[ This chapter is dedicated to the lovely @bi-estbitch for all the wonderful support and votes on the chapters! I appreciate all the love<33 ]
| Amelia |
"So, third door from the left then?"
"Exactly. It's the one with the god-awful black door. You can't miss it, really."
Almost as if sensing my imminent question, she waved me a dismissive hand and answered immediately, "He painted it himself when he was nine, stupid boy."
I chuckled at the thought of a miniature Noah holding a comically large paintbrush in his hand as I waved Agatha goodbye. Though, admittedly, the sound was dampened by the nervousness swirling inside me like a sickness.
I fiddled with my fingers. What if this didn't go well? Would he even believe that I'm being sincere?
The doubt continued to helplessly cloud my head in a thick fog, and its haze persisted even as I stood right in front of the black door that led into his room.
On coming face-to-face with it, I tilted my head momentarily, taken aback by the sudden sounds and beats coming from within. It sounded like he was listening to a rock band of some kind...Green Day, maybe?
The music's sound was loud enough to make the door vibrate along with it, and did nothing to appease the already abnormal rate of my heartbeat.
I clutched the box tighter in my palm.
Let's get this over with, c'mon.
"Who is it?"
It wasn't until he repeated the question for the second time that I realised I had actually knocked on his door, and he was, logically, expecting an answer.
I shook my head quickly. "I...It's me." I tapped my knuckles lightly on his door, "...Amelia."
The blaring music came to an abrupt halt.
I could hear some shuffling going on inside before the door swung open swiftly, revealing the dark interior of his room and his even darker shadow standing ominously right in front of it.
"The fuck?"
"I'm sorry for showing up withou-"
"What the fuck are you doing here?" He took a step further from his door, shifting just a tad bit closer to my body, eyes alight with the glint of anger in them that I knew was the sign of imminent danger.
Oh, this was already going badly.
Pushing down the lump in my throat to the depths of my stomach and leaning away from him to calm myself, I replied, "I have something to-"
"Haven't you already done enough? He refused to give up and took another fatal step towards me, and it was then that I noticed the clenched fists by his sides. "Who the fuck told you you could show up to my house?"
Without being able to help it, I shivered in my spot. "N-No one, but-"
"Leave before I do something I regret."
The proximity between us increased with each threatening word that was thrown my way.
"Listen to me, I'm here to-"
"I said, get the fuck-"
"Oh my god!" Before I knew it, I had pressed my palm to the surface of his lips and had led us backward into the room, frustrated by his denial of letting me finish what I wanted to say.
My eyes widened, as did his, as our bodies stumbled into the room under my weight and our feet shuffled on the floor.
He's going to kill you.
With that realisation, I forced my feet to skid to an immediate stop, causing an unpleasant screech to echo through the space.
Flinching at the sound, I looked back to find my hand still placed on Noah's mouth and his fiery green eyes glaring daggers right through my skull.
I was half-certain that if I didn't forgo my grip, he would literally bite my hand off.
I retreated immediately and backed away to a safe distance.
Partly embarrassed and mostly terrified, I stammered, "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me...I just came here to-"
"To what? Beg me for forgiveness?" He tilted his head in mockery, venom dripping from his voice. "Is the princess sad 'cause she got expelled?"
I can't believe this guy's nerve.
Despite the small spike in my own anger, I took in a deep breath and shook my head. "No, I'm here to give you this."
Ignoring the look of impatience on his face, I forwarded my hand to his.
Raising my eyes carefully to assess his reaction, I unfurled my fingers to reveal the box lying atop my palm.
It was the first time I had seen the distinct terror of vulnerability cloud his features.
"What..."
He walked closer to me, eyes fixated on the piece of wood I held in my hand and voice uncharacteristically low.
"I...I got it from Calvin, the day before you..."
-got me expelled.
I didn't finish my sentence, choosing instead to focus on the vivid green of his eyes and the way they drifted ever so softly onto my form as I spoke before returning back to the object I was clutching.
A shiver involuntarily crawled down my body when his fingers brushed the skin of my palm and, silently, he picked the box up from it.
The moment was one of complete stillness; the only movements were the ones of his fingers as they clicked the container open to reveal the bright light of the pendant resting inside it.
"This is really it..." he whispered under his breath, lips parted in wonder, and I questioned to myself whether it was really the tone of incredulity that I had heard in his voice.
"Yeah...yeah, it is."
Silence engulfed the space like a veil.
I had always known the pendant held importance to Noah - it was apparent in the way he was so desperate to get it back from Calvin. But never had I anticipated the look that dominated his face at this moment, as he was unable to tear his eyes away from the object - a mixture of shock and disbelief.
He seemed so unlike himself. So unlike the boy I was used to.
Not knowing what to do, I shifted on my feet awkwardly before deciding to slowly begin taking steps backward and remove my presence from his room.
You've done what you came here to do.
"I'll get-"
"Don't you dare leave."
He suddenly snapped the lid shut, making the sound echo loudly in the room and causing me to jump up in my spot in surprise.
Placing the box on the table beside him, he zeroed in his gaze on my form and covered the distance between us; whatever he was thinking, I had no clue of it. His face was painfully devoid of any emotions and refused to give away any traces of the vulnerability it had previously sported.
He began walking in my direction, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"When did you get this from him?"
"Yesterday."
"Why did he give it to you, so easily?"
"I...he just likes me, I guess."
True to my promise to Calvin, I was not going to reveal that he was the one who had told on Noah to his father. And though I never was quite good at lying (my lies were always accompanied with a distinct squeakiness in my voice and the involuntary lowering of my eyes), I managed to put up a decent face.
By the time I finished my sentence, he stood right in front of me, his head leaned down to my level.
"Bullshit."
I blinked. "W-What?"
"You're lying, Amelia." his eyes traced a slow path down my face as he assessed my features, seemingly seeing right through me without even too strenuous an effort. He raised his gaze back onto me, a knowing smirk suddenly playing on his lips.
I felt the inner urge to berate myself. I knew I couldn't lie for my life. "I'm not."
He clicked his tongue. "You know what I think of liars."
Don't crumble, don't crumble under the pressure.
No matter how many times I repeated the axiom in my brain, it was futile, for his eyes stared unwaveringly into my own and I knew then - he had already called my bluff.
My shoulders sagged, releasing their tension. "Well, there might've been some sort of a deal involved..."
He tilted his head briefly to the side in amusement, a mischievous glint now apparent in the way he smiled ever so slightly. "And what would that be?"
"Not relevant."
"Isn't it?"
"N-No."
I stumbled a bit back when I realised just how close we stood.
I don't know how it was that he did it, but Noah always had a way of entrapping me without me even noticing - of sneaking up on me without me suspecting it in the least. All he had to do was stare - fix me with his imprisoning gaze - and everything else in the background just seemed to blur away. Everything, but him.
And exactly that was, once again, my current predicament.
I looked up into his eyes, matching his gaze with my own, both of us staring at each other in silence.
I couldn't fathom what he was thinking...and it frustrated me. His expression was helplessly unreadable, making it difficult for me to gauge his upcoming action; the proximity wasn't helping my efforts in any way either.
Something akin to a storm stirred in the depths of my stomach, indicating my nervousness. He wouldn't be angry about me giving him the pendant...it was a good thing after all, right? But Noah Carter could always be counted on to be unpredictable.
Moments passed before he suddenly placed his index finger underneath my chin, raising my head gently towards his.
I gasped softly.
"There's one thing I still can't understand, sweetheart," he lowered his eyes onto my face, voice laced with puzzlement, as he asked: "What's in this for you?"
"I..." breathing became an arduous task when I realised I didn't have an answer. Why was I doing this? What was in this for me? "I think the words you're looking for are 'thank yo-"
"Why did you go through all this trouble, even before I got you expelled, just to get this to me?"
"That's...That's not the point here, Carter."
My frustration increased when a cocky smirk shamelessly adorned his face. "My my, is Amelia Winters falling in love with me?" he mocked, making me guffaw immediately and shake my head away from his grip.
"Please," I backed away and threw him the dirtiest look I could. "Never in a million years, will that happen. That, Carter, is bullshit." I smiled in pride as I brought back his words from earlier and crossed my arms against my chest in finality. "I was just trying to help, that's all. The pendant seemed important to you. I wanted to give it back...make up for my mistake with the snitching."
I wasn't the one who had snitched, I wanted to say, but a promise was a promise.
He didn't give any response, just stared at me in a mixture of incredulity and confusion, as if figuring something out in his head.
I was about to break the tension when the loud sound of a phone ringing burst the bubble. I quickly realised it was my own and fetched it from my pocket, seeing the name 'MOM' displayed neatly on the screen.
Crap.
Considering the amount of calls I had received ever since my news of expulsion reached her, mom was probably fuming in anger right at this moment.
I need to get home.
"Um, I'm going to go," I declared hurriedly, silencing the phone and putting it back in my pocket. "It's mom."
Noah didn't reply, just acknowledged that I had spoken with a single nod of his head.
It was when I had my hand on the doorknob and was ready to leave, that I heard his voice from the back - low, hoarse, and spoken like it was solely meant for himself to answer.
"Why help someone like me?"
-
"Hear me out, I can explain."
I didn't even wait to see the mad expression on my mom's face before instantly offering her a desperate explanation.
"Amelia? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it is, I'm so sorry, there's a reasonable explanation, I swear-" I continued to speak frantically as I advanced into the living room after shutting the house door behind me, already imagining all the ways this could turn out.
The one thing they had in common? Them not ending well at all.
My nervousness skyrocketed when I saw her form solemnly seated on the living room sofa, red glasses pushed up on her face and the T.V. on in the background.
I was going to die tonight.
"I swear I'm going to fix everything-"
"Ameli-"
"No, I'm so sorry. But you have to believe me, it isn't my fault. I didn't-"
"Honey!" She cut me off abruptly and stood up from her place, face-palming herself in annoyance. "I know."
I blinked twice, chest still heaving up and down in panic. "What?"
"I know you didn't do it, okay? Of course you didn't. The whole thing's sorted, just relax."
"But...how?" I stared at her like she had grown two heads. What was she talking about?
"The headmistress just called, silly," She rolled her eyes, "You've been cleared of all blame, okay? It was all just a big mistake on their part, apparently. The woman kept apologising and apologising on the phone, real funny lady."
And with that, she chuckled in amusement and walked back to her spot on the sofa as if nothing had occurred, grabbing the bowl of popcorn placed on the table and continuing to watch the programme on the T.V.
Meanwhile, I stood frozen on the living room floor, knowing exactly who was responsible for the turn of events.
Perhaps trusting the asshole wasn't too bad an idea, after all.
-
Hey there,
Thank you so much for reading the chapter! The support's been truly unbelievable. I cannot believe the book's at 16.5K! That's absolutely crazy. I love you all so much<33
That said, do let me know your thoughts on the chapter. Where do Noah and Amelia go from here? What do you think is going to happen next?
I would love to know what you think ;) As always, feedback is appreciated!
Please vote on the chapter and comment if you liked it<3
Until next time,
Kiara❤️