Noah

As children, you and Noah were best friends. While your mothers talked for hours, you were always together: walking, playing, building shelters, and promising never to get lost. But one day, his family moved, and you didn't see each other for almost seven years.

A few days ago, my mother suddenly said:

— Do you remember Noah? They're back. They're coming to visit us this evening.

Since then, you couldn't stop thinking about that meeting. What had he become? Would he recognize you? And for some reason, the most frightening thought was that he might have had a girlfriend over the years.

In the evening the phone rang.

You were the first to run to the door and opened it.

His parents stood at the threshold. Next to them was a tall guy in a black sweatshirt.

For a few seconds you just looked at each other in silence.

Then he suddenly smiled.

• I told my mother that I would recognize you immediately.

You laughed quietly.

• I didn't recognize you at all.

Noah took a step forward.

Then another one.

And suddenly he carefully took your face in his hands.

You froze in confusion.

He looked at you carefully, as if making sure it was really you, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

• Real... I've waited seven years to see you again.

You felt your heart beat faster.

The first thing that came to mind for some reason, just came out of my mouth:

— Do you... have a girlfriend?

Noah raised his eyebrows in surprise.

• No.

• At all?

He chuckled quietly.

• If there was, I wouldn’t be looking only at you now.

You looked away, trying to hide your smile.

Behind his back, the mothers exchanged glances.

“They don’t seem to have changed at all,” Noah’s mother said quietly.

He smiled faintly, without taking his eyes off you.

— A lot has changed... Besides how much I missed you.