table exactly where he had left it the night before.
Everything was normal.
Then he remembered.
Elias.
Noah closed his eyes again.
It was ridiculous that the first thing he thought about in the morning was a boy he had met less than twenty-four hours earlier.
They had exchanged a few conversations, shared one class, walked home together, and somehow that was enough for Elias to assume they would be walking to school together the next morning.
Same time tomorrow.
Noah had agreed without thinking.
Now, lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, he wondered why.
It wasn’t as though he needed company.
He had walked to school alone plenty of times before.
Maya occasionally joined him when their schedules happened to match, but most mornings Noah preferred the quiet.
He liked having a few minutes to himself before the noise of the school day began, before teachers started assigning work and people began asking questions and someone inevitably complained about something they had no control over.
Still, when his alarm finally went off, Noah got out of bed immediately.
That alone should have worried him.
He dressed, grabbed his bag, and made his way downstairs, where his mother was already standing in the kitchen with a cup of tea in one hand and her phone in the other.
She glanced at him when he entered and immediately narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
Noah opened the refrigerator.
“You’re awake early.”
“I’m always awake at this time.”
“Noah, yesterday I had to call you three times before you got out of bed.”
“That was yesterday.”
“And today?”
“Today is different.”
His mother smiled into her tea.
Noah looked at her suspiciously.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Maybe you’re finally becoming responsible.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
She laughed quietly, and Noah grabbed a piece of toast before heading toward the door.
He wasn’t particularly hungry, but skipping breakfast again seemed unnecessary, especially since he had spent the previous afternoon listening to Elias complain about being starving every twenty minutes.
“You’re leaving already?” his mother asked.
“Yeah.”
“You’re early.”
“I know.”
Another smile.
Noah sighed.
“Don’t start.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was not.”
“You definitely were.”
He left before she could answer.
The morning air was cool, carrying the faint smell of rain even though the sky above him was still clear.
Noah walked down the familiar street with his hands in his jacket pockets, telling himself that he wasn’t looking for anyone.
He was simply walking.
That was all.
When he reached the corner where the two streets met, he saw Elias waiting beneath a streetlamp.
Noah slowed down.
Elias had one hand wrapped around a paper cup and the other shoved into the pocket of his jacket.
His backpack hung carelessly from one shoulder, and his hair looked as though he had made no serious attempt to fix it before leaving home.
Noah couldn’t help noticing that Elias was smiling before he had even reached him.
“You came.”
Noah raised an eyebrow.
“You sound surprised.”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“Why wouldn’t I come?
I said I would.”
Elias took a sip from his drink.
“People say things all the time.”
Noah looked at him for a moment.
There was something strangely serious in the way he had said it, but before Noah could ask what he meant, Elias smiled again.
“So, you’re reliable.”
“Don’t spread that information around.
I have a reputation.”
“What reputation?”
“I don’t know.
I’ll figure it out eventually.”
Elias laughed, and they began walking.
For the first few minutes, neither of them spoke.
The silence felt different from the day before, perhaps because they had already crossed whatever awkward boundary existed between strangers.
Noah no longer felt as though he had to search for something intelligent to say.
Elias didn’t seem bothered by the quiet either.
That surprised Noah.
“You’re unusually silent,” he eventually said.
Elias glanced at him.
“Are you complaining?”
“I’m observing.”
“Maybe I have nothing to say.”
“That would be a first.”
“I’ve known you for two days, and you’re already making assumptions about me.”
“Yesterday you talked through half of Mr.
Harris’s class.”
“I was nervous.”
Noah stopped walking.
Elias continued for two steps before realizing Noah wasn’t beside him.
He turned around.
“You were nervous?”
“Maybe.”
“You didn’t look nervous.”
“I have a natural talent for hiding my suffering.”
Noah smiled despite himself.
“You weren’t suffering.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I was sitting next to you.”
“Exactly.
Terrible experience.”
Noah shook his head and caught up with him.
By the time they reached school, Noah had learned several things about Elias.
He learned that Elias hated mornings but somehow managed to wake up before his alarm every day.
He learned that he drank coffee even though he admitted he didn’t particularly like the taste.
He learned that he had moved recently and was still unpacking boxes in his new room because his mother kept telling him to do it while he kept finding more interesting ways to avoid it.
Most importantly, Noah learned that Elias could turn almost anything into a conversation.
They had spent five minutes discussing whether cereal was technically soup.
Noah had spent another three trying to convince him that putting ketchup on scrambled eggs was unacceptable behavior.
Elias had disagreed so strongly that Noah briefly considered ending the friendship they didn’t technically have yet.
When they reached the school gates, Maya was waiting near the entrance.
She looked from Noah to Elias.
Then back to Noah.
“Oh.”
Noah immediately knew that expression.
“No.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
Maya smiled.
“I was just wondering who your friend is.”
Elias looked at Noah.
“Friend?”
Noah looked at Maya.
“Don’t.”
“I’m Elias,” he said, holding out his hand toward her.
“Apparently, I’m Noah’s friend.”
Maya shook his hand.
“Maya.”
“Nice to meet you.”
She glanced at Noah again.
“How long have you known each other?”
“Since yesterday.”
“And you’re already walking to school together?”
Noah sighed.
Elias smiled.
“He’s very welcoming.”
“I showed you where your classroom was.”
“Exactly.”
Maya’s smile widened.
Noah pointed toward the building.
“Are we going inside, or are you planning to interrogate us all morning?”
“I’m just curious.”
“You’re always curious.”
“Someone has to be.”
Elias leaned closer to Noah as they walked through the entrance.
“Is she always like this?”
“Yes.”
“I heard that,” Maya said.
“Good.”
Noah looked at him.
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“Absolutely.”
The three of them walked down the hallway together, and Noah found himself wondering when exactly Elias had stopped feeling like the new boy.
It had only been one day, and yet his presence already seemed strangely natural.
He walked beside Noah as though he had always belonged there, making comments about students he didn’t know and complaining about the amount of homework he hadn’t even received yet.
It should have been annoying.
Somehow, it wasn’t.
Their first class passed quickly.
Mr.
Harris seemed to be in a slightly better mood, although Noah suspected that was only because he had managed to avoid spilling coffee on himself that morning.
Elias borrowed another pen, despite having promised Noah that he would remember his own.
“You did this on purpose,” Noah whispered.
“I didn’t.”
“You knew I had a pen.”
“I knew you were a good person.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Elias smiled and continued writing.
Noah stared at him for a second before turning back toward the front of the classroom.
He told himself that he wasn’t paying attention to the way Elias pushed his hair away from his forehead when he was thinking.
He wasn’t paying attention to the silver ring on his hand, either.
At least, not deliberately.
During lunch, Elias sat with Noah and Maya without asking if he could.
Noah noticed this when Elias simply placed his tray on the table and pulled out the chair beside him.
“You’re very comfortable for someone who just got here.”
Elias looked up.
“Should I leave?”
“No.”
“Then stop complaining.”
Maya covered a smile with her hand.
Noah gave her a look.
She looked away innocently.
Elias began eating, apparently unaware that Maya was studying him with the kind of curiosity that usually meant Noah would be questioned about him later.
“So,” Maya said, “where did you live before?”
Elias looked at her.
“Not far from here.”
“Why did you move?”
“My mother’s job.”
“Do you miss it?”
He paused.
It was brief, almost impossible to notice, but Noah noticed it anyway.
“Sometimes,” Elias said.
Maya seemed to realize she had asked something too personal.
“Sorry.
You don’t have to answer that.”
“No, it’s okay.”
He smiled, but Noah had begun to understand that Elias sometimes smiled when he didn’t want people to look too closely.
The conversation moved on.
They talked about teachers, classes, the upcoming school year and a party someone was supposedly planning for the weekend.
Elias complained that he had no idea who was invited because he knew approximately four people in the entire school.
“You can come with us,” Maya said.
Noah looked at her.
She looked back.
“What?”
“You’re inviting him already?”
“Why not?”
Elias turned toward Noah.
“Am I not allowed?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then I’ll go.”
Noah sighed.
“Fine.”
Elias smiled.
For some reason, Noah felt as though he had just agreed to something much larger than a party.
The afternoon passed more slowly.
By the final lesson, Noah was tired enough to rest his head against one hand while pretending to listen to the teacher.
He glanced toward Elias several times without meaning to.
Each time, Elias was either writing something, staring out the window or doing an impressive job of looking awake while clearly being half asleep.
At one point, Elias caught him looking.
Noah immediately looked away.
A few seconds later, he felt something touch his arm.
A folded piece of paper appeared on his desk.
Noah looked at Elias.
Elias was staring straight ahead.
Noah unfolded it beneath the desk.
Are you coming Saturday?
Noah picked up his pen.
Maybe.
Elias glanced down at the paper.
That’s not an answer.
Noah smiled.
Yes.
Elias wrote something else.
Good.
Noah folded the paper and put it in his notebook.
When the final bell rang, Elias stood immediately.
“Come on.”
Noah gathered his things.
“Where?”
“Home.”
“I’m aware of where home is.”
“Then walk.”
Noah laughed quietly and followed him outside.
The afternoon was warmer than the morning had been, and the sky had changed from pale blue to a deeper shade that promised evening wasn’t far away.
Maya had gone in the opposite direction with another friend, leaving Noah and Elias alone.
They walked for several minutes before Elias spoke.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You’re going to ask anyway.”
“Probably.”
Noah looked at him.
“Go ahead.”
Elias’s expression became thoughtful.
“Do you ever want to leave?”
Noah frowned.
“Leave what?”
“Everything.”
The answer came more seriously than Noah had expected.
Elias looked ahead as he spoke, watching the road beneath their feet.
“This place.
The school.
The same streets.
The same people.
Do you ever feel like one day you just want to get in a car and keep driving until you don’t recognize anything anymore?”
Noah thought about it.
“Sometimes.”
Elias looked at him.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Where would you go?”
Noah shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“Pick somewhere.”
“You’re asking me to choose an entire destination without any warning.”
“Just say the first thing that comes into your head.”
Noah looked ahead.
The road stretched in front of them, disappearing beyond rows of houses and traffic lights.
“Somewhere far away,” he finally said.
Elias was quiet for a second.
Then he smiled.
“How far away?”
Noah looked at him.
For a moment, he didn’t know why the answer felt important.
Then he smiled back.
“So far away.”
Elias stopped walking.
Noah took another step before turning around.
“What?”
Elias looked at him with an expression Noah couldn’t read.
“Nothing.”
“You stopped walking.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Elias looked toward the sky.
The first stars were beginning to appear.
“So far away,” he repeated quietly.
Noah watched him.
It was just a phrase.
A meaningless answer.
A few words spoken during an ordinary walk home.
Neither of them knew that years later, those same words would become something else entirely.
For now, Elias simply smiled and started walking again.
Noah followed him.
Above them, the stars continued appearing one by one as evening slowly swallowed the last of the daylight.
And somewhere between school, borrowed pens, stupid arguments about cereal and an unfinished conversation about leaving everything behind, Noah began to understand that Elias was no longer just the boy by the window.
He was becoming something more.
Neither of them knew what that something was yet.
But they had time.
Or at least, they believed they did.