Furry Humans | ✓

17.

↠C h a p t e r   S e v e n t e e n↞
SPEAKING OUT

❝I grew up to the smell of the lake and the feeling of the woods.❞

♦ ° ♦ ° ♦

"I don't know about this," Noah muttered as we walked down the sidewalk.

"Don't back out on me now, we still have to do this project. I already told my parents about you coming," I tell him, patting his shoulder reassuringly.

I could still see the hesitation on his face and his steps as we walked, a breeze brushes over the bangs that laid over his forehead. The temperature in the area was dropping as the days went by and being by the ocean is what drops the temperature a bit lower, I wouldn't be surprised if it snowed as well, it is Maryland after all.

"If you say so," he replies back in soft tone.

A car passed by us, bringing along a whoosh of chilling air that I couldn't help but shiver violently to. My eyes shift over to Noah to see him walking perfectly fine.

"You aren't cold?" I ask, pulling the thin sweater closer to my body, trying to find warmth.

His eyes glided away from the surroundings ahead and toward me, searching my face.

"No." he comments, "well, not much, why?"

I shake my head, stopping at the end of the street then looking both ways before crossing over to the next with Noah in tow, and down the familiar street that leads to my house.

"It's just that, you're wearing nothing but shorts and a plain T-shirt with a small jacket and it's below sixty right now," I said, chuckling.

"I. .I don't know," he says nervously, his eyes darting away from mine. "I just don't feel it."

I narrow my eyes and reach my hand up to feel his cheek, excepting it to be cold to the touch, I was surprised when I felt nothing but warmth. My mouth hung open.

"Wow! Your body is hot!" I exclaim, both of us halting in our steps as my hands move down to his shoulders and down his arms feeling the same warmth.

For a split second, I drift my eyes back up to his face and see his cheeks turning pink, I blink at him and process the words I spoke. A blush of my own crawls up my neck and settles onto my face.

I become a stuttering mess, "I, uh, I didn't mean it like that, um, I-I was talking about your—oh would you look at that." I point across the street.

"There goes my house," I state and grab his wrist, pulling him along behind as we jaywalk to the other side and up the small sidewalk that led to the steps of my house.

Before we even made it to the first step, the wooden door swung open and out stepped Dad a hard expression on his face.

I waved, dropping Noah's hand. "Hey, Dad."

His eyes briefly snap over to me and soften a bit before he turns his attention back towards Noah, who was staring intensively at Dad.

"Who's this?" he asks.

One of my eyebrows twitch down, "Didn't Mom tell you? I was bringing a friend over to work on a project." I tell him, slowly moving up the steps.

Noah continued to stand on the bottom step, his hands slightly curled into a fist.

"Oh, I see," Dad finally mumbled, stepping out of the way.

I motion to Noah with my hand and he snaps out wherever haze he was in and makes his way up the steps and beside me as I walk through the threshold, before he could make it inside Dad slaps his hand on top of his shoulder.