Chapter Two: Noah
“Don’t worry about it,” Noah answered and looked out the window again. His brother. He had almost blurted out about his brother. He thought back to a week before when they had abruptly moved into this town.
“This is a fresh start for us Noah,” His mother had explained.
“A clean slate,” His father agreed.
“We were lenient with you before, but no more. I won’t have any of your crap. And one of the first rules that you will follow, is to not reveal to anyone that you have a brother. Because then they’ll start asking questions as to why your brother doesn’t go to school with you, and what the hell is wrong with him they’ll demand. They’ll ask if he’s retarded--,”
“He’s not retarded!” Noah had exclaimed angrily.
He sighed as he remembered the sour taste of that night.
“Go left,” he told Aiden and they kept driving in silence. Eventually they turned into a neighborhood that seemed to make Aiden’s eyes widen and then Noah felt the embarrassment creeping up. Noah gulped because he knew all these houses were big and grand, but unfortunately the biggest and the grandest belonged to his family. “Turn right,” he whispered as they turned right and Aiden laughed.
“Would you look at that mansion at the end of the street? Ha! I bet the biggest douchebags in town live there,” Aiden said and nudged Noah as he laughed. Noah laughed nervously.
“That’s my house at the end,” He mumbled.
“Oh shit,” Aiden answered. “Crap. I’m sorry, I don’t mean it.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s my parent’s place. And they’re kind of douchebags so it’s fine.”
“Wow, you don’t like your parents do you?” Aiden asked.
“More like they don’t like me,” Noah whispered as they pulled up. “Thanks for the ride,” Noah said and Aiden smiled politely.
“No worries. Err, sorry about today.”
“It’s fine,” Noah answered.
“No it’s not, look kid if you need a ride to school tomorrow I’m more than happy to give you one.”
“My name is Noah. And okay I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“Sounds bueno bro. I’ll be here at 7,” Aiden said.
“Noah!” a voice screamed as the door to his house flung open and out came an angry looking woman. She wore scrubs and Aiden raised an eyebrow. Her blonde hair was up in a bun.
“Well hello there mother,” Noah said and bowed slightly. Aiden smirked.
“Get inside now,” his mother threatened and Noah sighed.
“Thanks man, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Noah said and Aiden nodded.
“Uh, no you won’t! No son of mine will be making friends with some criminal! How do you manage to screw things up in one day!? I didn’t even expect you to make friends for at least a month and you go and make friends with trash!?” his mother barked.
“Sorry ma’am, but I’m not trash,” Aiden said as he put on his sunglasses and sped away. Noah’s mother was left flushing angrily. Noah watched as Aiden drove away and wished he could do the same.
“Who is he?” she asked.
“Uh, Aiden?” Noah answered as he entered the house and she followed.
“Aiden what?” she demanded.
“I don’t know, what you’re gonna put a restraining order on him?”
“If I have to. I won’t have you becoming some sort of criminal, this is our chance to start anew and you won’t screw it up!”
“If you really wanted to start anew you wouldn’t hide my brother like he’s someone to be ashamed of!” he exclaimed and she slapped him across the face. Hard.
“Don’t you ever act like we’re in the wrong for what we do! What the hell do you know!?” she demanded as he walked up the stairs without turning to look at her. He knew he shouldn’t feel what was growing in the pit of his stomach. He shouldn’t hate his parents. But he did. He was shaking as he got to the top floor and the tears were blurring his vision. He wiped them away as he knocked on his brother’s door.
“Come in,” the nurse’s voice said as he opened the door and stepped in. His brother’s room was more than a bedroom. It had been meant to be a library, but it had been set up as more of bedroom/everything he could possibly need so he wouldn’t leave the room. There was always a nurse taking care of him. And a doctor would be coming in to check up on him twice a month.
“Hey bud,” Noah said as he walked to his brother who sat on a couch watching TV. His brother turned his brown eyes to look at Noah. Where Noah was tall, lanky and blonde, blued eyed, his brother Ben was average height, with light brown messy hair and dark brown eyes. They looked nothing alike, yet they were twins. Fraternal twins. Unfortunately Ben had been born with cerebral palsy. This caused him to need crutches to walk, and he had a hard time communicating. But he knew his brother wasn’t retarded and he hated the way his parents treated him. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was a doctor, yet she would never take the time of day to care for her son.
“No-ah!” his brother Ben exclaimed and Noah gave him a hug. The nurse smiled.
“I’ll just step out for a while,” she said and left the room. Noah smiled at her and sat down next to his brother.
“Watcha watching?” he asked.
“I’m watching Spider-man,” he answered. Noah smiled. His brother loved watching anything Spiderman related. He knew that it was because of the way Spiderman could easily move. That’s what Ben dreamed of.
“Oh it’s the new movie huh, with Emma Stone as Gwen?” Noah said.
“Yes. It’s my favor-ite,” he said.
“Meh, I prefer MJ over Gwen,” Noah said and his brother turned to look at him with wide eyes.
“Red heads don’t have souls,” Ben whispered and Noah laughed out loud.
“Where’d you hear that!?” Noah demanded.
“TV,” He answered.
“Well no TV for you man,” Noah said.
“No!” Ben exclaimed.
“I’m just kidding don’t worry. I won’t take your TV away. Lord knows you’d be bored,” Noah answered. “Hey, do you want to go out to the backyard and walk around for a bit. The weather is sunny out,” Noah said trying to get his brother to get up. His brother shook his head.
“No, mom say outside bad,” Ben said.
“Screw her.” Noah growled.
“I don’t want her to yell.”
“She won’t yell at you,” Noah said.
“At you. Don’t make her yell at you,” Ben whispered and Noah sighed.
“Ok, want to watch me do my homework? Then I’ll cook you some spaghetti or something, and I’ll read you a story yeah?” Noah asked and his brother’s face lit up.
“Please,” He simply said and went back to focus his attention on the TV. Noah didn’t mind taking care of his brother, he loved to feel useful. His brother was the person he cared most about in the world, and he would do anything for him. They had kitchen staff, but Noah always felt awkward having someone wait on his every need so he preferred to do things for himself. That is only when it was just him and his brother. If his parents were around he’d let the staff do their jobs out of fear of causing the staff to be fired.
He went downstairs into the kitchen and turned up the radio while he began pouring water in a pot. Noah loved eating more than anything else and he was always hungry, so he was glad to be making food. He’d spent lunch in the library like a loner while he silently ate his lunch after Aiden had basically told him to get lost. Music played in the background as he got out the noodles. He took out his iPod and plugged it into the radio and set it to shuffle. He began to work on making the food as a familiar song came on. He sighed as he thought of his parents. The guitar started playing and he grabbed a spoon and used it as a microphone.
“Hey dad, look at me, think back and talk to me. Did I grow up according to plan? And do you think I’m wasting my time doing things I wanna do?” Noah sang. He loved Perfect by Simple Plan; it always hit home for him. “I’m never gonna be good enough for you, can’t pretend that I’m alright, and you can’t change me, cause we lost it all, nothing lasts forever I’m sorry I can’t be perfect. Now it’s just too late and we can’t go back, I’m sorry I can’t be perfect,” he sang as he started on the meatballs. He thought of how much he wished things were different between his family. He continued singing along to the song until it ended and someone clapped behind him. He turned to look at his Nana.
Nana wasn’t really his nana, she was more of a nanny, she’d taken care of him ever since he was small. And she’d take care of Ben whenever she could. But she was getting older, and his parents had forbidden her from caring for Ben.
“You’ve got an amazing voice,” she said. “And the emotion you put in that song,” she whispered and Noah smiled.
“It hits home,” he answered and smiled sadly. She nodded.
“I’m sorry dear,” she answered and he shrugged. “How was your first day?”
“It was alright. I made a friend I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s complicated. But he ended up giving me a ride and mom freaked because he looks like trash. Well he doesn’t look like trash. But she thinks he does. And she thinks I’ll end up doing drugs and then embarrass the hell out of this family.”
“Oh dear,” Nana answered and he laughed.
“Yeah, like I’d be the one to embarrass the family. Did it ever occur to her that if the public found out that the great Dr. Caus and the amazing lawyer Mr. Caus kept their other son hidden from everyone that they’d be in the eye of the hurricane.”
“Don’t joke about that. You know they do it because they care.”
“No! No, they don’t. They care about their image not Ben, and certainly not me,” he said and sighed as he served two plates full of spaghetti and meatballs with the sauce on top. “I’m gonna hang out with Ben,” he said and took the plates as she smiled warmly and nodded. He walked away and up the stairs thinking about the home situation.
Ben’s eyes brightened when he saw the food and he took the plate as they sat around a round table that was in the middle of his room. They ate in silence for a bit.
“How, school?” he asked and Noah shrugged. “Friends?” he asked.
“One,” he answered.
“They cool?” he asked as he slurped up the spaghetti.
“Yeah, he’s alright. He almost got in a fight today, so I should probably stay away. I don’t want to cause trouble for mom and dad,” Noah said in a mocking tone and he nodded.
“No trouble,” he agreed.
“Yeah, yeah. So what did you do today?” Noah asked.
“TV,” He answered and shrugged. Noah frowned.
“You should try reading a book sometime.”
“Maybe,” Ben answered and Noah shook his head while smiling. He had a soft spot for his Nana and for Ben; they were the only two people in the world that he cared about. He stared off into space for a whole thinking about a life where he wouldn’t have to live with his parents. He sighed as he knew how hard it would be to escape his parents’ shadow. It pained him to feel that way towards his parents but there was nothing he could do about it.
~~~~~~~~
Noah stood outside his house waiting for Aiden. He had tried to make as little noise as possible so his parents wouldn’t wake up. He zipped up his hoodie feeling the cold breeze. And he ran a hand through his hair. His first day hadn’t been a total failure. And he hoped it would only get better. He was looking away as he heard a car honk as Aiden pulled up. He opened the car door and went in.
“Goood morning bro,” Aiden offered and smiled. Aiden had black hair perfectly done up and a black leather jacket and a white shirt on underneath. Total badass Noah thought and snickered. “What’s so funny?” Aiden asked.
“You’re a classic rebel,” Noah said and grinned.
“Oh shut up damn prep,” Aiden said.
“I’m not preppy!” Noah exclaimed.
“You’re wearing khakis and a dark blue polo. Yes you are.”
“Oh shut up,” Noah said and they both laughed at each other.
“So what brought your folks and you here?” he asked and Noah shrugged.
“My dad’s a lawyer, my mom’s a doctor. Business is here.”
“Fair enough. Do you like it here so far?”
“Well I don’t know anyone and I haven’t seen anything of this town, so I could care less really,” Noah answered honestly.
“Right, look you’re welcome to join Mason and me for lunch. Sorry about yesterday.”
“Uh...I’m good. I was just gonna do homework in the library.”
“Suit yourself. But the offer is on the table,” Aiden said.
“Thanks,” Noah said and looked out the window. “So have you lived here all your life?”
“Uh-huh. Born and raised. My dad ran out on us when my sisters were born. And we just decided to stay here. And it’s just been my mom, sisters and me ever since,” he said.
“Oh? You have little sisters?”
“Yup. Twins. What about you? Any siblings?” Aiden asked as they pulled up to the school parking lot.
“Oh look we’re here!” Noah exclaimed and Aiden laughed.
“You excited for school or something?” he asked and Noah shook his head.
“I like learning,” he said and smirked and Aiden laughed. “Thanks for the ride. I appreciate it,” Noah said as they got out of the car. He held out his hand for Aiden to shake. And Aiden raised an eyebrow and looked at it.
“Look, I’m not sure where you’re from. But we don’t exactly shake hands. I mean we aren’t even adults,” he whispered and Noah laughed and took his hand and put it in his pocket.
“Alright then. I’ll see you in class.”
“Wait do you have English right now?” Aiden asked and Noah frowned. He took out his schedule.
“Uhh…Yes I do. With Mr. Baker.”
“Me too. How’d you manage to have every single class with me?”
“Hell if I know,” Noah answered and they started walking to class together. They entered the classroom and Noah looked around.
“I sit in the back if you wanna sit there too,” Aiden offered and then went to go talk to the teacher. Noah walked towards the last row and felt everyone staring. He noticed a guy with black hair and blue eyes wearing black glasses talking to a girl with long brunette hair and hazel eyes. They both smiled at him. He smiled back and took his seat behind the girl. She instantly turned around.
“Well hey there. My name is Madison.”
“But you can call her Mads,” the guy said as he turned to look at Noah.
“I’m Noah,” he answered and Madison nodded.
“Nooooaaahh. I can work with it,” she said.
“Umm,” he answered not sure what to say to her. He looked into her eyes and thought she was very pretty. Then he turned to the guy who seemed to be drooling over her.
“Oh! This is Owen, he’s my best friend,” Madison said and Owen nodded.
“Yeah, we’re like Thing One and Thing Two,” Owen said and Noah smirked.
“Actually he’s more like a gay best friend,” Madison said and Noah laughed out loud causing the class to turn around and stare at him. He instantly shut up and gulped.
“I’m not gay!” Owen exclaimed causing the class to turn to look at them again. Noah felt himself blushing.
“Can y’all keep it down, some of us are trying to learn!” a bubbly blonde girl with green eyes exclaimed and glared at them.
“The class hasn’t even started yet Avery!” Madison exclaimed back and Avery gave her a death glare.
“Do you wanna go!?” Avery exclaimed.
“Only if you’re buying!” Madison answered and Avery flushed. Noah looked at the Avery girl and she glared at him. He quickly looked away just in time to see Aiden sit down next to him and Owen and Madison turned to face the front.
“I see you made friends,” Aiden said and Owen stiffened.
“What’s it to ya Brock?” Madison said.
“Oh nothing Mads. Just simply noting,” Aiden said and then class began. They all stopped talking and looked towards the front.
“So by next week I want a four page analysis on a song’s lyrics of your choosing,” Mr. Baker said as the bell rang and they all got up and rushed out.
When it was time for lunch he rushed out of the classroom and went to buy a chocolate bar from the nearest vending machine before he went into the library. He ate the bar slowly as he walked through the aisles of the books. He looked for something interesting that he could check out so he could read to Ben. He saw a book about a werewolf and witch falling in love and decided it was too much fantasy. He picked up a murder mystery/suicide story and thought it too depressing.
“Yeaaa. It’s hard to find a good book,” A voice said behind him as he dropped the book he had been holding; it was a book of fairy tales.
“Madison right?” he said as he saw the girl from his English class.
“Call me Mads,” She said and smiled. Owen came up behind them.
“So why are you all alone in here?” Owen asked.
“Oh, well I like books. And I don’t really know anyone.”
“Well, you know Aiden. You know Owen and me! Pick someone!” Mads exclaimed and the librarian glared at them.
“Sorry,” Noah mumbled in the librarian’s direction.
“Uh, I’m fine just staying here for now.”
“Wow, it’s like you’re in no rush to make friends,” Mads answered.
“Yeah, we’re not bad people,” Owen answered and Noah nodded.
“I don’t think you’re bad people. I’m sorry. I should try to be more social.”
“It’s fine mate, just know we actually wanna be friends,” Owen said and Noah nodded.
“Let’s sit at a table,” Mads said and they sat down.
“So how long have you two been best friends?” Noah asked.
“Since birth,” Mads answered.
“Our mothers are best friends. We were literally born with a two minute difference. I was born first,” Owen said and smirked. Mads punched him in the shoulder.
“I still hit harder!” she exclaimed and then looked around looking for the librarian. Luckily she was busy helping some kid on the computer.
“Ow!” That hurt!” Owen said and rubbed his arm. “That’s gonna leave a bruise!” he hissed and she shrugged. Noah grinned as his stomach growled loudly and they both stared at him.
“I’m hungry,” he said and shrugged.
“Let’s go get food. We’ll still have plenty of time to eat,” Mads said and they stood up. Noah mentally scolded his stomach. Noah loved eating more than anything in the world. He couldn’t live without it. He was always constantly eating. Except for the last few days he hadn’t really felt like himself so he hadn’t been eating as much. But it seemed to be back now.
“I’ll have a pretzel with nacho cheese,” Owen told the cart lady.
“Make that two!” Mads exclaimed. “And you’re paying for mine!” she told Owen and he opened his mouth to object but she held up her fist and he shut up and paid the lady as he glared at Mads.
“Yeaaa. I’ll have two pretzels, a slice of pizza, that big macademia nut cookie, those Sunchips, and that chicken sandwich. Oh and the Gatorade,” Noah said as Mads and Owen stared at him with wide eyes. He paid the lady and was handed his food which he eagerly eyed. He took a bite of the pizza first and then dipped it into the nacho cheese as he took a bite of his pretzel. In less than five minutes he had finished both pretzels and the pizza. He was slowly opening the chicken sandwich from its wrapper when he looked up at Owen and Mads staring at him with wide eyes. Both with more than half of their pretzel still in their hands.
“What?” he said as he took a huge bite of his chicken sandwich.