The Kissing Booth: Unavoidable

Chapter 9 - Another Family Lunch

My phone vibrated and I looked down to see a text from Lee. Cell phone use had always been forbidden during meals with our families. When we first got our phones, we would be on them the whole time. Sometimes just texting each other back and forth. Mostly Lee and I, but Noah would get involved too. Mostly Noah only wanted to antagonize Lee, but sometimes we would tell jokes to each other or just talk through texts. It was like having our own secret language (something Lee and I had tried to do when we were 10 but never figured out enough to do more than annoy Noah with it), since the adults didn't know what we were talking about. I don't think the adults minded having us so quiet for once at the table, but when we kept ignoring them, they implemented the no phone rule. I moved my cell phone under the table and looked down.

Lee - Noah texted me and asked me to ask you to unblock him. What's the deal with that?

Elle – I already did. I had him blocked from the break-up for too long. I don't know why he's asking now. 

Although, I did have an idea about why he was asking, but I hadn't mentioned seeing Noah at the wedding to Lee. Seconds later I heard the vibration again. I saw Noah's name pop up on my phone and looked over at him, he was looking at me with his smirk after hearing my phone notify me of his text.

Noah - Did you really finally unblock me?

Elle – I did it a couple weeks ago. I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have done it in the first place.

Noah's phone dinged when I sent that text and his Dad shot him a look. Noah looked up and said sheepishly, "Sorry, work text. I'll take care of it and turn this off." My phone vibrated again and this time my Dad noticed me on my phone.

"What's going on with you kids today, you all know the rules, phones down please."  My Dad gave me an irritated look.  Definitely reminded me of getting in trouble at our lunches when I was a kid.  I looked down at my phone one more time.

Noah - If I call you tonight, would you promise you'll answer?

"Sorry, dad. Friend emergency. I'm putting it down now." I looked over at Noah and made a slight nod of my head, hoping no one would notice and put two and two together after the texts back and forth. Noah's whole mood seemed to shift, and he was a lot more talkative the rest of the meal. Lee kept eyeing the two of us, like he was trying to figure out if something was going on.

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I was hanging out with Brad that night and playing video games, trying to make up for all our time apart, when my phone rang. Brad is almost 13 now and I'm trying to spend as much quality time with him as I can before he doesn't want to hang out with his big sister anymore. One of the best things about my time in Chicago was how close Brad and I were. I looked at my phone and saw it was Noah calling. I answered quickly and asked him to hang on for a second. I told Brad I was going to have to bail on him and headed up to my room.

I took a deep breath. "Hi!  Sorry about that, Brad and I were playing video games."

"First, sorry for getting you in trouble for being on your phone at lunch today. I didn't want to talk at the table and get everyone else in our business." Very true, I'm sure our families would have a lot to say about our relationship issues.  Everyone always seemed to have their own opinions about our relationship and were more than willing to share them.  "Listen, Shelly, we need to talk. I don't know what happened in Chicago when you left, but can we talk?  Not over the phone, though, can we meet in person? Would you meet me tomorrow night? For supper or later or anytime. . ." Noah trailed off.

"Aren't you guys leaving in the morning for Seattle?"

"Mom, Dad, and Lee are, but I'm not going on the trip, I'm staying here all week. I didn't want to take the time off work."

Why had no one told me that? No, this is fine, I can handle this, I told myself. We need to talk about this, a couple hours of talking with Noah and we can clear the air and maybe Christmas will be less awkward than our past few family gatherings.

"Okay, then. Do you want to meet at the Pier at 7? Maybe we can walk on the beach?" If we're walking next to each other, I wouldn't have to sit across from him at a table. I would have an easier time concentrating if I don't have to look directly at him or feel his eyes on me the whole time.

"Really?" I heard surprise in Noah's voice. "That would be great, I can't wait to see you!  I mean, I think it will be good for us to talk through our issues."

He almost sounded excited. Was he just hoping to clear the air to make things easier with our families also, or was there something more? Wait, don't even go there. I am not going to get my hopes up that Noah wants something more. Is that even what I want? The thought of the possibility of getting back together with Noah both excites and terrifies me, but I won't let myself think of it as an option right now.

"I agree, I'll see you tomorrow night." No backing out now. I know both of us need to finally talk about this, we need to get some closure. But as much as I realize I'm looking forward to seeing Noah tomorrow night, I'm not looking forward to rehashing this painful subject.

A/N – Sorry to stop there, but I promise Noah and Elle will finally be talking to each other in the next chapter!  Thank you so much for all of the comments and votes on this story! I'm really excited that the story is so close to 2K reads. I love to read all of the comments and it really does motivate me to write more. Please continue to vote if you like the story!