Page 110 of Something Like Hail

“Like what?” Felix asked,face rapt.

Noah settled into the driver’s seat again.“I thought we’d start with dinner. Have you eaten yet?”

“No.”

“Perfect. I know of aseafood place on Congress Avenue that has never failed to—” Henoticed Felix’s grimace. “Oh, right. You must be sick ofseafood.”

“All restaurants. No matterhow different the food is, I’ll still be watching the waiters andfeeling like I’ll get in trouble for slacking off. My mom took meout as a special treat last week, and I was itching to refill thedrinks on the table next to ours. I’m not saying we can never goout, but maybe we could cook something at your place instead.Together! I don’t expect you to do all the work.”

Noah thought of his pantry, which was emptyaside from instant oatmeal and coffee. The only things in thefridge were a gallon of juice, some carrots, and hummus to dip themin. “We’ll have to hit the store,” he said. He looked over at hisdate. “Then again, you don’t look like you eat much. How about abowl of oatmeal?”

“Only if it’s cinnamon andspice. Let’s go shopping. I’m hoping to impress you with my cookingskills.”

“You know how?”

“No. That’s why I washoping.”

Noah chuckled. “Then we’ll figure it outtogether.” He had helped his mother in the kitchen enough that hewouldn’t be completely lost. He put the truck in drive again.

They didn’t have far to go. Two blocks laterthey were parked and walking toward a bright red sign aboveautomatic doors. After entering, they were faced with stackedpyramids of fresh produce. “Where do we start?” he asked, turningto find that Felix had procured a shopping cart.

“I dunno. What are wemaking?”

“Pasta,” Noah said, sincethat was difficult to ruin. “How do you feel aboutzucchini?”

“Love it!” Felix declared.“Especially the yellow kind.”

Then he knew what to do. Roasted vegetablestossed with pasta and butter. They would need fresh Parmesancheese, red onions, and whatever else they found along the way thatappealed to them. He looked over and saw Felix holding a pack ofdried tomatoes. After seeking his approval for this potentialingredient, Felix picked up another brand and squinted at theprices, trying to find the best deal. All of this was so domestic!This is how normal lives worked: going on trips to the grocerystore together, worrying about budgets, planning cozy nights athome… Noah loved it!

Felix noticed him staring and pulled downhis baseball cap self-consciously. He couldn’t hide the truththough, not in the stark light of a grocery store. The hat failedto conceal the blue hair. The bluest of blues! “What else do weneed?” Felix asked, perhaps wanting to distract him. “Garlic? Ormaybe not. It’ll give us bad breath.”

“It’s fine so long as weboth eat it,” Noah said, attention still on his hair. “Do you likeblueberries? How about blue corn tortilla chips? Or if you’re inthe mood to drink, we could buy some Curaçao liqueur. You know, theblue kind.”

Felix groaned. “You noticed!”

“It’s hard not to,” Noahsaid, reaching for the cap to remove it.

Felix pulled away before he could. “Leaveit! You don’t want to see. It’s a disaster. I was just going to dostreaks, like I said, but then my sister talked me into going forit. I think because she messed up with the bleach and— It’ll growout. When it does and just the tips are blue, it’ll look cool, Iswear!”

“I think it’s fun.” Noahsaid, reaching for the cap again. “Redheads don’t judge people bytheir hair color. We know how that feels. Show me.”

Felix steeled himself. He didn’t resist whenNoah placed his hand on the brim and pulled off the cap. The hairbeneath sprang up from its confinement, sticking up in multipledirections while still flat down the middle. Felix resembled a madscientist after a particularly bad lab experiment, but this newlook did nothing to diminish his adorableness. When styledproperly, Noah had no doubt the punky hair color would add to hissex appeal.

“I’m dead at work,” Felixmoaned. “I don’t know what I was thinking!”

“You’ll probably get araise. You look great!”

“I don’t,” Felix said,trying to smoosh his hair down before donning the capagain.

“You do,” Noah insisted.“You just have to own it. Wear it with pride. Hey, maybe we shoulddye mine primary red so we make a better pair. Contrasting and yetthe same.”

This pep talk gave Felix shiny eyes and hadNoah eager to get him somewhere private. He turned his attentionback to finding the right ingredients, continuing the conversationas they shopped. “Is that what triggered your feud with yoursister?”

“No, it really was the roomthing. It started with my mom actually because, well, you woke herup the morning you left.”

Noah spotted a pack of mushrooms and grabbedit just in case. “Are you sure? I was extra quiet when I left.”

“My mom is so polite thatshe would have pretended to be asleep, even if she wasn’t. It’s nota big deal. She’s in the middle of the living room during the day.What does she expect? That’s why I want to change things, but mysister doesn’t like the idea of sharing. Especially thebed.”