The Kissing Booth - Chasing Noah

Chapter 31

A/N: This is the edited version of Chapter 69 and 70 - Part 1.

...

"Noah," I hissed. He was talking to some girls from school next to the drink table. He excused himself and came over to where I was hiding - or at least trying to.

"Elle, I thought I was the one that got jealous when you talked to anyone of the opposite sex," he teased. I rolled my eyes and waved him off.

"It's not that. I've been thinking about the letter my mom wrote you...and I think I know why she didn't finish it," I whispered. Noah looked around and pulled me further away from the party. It felt like I was spending more of my birthday party in hushed conversations than actually enjoying myself.

"Elle, I told you not to read it until after the party," he scolded me. Once again, I rolled my eyes. Every day, I prayed that I would get a letter from my mom. There was no way that I was ever going to enjoy my birthday party knowing that there were words from my dead mom in my back pocket.

"Anyways, she started saying 'just don't' and then she just...stopped writing. I think she wrote this letter right before she died," I explained. I tried to control my voice because it sounded excited when in reality what I was saying was incredibly morbid.

But I had been at the hospital when my mom's heart gave out. I was in her room and she was writing something out on her computer - she was too weak to write by hand anymore - and all of a sudden I didn't hear the slow taps of her fingers hitting the keyboard. Her hands fell off either side of the bed and her head went slack.

I screamed for the nurses, and they obviously came running, but I don't think it would have matter. She was dead weeks before, when the doctors stopped trying to help her and just left her to die. They forced me out of the room and threw the laptop into a chair beside the bed. My dad had been down the hall getting a coffee and he came to pulled me away from the room. He told me to sit with Brad in the waiting room until he got back.

That was the last time I saw my mom; when she was writing these words to Noah.

"That's why this is the only letter typed out. She wrote all of mine by hand but this last one, she was too weak..." I trailed off. Noah threw his cup in the bushes and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry Elle. I shouldn't have even mentioned the letter. I should have just let you have a good time tonight," he told me.

I pulled away. "I'm not upset, Noah. This letter...it tells me so much about my mom. She knew more about me before she died than I did. It's just so weird...I was there when she wrote this. These are her last words. My dad must have found it on the laptop later and given it to your mom," I whispered.

He smiled softly and searched my face for something.

"You should go back to the party Elle. You've been gone all night," he suggested. I nodded and kissed his cheek. He took the letter from me and told me he'd bring it inside so that it wouldn't get lost in the party.

I took a deep breath, shook the thoughts of my mom from my head, and tried to have a good time.

Since my dad was at this party, there was no over-drinking. Or dancing and stripping on pool tables. Or skinny dipping. Well at least, I didn't go skinny dipping.

My dad left early to take Brad home. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me to stay with Noah tonight. I almost fainted. My dad was telling me to stay with my boyfriend for the night. Given, Mr and Mrs Flynn would be home. I walked him to the car and watched Brad practically pass out the second he sat down.