“Hey Ezra!” I said once I opened the door. I kissed both his cheeks before stepping back to let him in. At first, Ezra wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the fact that I’d be kissing him every time we greeted each other or said goodbye. But he understood when I told him it was the French custom and eventually got used to it.

   Ezra sat on the couch while I grabbed the bottle of grape Fanta from the fridge I had gotten for him yesterday. I knew he’d be craving it after school like he usually does, since it’s his favorite soda, so I added one to my cart while I was buying ingredients for my maman.

   "Good news” I said, handing him the bottle with a smile. “Philip changed his mind. He's coming along after all.”

   “Oh, really?” he replied. He carefully twisted the cap of the soda, making sure to let out all the air before taking it off completely and taking a sip. “That’s surprising considering he never wants to do anything with us.”

   “That’s what I said!”

   He laughs and places the Fanta on the small coffee table beside him. "Yeah, well, I'm glad he changed his mind. Hopefully I can get to know him a little better today. He's usually so aloof and reserved."

   "What? No way, man! He's not like that at all! Okay, reserved? Yeah, sure, but not aloof." I scoot closer, throw my arm onto his shoulder, and pull him into a side hug. "He just needs to warm up to you a bit. It's been two weeks since I met him and he still holds back his playful side from me sometimes. It just takes time but eventually he'll loosen up, you'll see!"

   “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

   I grab onto both his shoulders and forced him to look at me. “But listen to me, Ezra. I know you don’t like to put yourself out there so early when meeting new people but Philip really needs this, okay? He needs more friends, close friends. Ones he can trust and go to when he needs to talk because I know he has such a hard time opening up.”

   “How do you know that?”

   I drop my arms and sit back, tilting my head toward the ceiling. “He told me.” I turn my head to look at him again. “It really worries me, Ez. He bottles things in and that’s not good.”

   “Well, what’re you gonna do about it, Issac? Force him to talk to you?” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t work that way. You have to wait for him to come to you.”

   “I know, I know,” I say with a sigh.

   "It's like you said, Iss, it just takes time."

   I smiled. "What'd I do to deserve a best friend like you."

   “Pft, you’re so cheesy!”

   “Come here,” I say, a huge grin plastered on my face. “It’s hug time!” He sighs, rolls his eyes playfully, then comes into my expectant arms. I squeeze tight and even shake him a little. “I love you dude.”

   “Yeah, yeah, I love you too, you freakishly tall giraffe.”

   I scoffed and pulled back. “I am not a giraffe.”

   “You totally are! You’re tall, you’ve got yellow hair, and you have freckles.”

   “What? Okay first of all, my hair is blond-

   “Same thing.”

   “No it isn’t! And second of all, what do my freckles have to do with a giraffe?”

   “They count as the brown spots.”

   “They do not!”

   “Oh really? Are they or are they not basically brown spots going across from one cheek to the other?”

   “Well, not all freckles are displayed that way,” I mumbled.

   “That’s not answering my question. Are they or are they not brown spots on your face?”

   “Yes...” I admitted reluctantly.

   “See! The brown spots are basically freckles for giraffes! Except they’re all over their body.”

   “I...guess you have a point...” I let out a defeated sigh. “Ugh, fine! I’m a giraffe. Are you happy now?” I say, rolling my eyes.

   “Yes,” he replies with a smug smile. “Very.”

   I laughed and playfully shoved him. “Whatever!”

   He grabbed his soda from the coffee table and took another sip. “Hey, we still have a few hours before the movie starts, can we go to the park? I want to take pictures.”

   “Do you even bring your camera?”

   “Come on, Iss, you know I never leave home without it.”

   “True. Alright, let’s go then.” We got up and started heading out. I was about to close the door when I noticed the Fanta still on the coffee table. “Leaving a mess for me to clean up, are we?” I say over my shoulder.

   “What?”

   I point at the soda. “Your Fanta?”

   “Oh.” He goes back inside and grabs the bottle. “Tsk, shut up dude, it was an accident,” he says as I try to hide my amused grin when he walks past me.

   “Uh huh, sure, man.”

   “It was! Oh my god!” He laughs and just keeps walking, not even waiting for me as I locked the door.

   “Hey! Wait for me!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

   The shutter of the camera seemed to go off every five seconds as soon as we arrived at Ygnacio Valley Park. It’s kind of interesting watching him take pictures. The way he crouches, climbs stuff, and/or shifts directions just to find the right angle or lighting is pretty amusing if I’m being honest. The picture always come out amazing though. He’s extremely talented in both drawing and photography. I hope he can get over his insecurities one day because the world definitely deserves to see all his work.

   “Hey Issac, can you sit next to that tree for me?” He asked, motioning with his head to the pine needle tree a few yards in front of them.

   “Yeah, sure dude.” I walk to the tree and sit with my back against the trunk. “Like this?”

   “Almost. Look forward, close your eyes, tilt your head up and rest it on the stock.”

   “Pft, the stock? Who the hell calls the trunk of a tree ‘stock’?” I start cracking up as Ezra rolls his eyes, the corners of his mouth quirking up a bit.

   “I do, okay! Just do what I told you to do.”

   “Fine,” I say with a sigh. I do as I was instructed and after a minute or two I hear the shutter of his camera.

   “Perfect! Thank you, Issac, they came out great!” He says, beaming a proud smile. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “We have about twenty minutes left, wanna head to the theaters now?”

   “Sure.” We got in my car and discussed movie options.

   “Let’s see, ummm, we can watch Frozen 2? I heard it was really good.” He glances over at me and sees my mischievous grin. “Oh no, don’t you fucking dare!”

   “Let it go, let it go! Can’t hold it back anymore!”

   He sighs heavily and puts a hand over his face as I continue to butcher the song for the rest of the car ride.