Lea stared at the message.
“Can I tell you something tomorrow?”
Just this one sentence.
No explanation.
No smiley.
Nothing.
Her brain immediately started calculating a hundred different possibilities.
Maybe Noah wanted to tell her that he was moving.
Maybe he was in trouble.
Maybe he wanted to cancel the group project.
Maybe ...
Lea forced herself to put the phone down briefly.
“Don’t go crazy,” she murmured.
Then she picked up the phone again.
“A little craziness is okay.”
She read the message again.
And again.
Then she typed:
“Sure 🙂”
She thought for a moment.
Deleted the smiley.
Added it again.
Deleted it again.
Instead, put a different one.
Removed that one too.
In the end, she simply sent:
“Sure.”
She immediately regretted it.
That sounded way too cold.
Way too short.
Way too ... grown-up.
A minute later, the reply appeared.
“Thanks.”
Nothing more.
Lea put the phone on her bed.
Then she fell backwards onto the mattress.
“That doesn’t help at all.”
At that moment, her phone rang again.
Of course, Mia.
“Hello?”
“You didn’t answer for three minutes.”
“That’s called life.”
“That’s called suspicion.”
Lea rolled her eyes.
“You’re impossible.”
“And you’re avoiding.”
“We talked about the project work.”
“And?”
“And about school.”
“And?”
“And series.”
“And?”
“And school chairs.”
There was a brief silence on the other end.
“School chairs?”
“Don’t ask.”
“I definitely will.”
Lea had to laugh.
After that, she actually told part of the afternoon. Not everything. But enough to satisfy Mia.
At least somewhat.
However, she did not mention Noah’s message.
Not even she herself knew exactly why.
Maybe because she wanted to think about it herself first.
Maybe because she was afraid Mia would immediately draw conclusions.
Probably both.
That night, Lea slept worse than usual.
Not catastrophically.
But every time she woke briefly, she thought about Noah’s message.
And about the look he had after the call.
The next morning it was raining again.
Of course.
Lea was now convinced that the weather was secretly cooperating with her life.
When she arrived at the bus stop, Noah was already there.
This time he was standing alone.
He noticed her immediately.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
For a brief moment, neither knew what to say.
That was new.
Usually, they always found some nonsense to say.
Today, Noah seemed tense.
Not extremely.
But enough for Lea to notice.
The bus came.
They got on.
This time they even found two free seats next to each other.
Lea sat by the window.
Noah next to her.
For a few minutes, they rode silently through the city.
Lea tried to be patient.
That was not her greatest strength.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“So?”
Noah looked at her.
“So?”
“You wanted to tell me something.”
He nodded slowly.
“Right.”
Then he looked out the window.
For a moment, Lea thought he would change his mind.
But finally, he said:
“My father got a job offer.”
Lea waited.
“Okay?”
“In Hamburg.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
Hamburg.
That was far away.
Very far away.
Noah nodded slightly.
“Pretty far.”
Lea hadn’t even noticed that she had said the thought out loud.
“Are you moving?”
The question came out quieter than she wanted.
Noah didn’t answer immediately.
Then he shrugged.
“Maybe.”
That one word felt like a stone in her stomach.
Maybe.
Not yes.
Not no.
Maybe.
“My parents are still thinking about it,” he explained.
“When?”
“No idea. Maybe in a few weeks.”
Lea nodded slowly.
She didn’t know what to say.
So she said nothing.
The bus continued.
The city passed by outside.
But this time, Lea barely noticed any of it.
Suddenly, everything in her head was a mess.
In recent weeks, she had often wondered what was actually between her and Noah.
Whether there was anything at all.
And now suddenly a completely different question arose.
Whether there would even be a chance to find out.
“I’m sorry,” Noah said suddenly.
Lea looked at him surprised.
“For what?”
“No idea.”
He smiled weakly.
“Somehow it feels like I should apologize.”
For the first time that morning, Lea had to laugh.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I know.”
“Then stop apologizing.”
“Okay.”
A short pause.
Then Noah added:
“I just didn’t want you to find out from someone else.”
Lea looked at him.
Directly at him.
This time, neither of them immediately looked away.
And suddenly the bus, the other passengers, and even the rain became completely unimportant for a moment.
Then the bus stopped at the school.
The doors opened.
Reality returned.
And while the other students got off, Lea felt that something had just changed.
She just didn’t know exactly what yet.