“I, uh, wrote everything down here,” Ezio said, holding out a folded piece of paper. As Leonardo took it, their fingers brushed and he felt something like a static shock. He realized they hadn’t touched at all since that afternoon after-school. He’d been trying so hard to be good that he must have been avoiding all contact, even accidental. Ezio looked reluctant to draw away but he did so, shifting from foot to foot uncertainly.

“The party is Friday night,” he went on, “but my birthday is actually Saturday. My parents thought I might want to go out with my friends that night.”

Leonardo nodded, glancing down at the note he was turning over and over in his hands. He’d had no shortage of ideas for the day Ezio finally became legal, but all of them now seemed too daunting to speak out loud. He hadn’t even considered Ezio might want to hang out with his friends.

“I was hoping maybe we could—“

“Ezio!”

Ezio was cut off by the shout and someone barreling into him from behind, nearly knocking him into his teacher. Three young men suddenly crowded around him, all talking excitedly. Leonardo took a step back, a little overwhelmed by the abrupt escalation in noise.

“It’s over, man! We are finally free!”

“We heard your brother's throwing you a party?”

“Sorry, Mr. da Vinci! Can we steal him for a minute?”

Ezio looked just as startled by the interruption and definitely nonplussed, especially when his friends began to lead him away towards another group that was waving and shouting for a group picture. He threw a glance over his shoulder, his expression somewhere between frustration and a plea for help, but Leonardo forced himself to smile back. To distract himself from the disappointment of having Ezio snatched away before they could really talk, he unfolded and looked at the note.

Scribbled in Ezio's handwriting was an address, date and time, and a phone number.