Broken Blue Balloons (Islamic Story) ON HOLD

Should've known

Chapter

The next morning, I was thinking of how I would be able to go to school. I couldn't go with my bike, obviously, and I knew walking would take too much time. I knew I couldn't ask anyone. I hated asking a favour from people, especially when I knew the answer of it. Black would never take me, even though our parents had told us that the car was Black and mine, not only his. Yet I have never driven it and he claims its only his. He would never take me to school, he would even drive into me. I knew that there was no other solution than walking, so I grabbed my bag, leaving some books at home to lighten the weight and started to go downstairs. When I went out of the door, I saw Noah standing there, against his car with his arms crossed. My eyes widened, not expecting him here. Thinking that he came for Black, I walked towards the street. When he saw me, he unfolded his arms and opened the door. He kept looking at me, as if he was saying that I should get in. I didn't want to fall in the trap si I started walking away.

"Seriously?" I heard him saying from behind me. He walked up to me, grabbing me by my arm.

"Are you going to walk to school... with crutches?" he asked with a lot of sarcasm. I pulled my arm back before I continued to walk.

"Get in the car, Nila" he said, stopping me again. I turned around this time, looking him in the eyes.

"I wouldn't want you to fight with Black again" I told him. He was just looking at me before he shook his head.

"Just get in the car" he said and I knew there was no way out, so I walked towards the open door and got in. Noah grabbed my crutches and put those in the back. He then went over and sat down, starting the car. It was quiet, uncomfortable. The air was suffocating, till he decided to talk.

"How is your leg?" he asked me.

"As you see" I replied immediately. He sighed softly, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Does it hurt?" he asked this time. I shook my head.

"It doesn't" I said, not leaving any options for communication.

"Good" he said, getting the hint.

"Good" I replied. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know why we were like this. Yesterday he stood up for me and fought with my brother, and in the evening they are together like nothing happened. I knew this wasn't what was bothering me, but I also didn't know what was. It was like we had an argument, yet we didn't really have that either.

"Did you receive any more letters?" he asked and I nodded, not wanting to talk about those.

"Why didn't Black say anything when I walked into the room yesterday?" I asked him. I knew he knew the reason. Black would never miss an opportunity to bullly me. Noah scratched the back of his head, still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Black won't bother you anymore" he said, making me turn towards him with wide eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I asked in disbelief. Noah looked at me when he was at the red sign.

"What I just said" he said, driving when the green light was on.

"How?" I asked, looking ahead, still shocked. Surprised. I must have heard it wrong.

"That doesn't matter" he said, nearing school. I looked at him in disbelief. How could he expect me to not ask that. This had never happened before and I wasn't even convinced.

"You had something to do with it, didn't you?" I spat out. Noah said nothing, just parked at the end of the parking lot, which was the furthest from the school. I shook my head, knowing that he only did that so I needed to walk a lot with my crutches. He went out of the car, grabbing my crutches. He opened my door and handed me the crutches. He didn't look at me, nor did he help me get out of the car like he did yesterday. When he saw that I was on my feet, he closed the door, locked the car and started walking away. I started walking too, needing some answers.

"Noah! Wait up and answer me" I said. He acted like he didn't hear me, but he slowed down. I reached him, trying to catch my breath.

"What did you do?" I asked while grabbing his arm. He kept silent, not meeting my eyes.

"Just tell me" I said, this time softer. He then looked me in the eyes.

"I didn't do anything. I just told him to leave you alone" he said and I raised an eye-brow. He had got to be kidding me. Black would never.

"Black would never" I said, "especially not when someone tells him what to do".

"Well, he did" he said and started to walk away.

"Wait" I said again and this time he stopped and turned around.

"Why are we like this? What did I do?" I asked for his coldness. He was different than before, colder than ever. As if he wanted to distance himself.

"Nothing" he replied. I shook my head.

"Then why are we being suffocated by the air surrounding us?" I asked him, trying to let him tell me what's going on.

"Look," he said, nearing me and looking me in the eyes.

"From now on, its different. We will do the project and that's it. I am not your friend, nor could I ever be something more. I will take you to school and home because of your leg, but that's it. I can't give you more" he said, making my lips part in shock. I had expected anything, but not this. I never knew that he didn't want to be friends with me. I knew that it was unbelievable that he wanted to be friends with me, but I never thought that he would give up. He gave up on the letters. He gave up on the mindful sharing we had.

"Oh.. uhm, well. Okay" I said, looking down. I felt embarrassed. He was one of the only people I had, and I had lost him because I am a boring human being who isn't anything. He even stayed too long. He gave up later than people before. And that hurt even more. I felt a single tear fall down because of my own stupidity and I mentally slapped myself for showing it in front of him. I wiped it away and looked at Noah, who had a softened expression.

"I should've known, sorry" I said, blaming myself for not seeing it.

"Goodbye Noah" I said while walking away with my head down, entering the school with shame. 

~~~~~~~~~~
Random Interesting Fact: I want to finish this story in two weeks.