Becoming Beautiful (Wattys2014)

| Chapter 23 |

She slowly calmed her laughter and let me talk. “Anyway, I brought it up and he said that there wasn’t much to talk about. He said that unless I had something to say, then the conversation was over.”

“There’s a lot that you don’t know about Noah, and I think he doesn’t want to jump into something without you knowing who he really is,” she told me.

“How am I supposed to know who he is if he doesn’t tell me?” I asked with an annoyed look on my face. “I mean, I’m not going to force him to talk to me but we’ve known each other for some time now. All I’m asking is for a little trust. Can’t he trust me enough to stick around when he does decide to tell me what happened to him?”

“It’s a lot of baggage for a seventeen year old boy. You might not know how bad it is,” she told me. “But he’ll tell you sooner or later. I mean, just be patient.”

I nodded, letting out a huff of air.

<<>><<>>

The winter basketball team had a game today and Marissa somehow convinced me to stay after. I called my mom and got her permission to stay so when I found myself seated in the bleachers, I let out a sigh. I’m not a big fan of basketball, or sports in general, and the team doesn’t have many cute players, so there isn’t anything to look at, not that I’m a shallow person. People are still coming into the gym, getting onto the bleachers, so I’m hoping that Noah will come. I’m trying to avoid asking Marissa if he’ll show up. I don’t want to seem clingy so I’ll just wait and see if he does.

Noah didn’t come to the game. When it ended, Marissa was cheering. I honestly had no clue what was going on so I just nodded along to what Marissa was shouting towards the players from beside me. We exited the gym and Marissa told me to follow her upstairs, so I did. Noah was galloping down the steps with an annoyed look on his face. As he stepped between us in order to get in front of our small group, he scowled and said: “I’m hungry.” Like we care, Noah.  

“Who peed in his corn flakes?” I muttered under my breath.

Marissa giggled and Noah turned around, standing a foot away from me, furrowing his eyebrows. Slightly leaning forward, he blinked a few times. “What was that?” he asked.

I let my eyes examine his face- his long eyelashes, his beautiful blue eyes, his dark hair, and his cute nose. I avoided looking at his lips. I was shrieking inside my head as the memories of kissing him infiltrated my mind. I knew I was blushing. I could see the amusement on his face and I knew that I embarrassed myself without even trying. “I thought so,” he responded with a scoff before turning away.

I looked at Marissa and with a smile, she shook her head. “So are we getting food or not? I’m not in the mood to cook,” Noah complained.

“Are you up to some dinner, Kenna?” she asked. When she saw my indecisive look, she grinned. “I’ll pay,” she sang.

“Okay, I’m up for it,” I told her.

“I’ll go elsewhere,” Noah concluded.

“What? Why?” Marissa asked as we stood in the parking lot, preparing to split up to go to our cars. Noah childishly motioned to me and I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “You sure didn’t mind her presence yesterday when you were making out with her in—,” she began but I punched her in the side. She let out a yelp while I glared at her, not daring to look at Noah.

“Whatever,” Noah murmured as a layer of tension and awkwardness settled around us.

“Should we go to the Chinese buffet?” Marissa asked.