The afternoon came much slower than Lea had hoped.
Math dragged on like chewing gum. In English, the teacher talked for twenty minutes about irregular verbs, while Lea nodded but barely caught a word. Even during the break, Mia couldn’t manage to get her into a normal conversation.
Again and again she thought about the project meeting.
And about Noah.
Especially about the fact that she had decided to behave completely normally.
Which, based on experience, meant that she would definitely not behave normally.
After the sixth period, about twelve students gathered in the history room. Mrs. Krüger was not there yet. On the teacher’s desk lay only a note with the inscription:
“Form groups yourselves. Choose a topic. Fill out the list.”
“That sounds dangerous,” said Mia.
“Why?”
“Because people get to decide for themselves.”
Lea couldn’t disagree.
Small groups were already forming. Some stood together before anyone had even said anything. Others were collected by their friends like shopping carts in a parking lot.
Lea stayed standing next to Mia.
“We’ll just do it together,” said Mia.
“Sure.”
But at that moment, Noah approached them.
“Do you already have a group?”
Lea immediately felt her heart decide to make itself unnecessarily important.
“Not yet,” said Mia.
“We could work together,” Noah suggested.
Mia looked at Noah first.
Then at Lea.
Then back at Noah.
Lea knew that look.
She hated that look.
It was the same look with which Mia had discovered the surprise gifts from her parents before.
“Good idea,” said Mia.
“Great,” said Noah.
“By the way, I’m out.”
“What?” asked Lea.
“I just decided to work with Sarah and Emma.”
“You just decided that?”
“About three seconds ago.”
“Mia!”
“Good luck.”
And she was gone.
Lea stared after her.
Traitor.
Absolute traitor.
Noah seemed to find the situation much less dramatic.
“Then I guess it’s just the two of us.”
“Looks like it.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No.”
The answer came so quickly that Noah had to smile briefly.
“Okay.”
Together they went to the topic list.
Various historical events were available. Most were already taken.
“What’s left?” asked Noah.
Lea skimmed the list.
“The first moon landing.”
“Sounds cool.”
“Or the history of the railway.”
“Sounds less cool.”
“Definitely less.”
“Moon landing?”
“Moon landing.”
They entered their names.
Then they sat down at one of the back tables.
For the first time in weeks, they were alone.
Not completely alone, of course. There were still other students in the room. But far enough away that no one was listening.
For a few seconds, neither knew what to say.
Lea played with her pen.
Noah flipped through his notebook.
Then he spoke at the same time as her:
“So ...”
They both had to laugh.
“You first,” said Noah.
“No, you.”
“Too late.”
“Coward.”
“I take that personally.”
“That’s how I meant it.”
Noah grinned.
Lea noticed that she now knew his grin quite well.
That surprised her.
How could you know a person so well and at the same time know so little about them?
“Okay,” Noah finally said. “Then I’ll just ask something.”
“Dangerous.”
“What do you want to do later?”
Lea blinked.
She hadn’t expected that question.
“Later?”
“Yes.”
“You mean after school?”
“Exactly.”
Lea thought for a moment.
“No idea.”
“Honest answer.”
“And you?”
Noah leaned back.
“I used to want to be an astronaut.”
“Fitting for the moon landing.”
“Yeah. Not so much anymore.”
“Why?”
“Too much math.”
“Understandable.”
“Maybe something with technology.”
“Sounds logical.”
“Why?”
“Because you always fix things.”
Noah looked up surprised.
“How do you know that?”
Lea immediately noticed her mistake.
Too late.
“Uh ...”
“You watch me?”
“No!”
“Aha.”
“Well, not on purpose.”
“This keeps getting better.”
Lea slapped her hand to her forehead.
“Just forget it.”
“No way.”
He laughed again.
This time Lea laughed along.
And suddenly the nervousness disappeared for a moment.
Just gone.
As if someone had flipped a switch.
They talked about teachers, music, series, and why school chairs were probably designed by people who hated teenagers.
Time passed surprisingly quickly.
At some point, Lea noticed that almost everyone else had already left.
Only she and Noah were still sitting in the room.
Outside, the afternoon sun colored the clouds orange.
“Maybe we should go too,” said Noah.
“Probably.”
No one got up.
For a few seconds there was silence.
Not an uncomfortable silence.
A different one.
One that Lea couldn’t explain.
Then suddenly Noah’s phone vibrated.
He pulled it out of his pocket.
His expression changed immediately.
The smile disappeared.
Only for a moment.
But Lea noticed it.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
Almost as quickly as her own no this morning.
“Sure?”
“Of course.”
But this time it didn’t sound convincing.
Noah put the phone away.
“I have to go.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry.”
“No problem.”
He stood up.
Lea did too.
Together they went to the door.
Before the exit, Noah stopped briefly.
“That was fun.”
Lea smiled.
“Me too.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
He briefly raised his hand and disappeared down the hallway.
Lea stood still for a moment.
She should have been happy.
And somehow she was.
But at the same time, she thought about the look Noah had had when the message appeared on his phone.
Something was bothering him.
Something he hadn’t told her.
On the way home, she tried not to think about it.
That worked for about twelve seconds.
Later, when she looked at her phone at home, a message from Mia was already waiting.
“And???”
Immediately below, a second one.
“You were alone for almost two hours.”
And a third.
“I NEED INFORMATION.”
Lea had to laugh.
Then she started typing.
But before she could send the message, a new notification appeared on her screen.
This time from Noah.
Just one sentence.
“Can I tell you something tomorrow?”
Lea stared at the message.
Her heart suddenly beat noticeably faster.
And she had no idea whether that meant something very good or something very bad.