Cupid's Daughter

Chapter 6~ Alien from Xutorp

Noah's gaze lingered on me for a moment, but my eyes slid closed before I could ask him what he was looking at. Moments later, I was fast asleep.

***
The next morning I awoke to sunlight streaming through the window, and the smell of eggs wafting up from the kitchen. Noah was gone and the window was closed, but there was a person-shaped dent in my mattress providing proof that he'd been here.

I got out of bed with my eyes still half-closed and followed the scent downstairs. "Dad?" I called out, my mouth watering unusually. My father was the world's worst cook, which meant that mouth-watering induced smells were a rare occasion at my house.

"Guess again!" The feminine voice rang out, and I grinned as I round the corner.

"Sam!" I stated happily as I took in her current pose. I frowned as I wondered how she got inside, similarly to how Noah showed up the other day, and decided I needed to change the locks. Sam was stood over the stove, a spatula in one hand and a pan of frying eggs in the other, singing to me in her cheery morning sing-song voice. Sam was always a morning person, and I hated it because mornings for me were worse than a trip to the dentist.

"What are you doing cooking breakfast for me so early on a Friday morning?" I asked as I slumped down onto the breakfast bar stool.

Sam shot me a blank look. "Who says any of this is for you?" Contradicting her words, she slid the eggs and a slice of toast onto a plate and in front of me on the table. I narrowed my eyes.

"Seriously, you never make me breakfast. What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously as I cautiously took a bite of toast. Sam blushed and looked down at the table, tracing a pattern with her fingernail.

"Okay, so for quite a while now I've been trying to tell you something and I could just never find the right time, but I think now is as good as any. So, Isabelle. I'm g-"

"-Good morning Cupid, Cupid's best friend." Noah acknowledged the two of us as he marched into the room. Sam's jaw practically hit the floor in shock, and my eyes widened automatically.

"What are you doing here?" I asked through tight lips, wondering how on Earth I was going to explain to Sam what Noah Jones was doing in my home at 6:30am on a Friday morning.

Noah's eyes grew wide and he smiled innocently. "I believe we have a Biology project due today that we, might I add, haven't started yet."

I slapped my forehead as I remembered the Human Genome Project task that we'd been assigned. How had I forgotten about that? One bad grade and I could practically kiss Princeton goodbye. I needed to stop getting so distracted.

Sam, who was only now picking her jaw back up off of the floor and reattaching it to her face, turned to look at me like I'd just told her I was an Alien from the planet Xutorp.

"I really do have to do this project." I informed her apologetically. "Can you tell me what you were going to say at lunch today? I promise to listen. Every word." I put my hand over my heart in a scout's honor gesture, and Sam looked down at her feet and nodded. I instantly felt a pang of guilt shoot through me, and I wished that I could blow the project and Noah and school off and just spend time with my best friend, but Princeton wanted dedication to academia, not loyalty to friends.

"Oh, okay. See you at school." Sam pulled her bag onto her shoulder and hurriedly ran out onto the street to her car. I glanced at Noah who was eating the rest of the eggs from my plate and rolled my eyes, grabbing his ear and pulling him over to the sofa to work.

We completed the project by working solidly and furiously for an hour. Or at least, I worked solidly and furiously whilst Noah played Tetris and Miniclip games.

After printing it all out and shoving it in my school bag, Noah helped himself to the food in our fridge as I quickly showered and got dressed.

"Ready?" I questioned after I'd run downstairs. I grabbed my keys from the coffee table even though it seemed that everyone could enter my house whenever they wanted to anyway, and we hopped into Noah's car.

"Do you want to stop here and I'll get out now so that we don't enter together?" I asked him as the school came into view, thinking back to the 'no one can know' part of our deal. Noah checked the time on the clock radio and shrugged, shaking his head.

"Nah, you'll be late if you walk. Besides, I'm sure it won't even be busy." He told me and swerved violently into a parking space in the lot.

"You know as someone who created the rule that no one should see us together, you sure as heck don't really enforce it." I mused as I pushed open the passenger door and slung my satchel over one shoulder. Noah followed suit and clicked his car-blippy thingo to lock it.

"Actually I said that no one can know about the deal, not that no one can see us together." He shot me a sideways glance as he started to walk quickly towards the school. I almost had to run to catch up with him.

"Yes, but you also said that Sabrina couldn't see you with me or you wouldn't have a chance in hell. What happened to that, huh?" I challenged, breaking into a backwards skip. Noah gave me a look somewhere between amused and judgemental as I continued to skip backwards towards school.

"Just shut up little Cupid before I decide not to be seen in public with you anymore afterall." He warned. As we arrived at the glass double doors, I suddenly became aware of numerous pairs of eye boring into me, and I turned to see who was staring. Of course, I probably could have guessed who it was without even looking-- Sabrina and her crew. I glanced up at Noah but he hadn't seen them, so I pushed my hair onto my face and ignored them, running down the halls towards my first period Spanish class.

"Bye Cupid!" Noah yelled loudly at me.

I turned and grinned. "Bye Marshmallow-brain!"

***
As the bell for lunch sounded across the school, I shoved my way through the hallway to my locker, where I was meeting Sam and Tommy before we went to the library to talk as I had promised.

As I approached my locker, I noticed that there was a small red note taped to the door, my first and last name scribed neatly on the front. I looked around cautiously to see who could've placed the note there, but there were hundreds of kids gathering in the hallway making it near impossible to pin-point a suspect. I tore the note from the metal and flipped it over so I could see what was written on the opposite side. I bit my lip as I read.

Watch your back, bitch.

I stared at the note in shock and glanced around nervously. It must be a prank. A stupid prank that Noah or JC or some other idiot set up to scare me.

Well ha ha, very funny. Not. Rolling my eyes I crumpled up the note and shoved it in the bin, heading off to find Sam and Tommy.

Hey guys!! Chapter 6 already whaaa?? It literally feels like I'm still on chapter one, but I think this might be one of my favourite stories I've ever written... So far at least. That chapter got a little Pretty Little Liars style on your butts! Hopefully you like it, don't forget to vote and comment if you do!

Love you all to the moon and back!
Meg x