Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
“Geez, it’s so dark in here.”
“Yeah, it takes a minute to let your eyes adjust.” I tugged his hand when I heard voices coming from the adjacent room. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to my roommates then give you a tour.”
Unlike the foyer, the living room was bathed in moonlight, thanks to the bank of windows on the opposite end of the space. Ezra and Cole were sprawled on the red sofa positioned in front of the flat-screen while Holden lounged in the comfy leather chair closer to the fireplace, wearing something that looked like a monk’s robe.
I threw my arm out in a sweeping gesture and announced, “Noah, these are my roommates, Ezra, Cole, and Holden.”
Ezra leaned forward to give Noah a fist bump and a “yo,” Cole waved, and Holden stood with his hand outstretched.
“A pleasure to meet you. Can we offer you a beverage?” Holden asked, pushing his glasses higher along the bridge of his nose.
“No, thank you,” Noah replied politely.
“You’re welcome to watch Deep Space Nine with us. There’s plenty of room…in between those two.”
“Thanks, but we’re not staying,” I said, moving toward the doorway.
“Hang on. I’m going to grab a drink. I’ve seen this episode at least ten times,” Holden said.
“Nice to meet you, Noah,” Ezra called out, adding, “Beer me, Shakespeare!”
Holden grumbled as he followed us into the foyer. And if I wasn’t mistaken, he gave Noah a critical once-over.
“Since when do Ezra and Cole watch Star Trek spinoffs?” I asked.
“They don’t. I’m sure they’re leaving any minute now. Cole’s new girlfriend has to work tonight and Ezra…” Holden shrugged. “Who knows? I’m meeting Marlon for a late dinner.”
I motioned at his odd ensemble. “At a monastery?”
Noah chuckled. “That could be interesting.”
“Especially circa-1283 England. Let me just say, I’m very glad I wasn’t born in medieval times. I’ve had my fill of faux marauders and knights for the day.” Holden sighed, explaining that he was involved in a medieval reenactment for a charity auction. “Tomorrow I’m a duke. The costume will be itchier but much snazzier.”
Noah grinned. “That’s cool.”
“That’s Holden. Mr. Cool. Have fun tonight,” I said, steering Noah toward the stairs.
“You too.”
Noah followed me into my room and wandered curiously, reading book titles and poking through science journals. “You’re very tidy.”
I perched on my desk and folded my arms. “I am.”
“You have so many important-looking books. Have you read them all?” he asked, running his fingers along the spines.
“No, there aren’t enough hours in the day to read as much as I’d like to.”
Noah slicked his hand through his dark hair and sat on my bed. “Hmm. If you were given an extra hour a day, would you spend it reading?”
“Maybe, but if the evening was clear, I’d spend it on the roof.”
He widened his eyes comically. “Doing what?”
“Come on. I’ll show you.”
I led Noah downstairs through the kitchen and out the side door, ushering him outside to the yard where five Adirondack chairs were positioned around a firepit.
“This is so…big,” he enthused.
“Yes. And best of all, there aren’t any trees blocking the sky. We have a large telescope in the garage we bring out on clear nights. But there’s a flat part on the garage roof that’s even better for stargazing. I have a smaller telescope to use up there. Wanna see?”
He grinned. “Yes.”
A few minutes later, we sat on the roof, our faces turned to the evening sky as I pointed out stars and planets.
“That’s Saturn. If you look closely, you can see the rings.”
He squinted through the eyepiece. “Oh. They’re faint, but I can see them.”
“The visibility will be perfect in the earliest hours of morning,” I commented.
“Do you do this often? Sit on the roof, staring at stars?”
“Not often enough. I used to sneak onto the roof when I was a kid with a dinky telescope to plot a map of the constellations. I had half the night sky documented by the time my dad caught me out there.”
Noah wrapped his arms around his knees. “Did you get in trouble?”
“He didn’t like that I’d taken out a screen window and scaled the roof to get to the most even spot. And he really didn’t like that I’d been doing it for a year. But…he sat with me that night and he asked a lot of questions about rising planets in the hemisphere and star stuff and…” My voice tapered off as if lost in an old memory. “I was wary at first, ’cause I thought for sure he’d tell me I wasn’t allowed up there again.”
“What did he say?”
“Be careful. That was it. Obviously, I was glad, but I was also disappointed that he never joined me again. And he never asked any more questions.”
Noah leaned against my side. “I take it you’re not close.”
“No. We’re polite, but not close. We never really were. But that night felt like an opportunity. Like maybe we could have been something more if we’d put the effort in. We didn’t. I don’t blame him. I’m weird and I’m as uninterested in his hobbies as he is in mine.” I peered into the telescope and adjusted the lens. “Look at the moon.”