Moving In - Chapter 05
Moving In
Chapter 05: I'm just a city boy
"Looks like Jesus, wasn't the only one who rose from the dead."
"Look mom, I'm sorry for not treating Noah like a friend. Yes, I like him but he's straight. I just don't want myself to be hurt. And also I'm sorry mom because I avoided you for the last two days."
"Well, that's good. However, I think you shouldn't be apologizing to me for your actions when it comes to treating other people. Also, you need to wash your face, you look like you hadn't slept for days. Your eyes also look swollen."
"Ok mom stop making me feel more guilty and more crap, I'll go to his house and apologize as well."
"Good. You're not grounded anymore, but you still need to watch your language."
I managed to pull the card again, but this time I'm actually sorry to both mom and Noah. Maybe this move had been stressing me out and add that to my old life, I bet that you'd also isolate yourself for a little while. After I ate my breakfast, I washed my face and went to Noah's house. Gosh, the house they bought was really beautiful! Not only that, the family that also lives here are also great. I'm not getting my hopes high that Noah is gay though, however the thought of it wasn't dismissed. After all, I'm a hopeless romantic. I nervously knocked the door and Noah answered.
"Um, hey," I nervously said.
"What's up?"
"Look, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for what happened two days ago. I'm an ass for shouting at you. If you decided that you wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore, I understand," I said while looking at his blue eyes. I could probably lose track of time just by looking at it.
"Ok, apology accepted. And yes, we still cool but please I'm begging you Chris to not lock everybody outside. I don't know your past but we're in the present and that's what only matters."
"Thank you Noah, it's just that this move had stressed me out all summer. I don't even know if they'd, or probably even you, view me as normal once school starts."
"What about if you spend the night in here? We'll be true and honest to each other. No but's and if's, just be yourself, I'll be open minded and vice versa. Don't worry about going to school tomorrow. We'll go together. Deal?"
"Deal."
I hugged him as hard as I could. I couldn't contain myself. His body was so soft and warm. He hugged me back just with the same level of tightness as I did. We finally broke the hug after a few seconds. That was probably the closest I'd be in touching him for a long time. And honestly, I think that it wouldn't be enough for this lifetime.
"Look Noah, I'm really sorry. Ok?"
"It's already water under the bridge. No grudges and no revenges," he smiled. His smile made me warm inside with all the tingles and possibly every emotion when a person experiences being in love and infatuation at the same time.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"I now need to get going for our hang out later. I'll see you later. And I really can't emphasize this again and again, but I'm really sorry Noah."
"You're one of an overthinker, are you?"
"Yeah."
"We'll talk about that later, ok? I still need to do some more house chores and stuff. See you later," he said and fist-bumped me. I now felt happier than ever since Noah and I got things clear, but I still needed to be cautious with my words and actions around him. I didn't need him to be thinking that I'm a clingy friend and a desperate-for-attention-and-sympathy boy. I walked home and did some house chores while listening to some music. No matter how loud the music was, my mind always kept wandering back to Noah. What was he doing? Am I really his friend? What did our conversation a while ago meant for him? Well, he said a while ago that he and I should be honest to each other.
And more importantly, should I tell him that I really like him? Or was he meaning that we should just have an open communication with each other? Damn, why was he doing this to me? I didn't really understnd either. I tried to push him away, but he kept coming back. Does he like me back? Oh my God, please tell me no! If yes, that'd be a dream come true! Ok, overthinking aside, I finished the remaining chores. My mom and I decided to eat out so we went to Pop's to eat lunch.
-
I closed the door and even though he had dark circles around his eyes and a little negative energy around him, I was still attracted to Chris' energy. Gosh, no girl had ever done that to me. Wait, why was I thinking that? I'm straight. Maybe I'm just thinking that because I didn't really have a best or close friend in my whole life. Yes, I may hang out with the sporty and the popular kids but I never felt a connection as strong as the one I'm feeling with Chris. Sometimes, I could be an overthinker too and this was definitely one of these moments.
I proceeded to do the chores. I cleaned my room which included wiping the window and blinds, vacuuming the floor, changing the sheets, and doing my own laundry. After that, I went to vacuum downstairs and wipe some surfaces. Mom and Dad did the other chores. Mom mostly concentrated on the little garden and pool outside. On the other hand, Dad checked for things needed to be repaired and did the cleaning on the remaing parts of the house. And until this day, I'm still suprised by the amount of give and take in their relationship. They're really a match made in heaven.
Sometimes I think about the "right person" for me. Will I ever find her? Will I be alone for the rest of my life? Gosh, overthinking is driving me crazy right now. And then out of nowhere, Chris suddenly popped in my mind. The little interaction we had for the last few days, I already saw him at his best and at his worst. It kind of amazed me how true to himself he was. He didn't censor out anything when he broke down. I suddenly thought of him. What was he doing right now? Is he thinking of me right now? Does he like me? Damn, I needed to stop thinking about him. Even if I was bisexual or even gay, Chris is straight. He probably hasn't even started puberty yet, that's probably why. Yeah, that's right.
But here's the thing, sexuality is weird. Society is forcing you to put yourself a label. For what? So that LGBT people would get discriminated? Even if the process of choosing a partner would be easier with a "label", couldn't we just accept that any human can love another human regardless of any other thing in the world? As long as they're doing nothing wrong, why would it be suddenly everybody's business if someone's lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender? I needed more enlightenment in this topic, but I now needed to go back to doing the chores. I'd been staring at this blank wall for a couple of minutes already.
After a couple rounds of assigned cleaning and helping my parents, lunch time came way too early. We ate like we hadn't ate in weeks. After that, we cleaned up and I took a shower. I made sure to clean every part of my body, even my toes. I just wanted to smell good especially when a friend comes over. After that, I changed to a blue sleeveless shirt and black basketball shorts. I took a two-hour nap until someone tickled me back to life. I noticed that it was Chris.
"Jesus Christ! Stop it," I said in between my giggles.
"Well, now that you're awake, what do you wanna do?"
"I want you to explain to me why you just did that?"
"Anything else?"
"Not before you tell, of course."
"You're no fun dude!"
"Then you might as well just go home," I said grinning.
"Ok then," he said and walked slowly. It was as if he was teasing me.
"What about we go outside and swim in the pool," I asked before it was too late since he looked like he was actually about to leave.
"Now, we're talking! Do you know where the other bathroom is?"
"What the heck! Just change in my bathroom. You go first and then I'll follow."
"Sure, but I just need to go back to my house to get the appropriate clothing."
"Oh come on, even just being in your underwear is fine," I said excitedly. It came out way too excited than what I actually meant to.
"Ok."
And with that he went and undressed in my bathroom. He changed so fast that I was just beginning to think of other plans when he came out.
"It's now your turn," Chris said.
"Ok, but think of other plans as well, other than swimming and playing video games."
I undressed and my speedo was luckily hanging by the shower door. Don't ask why. Oh crap, Chris must've seen it. Gosh, it's embarrassing. I grabbed it and changed. I went out and saw Chris looking around my room. He probably didn't even think of ideas. He probably didn't even remember why I'm hanging out with him. And it was to get to know each other and be honest as friends. To say that I was disappointed was a gross understatement. I also got lost in thinking all of that, but probably Chris didn't even notice.
"Well, after that maybe eat dinner and get to the point of why I'm here."
Wait, did he see me get disappointed in my thought or something?
"Ok, first to the pool gets last to tell all about himself," I said as I was already running down the stairs. Chris didn't follow though. It was weird. I got out of the house, going to the pool and suddenly saw Chris mid-air. He was about to dive into the pool from my bedroom window! I hadn't even thought of that. Well, cleverness wasn't something I saw right away when I first met him, but I guess there's something more that meets the eye. Suddenly, the pool made a big splash. If he was bigger and a little heavier, I swore that the pool water would be drained. I'm just kidding, but you get the point.
"Sorry, but I'll be the last one to tell," he said to me with a smile.
"Damn, I haven't even thought of that one."
"Well, I'm not the usual kid like I told you."
"Let's see later, Chrissy."
"Wait, did you just call me 'Chrissy' little Noah?"
I cringed when he said "little Noah", plus how did he know that? He's going to be in a hot seat later once all the fun is done and keeps on suprising me.
"Well, I'm not little anymore so don't use that name," I laughed it off and runningly made my way to the pool.
I jumped into the pool and we played a bit. It was until Mom called us to have dinner. We dried ourselves, took a quick rinse in the little shower area and went upstairs to change into our night clothes. My family and Chris' are pretty laid back when it comes to what to wear in the house and that meant that I could go eat in the table with my night clothes. However, they weren't really fond of walking around shirtless or only in boxers. We went downstairs and saw that the food was already ready. Dad cooked his delicious steak and Mom made her mouth-watering chicken wings and spaghetti.
"I'm really sorry that I probably wet all of your backyard," Chris said.
"No problem, son. Good thing you weren't injured or something. Plus, you let us know in advance so there's nothing really to worry about," Mom said.
"Yeah, plus before moving here I tried it myself. And let's just say that things went a little south after that," Dad laughingly said.
"Wait, how did all of you know," I asked in confusion.
"Let's just say that before I left this house when we were house-searching, I took an oppurtunity and my mom liked it. However, she was suprised and scolded me for the rest of the day because of it," Chris said.
"Ditto, except that Tina got really mad at me and made me promise not to do it again," my Dad said, chuckling to himself. Now, I'm thinking about of still saying to my friends that I'm the craziest one in our family once I tell them what happened. With that, I just made my "ohhhhh ok" expression and continued eating. After we ate and to my suprise, Chris voluntarily did the dishes since he said that it was his way of compensating for what happened to my parents a while ago because he felt that an advance notice and a sorry wasn't enough.
We went upstairs and it was only half past 6 P.M., we played some video games for an hour and both of us sucked badly. We made a lot of inside jokes as well. It included from being a "nerd" to "use code james for 10% off" and by the time we finished playing, we still couldn't stop ourselves from laughing. After playing, we got bored and I started the "opening up" process. And it was a lot. We talked like it was an eternity. Honestly and no matter how many times I'd already said this, but I really felt a genuine connection betweem him and me. It's like we're long lost brothers. And an added bonus was that I hadn't felt that in a long time. It's like all of my good karma was spent entirely on meeting and getting to know this boy. I know for a fact that Chris is a real friend and who will stick through with you, no matter what the circumstances are. Thank you universe for making me meet this boy.
"Who are you and what have you done with Noah," Chris said while he was shaking me.
"Hey shister, have you ushed code jamesh for 10% off," I told him, purposely saying -sh instead of an -s sound. Look I appreciate and like James Charles' works, but I can't help it. I'm sorry to his fans and to the one and only James Charles. I'll never do it again.
"Hey, he doesn't speak like that and no. I'm not going to use makeup on my face, little Noah," he said to me grinning.
"Woah, calm down dude, I'm bigger than what you see."
"Well yeah, because I heard you imitate pig noises like Shane Dawson and I'm a little more nerdy than what you see," Chris smirked.
"What about we go back to opening up," I questioned Chris.
"Seeing that we still have an hour and a half more to spend before sleeping, I guess so."
"So why have you moved here? I feel like you're lying to me."
"Well, if I tell you the actual reason, you'd probably regret hanging out with me and you'll hate me."
"What? No way! You're like a brother to me already. I've never been able to relate and be honest with someone, I've already invested on you too much," I said.
"Ok, you want the reason? Well, ... I ... I'm ... g- ... gay and people didn't really like me when I lived back home. They've done horrible things to me and I'm afraid it'll happen again unless if I kept it to myself," Chris said and his eyes were getting red and teary. After that, he let out a stream of tears. I don't blame him though. Even if L.A. has really supportive people, there are still people who are really hateful against LGBT people, and his secret would be safe with me. I hugged him and rubbed circles on his back. A few minutes later, he stopped crying.
"Look, I'm sorry for crying like that and that I'm happy that you accept me, but please don't go around telling everybody."
"Sure, plus it's your choice to tell people, not mine."
"Now, it's your turn, little Noah," Chris laughingly said to me. Even if he just cried a little while ago, he still knew how to be goofy and cheer up everybody even if he wasn't. Damn, I should keep this guy. He's a really genuine, honest and real one.
"Ok, so what do you want to know about me, Chrissy," I teased him.
"What about your passion?"
"Well, I like to play the bamboo flute. In my middle school group, I'm the "musician that hangs out with the cool people" type of kid. They're cool and all but I don't really fit in with them. I'm better on my own or with my real friends who are also into music. ... That's already too much info on me. What about you Chris? What's your passion?"
"Okay, I like Math a lot, but when I bury myself into it, I start to like it less. That's the reason why I don't really join Math stuff and the like. Well, my passion .... hmm ... I don't really know yet. I want to be something but when I start doing things to be that something, I realize that it's not what I want. I want to be something but right now, I'm pretty much a jack of all trades but master of none. I like Math but when I join the different workshops and things, I like it less. I also like badminton but when I compete with my friends, I suck and lose most of the time. I love to sing but I'm completely horrible at it. I like to workout but I still see myself fat. I could go on and on but there's still something in my heart that tells me that I have something, it's just that I can't find it. It's like feeling complete when listening to a song of someone falling in love, even when you're desperately single. Am I making sense? I'm probably stupid for saying that."
I snapped back to reality. He's also a deep-thinker. I like it a lot. I did not only found someone to be goofy, but also such a good person within.
"Right, it's stupid. You didn't even say anything," Chris said, snapping me back again to reality for the nth time.
"No. NO! It's not. It's like wow. I pretty much expected you to nerd out on me about things, not that I hate that, but it's like you're saying stuff an old person should be saying to a child. Where did you get that?"
"What? Really?"
"Yeah."
"I guess that's thanks to months of nonstop bullying," Chris said.
"Hey, don't down yourself. You're better than all of them. There's a reason why you're here."
"Well, ok. I guess thank you for that. ... Moving on, will you do any extra-curriculars this year?"
"Meh, I'm thinking of football since my friends told me that I'm a little good with the ball and everything but I'm still thinking about it. I may still continue in the music club though. The people in the highschool said that there's a hangout for the musicians every Friday after school. They said that's where we could have a little open mic and share our talents. What about you Chris? Do you plan on any extras?"
"Uhm... I was thinking about joining the music club of the school too. I still don't know. I say that I suck at singing but people say that I'm really not. Plus, I still want a little contact with Math. I also want to try creative writing or tech journalism. Whatever, I'll just go with the flow with whatever happens this school year."
"Yeah, same," I yawned. Chris yawned too.
"Well, I guess we should both sleep already. School starts tomorrow and I don't want to be a sleepy head for sure."
"Yeah, you can sleep with me if you want," I said to Chris.
"Uhm, sure," Chris said with a little hesitation to himself.
And we laid in my bed. The next time I woke up, it was my alarm ringing at 6 A.M. Chris woke up as well and went home since he said to his mom that he'll eat and go with her to school.
Today should be an interesting first day of highschool.
*Enjoy Noah's POV! It'll be a little while before he joins with Chris again.