I stared at him in disbelief and almost forgot about getting Amelia to school. 

     “Uh, you alright man?” he waved a hand in front of my face and I snapped out of my sort of trance. I nodded my head, and felt my face get a little bit warm. I felt a tug on my hand and looked down to see Amelia pointing at Noah. 

     “Who is he? Is he your friend Milo?” I looked at her and shook my head. 

     “Wait, Milo? As in Milo Solancea?” a crooked grin swept across Noah’s face. I nodded my head and felt my face get even hotter. I was so glad that I was wearing my mask. I suddenly remembered that I had to take Amelia to school. I shoved Choux into Noah’s arms and signed to him that I would be back soon. I ran and quickly signed Amelia in and ran back out. 

     Grabbing Choux from Noah, I quickly thanked him and apologized to him. Before I could run away, Noah stopped me. 

     “Do you wanna go get something to drink and catch up?” I was caught off guard by the question but found myself nodding. “Awesome! Do you know of any good places to do that around here?” he asked while fiddling with his hair. I smiled and nodded, knowing very well where we were going to go. 

     “The Lazy Bird?” he looked at me as we stood outside the coffee shop I worked at, and I nodded again. We walked in and I heard the familiar ting of the bell through the hum of the crowd of people. I breathed in and was startled to hear my name being shouted. I looked around the line to see Andromeda waving from behind the counter. I shook my head and sheepishly waved back. I motioned for Noah to join me in the line. 

     “Do you come here often? I can see that the barista knows you. And you haven’t said a single word since I saw you? You sure you’re good?” he sounded concerned and it made my stomach to flips. I nodded and signed that I was mute. I had lost the ability to speak a few years ago. “Oh, I'm sorry.” I shrugged and signed that it was fine. 

     “Wait, you never answered my first question.” I signed to him that I actually work here. “Really? What do you do?” I told him that I did the baking. “The baking? Huh. You don’t really seem like the type to bake.” I playfully shoved him and asked him what he wanted. “Just a coffee would be fine.” I nodded and pointed to a table in the front, near the big windows. He smiled and I felt my heart throb. I smiled back underneath my mask. 

     When it was my time to order, I waved at Andromeda and she looked surprised to see me. 

     “Milo, but you’re supposed to be home resting.” I explained to her that I ran into an old friend and we were catching up with each other. She looked over to where Noah was and nodded towards him. “That him?” she asked with a grin on her face. I nodded and felt concerned about what would happen next. “You sure you’re just friends?” Andromeda asked as Noah looked over with a huge grin on his face. I felt myself blush and nodded vigorously, looking away. Andromeda only laughed and asked what she could get for us. I said two coffees and a couple of the scones. I asked her to put one in the aluminum bottle I kept in the kitchen, and to make sure it wasn’t the purple one. She nodded and I paid then waited for our things to come out. 

     As Andromeda handed me the coffees and scones, she leaned in and whispered, “Go get ‘em tiger.” I blushed and shook my head.