Ep Touch

The silence stretched out, becoming heavy and suffocating. Neither of them moved. Ezra’s eyes dropped to Noah’s mouth, then quickly back up to his eyes. He could feel Noah’s pulse racing under his fingertips where he held his arm.

I should get up. I should walk away, Ezra told himself. But his body wasn't listening.

Noah’s eyes searched Ezra’s face, looking for the anger that was there ten minutes ago, but all he found was a reflection of his own confusion. His grip on Ezra’s shirt loosened, his hand sliding up slowly until his fingers brushed against the skin of Ezra’s chest at his collarbone.

Ezra’s breath hitched. The touch was light, but it felt like a jolt of electricity.

Just as the tension reached a breaking point—where the space between them seemed to vanish—a loud bell rang, signaling the end of the period.

The sound acted like a bucket of ice water.

Ezra jumped back so fast he almost tripped over a stray branch. He turned his face away, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. Noah scrambled to his feet, frantically wiping his face again and shoving the crumpled tissues into his pocket. He wouldn't look at Ezra.

“I’m… I’m going back,” Noah muttered, his voice barely audible. He didn't wait for a reply. He bolted toward the door, leaving Ezra standing alone in the shadows of the cherry blossoms, his skin still tingling where Noah had touched him.

Ezra touched his own chest, right where Noah’s fingers had been. “What the hell was that?” he whispered to the empty air..

When Ezra got home all he could think about was Noah how he touched him how he was crying “god\~ugh get him out of my head” he mumbled blushing slightly, he sat up and looked around like he was questioning humanity “I do not want to go to school tomorrow” Ezra yelled closing his eyes while putting some headphones on and laying down. The music in his headphones was supposed to drown out his thoughts, but every beat seemed to pulse in time with the way Noah’s heart had felt against his chest. Ezra rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow to stifle a frustrated groan.

We’re supposed to be enemies, he thought, the fabric of the pillow muffling his voice. He’s a snake. He ruined my week. He's a liar.

But then he remembered the way Noah’s fingers had trembled at his collarbone. That wasn't the action of a "snake." That was the action of someone who was just as lost as Ezra was.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand. Ezra’s heart took a sickening leap—was it him? He lunged for the phone, his thumb swiping the screen open before he could even think.

It wasn't Noah. It was just a group chat notification from some classmates still gossiping about the "assault" rumor.

[User123]: Did you see Ezra and Noah missing at the same time today? Bet they were finishing that fight.

[User456]: Noah looked pretty messed up when he came back to class. Ezra must have really laid into him.

Ezra stared at the screen. For the first time, the rumors didn't make him angry for himself—they made him angry for Noah. Nobody knew he was crying. Nobody knew about the red ink on that paper. Only Ezra knew.

He stared at Noah’s contact name in his phone. He hadn't texted that number in three years, but it was still there, buried under "N".

Ezra’s thumb hovered over the keyboard. Are you okay? No, too soft. Don't come to school looking like a mess tomorrow. No, too mean.

Finally, he threw the phone across the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I'm going to lose my mind," he whispered. After some time he sat up looking down at his phone “ugh why is he i my mind…but his face.. AH shut up Ezra that’s Noah your talking about…” Ezra yelled.”sigh I guess I’ll head to bed..” Ezra layed down to fall asleep but he stayed up most the night.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***