The Girl in the Hoodie

29

"What if he kills me?"

"Motherfucker, you nearly gave me brain damage for that?!" I glare at him. "Just go!"

"But what if he does kill me?!" He repeats.

"Then I'll kill him." I say bluntly. "Now go! And try not to damage any other parts of my body."

*~*

"So Noah and Max are going to meet us here?" I ask as we walk into Pizza Palace.

"Yeah." Dylan nods as he taps on the table nervously.

"Relax." I whisper, placing my hand over his, silencing the sound of his nails on the table.

"Are we interrupting something?" A deep, British accent rings out, making us look up.

"Yeah, we were just about to start talking shit about this guy named Noah King. You know him?" I question sarcastically, raising my eyebrows at him.

He sighs and rolls his eyes. "Carter—"

"Shut up."

"How am I supposed to—"

"Max, Dylan, do you hear something?"

"-explain if you—"

"Seriously, I think I hear someone talking."

"-keep cutting me off?!" He finishes, his fist clenching.

"Oh, I think it's just the wind." I shrug.

Max and Dylan stare between us, debating on whether or not they should interrupt us or not.

"Would you stop being so petty?" He says through gritted teeth.

"Would you stop being an asshole?"

"You're the one that told me to move on!" He throws his arms in the air.

"I told you to move on, not forget my name!" I argue, standing up.

"I didn't forget your name!" He defends himself.

"Right. Is that why you completely blanked when it came to introducing me?"

"You looked like you wanted to rip her head off!" He states. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to introduce you to her!"

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?!" I throw my hands up in frustration.

"I don't know, but I don't need you getting expelled because you ripped the new girl's throat out!"

"That—" I cut myself off. "...that actually makes sense."

"See—"

I cut him off again. "But I'm still mad at you!"

"What?! Why?!" He yells, tugging at his hair in annoyance.

"Because I hate you!"

"Oh please," he scoffs, stepping closer to me.

"'Oh please'," I mimic in a deep voice. "What?"

"You and I both know you don't hate me." He says as a matter of fact. "You're just too stubborn to admit you like me."

"I do not like you." I scoff. "If I liked you, why would I tell you to move on?"

"Because you're scared and there's something you're not telling me." He mumbles, smirking slightly when he sees my eyes widen slightly. "Yeah, I know you better than you think, Carter."

"Maybe I just don't like you back." I shoot at him, watching his face stay expressionless.

"Why's it so hard for you to admit it?" He questions, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "You already know I like you."

I roll my eyes. "If you like me so much, why were you so quick to try and get with the new girl?"

"You told me to move on!" He raises his voice slightly.

"Guys?"

"You didn't have to listen to me!" I almost shout.

"Guys!"

He looks like he wants to strangle me.

"Carter!" He growls. "Did you ever consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, I don't want to move on?"

"B—"

"I was doing what you told me to!"

"GUYS!"

"What, Max?!" We shout in unison, snapping our heads to look at him.

He flinches slightly at our anger. "Uh...everyone's staring."

Noah and I both look around and find everyone in the store staring at us.

"Um, nothing to see here, people!" Dylan speaks loudly. "They escaped from a mental hospital! Just go back to your pizzas! There's nothing to worry about!"

"You two couldn't have yelled at each other somewhere more private?" Max grumbles. "You know, at one of your houses, or the abandoned park down the street. Just not in the middle of a pizza place!"

"We didn't even come here so you dumbasses could yell at each other!" Dylan whisper-shouts. "We came here because I needed to tell Noah something!"

"Oh, shit." My eyes pop wide open. "Right. Sorry, Dylan. Go ahead."

I step away from Noah sheepishly.

"Thank you, Nevaeh." He says sarcastically while standing up before sighing deeply and turning to Noah.

"You alright, Dylan?" Noah raises an eyebrow.

"I-uh—" He looks at me and I give him an encouraging look. He looks back at Noah. "I'm...I'm gay."

Noah doesn't look fazed. "I already knew that."

"What?!" Dylan, Max and I all shout in unison, looking at him with wide eyes.

"How'd you know? Max told you, didn't he?" Dylan turns to Max with narrowed eyes and points an accusing finger at him. "You told him, didn't you?"

"If I told him, would I be yelling 'what' at the same time as you and Nevaeh?!" Max slaps Dylan's finger out of his face. "Now get your dirty ass finger out of my face!"

"Max didn't tell me." Noah states. "It was pretty obvious."

"But..." Dylan trails off.

"Dylan, you're my best friend." Noah starts, placing his hand on Dylan's shoulder. "I know you and Max better than anyone. I've known since we were thirteen."

"How'd you figure it out?" Dylan question.

"I saw you making goo-goo eyes at Antonio Rodriguez in Math." Noah smirks.

"You saw that?" Dylan's eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Kill me now."

*~*

Yes, I updated.

FINALLY!

And it's pretty long.

I think.

I hope.

I also updated 'Her Emerald-Eyed Angel' after like 716282927261 years, so go check that out.

Thanks,

-Lee🦄