Home and Holidays

chapter 16

When Saturday morning finally arrived, Noah woke up extra early. He had barely even slept the night before, since he was so excited about his lunch date with Ella. He knew that he'd probably be a bit tired later because of how little sleep he got, but he couldn't bring himself to care much about that right now, already smiling at the thought of going on an actual date with Ella.

Breakfast was hot oatmeal with fruit, muffins and yogurt, Noah already on his second muffin as he stared at the clock on the wall, waiting for noon to arrive so he could see Ella.

"Don't worry, Noah, it's gonna be time for your date soon." Lisa lightly teased him, noticing how his attention was focused on the clock.

His cheeks turned beet red as he snapped out of thoughts and looked at her, chuckling nervously. "Oh, sorry." he shyly apologized.

"It's ok, you don't need to apologize, I get it. It's your first date, it's natural to be excited." Lisa replied before taking a bite of her muffin.

"I just can't believe she actually agreed to go out with me. I mean, I had no idea she even liked me like that. I just want to make this date as special as I can for her." Noah expressed.

"And you will. You just gotta relax and be yourself." David repeated his advice from the other day.

"Exactly. And make sure you're having a good time too, you won't be able to enjoy it if you're pretending to be someone you're not." Lisa chimed in. "You want some more orange juice?" she asked Noah as he nodded in response. She poured the fresh fruit juice into his glass before pouring some more into her own glass.

"Thanks for the advice, guys." Noah thanked them before taking a sip of orange juice, sighing afterwards. "It seems like the minutes are going so slowly. It's like that clock is mocking me...." he dramatically commented.

David chuckled lightly at that. "Don't worry, it'll be lunch time before you know it, kid." he said as Noah just nodded, finally taking another bite of his breakfast.

Eventually, it was time for Noah to head over to Ella's house, and he was nervous and excited all at once. The walk to her house was quick, since she was right next door and soon he was right at her doorstep. He took a deep breath before ringing her doorbell, her opening it in two seconds flat, almost as if she had been waiting by the door.

"Hi." she greeted him, her cheeks already rosy.

"Hi." he echoed back with a shy smile. "These are for you." he said, handing her the flowers that he had been holding. They were bright red poinsettias, giving off an extra Christmasy vibe.

Ella's eyes lit up as she took the flowers into her hands, smiling beautifully. "Awww, Noah, thank you! They're so beautiful." she reacted, clearly pleasantly surprised. She literally hugged the poinsettias close to her chest before reaching inside her house and sitting them in a vase on the desk near the front door.

"You're welcome." Noah replied, just enjoying the smile on her face, loving the fact he was the reason for it. "You look really pretty." he added, his own cheeks turning red at this point.

"Thanks." Ella replied, blushing. It was fairly chilly out so it wasn't like she was exactly dressed up in anything fancy, but she was wearing her most stylish white puffer jacket, and a cozy knit hat of the same color with a cute, furry puffball on the top of it to match. She also had on very light makeup. "You look pretty too...." she added, gazing at him with a dreamy smile before blushing harder when she realized what she said. "I mean, I meant- you look great too! I mean, not that you're not pretty, because you are- I mean- you know what I mean." she rapidly tried to correct herself, but it still came out a bit strange, causing both her and Noah to dissolve into laughter. "Let's just get going." she suggested, shaking her head as she giggled.