Blinded by Perfection

51- A Glint of Green

"Well, the secret's out now," I play along. I continue to smile up at him as my free hand reaches for the string of my hoodie, absentmindedly toying with it.

His expression suddenly loses at the playfulness, becoming extremely serious. Unsure what I've done, I freeze.Noah utters a soft curse before he lets go of me.

Confused, my eyes snap open to see what's wrong. But when I look up at him, I notice he's not even looking at me. His eyes are dead set on something to his right.

Afraid we've been caught by a teacher, I quickly pivot to my left to view the culprit. What I see isn't too much better, in fact, some -including me- could argue it's much worse.

"Hey, I just wanted to check up on you guys. Something has to be up here," Taylor declares, narrowing her eyes between the two of us as she gestures st us with her fingers. She hadn't seen us kiss, but I still don't think the peculiar behavior in Noah, Victoria, and I today slipped past her senses.

I try not to give anything away, keeping my gaze locked a strand of my hair as I nervously twist it around my pointer finger. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Well first, let's start with why I haven't seen that leech Victoria hooked onto Noah this whole day. That never happens. I was starting to think she'd never stop coming to our lunch table."

Noah shrugs, looking her straight in the eye. "We had our disagreements. I told her I never wanted to see her again."

I'm quite impressed on how far Taylor's jaw manages to unhinge as it practically falls to the floor. "Are you serious? Or am I dreaming?"

"I'm most definitely not joking," he mumbles. Despite him trying to maintain his blank facade, I visibly notice a muscle tick in the back of his jaw.

Her face then contorts into a smile, a big contrast compared to what it was five seconds ago. "The Lord has blessed us! No offense Noah, but that girl needed to leave the school soon. I was too close to ripping her throat out with her own manicure until she apologized to each and every one of us."

Noah and I both have nothing to say to that, so she cocks her head. "Too graphic?"

"What other questions do you have for us?" Noah asks, ignoring the comment completely.

"Why were you sitting next to Kirsten? And you usually sit by the guys and Victoria Noah, not―"

"Because I had to ask him about homework," I interject, trying to make the lie as smooth as possible. "That's why we came over here, it was too loud in the cafeteria."

Taylor shoots me a smile too sweet to be true, taking a steo closer to me. "Kirst, sweetheart, I'm one of your bestfriends. As if that isn't enough, honey, no offense but you're a horrible liar."

There's absolutely no way I'm going to tell her about the kiss, it will just get her hopes up for nothing. Noah and I didn't get a chance to finish our conversation about it, meaning nothing is set in stone yet.

"Kirsten," Noah rumbles in a whispered voice I'm certain only I can hear. "Tell her at least, about Chance."

Turns out, Taylor either has good hearing or Noah had said it just loud enough to make it across the extra distance and to Taylor. "What about Chance? What happened?"

I reluctantly begin to explain to her our situation. I really don't want to open up about the darkest moments of my life to her, but I feel like I'm cornered to do so now. The hard part only ends up being the beginning however, for after that, the words seem to fly out of my mouth.

Noah cuts in wherever I falter or forget something, leaving no important detail unsaid. We basically tell her the short verson on what has been happening with Chance, what he's been doing, and how Victoria had started everything. If she wanted us to elaborate on something, we would.

I know it's only a matter of time before I have to tell the others now that I've told Taylor, but for once I'm oddly okay with that. Getting everything off of my chest feels so much better than I thought it would. I've been trying to keep everything in a locked cage for what seems like an eternity, so letting it free makes me feel utterly relieved. It's like I can finally breath clear, uncontaminated air.

"I knew that walking cosmetic store was evil, but I didn't think she was an actual nutcase. Chance too. He just seemed so perfect for you," she growls, dark brown eyes brimmed with hatred. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I will always be available with a gallon of Superman ice cream waiting to be eaten."

"Thanks Tay, that means so much," I say, eyes brimming with tears of relief. Knowing I have more than one person to count on makes me more than thankful, and I can finally seem to find a light at the end of the tunnel.

In a comforting gesture, Noah's hand makes a move towards mine, linking our fingers together behind our backs and away from Taylor's sight. A faint smile is present on my face as I look up at him, nonverbally thanking him for the needed reassurance.

"No problem. I know you would do the same for me.We should probably get back to the lunchroom before we get caught. The principal just loves giving us detentions for no reason. Let's go," she says, grabbing onto my free hand and pulling me down the hall.

Her blond hair flies behind her as she lugs Noah and I through the hallway and into the lunchroom. During that time, as I hold the hands of a couple of my best friends, an overwhelming feeling of reminiscence radiates throughout my body.

Despite what I thought when I first arrived in Michigan, the new people in my life ended up being the most important. There never seems to be a dull moment with them, and everything we do seems like an exciting adventure. I hope our journey continues on to our Senior year.

At this point, I don't even want to start fresh. Everything we have been through and done has always been for a reason and helped all of us grow as individuals.

This move and all the friends I've made is all I could ever ask for.

__________

The moment we've all been dreading has finally come.

The book has officially ended.

I just want to thank all the people that have supported me throughout this process, and most of all, all of you!

You guys have been so committed to my book, and you've really inspired me to become a better writer. I thank you all for that.

This won't be the last time you see me though! I'll be busy writing the sequel. Stay tuned!