Tuesday, evening

Even though Noah had kind of expected to not be welcome at hockey practice any longer now that they knew he had been friends with their opponent, he was welcomed by the team when he followed Julia inside. They had soon left to get dressed, and Julia and he had taken place in the penalty box for a closer view of their practice.

And to avoid Karen, who was present with a girl Noah hadn’t met before and was sitting on the same chairs he had sat on with Julia last time he went to watch.

Even though, for a second day in a row, Karen had been kind to him, and even told a few guys to stop bothering Noah about more information, Noah didn’t like her company. And neither did Julia, who jumped up when Lacy gave her a jump scare.

“Lace!” Julia cried out, slapping her hands away, “not funny. What are you doing here?”

“Danny and I went to watch Hannah’s figure skating practice. We saw you go in.”

Julia’s smile widened before she attacked Lacy’s friend in a hug, “Danny!”

“Hey Jules.” He replied, pecking a kiss on her cheek.

Noah introduced himself to Danny after they sat down in the box with them.

“So,” Lacy said as she planted herself between Noah and Julia, putting an arm around the both of them, “did we interrupt a romantic yet sporty date? If we did, just kick us out.”

Noah snorted in the exact same time Julia did.

“Noah’s cute, but no.”

“Julia’s cute, but no,” Noah replied, causing Julia to chuckle.

“Good, because we’ve heard a rumor and we need you to tell us if it’s true or not,” Danny said, stuffing his hands in his pocket, “because your mom heard the same and she asked me about it just now.”

“What did Mom hear?” Julia asked confused.

“Mr. Ferris was complaining to a friend that some teenagers broke into his backyard and used his pool. Rumor has it he spotted you, and three guys.”

Noah pressed his lips together, unsure if Lacy and Danny could know that she had indeed been there.

“Oh, yeah. We wanted to swim, and mercury lake was too far away,” Julia casually replied, shrugging her shoulder, “Ferris is a selfish dick, but we gladly used his pool.”

Lacy laughed, Danny shook his head with a small smile on his lips, and Noah couldn’t fight a smirk when he remembered the swim in Mr. Ferris’ pool.

“Let me guess, Santino, Layne… you?” Lacy asked as she looked at him, “since y’all came over for smoothies the next day to wash away that hangover.”

Noah shrugged and nodded.

“Well, your mom heard the rumors too, and she asked me if I knew anything,” Danny told Julia with a serious face, “maybe come up with an alibi.”

So, for the next hour and a half, they watched Layne and Santino practice, while trying to come up with a reasonable alibi Julia could use once her mother would ask. By now, though, Noah understood she had always been a very strict parent, who even scheduled her childrens’ entire day—from homework and church to ‘fun time’. Julia would’ve been in a lot of trouble, weren’t it for the fact that her mother was apparently trying not to be as strict any longer, after Julia’s brother ran away from home and eventually even to the other side of the world, refusing to talk to her.

Julia even explained that her mother seemed scared to punish her, or her younger brothers, afraid she would scare more of her children away.

Julia also admitted she would sometimes use it to get out of trouble, even though she knew it wasn’t right.

It made Noah all the more thankful for his home situation. With loving and understanding parents and a decent brother, he was lucky. They hadn’t just been supportive once he came out to them, they were supportive even if he messed up big time. Not that Noah had ever gotten himself in trouble before, but Adrian sure had.

Instead of punishing him by grounding him, they used it as an opportunity to teach. When Adrian once went to an illegal party in a rented home, the place ended up getting trashed. Adrian was dropped off at home by the cops, and his parents had taken him back to the place early next morning to offer help in cleaning. Adrian and their father ended up helping to repair all damage and Adrian met his girlfriend there.

No, really, Noah knew he had hit the jackpot when it came to his parents.

Tuesday, evening

As soon as practice was over, they had gone to the beer-garten, where according to Lacy and Julia, the team would grab a drink before they’d go home. Noah found himself seated at a bar table with Daniel, talking about the night they went swimming in Mr. Ferris’ pool, and how they ended up there in the first place.

For the first time in his life, Noah was able to tell a story about something he had done, and make the other person laugh. Which was why he told him about Cedar Rock as well, and how he came home all disheveled only for his parents to remember they hadn’t set any rules like curfew.

Daniel told him how Frey strung a rope to a tree at Mercury Lake, and how they would use it to swing into the lake. It should still be there, and they agreed to go over there soon to try it out.

Noah was feeling entertained while talking to Daniel, but he also had a hard time focusing solely on the guy. Santino wasn’t too far away, with Karen hanging around his neck while he talked to his friends.

Every so often, he would glance at Noah. Whenever they made eye contact, Santino flashed a small smile, and it did things to Noah he couldn’t describe.

He shook off the feeling of wanting to drag Karen away from her by her hair and focused back on Daniel.

“So, how come you and Lacy aren’t in college?”

“No money. Goes for the both of us. Lacy is working her ass off to pay expenses for her grandmother and her younger brother, I’m doing the same for my sister. Or more so, I’m saving as much as possible to give her the opportunity to go to college.”

“That’s kind of you, but wouldn’t you be able to make more money with a college degree?”

“I would, but it would cost me a few years to get one. Years in which I can make money already. I have two decent jobs and they pay well. For now, it’s enough. I’ll get my degree later. But really, if you have the opportunity, go to college right away.”

Noah chuckled and nodded in agreement, “I was planning on college, yeah.”

“Dude?” Santino and Layne appeared by his side, “we’re gonna go. It’s getting late.”

“Right,” Noah jumped up, shook hands with Daniel and thanked him for the great company. Outside, he saw him leave with Lacy, while Julia joined them.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Julia asked, teasing Santino by nudging him with an elbow, “she was glued to your side.”

“Ugh,” Santino groaned, dropping his head backwards, “she’s so fucking clingy it’s driving me crazy.”

“Then dump her,” Layne said with a shrug, “none of us like her. We don’t even get why you’d wanna date her. She’s the worst.”

“Shut up, dude,” Santino mumbled, suddenly walking away from them without waiting.

“Layne,” Julia hissed, slapping his arm, “we agreed not to complain about her any longer. If he likes her, it’s not up to us.”

“I just don’t see why—”

“You coming?” Santino asked as soon as he stopped his scooter in front of them, offering Noah a helmet.

Noah frowned, surprised by the offer. He had arrived with Julia and kind of expected her to take him home again. Which was why he looked at Julia, not knowing if it was okay. But she simply shrugged, Layne rolled his eyes, and Noah accepted the helmet, quickly hugging Julia. He fist-bumped Layne.

“See you both tomorrow.”

They waved them goodbye, and Santino took off without another word. The thing was, Noah was under the impression that if Santino would tell him about his deal with Karen, he would’ve at least told Layne and Julia. Or at least one of them. But they clearly had no idea why Santino was putting up with her the way he did.

And Noah wondered if he had been wrong, and Julia had no idea Santino was into guys. Maybe there was a completely different person in their group she had been talking about. If she knew, Santino could easily explain about the deal.

But then why had Santino told him? A guy he hardly knew?

And why had he asked him to come with him? Noah didn’t even know where they were going, or why he had accepted the invite without asking. He was supposed to be home in an hour.

But how was he supposed to say no to Santino?