2 weeks had passed since I started lessons with Noah and his attitude fluctuated about as much as the characters he played in movies.

Frankly, it was none of my business. For all I knew, being 10 different people was his personality. And yet, there was always that underlying edge of infuriatingly dark humor - yes, that was him for sure. Noah was progressing shockingly well with the piano though - well enough to make me suspect he had a piano at hand outside of the lessons. That meant I was doing my job. Mom would be happy.

I wish I could say the same thing about James if he found out about what I was doing. So much about an honest relationship.

Sighing, I rose up from the floor where I'd plopped down to chat with Clef. I needed to talk to someone, someone who knew about what was going on in my life. Clef was the closest thing I was going to get to that.

But after a few howls as responses I decided that I needed someone else. So reluctantly I went into the kitchen, grabbing my phone from off the counter and dialing my mother's number.

She always knew what to do in situations like this.

It went straight to voicemail, which was bizarre for my mother. Her hand was usually glued to her cellphone. Caught off guard, I racked my mind for something to say, "Hey mom, just wanted to check in. The lessons are going great. I hope everything's okay."

Reluctantly I hung up the phone, looking around the house with a sigh. I guess I might as well start my day.

I took my time showering and getting dressed(pale pink sweater, jeans, braided uncooperative hair, boots). It was Saturday so I didn't have work and no allotted hours with Noah. Normally, I caught up on sleep and most recently, watched Cupcake Wars or something of the Gordon Ramsay variety, but today I felt compelled to get out of the house. Maybe I could drop by James's dorm for a surprise visit. It would be nice to see him again.

I drove to Roasted Bean Cafe in the yellow bug. Newly shined and not sputtering like an asthmatic 80 year old, the job on the car plus the tow left my pockets pretty empty. I'd almost had a heart attack when the mechanic showed me the final bill.

The Roasted Bean Cafe was new and kind of out of the way; a hole in the wall shop you could only find by accident. I grew tired of the long lines at Starbucks for my daily coffee fix so the cafe was an excellent alternative.

An older guy with a handlebar mustache was counting change at the front counter and a boy with his back to me, a dark green hood pushed over his head was sitting at a table towards the back.

I ordered my usual, black tea with a blueberry muffin.

"What's your name?" The woman at the register was new and looked a little frazzled, like she was being swamped with customers. She wasn't.

"To put on your coffee." They always put sweet messages on the cups, one of the quirky things I liked about the place.

"Juniper," I said.

A chair scraped against the floor harshly and I turned, thinking of the poor hardwood.

It was the guy wearing the green hoodie. He had stood suddenly and twisted around to face me. The boy was wearing dress pants; beneath the jacket he wore a crisp white shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar, baring his throat and collar bones; on his feet were shiny black, pointed shoes; and most shockingly, the black, thick framed glasses on his fine boned face. I almost didn't recognize him without the wild curls and ragged clothes; Ezra King was gaping at me, almost smiling but not quite.

"Juniper?" He looked surprised.

"Wow," I said. Partly because he looked wow, and partly because I was shocked to see him. "Maybe I am stalking you."

He laughed. His eyes were dancing again. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my line," I said. "I'm here all the time."

Which was true.

Old Handle Bar Mustache Guy's change slipped to the floor with a clatter as he glanced over at us. He, thankfully, didn't seem to recognize Noah but the young girl at the cash register might have.

"Your purchase, miss. That'll be 5 dollars and 25 cents." She said, pushing both my muffin and coffee across the counter. Her eyes flickered to Noah and narrowed slightly, then back to me.

Consciously, he tugged the hood further over his head.

Once I got my breakfast he threw down cash and rushed me out the front door before I could even reach for my purse.

"That wasn't necessary," I said, batting away his hand, which was still wrapped around my arm. "She didn't even know you."

"She did," He replied grimly, sticking the hand in his pocket. "Walk with me."

"Um, okay." I kind of just wanted to go back to the cafe and eat my muffin.

Plus, my car was still parked out front. But Noah looked so troubled over the whole getting-recognized ordeal, I didn't want to say anything. After we were about a block away, I asked, "What did your cup say?"

"Huh?"

"Your cup," I held up my coffee for emphasis. "They always put little messages on them. Mine says, you're fantastically magical."

"Cute," He smiled crookedly. "That would explain why a middled aged white guy wrote, you look dashing on my lid."

"What's with the clothes, anyway?" I looked at him over the edge of my cup as I took a sip. "Doesn't seem very Noah King."

"Simon," He nodded. "We're filming a dance slash recital scene(he actually said slash), hence the monkey suit. They let me sneak away from set for a break."

"Dance?"

"Simon's supposed to be an awful dancer," He allowed. "Its what makes Emilia fall hopelessly in love with him. That and his piano playing."

Noah wiggled his fingers.

"Obviously," I said. Emilia must be the love interest - I wondered who was playing her. Before we could lapse into companionable silence, Ezra stopped walking.

"I'm actually glad I ran into you," He said. His brown eyes looked like liquid amber in the sunshine. "We'll be filming a few scenes with the piano, minor ones, but you can still come by the set if you want."

"Isn't it supposed to be like, top secret until the movie's done?"

"You are a significant contributor to this film," Noah said seriously. "I doubt anyone would mind. Besides, don't you want to see your star student in action?"

"You're my only student." I pointed out.

"Then we're in agreement, you have to come see me play." He insisted.

I took a bite of the muffin, if only to give myself more time to think. I was a little interested in the whole dynamics of the film world. This could be considered field work for the lessons as well - the more information I could get about Noah's character the better.

"Okay," I decided. "When should I stop by - "

"We can go right now." I half expected him to grab my hand and pull me through the streets like in his movies. He didn't actually do that. "My car is parked down the street. Come on."

I almost choked on my muffin. "Like right now, right now?"

"Yes, Juniper. Try to keep up." Noah said, though not unkindly. "Unless you have places to be?"

Giving me a sideways glance, he rummaged around in his jacket pocket, presumably for the keys to the car he mentioned.

I was going to go home, get in my pajamas, and marathon Junior Chef.

"I guess I can make time. I have to be back to take my dog on a walk though. And my car is still sitting in front of the cafe."

"Dog and car, got it." He walked up to a black mustang with a chrome interior. Typical.