𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟏𝟏𝟒

—

"Hi," A sweet voice comes from behind Noah. She turns around and finds her favorite blonde standing beside her.

"Hey," Noah chimes as she hugs Jess.

"Is this it?" Jess asks as she points to the paper in Noah's hand.

"Yep, this is it," Noah sighs. "Everything I've done for the past week."

"I'm proud of you," Jess reminds her. "No matter what happens."

Noah just smiles at the blonde, wishing she could find a way to thank her properly. Jess always vocalizes her emotions and how she feels about Noah. But before she can say anything, Noah sees the auditorium doors open, meaning the NSHS was about to start.

"Call you later?" Noah asks.

"Yeah," Jess smiles. "Have fun."

"I will," Noah giggles before kissing the blonde's cheek.

"Proud of you!" Jess exclaims as she walks down the hallway, looking back at Noah with the widest grin.

Noah shakes her head as she chuckles. She walks into the auditorium and sits in her usual spot. She watches as everyone gathers in their usual groups, talking amongst themselves. She wishes she could join some of them, but the doubts and fear of rejection get the best of her.

The meeting goes as smoothly as it usually does. The teen listens closely and takes notes here and there. She writes down upcoming dates for volunteering because she needs to get her hours up. Eventually, the meeting comes to a close and Mr. Holden makes an announcement.

"If you entered to be a speaker, please leave your required materials to turn in on the stage and we'll let you guys know more as soon as we come to a decision."

Noah walks to the front as they are dismissed and places her paper on the stage. She looks up at Mr. Holden, who nods with a reassuring smile. The teen smiles back and walks out of the auditorium, texting Emily that her meeting is over.

She walks out to the carpool lane and sees Emily's car first in line. She smiles to herself and rushes over, throws her bag in the backseat, and jumps into the passenger seat.

"Good day?" Emily asks with a laugh.

"Yeah, I turned in my work," Noah chimes as she buckles her seatbelt.

"That's good! You've been working so hard on it, I feel like I haven't even seen you that much."

"Well, I had that and my usual homework and studying for tests," Noah explains. "Not to mention, you've had a lot of back-to-back cases."

"I know, but—"

"Serial killers don't take breaks," Noah finishes her sentence.

"After your therapy, we can go to the pizza place down the street. We can eat there or take it home and watch our show," Emily suggests.

"Sure," Noah agrees and looks out the window as they head to her therapy appointment.

𝘥𝘳. 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦

"How have you been?" Dr. Stephenson asks.

"Alright," Noah shrugs. "I turned in that speaker thing I talked to you about."

"Good! Do you think that'll take some stress off?"

"Maybe," Noah says. "In a way, I guess."