Ryan stared at his phone, his heart racing. Now that the text was sent, he was second guessing himself. Jake probably hadn’t thought anything of the quick departure, and Ryan saying something might only make him worry. Even if his intentions were good, what if he put stress on Luna and Jake’s friendship?

Luna grabbed his arm. Moments later, he felt the wind from a car driving past. Looking up, he realized that he had been about to walk into the street.

“What are you doing?” Luna was worried.

Ryan dropped his head and started typing. He almost asked if they could wait to talk until they got home, but then he glanced at her face and knew she wouldn’t accept that. So, he deleted the message and started again.

‘Jake gave me his phone number.’ He showed it to her, waiting until she had read it before continuing. ‘I texted him, but maybe I shouldn’t have.’

“You worry too much.” Luna wrapped an arm around him as the light changed. “If he gave you his number, that means he wanted you to text him.”

When he started to type out a protest, she placed a hand over his phone. “Trust me. Jake is a good guy, and it’s very hard to offend him. The only reason you’re freaking out is because this is new territory for you.”

He still wasn’t sure, but in situations like this, trusting Luna had never failed him. He nodded and put his phone away.

They walked the rest of the way home, Luna filling the silence with stories of her rehearsal. She wasn’t on stage, but helping with costumes. She told him about how difficult it was to find clothes that fit one of the actors, and how she would probably have to put her non-existent sewing skills to work.

When they got home, Ryan retreated to his room. A night of drawing and redrawing character concepts was all he felt he could handle. Maybe he would finally figure out why the human form of his animal mascot always looked more like the main character’s brother than he did his animal form.

Half way through his first attempt, his phone buzzed. He ignored it, figuring it was a junk email that could wait to be deleted. Then it buzzed again and he glanced over, annoyed.

The screen was lit up with a message. It was from Jake.

Ryan abandoned his tablet pen and snatched up the phone. How mad was Jake? He was ready to apologize profusely and offer to delete his number.

‘Did Luna show you her animation?’

He stared at the message for a long moment. It was completely unrelated to what he had said. Did that mean Jake didn’t care? He was texting Ryan, so he must not, right?

Ryan took a deep breath and replied. ‘Not the finished project.’ Then, he decided to be brave and take a chance. He wrote more. ‘I saw enough work in progress pieces to know the story, though.’

‘Did they have the audio? Because audio takes animation to a different level.’

‘Not with the footage, but I heard bits while she was editing.’

‘You should get her to show it to you. It’s really good.’

‘Okay.’

Ryan smiled. It was the first conversation with someone other than a family member he had had in years. And the topic wasn’t even something urgent. They didn’t have to be having this conversation, but they were just because.

He decided to continue. ‘What about yours?’

‘I don’t have anything beyond a character design yet.’

He froze. Had he screwed up? When Luna asked him about his projects, he was always very self aware of what he hadn’t finished yet. Was Jake the same way?

He stared at the screen. He should say something. Start apologizing. He started to type out the word ‘Sorry’.

‘You could come watch me work on it, though.’

He blinked. Jake wasn’t mad. He deleted what he had written.

‘Okay.’