The next day, I, again, wake up happily and hum to myself while I get ready for school. I made a new friend! And I can finally not stress about the project anymore! One stress down! One stress to go! I eat breakfast, say goodbye to my parents, check on Feathers and then I go to school. Selena isn’t at our meeting place, which is weird. I look at my phone's watch. I am very late today, so I guess that explains it. When I enter the classroom, no one is there… Well, Rafael is there. He is reading something. When he sees me, he smiles and waves welcomely.

“Rafael! Where is everybody?” I ask confused.

“Oh! We have chemistry, and the teacher was not feeling well, so he didn’t come today. Everyone is outside. They went to the nearby café.”

“Wow, so you angered him so much that he stopped coming to school?” I ask while smiling.

“Who? Me?” Rafael asks innocently. “That is a serious accusation! I feel personally attacked!”

He even winks a lot to sell the idea of innocence. I try to hold my laughter, but I fail and laugh so hard that I can barely breathe.

“You should try theatre, as you are the biggest drama king I have ever seen.” I say jokingly.

Rafael smiles evilly.

“Even bigger than you?”

“Oh! The shade! The shade. I won’t forget this!” I say while pretending to be falling into despair.

The two of us start laughing. After a bit, I go to sit next to him.

“So, why didn’t you go with the rest?” I ask.

“Oh! I wanted to wait for you. Selena couldn’t resist the cupcakes though.”

I look down while blushing.

“Thanks! That’s really sweet of you.”

Seeing his book, I ask:

“What are you reading?”

“Heartstopper! It’s my favourite graphic novel!” he says happily.

“Mine too! Who’s your favourite character? Mine is Nick! He is just the gentlest and kindest person ever.”

“Mine is Charlie! He is just so cute!”

“I know! But Nick is even cuter!” I say.

“Are you, by any chance, challenging my superior opinion?” Rafael asks with a smug expression on his face.

“And what if I am?” I say while getting closer to him, looking him in the eyes.

I try to keep my cool attitude act, but his beautiful eyes destroy it immediately and I collapse, laughing, on his shoulder. He also starts laughing.

“I’m going to say it!” he says menacingly.

“Don’t you dare!” I say, knowing what was coming.

“What is wrong with us?” he says, his smug expression, somehow becoming even smugger. (Something Nick and Charlie say a lot in Heartstopper)

“No!” I exclaim as I become redder than a tomato.

“Oh! You look so cute!” he says, and I basically die inside.

“You are not helping!” I say very flustered.

He laughs and, after a bit, I also start doing it as well. His laugh is contagious.

“Hey! How about you come over to my place tomorrow?” I ask.

“Sure!” he says.

For a second, I could have sworn he was blushing. Maybe I imagined it.

After we joke around a bit more, Selena and the rest of the class barge in. The math lesson is about to begin. Selena comes to sit next to us, but before sitting down, she looks at the two of us and then smiles, trying to suppress her laughter. What is so funny?

“So, how was your da… I mean day?” she asks.

“Oh! We just talked and joked around.” Rafael answers with a grin.

“Aha!” says Selena, smiling suspiciously again. “Ok! Don’t forget, tonight we are meeting to decide what to do about the project. You’ll come over to mine. It’s the closest house to the school.”

“Sure!” I say.

“No prob!” Rafael says.

“Hey! Rafael!” Selena says, suddenly serious.

“Yes?” the poor boy asks confused.

“Tidy your desk! It’s a mess!”

I start laughing while Rafael blushes and scrambles to get things in order.

“That applies to you too, Noah!” she says seriously.

“Ha! Take that! You’re just as much of a mess as I am!” Rafael says smugly.

I want to answer with something witty, but Selena interrupts me.

“Less talking, more tidying!”

We both try to suppress our laughter while we tidy the table. After we’re done, Selena says satisfied:

“Finally! It looks like a place where human beings can work!”

“I think it looked okay before.” Rafael says.

A brave, but foolish move. Selena just raises an eyebrow, and Rafael realises his mistake. He immediately changes the subject.

“So, the weather is nice today! How was it at the café?” he asks innocently.

“Oh! It was nice! The birds were chirping, and I got to play some great video games on my phone! Oh! And the cupcakes! God! Those cupcakes!”

The three of us laugh together. The math professor walks in and greets the class. He is an extremely nice person! We all love him! But everyone hates his subject! It’s so boring! After an agonising hour that seemed like it was never going to end, the three of us sprang back to life the moment the bell rang.

“Oh, I’m so hungry!” Selena says.

“But you just ate!” Rafael says.

“I know, but I want foooood!” Selena continues.

“We could go after sch…” but I stop him before he says something dangerous.

“We could go to the shop now!” I say with a smile.

“Perfect!” she says happily.

The three of us go out to the nearest shop. We don’t have much time, so we run there.

“Ok, Rafael, first rule when talking to Selena. Never say later when she wants food! Good thing I was there to save you!”

He grins back at me, and butterflies start flying in my stomach.

“Oh! She is also very independent, so don’t try to help her unless she asks for it. I really mean it. She is fiercely independent!”

“Let me guess. The third rule is to always have a clean desk?” Rafael asks while smiling.

“I wonder how you guessed!” I say sarcastically.

We both laugh. Wow! We really laugh a lot, don’t we? Well… Being happy is good, so I’m not complaining! After she bought herself a pretzel, Selena dragged us back to school, just in time to get to the history lesson. The rest of the school day is pretty standard, but it's made better by Rafael's presence. Weird, right? After school, just like we decided, we go to Selena’s home. It is a small and cosy pink house. When we enter, she demands that we take our shoes off, and, after that, we go to her bedroom. It's a pink room, with beautiful yellow flowers drawn on the walls. Selena drew them herself, to make it more personal. She has a small white bed and a big mirror. Her gigantic dresser is full of elegant dresses. A small coffee table sits in the middle of the room with lots of photos on it.

“Hey! Who’s that in the photos?” Rafael asks curiously.

“Oh, that’s just me and my ex-girlfriend. I’m bi!” Selena answers happily.

“Really? Wow! Thanks for telling me, Selena.”

“Thanks for not judging. You see, this is why the chemistry teacher hates me. He is a massive homophobe, biphobe. Also a racist. That’s why he doesn’t like Noah either.”

“Knew he was horrible, but that is next level.” Rafael says outraged.

“At least the class and the rest of the teachers are very accepting. They really make me feel welcome. But on the street, I did get bullied a bit, that is in fact how I met Noah. He saved me from a bully.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. But way to go, Noah!” Rafael says and jokingly punches my hand.

“Oh! Letting the sob story aside! Rafael! You said you liked cooking! Come and help me finish decorating some cookies! Noah, you stay here! It’s a surprise!”

“Ok?” I say confused.

“I’d love to help!” Rafael says while grinning. ”Noah, could you hold this for me? I don’t want to get it dirty, it’s my favourite!” Rafael says while handing me his blue jacket.

“Sure!” I say.

The two leave, Rafael even waving before going out the door. I also wave and blush. Selena takes Rafael to the kitchen.

“Ok! So I made a few cookies, which could use some beautiful frosting.” she says while getting the cream from the fridge.

“Hey, Selena? Since you told me about yourself, I want to tell you something. I am gay.”

“Knew it!” Selena answers excitedly.

“Really?” Rafael asks, his face becoming red.

“Yep! I’m pretty good at reading people. This is actually why I brought you here. Noah fell for you. I don’t know how you did it, but you did it. I am happy for him! You seem like a nice guy. But! You hurt him once and I will destroy you! Understood?” Selena asks more menacing than ever.

Rafael, now scared, answers:

“Clear as crystal!”

“Wonderful!” Selena says happily. “Now let’s get decorating! I made them to celebrate The Rain Team!”

“So that is the official name now?” Rafael asks amused.

“Well, since no one was capable of coming up with a better one. Yes. That is the official name!”

Rafael laughs.

“I see what he likes in you. But don’t tell him I realised. I don’t think he is ready to admit he is gay.”

“Of course, I wasn’t going to say anything. I was going to wait for him to make the first move. To make sure he’s ready.” Rafael answers while drawing a smiley face on a cookie.

“Oh, so you like him too?” Selena asks with a smug expression forming on her face.

“I… Uhhh! Let’s get back to designing cookies.” Rafael answers flustered.

Selena smiles knowingly and then puts some frosting on a cookie.

“Do your parents know?” she asks.

“Yes! They are really accepting! Yours?” he asks.

Selena thinks for a bit, then says:

“Yes! Same! Now let’s get back to frosting! Don’t want to keep your boyfriend waiting!”

Rafael becomes red as ketchup and goes back to frosting. The two of them work hard and, after five minutes, they are done.

“Okay! I’ll go with the first batch! You come with the second!” Selena says while going towards the stairs.

“Ok!”

Selena goes up towards the first floor and then goes to her room. The door is slightly open. She looks through the small crack.

I am alone in Selena’s room. It is cosy in here, but a bit lonely. I look at Rafael’s jacket, and, without thinking, I close my eyes and hug it. It is so soft and nice. It smells like his amazing perfume and… Like him. I could do this forever. But then I realised how creepy I am right now and…

“He is a boy. I can’t…” I say and put the jacket on the bed with o sad expression on my face.

“He is not ready.” Selena whispers to herself after seeing that.

Selena enters the room and I panic that she might have seen me.

“Oh! These cookies are my best ones yet! I think you’ll like them!” she says, while only looking at the tray.

She didn’t comment on me, or the jacket. I’m safe! I sigh in relief and help her put the cookies on the table. After a bit, Rafael enters the room and puts his tray on the table. Without realising, I specifically chose one of the cookies on his tray. One with a smiley face. Rafael goes to put his jacket back on.

“Oh, it got a crease.” he says.

I almost choke. Selena, suddenly, shoots him a look and he immediately adds:

“I like it though!”

He grins and sits next to me.

“Do you like the design?” he asks.

“Yeah! It looks awesome!” I say while taking another bite.

“Why thank you! I’m glad you like it!” he says, grinning again.

God! He is just too perfect! He’s killing me.

“Oh, you have some cream on your face. Riiiiight there.” he says while taking a napkin and whipping it off.

I blush again, but I like it. He smiles and then tries to throw the napkin like a basketball into the bin. He fails. I laugh, and Selena, with an annoyed look on her face, goes to throw it herself. Rafael looks at me.

“Why are you laughing, huh?” he says while destroying my hair with his hands,

“Stop it!” I try to defend myself, but I can’t stop laughing.

“Ok! Calm down you two! We still haven’t started the project yet.” Selena says seriously.

“Oh! Yeah! The project! I forgot!” I say.

Selena sighs.

“Of course you did! Well, thank god for me! So any ideas where we could take those photos?”

“I do!” Rafael answers excitedly. “What about the legendary Mystic Mountain? It is said to be in the middle of the forest nearby. It is said the view is magical. I read about it in a book yesterday.”

“Well, I don’t think it exists.” Selena says, while in thought. “Besides, even if it does. The forest is known for making people get lost in it.”

“Well, what if we follow the river?” I say. “The legend says that a river of magic will lead towards the mountain of treasure. There is a river called Der Magische Fluss, which translates to Magical River. We could follow that. It’s a straight line, so we can’t get lost.”

“That is brilliant!” Rafael exclaims happily.

“You’re right, it’s brilliant!” Selena repeats seriously. “I even have a boat. My parents love fishing, but we’ll have to paddle. It doesn’t have a motor anymore.”

“Well, you’re lucky, since I am a big, strong, muscly man!” Rafael says while flexing his muscles, with his fake smugness back on his face.

“Great.” Selena says without any emotion at all.

“Really?” I ask a bit too curious.

Rafael doesn’t waste the teasing opportunity.

“Why? Want me to prove it?” he asks flirtatiously.

“No!” I say and I put my red face in my hands.

He laughs, and I punch him jokingly. He grins with his usual amazing grin. He can’t get away with everything when he grins! But I am unable to prove him wrong!

“Well, then it’s settled!” Selena says satisfied.

After that, me and Rafael go home. When I get in my bedroom, I feed Feathers again and think about the great day I had. It really was awesome!