||BRAD||

The PE class got dressed as soon as we were dismissed. Here I am, adjusting my shirt as I spray deodorant. "Dude, do you think Damien's gonna lash out if he lost like last time?" Liam joked, looking at all of us.

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he threw a ball at the crowd like he was playing dodgeball all of a sudden," Jackson shook his head with a sigh.

"The dude's pretty good at basketball though," Zack mentioned as he shut his locker and wore his backpack.

"Eh, nothing really to worry about, cause we've got you," I said as I slung my arm around his neck. Zack lets out a small laugh and nods.

Pulling out my phone to check my messages, I saw Noah's text, "I'm waiting by the front doors." Smiling to myself, I gave my body a stretch and started packing up.

"Dude, leaving already?" Liam raised a brow.

"Yeah, I'm off to watch a movie with Noah in the cinemas," I grinned.

"You know, I've never seen you so devoted to someone before," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... compared to Annabel, you seem to be more focused on Noah than her and us even more," Liam rubbed the crook of his neck.

My expression grew dark, "don't compare both of them. Yeah, the two of them remind me of eachother, but I love her and him differently. Sorry, if I make you guys appear less important... I'm not trying to," I frowned, staring at the floor.

"D-dude, it's okay. Don't mind us, just go have fun," Zack sent a leer at Liam. Jackson rolled his eyes.

"Don't antagonize me!" Liam whined.

-

Jogging to the entrance of the school, I saw the his figure standing by the door frames. "Hey..." I said, grabbing attention.

Noah looks at up me from his phone, "oh, hi Brad," he gleamed. Smiling at him, my eyes slowly peeked over to his phone. Noticing that he was having a conversation with someone, I asked, "who are you talking with?" I smirked.

"Ah, nobody," he murmured, placing his device inside his pocket, "come on, let's catch up before we miss the movie," his emotion remained cheerful as he skipped to the front parking space. I trailed behind him, looking at him in confusion. That was weird of him, usually, whenever he texts with someone, he would openly reveal who he's talking with to me, yet this is the first time he brushed away the topic so quickly. Following my boyfriend to my car, I opened the front door for him. He giggles and thanks me as I got to the driver's seat and started the engine.

I asked him if it would be nice to pick him up for today because I wanted to take him around at noon so we could watch a movie and possibly treat him out to eat.

-

Looking at the posters displayed on the outside brick walls of the movie house, we had three choices: a paranormal horror movie, a rather corny looking romantic one, and a story about a dog. "Let's watch this one!" I joked, pointing at the scary themed flyer that depicted a fairly profane scene of gore and knives. Looking at Noah, he gives me the most unamused, stoic expression I've ever seen.

"How about... no," he said so sarcastically.

"What about this one?" I asked, waving the portrait of a typical man kneeling down in front of the woman with a bouquet of red vibrant roses.

"I don't know... kinda cliche?" He tilted his head.

"I guess you're right," I nodded. That leaves us with our last option.

"Yeah, I'd rather watch a film about a dog," he nodded. That sets it. Taking his hand, we both went inside and lined up behind four people from the counter. Waiting, I caught the sight of Noah texting beside me again. Curiously, I tried to eye what those messages were about. From where I stood, it was a bit hard to see since I was so tall and he was shorter than me, making the screen look so small. I slanted downwards just a little bit to get a better view, but he caught my actions and typed as fast as he could, sending his last message before turning his phone off. "Noah... who is that?" I said, sounding a bit annoyed.

Noah pursed his lips, "...it's just Thiago, nothing really concerning exactly." Even though he finally admitted, I can't help the sickening feeling in my gut. I don't know Thiago's background that much, or the true relationship between him and Noah, which made me feel quite jealous.

During the past months, I just grew a lot more attached to him, so much that people would think I was obsessed with him to a degree that it's worrying. But they aren't all that wrong, I really do love him. The time that after Annabel broke up with me, it hurt me so much that it was hard getting up from bed every day. It was fucking horrible, I wanted to sulk in my room for so many days, wishing for her to return. I took our relationship for granted, it made me realize how much I missed her back then. That's why I want to keep Noah as close to me as possible, because I never want to leave him, or let him leave me like what Annabel did. I didn't want to repeat the past.

"One ticket for the dog movie please," I said to the cashier.

After transactions, I held a huge container of soda on one hand and led Noah the center of the seats. Sitting down, I placed our drink in the cupholder between us. With our arms rested on the sides, I held his hand firmly. Both of our eyes met and we smiled while the adverts and trailers began.