Sapphire

Chapter 17

Noah watched as Shay's attention was focused outside, her eyes glued to the trees that passed by in a dark blur.

It was an hour and a half drive of silence, with nothing but the sound of rock music to entertain them. What was there to even talk about, really? Noah didn't want to know what she'd been up to for the past two years. She had a normal life now. He wouldn't doubt that she had a boyfriend, or maybe a cat that hid while he was there. Whatever life she had, it was probably hella boring and didn't involve him, therefore he didn't care.

Noah's eyes drifted to look at her for the twentieth time since they started the drive, almost as if he wanted to memorize every single feature of hers. Perhaps the most striking things were her hands. Her nails were short but neat, her habit of picking them apparently broken. Her knuckles though, those were almost as beat up as his. The kind of rough skin that only came from pounding on a hard material such as a punching bag, with random scars scattered across her fingers that he assumed came from getting into fights.

Maybe she wasn't quite as boring as he thought.

When they finally pulled into the driveway of Valerie's house, Noah noticed the tension in Shay's shoulders. Her gaze was fixed on the front door with an intense expression that he guessed came when memories assaulted her brain, memories she probably wanted to stay buried.

"I'm gonna get Val. You stay here." Noah ordered.

Shay nodded at him and didn't move. She seemed too stunned to do anything but stare anyway, so Noah left her there without so much as a second glance. Taking a deep breath, he walked inside the house and over to Val's bedroom on the first floor.

It was past midnight and she was definitely asleep. Valerie had a rule about people knocking on her door in the middle of the night, a rule that said you must be dying if you even thought about it.

Taking a deep breath, Noah hoped he had a good enough excuse and lightly tapped his knuckles against the wood. When there was no answer, he knocked again and called through the door. "Val, I swear this is extremely important."

Finally, he heard movement coming from inside. A moment later, Valerie opened her door, wearing a bathrobe over her blue silk pajamas. "What is it?"

"Shay's here."

Val's expression went from tired and annoyed to complete shock in the matter of one second. "What?"

"Shay. She's been living on her own for the past two years but now she wants to talk to you."

Val blinked a couple of times, the shock still not disappating from her expression. "That's why you've been acting weird lately, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Noah replied. "I wasn't sure if I should tell you."

"Where is she now?"

"Outside in my car."

Val went back into her room and closed the door, leaving Noah to wait outside. A minute later, she emerged in jeans and a sweatshirt along with a new demeanor that couldn't be deciphered. The queen of blank expressions started walking towards the entrance, only stopping once she reached the door. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

*******

Shay fiddled nervously with her necklace as her eyes stayed glued to the door. Though Noah had only been gone for a couple minutes, it felt like a lifetime. A buzzing from her pocket made her distinctly aware of the phone she had there, and after pulling it out, she rejected Alec's call. Instead, she put it on voice recorder and slid it back into her pocket.

When she finally saw Valerie walking out the front door, Shay's heart lept to her throat so she swallowed, trying to keep herself calm. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the passenger's side, standing just outside of the car as her stepmother approached. Val stopped when she was five feet away from her, her expression blank as ever.