Home and Holidays

chapter 7

The next day at the community center, Noah and Ella were painting some designs on a blank canvas just for fun. They had some extra free time since they had already finished their task of painting another large sign. David and Lisa were busy helping Valerie with setting up some holiday themed displays.

"My mom and dad love the cookies we made, by the way. They kept asking me when we're gonna make more. They're like obsessed or something." Ella told Noah with an amused expression as she splattered some orange paint on the canvas, mixing it with the yellow designs that Noah was painting to make a pretty, gold color.

"You think they're obsessed? David and Lisa asked me if I wanted to go back to your house that same day and make three more batches so we could eat Christmas cookies for dinner." Noah dramatically stated, almost laughing.

"Ok, you win." Ella replied, the two of them dissolving into laughter. "Wait, so you stayed at their place for dinner last night? I probably shouldn't ask, because it's gonna make me hungry, but what did you actually end up eating?" she curiously asked.

"We had spaghetti with sauteed vegetables and marinara sauce. And yeah, they let me stay for dinner. They actually let me stay the night so they could give me a ride here today." Noah explained, rambling a little as he left out a couple details.

"Oh, that's nice they gave you a ride, and let you stay over with them. I love that they're so kind to you. But then again, it's easy to be kind to you, because you're so amazing." Ella replied, giving him a cute smile that made his heart flutter. "That spaghetti sounds delicious by the way, and it's a better choice than cookies for dinner." she lightly joked as Noah chuckled. "You should come over again sometime though, so we can make more cookies and have them for a dessert instead." she suggested as Noah immediately agreed.

"Ok. Just say when." he said, smiling. He knew that he probably sounded pretty eager, but he couldn't help it.

"Well, I'll busy doing stuff with my parents after this, but how about tomorrow? I'll be free all day." Ella asked him.

"That's perfect. I'll be there." Noah responded, his smile still present as they continued painting. He was already becoming extra happy at the thought of spending more time with Ella. He couldn't help but feel special when she asked him to come over, a blush rising to his cheeks without his permission. Even though he was pretty sure that she only viewed him as a best friend, Noah was still crushing on her hard.

Later that day, after having lunch with David and Lisa, Noah just sat on the couch watching TV for a while. He was still wondering how Lisa and David could stand him staying in their house for this long, especially since they told him that he could stay 'as long he needed to'. He couldn't think of one person he knew that would let him do that without some sort of displeased attitude, not even Bryce. It made Noah feel like maybe there was something he was doing to annoy people enough so that they would get tired of him. He found himself subconsciously avoiding both David and Lisa for a while, just doing his best not to bother them. But once it was almost dinner time, he had started aimlessly walking through the house simply out of boredom.

As he was walking through the hallway, Noah heard David and Lisa talking as he walked past their room. Their door was opened a small bit, which made it easy for Noah to overhear their conversation by mistake. He was about to walk off, but then he heard David say something that got his attention.

"I just can't believe how stressful it's been so far. It's only been a little while and he's already stressing me out." David vented to Lisa inside their shared bedroom. Once Noah heard that, he couldn't help but eavesdrop, since it sounded like David might be talking about him. He stood near the door for a moment as they continued.