Page 61 of Noah

Kyle nodded.

"Do you feel like you could practice on me?"

Kyle directed a blank stare at me then his nose wrinkled, and he nodded.

I smiled at him.

"Happy," he said. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I'm glad to be out of the house."

Kyle nodded.

I made a sad face.

"Sad," he said. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"No, I'm just sad today. How are you?"

I could see Kyle's body tense. Answering questions was far more difficult than asking them. I wanted to see what Kyle had to say.

"My mom was mad at me this morning."

"That happens with moms. It means she loves you."

"A volcano went off inside me. I made a mess of my room. Broke things."

"Hm … yeah, that can happen. I've done it too. Not anymore, though. Sometimes, I still get mad and feel like punching holes in the walls … but I don't." I smiled at him. "I'm in charge of my house now, so I'd also be in charge of doing the repairs and I suck at stuff like that."

Kyle sighed and nodded. "I'll try harder."

"You'll get there." I dug my phone out. "Do you want to see pictures of my animals?"

Kyle leaned closer to me, his shoulder against my arm so he could see picture after picture … in the hundreds, I'm sure. I had a problem and knew it. I just loved them so much.

"This cat is named Charlie. I named him after my brother because this cat is wild. He runs around my house like a maniac, leaping off furniture and causing chaos."

"My brother is like that too."

"Does that stress you out?"

"I like to stay in my room."

"Is it hard for you to come down to the centre?"

Kyle shook his head. "No. I like it here. There are kids like me here."

"Do you ever hang out with them?"

"No, it's just nice to know they're here."

Kyle lifted a book off the floor and opened it. That was the end of our conversation. I called up an eBook on my phone and we read for the next hour. Just as my legs were starting to go numb from sitting on the floor, Noah poked his head in.

"All right if I come in?" he asked.

"Sure. We're just reading."

Noah sat cross-legged in front of me. He smiled at me as our eyes met. I felt like I was being shown the entire universe. I desperately wanted to reach out and kiss him.

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