The Tortoise and His Sunrise | ✓

4. Boyfriend

Nolan standing around outside when I stepped out of my classroom was the last thing I expected to see today. He was staring off into blank space, his eyes half-closed, as they usually were at this time of the day.

What was he doing here?

"Nolan?" I blurted out, hurrying to him.

Instantly, he turned towards me and shot me a small smile. When I got within arm's length, he held out a white to-go coffee cup to me.

"Hey. For you."

Beaming at the sweet gesture, I accepted it from him.

"Ooh, thanks! What is it?"

"Latte macchiato. You like it, right?"

"Uh huh," I said, nodding my head vigorously. "I like anything that isn't straight up black coffee."

"Hi! I'm Jenna," Jenna said, sidling up to us and waving at him.

Oops. I'd been leaving for lunch with my friends, but the surprise of seeing Nolan here had momentarily wiped them from my memories.

He appeared briefly startled by her sudden introduction, but he nodded back. "Hi. I'm Nolan."

With my free hand, I waved at him. "Um, he's my boyfriend."

Although we'd been together for two years now, I still felt a bit shy whenever I introduced Nolan as my boyfriend to others.

"Whoa, your boyfriend? Nice, how long have you been together?" she asked, nudging my arm with her elbow.

I smiled reluctantly. "Two years."

Her dark blue eyes grew wide. "That's pretty long, isn't it?"

It probably seemed long to Jenna, who easily lost interest in guys she crushed on after talking to them for less than a week. She always complained about real life guys not matching up to the standards of fictional men.

"Not really," Nolan said.

I sipped from my newly acquired drink. Piping hot, it almost scalded my tongue as it entered my mouth, but I didn't care. It was delicious.

Nolan noticed me blowing on my own tongue—as discreetly as I could, of course—and said softly, "Don't drink so quickly."

"Okay," I said meekly.

Jenna cupped her hands around her mouth and called out behind us, "Lucas! Over here!"

I followed her gaze into the small crowd and spotted Lucas waving goodbye to another guy before striding towards us. Within seconds, he was standing beside Jenna.

"Hey," he said. "Are we having lunch together today?"

I hadn't mentioned to Nolan about Lucas' attempt to ask me on a date, but that was because I felt like there was no need to. Moreover, all that had happened was that he'd mistakenly thought I was single, and I'd nipped it in the bud. He hadn't tried to ask me out again since.

"Yeah." Jenna looked at me. "What about you, Chelsea? Are you coming with us, or are you and Nolan going somewhere else?"

"Oh, uh ..." I looked at Nolan. "Do you have something on?"

"No. I rarely meet you for lunch, so I wanted to surprise you."

"How sweet," Jenna practically cooed.

"If you're free now," he continued, "I can take you somewhere to eat. Or if you don't mind, I can join you."

"By the way, Lucas, this is Nolan, my boyfriend," I said, waving at him. "Nolan, this is Lucas."