Falling Too Far

Chapter 14- The girl that got away.

My head hurt.

That was all I could think as Harper left, slamming the door behind him, cracking me slightly. Being a nerd and socially awkward, I was not used to this type of drama, so all this was very new to me.

Who are you kidding, Noelle, you lead a very dramatic life of tumblr and instagram and fictional characters.

Well that was true.

But still, something never this dramatic concerning real people ever happened to me. I had spent the last few years of high school being invisible, and frankly, I liked it like that. I was more of the 'stay inside and do a load of homework and read' type of person rather than the 'I like to spend my weekends getting wasted' type of person. Nuh-uh, that road isn't for me. Before Harper came, I was a nobody, but now, ever since the school's player/bad boy/heartbreaker started paying attention to me, the socially awkward dork, all eyes have been on me.

And, you know, that's great and all with my social anxiety.

But despite all that, I liked Harper. And I knew I wasn't letting go anytime soon.

This boy is driving me mad.

As he left the room, an overwhelming sense of regret rose in me. I groaned, letting my head fall into my palms quite painfully. I could feel Joshua shift uncomfortably next to me in the bed. For now, I really didn't care.

"Noelle, I'm really sor- "

"I think you should go," I cut him off, forehead still resting in my palms. My voice was emotionless. I could sense him hesitating, before he reluctantly got off my bed. "Bye," he muttered, almost sadly, as he closed the door behind him. It was only when I heard the creaking of the wooden door did I let my hands fall away.

You are such an idiot, Noelle. I mean, seriously? You had to say that?

He hates you now. You made the guy you like hate you.

And somehow it hurt more than I thought.

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"And then..." I hesitated, gulping unconsciously at the memory. "Well?" Emma demanded impatiently. "Tell me what happened next!" We were walking down the hallway to drop of our books and get lunch.

I winced. "You would hit the back of my head if I told you."

"I promise I won't!" Emma squealed, clutching her books. "Just tell me!"

"And then... I basically said to Harper that I liked Joshua," I mumbled out, ashamed. It had been a day since the incident, and Harper had been ignoring me like the plague. Whenever I would near him, he would walk away. And I did the same for him. There was nothing he had the right to be bothered about.

But there were some times, when I would turn around and catch him looking at me. Like a wistful looking, eyes bare and vulnerable before he would see that I caught him and he would bring his walls up again, blocking everybody out.

It was those moments when I really wanted to kiss him.

I felt a sharp pain through the back of my head. "Ow!" I exclaimed. "I thought you weren't going to hit me!"

"Sorry, but that is, like, the stupidest thing you could ever do in that situation! Or in any situation!"

I sighed. "I was angry, okay? He can't just tell me what to do for no absolute reason." I defended, crossing my arms and turning away, mentally bracing myself for her next comment as we stepped into the cafeteria.