Eighteen.

3

And so, there they sat, an exhausted Noah Williams and a finally slightly serious Elijah Smith. Noah exhaled softly as he leaned against the cold tiles of the bathroom wall. A silence lay between them for a while.

"We could try going to the hospital."

Noah glanced up at the sound of Elijah speaking up.

"... I'm not sure.."

Elijah raised a brow.

"Why not? Maybe they'll know something?"

"It's not that... What if..."

"Hm?"

Noah sighed heavily.

"What if they try and kill me off or something?"

"Why would they do that? Aren't hospitals for saving people and not killing them?"

Noah shook his head lightly.

"Of course I know that, I'm not stupid. It's just... If I was supposed to die three years ago, what if they see me and go, 'Well, you're not supposed to be alive.' And then kill me..."

"I guess... But then where else can we go?"

Noah shrugged.

"I don't know, is there a specialist for when these things happen?"

Elijah thought about it.

"I don't think so. I mean, I've heard of people not getting their number, but getting your number from three years ago? That's a first for me."

"Some people don't get their number?"

"Of course. Apparently, it means your death is unpredicted or your immortal."

"Immortal?"

Elijah nodded whilst Noah scoffed.

"You can't be serious. Who in the world is immortal? That's impossible."

"So is you getting your age from three years ago, even I couldn't believe it. And you know how open-minded I am~"

Noah rolled his eyes, but Elijah wasn't wrong. He had never in his life heard of anyone getting their age from years ago, in fact, what would that even mean? Was he dead? No, he was clearly still alive. Who would he even tell that could explain to him why this was happening? Would anyone believe him apart from Elijah? He let out his millionth sigh of the day. He didn't like his birthday in general and this just made everything so much worse.

"But, is there really nothing we can do?"

Elijah hummed.

"Well, you're asking the wrong person buddy. I have no idea, honestly. I can see if I can ask around. I have a cousin who didn't have a number once, I can ask to see who she saw for that."

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem. Anyways, it's getting late and I'm beat, I'm going to go home now."

"Want me to walk you back?"

"No need, just don't go dying on me randomly haha."

Elijah stood up and waved before exiting the bathroom, the door clicking closed behind him. Noah slid down to the floor after that, holding his head in his hands. There was a slight bitter-sweetness to Elijah's words. Noah obviously didn't want to die, although he didn't see the clear meaning of living, he had never wished death upon himself. He had so many things to do, so many things to achieve. What would his mum think? His dad? Worrisome thoughts occupied his mind as he sat there in the empty bathroom. He was spacing out when he heard a knock.

"Noah, sweetie, are you still in there? Everyone's leaving now."

He jumped slightly at the sudden sound of his mother's voice from outside the door. He didn't particularly want to see anyone and he knew telling his mother would only result in her worrying and taking him to, what he could only assume, a billion doctors. After all, even Elijah didn't believe him at first and Noah knows how guillable that kid is. He dragged himself up from the floor and walked to the door after fixing his hair. He momentarily paused at the handle before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

"You took long honey, is everything okay?"

Noah nodded, forcing a smile as he held his cheek with one hand.

"Yeah, my tooth just started hurting."

"Oh no, you go get some rest, I'll tell everyone you weren't feeling well."

"Thanks, mum."

Noah then went up to his room, bidding farewell to the occassional few guests he met on his way there. As soon as he reached, he went to quickly take a shower and then collapsed on his bed, falling asleep almost immediately. He didn't want to think about his dying age, he really didn't want to.