Chapter 2 #2
“Um,” Sam said, blinking up at him in amazement, looking for the words.
“That was… You were… I mean, it was incredible. Holy shit. Wow.” Then, his brain catching up to what Jake had actually said, he quickly added, “And no, you’re right, I wasn’t.
Or, I mean, I was, but I was, uh.” He gestured up at the tech booth, feeling himself flush as he finished, “Probably would have been less creepy if I’d just stayed up there, right? ”
“Oh, no, absolutely not.” Jake folded gracefully down to sit on the edge of the stage, his legs dangling into the orchestra pit. “Just staying up there would have been way creepier. Much better to announce yourself.”
“In that case,” Sam said, with a sheepish little shrug. “Hi, and sorry to crash your breaking and entering with… well, with my breaking and entering. And, uh. I’m Sam?”
Jake laughed, shaking his head. “Jake. No worries on the B he instead drove them back to his own house, and showed Sam a spot behind the hedge at the back of the yard.
To Sam’s amazement, there was a little retaining wall back there made of stacked cinder blocks, which could serve as either a step up or a makeshift seat.
When Sam climbed over the fence, he found a similar setup behind the hedge on his side.
“No choice but to be friends, then, is there?” Jake said. “It’d be such a waste, otherwise. See you around, Sam.” Then he waved and walked back to his house, and Sam whistled to himself as he returned to his own, turning the word “friend” over and over in his mind.