You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

33

"What?" This time, it sounded like a real question.

"I'm serious," I insisted. "I still don't know your last name. Do you know my last name?"

Being friends with someone meant that you at least knew what their full name—sans the middle name—was, right? It seemed almost bizarre to ask him since we had already gotten so close, but the fact remained that I didn't know what it was. It never seemed to come up in conversation, and for some reason Nolan never wrote down his full name on his notebooks or worksheets.

He took several seconds to answer me. "No. Why would that matter?"

I tore my gaze away from Blue to frown at him. "You have to be kidding me. How does that not matter? When you're friends with someone, the least you should know about them is their name, right?"

"Yeah, and I do know your name. Chelsea. See?"

"I knew it! You don't even know my last name." Or maybe he didn't pay enough attention to figure out what my last name was.

"Isn't your first name enough? I don't need to call you by your last name."

"Well, you never know what might happen. What if some kind of emergency happened and you needed to provide the police with my full name?"

"I'm pretty sure the school has that filed away in their database," he said, snorting.

"Come on, just tell me, Nolan," I said, dragging out the last vowel in his name. "I'll tell you mine, too! And I'll even give you another box of those mints I have."

His breath had always been minty, but I had noticed recently that it smelled strongly like the ones I had given him a few weeks ago. Not that I would mention that to him.

"Throw in the apple mints you let me try the other time, and we have a deal," he said, after a moment of hesitation.

I'd gotten two boxes of those when I was at the mall, so I could afford to share.

"Trust bribing you with mints to work when nothing else would," I said, laughing. "Fine, now tell me your last name!"

"Rowe," he said. "It's Rowe."

"Nolan Rowe," I said, trying it out the way it sounded on my tongue. "Thanks for telling me."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't go around telling anyone else," he said.

"What? Why?" I asked.

His name?

That would explain why he hadn't put his full name on our project report, too. Cheryl hadn't put up much of a fight when he just typed his first name, likely because she was used to it. She probably figured this mystery wasn't worth solving, especially since it involved Nolan. When I asked him why, he shrugged and said if the teacher insisted, he would add it later on.

Blue nipped at the cricket I was still holding, and I held my breath as I loosened my grip. It promptly grabbed it from my hold with its beak. Its head bobbed as it swallowed up the cricket.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pumping my fist in the air. "Success!"

"Congrats," he said, taking out the container he'd previously returned to his fanny pack. "Ready for another one?"

"Yeah, I am!" I beamed at him.

Nolan passed me a new insect, and with renewed fervor, as well as courage, I grasped it firmly.

"I just don't want people knowing my last name." He stroked down Blue's back.

Blue released a small chirp. I melted a little on the inside.