And that’s how the next few days went, me finding ways to amuse myself, taking care of Sunshine, going to my appointments, and doing everything in my power not to spend every minute of every day thinking about Noah.

I failed miserably. He was on my mind constantly. I also kept reliving those moments on Gladys’s porch, wondering what it would be like when I saw him again.

Because he didn’t contact me. I guess part of me had expected him to since he’d become so important to me, and it hurt a little that he didn’t seem to feel the same way. I tried to be fair—he was there to work and was probably very busy. I guess I had expected phone calls or a face-to-face chat, a text, something. But it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t read my mind. And I could have reached out to him, but I didn’t want to give the wrong impression—that we were anything more than friends who cuddled and kissed a bit.

My disappointment in not hearing from him surprised me. And was more than a little troubling.

Friday finally came, and I could hardly wait for him to get back. My heart sank into my stomach when I got a text from him that said:

I texted him the address.

Had he never been to a student production before?

I wanted to text back Really? Because he seemed like he was doing just fine without me while I was missing him terribly.

And although I was annoyed with him, I did leave my hair down for him. I considered wearing his hoodie to the show but figured that was a step too far. We were cool and casual, and I needed to remember it. He obviously had.

Traffic made me slightly later than I’d planned. I had wanted to hang out with my mom backstage before she went on. It had been one of our traditions when I was little. When I got there, the play was just about to start. Tickets weren’t required, so I went down to the third row and sat near the aisle, putting my jacket on the seat next to me so that Noah could sit there when he arrived.

There were only about twenty people in the theater, and I figured most of them were drama students who had been offered extra credit to come and see the shows of their fellow performers. The curtains lifted, and we all applauded.