Bittersweet // Complete

23.

This is part one of a double update :)

Chapter 23

Thursday evening came around quickly, and for that I was glad. Assignments were killing me, and I needed the distraction of a good bowling adventure to give me a break.

I pulled on a nice top with the blue jeans I really liked, slipping into my black converse shoes. I noticed a stitch coming off, but that could be fixed later.

"Didn't you shave your legs this morning? Get your ass in a dress!" River smacked my butt, sending me off to my room again. Well, now I needed to find a dress that went with the makeup I had already applied, else I would be severely late and I was not ready to have a bad first impression on Finn. It was bad enough that Soph was already not on his good side; we better not disappoint Dan anymore already. I found a muted grey dress in the back of my shelf, pulling it on with all the care so I didn't have to deal with a smudged foundation stain later on.

I chose to take the bus instead of my bike, enjoying the moments to watch people go about their daily lives. An advantage of leaving early was that I was narrowly missing the rush hour, and I could comfortably sit on the way. I happened to be right next to a small woman with her baby, and her small chubby fingers kept me entertained through the ride. Shaking the baby fever off me, I stood outside the bowling alley, dropping a text on the group chat that I had reached.

Dan: You're a whole 20 minutes early.

Brianna: Took the bus so...

Finn: I'm really looking forward to seeing you!

Brianna: me too! I hope Dan hasn't ruined my impression with his dirty mouth

Dan: My dirty mouth does a lot of things except talking about you

Sophie: Guys. Please. Some of us are single as fuck.

Eleanor: Everyone except them is -_-

Brianna: I'm gonna get us a lane inside. It's getting cold.

Sophie: You're the best. Love ya!

Eleanor: Reaching in 5, see you in!

The bowling alley was dim, lit only by dull blue lights and the occasional red lighting up the cash register and the shoe exchanging area. My rented shoes were stored in a locker tagged 68, hidden away behind some shady looking velvety curtains. As I tucked my converse away in the small compartment, I didn't quite pay attention to the only other person in the room with me, standing on the opposite side of the long bench until he had to turn to me and talk.

"How far do I need to go to get you to talk to me?" Noah's voice was butter, no trace of anger in him. I had spent my time religiously ignoring him as much as I could, even turning down the chance to stay the night with Finn and Daniel on Wednesday when they had gone out for dinner with the soccer team.

I'd also been seeing his messages every single hour, sometimes cute, some random history facts that he found fascinating, and some begging for me to at least hear him out.

"I've just been busy," I gritted my teeth, resting my foot on the bench so I could tie the lace. Noah knocked my hands off, kneeling down so he could tie it for me. It warmed my heart almost, until I remembered why I'd missed his calls and ignored his texts and DMs. Tucking the length of the laces near my ankle, Noah looked up expectantly at me to raise the other foot.