We Make Mayhem [boyxboy]

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next couple days, Noah and I created a nice little routine. Not being able to hang out outside of school didn't really turn out to be a bad thing—my hormones really wanted to get him alone, but we had a lot of getting to know each other to do first.

It went like this: we would buy lunch in the cafeteria, but find someplace quiet and secluded to eat. A stairwell, the nook in the hallway near the art rooms, anywhere we could eat and talk and not get tripped over or eavesdropped on. We didn't have to be alone alone, but it was understood that we wanted to be discreet.

"It'd be cool if we could go eat on the rooftop garden," Noah said on Monday. "It's probably too crowded, though."

"Well, let's go check," I said.

He was right—every bench and seat up on the rooftop was taken. It was too beautiful up there, among all the horticulture class's projects.

So for Tuesday and Wednesday, we made do inside. But when Dad was driving me to school on Thursday, my stomach fluttered in excitement when raindrops began to splatter the windshield.

"It's supposed to rain all day," Dad complained. "Jobsite's going to be a mess."

"Yeah, it sucks," I said, but I had a huge grin on my face.

At lunchtime, I met Noah in the cafeteria. He was already in line for food, saving me a spot. We met eyes across the room. My chest felt like a lock and his slow smile was the key sliding in and changing everything. When he realized just how widely he was grinning at me, he stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes. That almost made me feel better than the smile. I couldn't stop myself from knocking his shoulder with mine when I sidled up to him.

"Hi, there," I said.

"Hey. How was English?"

"Lonely."

"Poor baby. One class without any friends. However do you cope?"

"I spend the whole period dreaming about lunchtime."

He blushed and stumbled over his words when he stepped up to order from the lunch server. I felt accomplished.

We sat down in the art hallway to eat, but once we'd recycled the paper plates, I stood up and reach out to Noah.

"Come on," I said.

He looked pointedly at my hands. "Where are we going?"

"Off a cliff."

His hyena laugh echoed in the empty hall. He gripped my hands and I hauled him to his feet.

"Okay, then," he said. "Where's the cliff?"

We headed upstairs, past the second floor, toward the third. In a school as small as WVAA, he caught on pretty quick. There wasn't much up there except teachers' offices and the rooftop access.

"The roof?" he asked. "But it's—"

"Raining," I said. "I know."

We hurried our pace up the stairs and out the metal door that lead to the roof.

There was no one there but the plants, who were soaking up this long-overdue downpour, their leaves dark, shining, and wet. Rain plummeted down, smacking the pavement. Gusts of wind added to the furor. It was so loud, I almost didn't hear Noah laugh as he dropped his backpack to the ground and stepped out from undercover and tilted his face up to the rain.

I stepped out into the rain, too. It wasn't cold at all—summer was reminding us it still had a few weeks left of warmth to give. Within seconds, we were completely drenched, but we didn't care. I chased him around the potted trees and rows of raised garden beds, but he didn't try too hard to keep away. When I caught him, I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight.

It was like the rain cast a spell on us. We were soaked through, but we didn't care. All we wanted was to stand together and weather it. His arms wrapped around my shoulders, he swayed back and forth, like we were dancing. I took his hand and put one hand on his waist and took us into a clumsy waltz. Noah tried to resist, but soon he was dancing along. We stepped on each others' toes with almost every step we took.

"Okay, clearly neither of us can dance," he laughed.

"Wait, wait, let's try this," I said. "Ready?"

I raised our hands, indicating that he should twirl. He did, but our fingers had no idea what to do and ended up tangling sort of painfully. We disconnected, laughing and massaging our hands.

"Aww, man, we killed our vibe," he said.

"Oh, dear. What can we do to bring it back?"

"There's plenty we could do," he said.

I slid my hands around to his lower back, crushing him against me. I stared him straight in the eyes, daring him. His eyebrows raised almost imperceptively.

"That'll do it," he said faintly.

I kissed him and he melted into me. With the rain falling all around us, it felt like we were in our own universe. Where were we? Who were we? I didn't care. As long as I got to keep kissing him, I was exactly where and who I wanted to be.

The only thing that could have made it more perfect was not being at school—I wanted a soft horizontal surface and a locked door.

Which, I realized when Noah jerked away from me with a gasp, we didn't have at school.

I whirled around to see a girl standing in the doorway, staring at us. She darted across the roof to collect a beaker brimming with rainwater from a bench and hurried back. Her beet red cheeks and ears told the whole story. She had seen us, tongues crammed down each other's throats, grabbing every inch of each other we could.

The door slammed again as she scurried back downstairs. Noah and I just blinked at each other. God, his wet eyelashes were gorgeous.

"We could still catch up with her," I said.

"And do what?"

"Maybe we could convince her to stay quiet. Maybe you could pay for her lunches for a month or something, or..."

Noah's bottom lip quivered. I shut up.

"Riley," he said slowly, "do you want this to stay a secret?"

"No. I just... if it happens now, it's going to be a lot."

"It will be a lot no matter when it happens." He gave me one quick kiss. "What should we do?"

He was right, of course. This was going to blow up no matter what. So how could we get ahead of it? The idea came to me almost immediately.

"West Van Confidential," I said. "We're recording after school today."

Noah nodded slowly. "Everyone will know within a day. We won't really have to do anything."

"Exactly. Then I'll just have to tell my parents."

Noah saw the flicker of fear that must have crossed my face. "Do you want to do that?" he asked.

"Yes," I told him. "Yes, I do want to."

He smiled. "Okay. Let's do it."

"Come to the studio after school."

"Okay."

I nodded. He nodded. I nodded again and Noah laughed. The rain was still plummeting down around us and we were soaked to the bone, but Noah was laughing and I was going to see him for a few more hours today.

Life was fucking good.