|| NOAH ||

Oh gosh, why ask again now?! Especially in this position? I can't just leave him when there's still a few minutes of lunch left. I tried to think of a way to postpone or excuse without being rude. "Erm... I'm still deciding..." I uttered, almost inaudible. I feared of denying him in from of such a public space, especially in front of his group.

Brad has both of his eyebrows raised, "still?" He said and I nodded. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and completely closed the gap between. I could feel my face warming up and I bet I look really red right now. "Come on Noah... just say yes, please be my boyfriend?" He said with a pout. What I've noticed something this time was that he didn't ask if, 'I can' be his boyfriend, he asked to 'please' be his boyfriend. Oh gosh. I could feel my stomach getting heavier. Both of our faces are barely just a couple of centimeters apart. Being so close up like this, I could feel the warmth of his broad body radiating heat. His strong arm was preventing me to get some area for movement. This was making me a bit quite anxious, "I uhh... need to use the restroom," I said to him.

"Noah..." he frowned.

"Could you please excuse me?" I said. I held his hand which made him blush. I seemed to have caught him off guard because he tensed a little bit. "O-Okay..." he stuttered and raised his arm off me, giving me a chance to head to the bathroom.

"Thank you," I said as I stood up from my seat.

I started walking to the direction of where the restroom is when I heard one of the guys call me from the table, "Hey Noah, where ya headed?" Jackson said.

I rotate my head to look at them, "the toilets," I replied.

"Oh, okay, you're coming back right?" Jackson almost had to yell because I've already parted myself from them, and the cafeteria was getting a little bit noisy with all of the other students' chatter. I'll be honest, I'm planning on just waiting the few minutes out in the bathroom until the bell rings. I pretended to act like I didn't hear what he said and just continued to the bathroom without replying. "Umm... okay..." I was able to hear that bit from Jackson within the loud chaotic cafeteria.

I finally entered the male bathrooms and hid in the farthest toilet stall like I always do in general. I made sure that it was locked and placed down the lid to sit on. I sighed and held my belly with my arms. Should I say no? Am I ready to be in a relationship with a guy? I mean, this school so far hasn't made any aggressive acts of homophobia yet, but do I really wanna commit to this? To be responsible and have a boyfriend? Will it even work out? This is high school, the majority of relationships never works out... or should I say yes? Then again, Brad is very good looking. His handsome face and stocky well-toned form. The way how close our bodies were really close to each other and how he looked at me in the eyes. I could practically imagine myself melting. Ugh! This is so frustrating. I'm so conflicted. Part of me wants to say no, but do I really want to be a loner when I get older? I frowned and ruffled my hair. Debating my answer is so infuriating. I don't know what to say... I stood up from the seat and opened the door and walked towards the sink to wash my hands. My eyes glanced up at the mirror and saw my reflection. I adjusted my clothes and fixed my hair a bit. I gave my face a little rinse and sighed. How long am I going to stretch this out? At some point, Brad is going to lose patience and I won't have an excuse prepared...

"Are you doing okay Noah?" A voice rang out. I shot up straight and looked to see who it was. It's Zack, he's stood next to the door frame, holding my lunch bag, "you forgot this," he said, raising it up.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." I said as I walked up to him.

"Don't be," he lent me my bag.

I held it with both hands in front of me. "Thank you," I spoke softly.

"You're welcome..." he said with a gentle smile, "by the way..." he continued.

I looked up to him, "Yeah?" I said.

"I overheard a bit of your conversation with Brad earlier. I talked to him for a while about it. I'm sorry if we made you feel a bit uneasy, it seemed like it," Zack said as he leaned to the side of the frame. I looked down at my feet with a frown. "Look. Brad... he really likes you, but this is his first time asking out a guy. It's a bit different than getting together with a girl, you know? I'm aware that you two aren't really that aware of each other much in the past few years, and it must be a shock for you to be suddenly asked when you two don't even really know together well..." I nodded and looked at Zack. "He's trying his best because he really wants you to be his boyfriend. I advised him to take it slow and let you take enough time to think about it, to not rush it and let you answer his question on your own when you're ready. This is your decision, don't let anyone tell you what to do," he ended. Wow, I didn't expect him to come here and console me about it. It made me smile to know that he came here to give me advice. "Thanks, Zack. I really appreciate it," I said to him.

He grins at me and gives me a thumbs-up, "anytime, and also... if you wanna come talk more about Brad, you can always ask me. I mean, not to brag but, I'd like to think that I'm his closest friend compared to those three..." he snickered, "so you can ask me for more advice or if you want to know more about Brad, kay?" He said.

"Yes thank you," I said to him.

"Anytime, welp, the bells about to ring at any moment, just letting you know," he said as he started heading back to the eating area. "See ya later," he smiled with a wave of his hand.

"You too!" I replied.