When I woke up late the next morning, it took a moment for last night's occurrences to hit me. When they did, it took all my will power not to groan.
Noah's words flashed through my mind; 'See you tomorrow, Cupid.'
We hadn't made plans to meet today... did that mean I could expect another spontaneous 3am visit? I sincerely hoped not. With a sigh I rolled out of bed and plodded downstairs in my Cookie Monster pyjamas, stopping only to peer into my dad's room and double check that he'd gone to work. The queen sized bed was left unmade and the curtains were open, basking the room in warm golden light.
I was used to my dad being gone often. With only his income to support us, he took whatever late night calls and weekend work he could to keep us afloat. He was a youth recovery centre worker, and though I knew that it wasn't a highly-paid job, I also knew that he did what he did because he loved it.
"What are you doing?"
I screamed.
Whirling around with my hands clenched into fists, I let out a war cry as I prepared to slam my knuckles into the intruder's face.
The intruder backed away, his arms flying up instinctively to shield his head, and it was only then that I got a glimpse of his face.
"Noah?!" I yelled, breathing as quickly as if I'd been running a race. Noah stood in front of me looking a mixture of bewildered, scared and amused as he tried not to laugh.
"What the hell are you doing in my house? Again?!" I shrieked, lowering my arms which were still in front of me defensively.
"What were you going to do to me? Punch me?" He chuckled and leant against the door for support as he laughed. He clutched his stomach, as if he couldn't think of anything more absurd than me trying to hit him.
I watched coldly as he tried to compose himself.
"How did you even get in here?"
"I knocked but no one answered and the door was unlocked so..."
"So you just let yourself in?"
"Yep."
"Breaking and entering is a crime, you know." I told him, pushing past him to walk downstairs.
He grinned. "I didn't break in, you're the one who left the door open."
"But still! You can't just--" I sighed and raked my hands through my dark curls. "You know what," I said calmly, forcing myself to smile, "it's fine. Whatever." I spoke through gritted teeth, and I could see Noah trying desperately not to laugh again. I ignored him as I continued down the stairs and into the kitchen, shoving a piece of bread into the toaster and purposely not asking Noah if he wanted anything. If he was going to break into my house (for the second time) then he could get his own breakfast, dammit.
"So, I was thinking we should come up with a plan, you know. Kinda like a step-by-step guide of how I'm going to approach Sabrina." Noah told me as he flopped down on the sofa and flicked on the TV. "Hey it's your mom's show!"
I scowled and turned back to the toaster as Noah watched Cupid, and my mother's voice was all I could hear as I buttered the bread.
"You know," Noah yelled to me over his shoulder, "it's probably not a bad idea to watch your mom's show and get some pointers."
I tried as best I could not to scoff. There was no chance in hell I was watching my mother's show. I waited for him to change the channel, but he seemed perfectly content to veg out and watch, so instead I had to sit down in the armchair and munch angrily on my breakfast. I stared at my mom's pretty features as she smiled and walked around her New York apartment, talking on the phone to a client.
"Sometimes you just have to make a grand gesture." My mom, Courtney, smiled into the phone. "Do something big that will make her see how caring you truly are." I fought the urge to roll my eyes as Noah watched lazily, his long tanned legs stretched out in front of him. "You know," my mom said, "it's like I always say to my daughter; if you don't show you care, they don't know you're there."
Noah turned to me with raised eyebrows, and I shook my head. "Bullshiz." I muttered to him quietly, making him frown. My mother hadn't spoken to me in months, and never in my life had she said anything about showing you care. In fact, it was almost laughably ironic really, considering she'd never once shown me that she actually cared. I wasn't sure that she did.
"Look," I set down my toast and looked at Noah, who in turn clicked the mute button on the television, "forget what Courtney is saying. I think that if you want Sabrina back, you need to start small. Be her friend." I really had no idea how to help him get his girlfriend back, but I sure as heck wasn't going to let him take advice from my mother, who couldn't even keep her own relationship with my dad going. Noah frowned, brushing a stray curl that had fallen over his eye out of his face.
"How am I going to do that? She won't even answer my calls." He sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check it, as if she might have called him in the last fifteen minutes.
I considered this for a moment, taking another bite of my toast and chewing slowly. I thought back to last night, when Noah climbed up through my window. As Romeo-and-Juliet as it was, if he'd have been sneaking up to see me romantically, it could've been sweet. "You threw pebbles at my window to get my attention. I'm sure you can get creative for Sabrina." I told him wryly. Noah was pensive momentarily, and then a grin spread over his angelic face, making my heart melt just a little bit in my chest.
"So throw stones at Sabrina's window until she talks to me?" He asked, standing up and walking towards me in two long strides.
"That's not exactly what I meant..." I started, hesitating before I continued to eat my breakfast.
"But it could work right?"
"I mean, sure. Technically it could work," I agreed, "but that doesn't mean—"
"But it could work, right?" He persisted.
"I mean yes but—"
Noah cut me off again as he leant over to pluck a stray crust and pop it into mouth with a smirk. "Then we ride at dawn."
I stared at him, dumbfounded, as he made his own solution based on the start of all of my sentences. What had just happened here? I hadn't even given him advice and somehow I had given him advice.
What?
"Crusts will make your hair go curly." I said absentmindedly as my brain worked overtime to keep up with Noah's. Noah grinned, his eyes glinting under the sunlight streaming in through the windows. He ruffled my hair, making me yelp and duck for cover.
"It's already curly, Little Cupid."
***
"I can't believe you're making me come with you." I hissed, cursing as Noah pushed aside a branch which consequently slung back and hit me in the face.
"Shhh, you'll wake her parents up." Noah scolded, glancing back over his shoulder before quickly sprinting through the foliage towards the huge white house a couple yards in front of us.
Grumbling, I followed after him, too scared of bugs and other critters of the night to be stubborn. It was currently one in the morning, and after spending the day forced to devise a plan with Noah, he decided that one o'clock was the perfect time to make his first move. Of course, we didn't actually end up making a plan considering neither of us really knew how to make said plan, so we mostly web-surfed and Facebook stalked Sabrina.
"Noah? Noah where are you?" I panicked, glancing around in alarm. I couldn't see him anywhere, and Sabrina lived in one of the largest, most expensive houses in the area, meaning that if her or her parents woke up and saw me, I'd be done for trespassing sooner than I could say 'I hate you Noah'. That alone was enough to keep me close to his side. He'd been here thousands of times and the Wells family knew him well, so at least if I was caught with someone they knew then they might not punish me as harshly.
"Noah?" I whisper-yelled again, starting to get worried. What if he'd chickened out and left me here by myself? How was I going to get back home?
"Will you shut up?" The familiar voice questioned harshly, and I sighed with relief as Noah's dim features came back into view. I wanted to say something smart back, but I bit my tongue knowing that he'd probably gag me just to shut me up if I did. I followed him wordlessly until we came to a clearing in the trees, and he gestured for me to stay here as he searched for a tiny pebble to throw.
Tap. Tap tap. Tap. Tap. Tap tap tap. Tap. Tap tap.
It took eleven throws for Sabrina to finally wake up, which either made her a very heavy sleeper or me a very light one, considering I had woken up after a mere three.
"Sabrina?" Noah called quietly as the window slid open. I peered out through the trees, careful to keep my face out of the moonlight as I watched.
"Noah?" Sabrina asked, sounding somewhere between tired and confused. I squinted into the darkness, only just able to make out the shape of her face. Her hair hung in a long dark wave down her shoulders, and even in the darkness it had that shiny, just-washed look to it. Though my hair was long and dark, it had rarely, in fact probably never, looked like I'd just stepped out of a shampoo commercial. How did people even look like that anyway? I mean, even her face was perfect. Bright green eyes, a little button nose and big pouty lips... it should be illegal to be so stunning. Especially if you didn't have the beauty inside to match. Don't get me wrong, Sabrina had never done anything wrong to me personally, but I'd seen her and her posse at school, sending videos of people doing stupid things at parties and starting rumours. She'd once told the whole school that Avery Parker, a sweet, funny girl in my chem class, had lost her virginity to her cousin. Avery had told me personally that this wasn't true, but it didn't stop everyone else in the grade from believing Sabrina.
"Can I climb up and see you?" Noah asked her, his voice gentle like I'd never heard it. I really didn't know what he saw in Sabrina, but it was clearly something very small and buried way, way deep down.
I waited anxiously for Sabrina's response. If she said yes and they worked it out, then I had my ticket to Princeton less than twenty four hours after making the stupid deal. I hadn't even had to do anything. I crossed my fingers excitedly.
"Let you up here? To see me?" Sabrina asked incredulously, and my smile immediately dropped. Uh oh. I knew that sound. The sound of sarcasm. I had used it many times before, when something was absolutely, no way in hell going to happen. I should've known it was too good to be true.
"Give me a fucking break." Sabrina spat harshly, making me wince. "We're done, Noah. D.O.N.E. When are you going to accept that?" Without waiting for his response, Sabrina slammed her window shut and I could no longer see her through the glass. Noah stood beneath her home, staring up at where she had been.
I stood silently for a moment, feeling awkward and not knowing what to say to him. He turned and walked towards me, not meeting my eye. I reached out to touch his shoulder as he passed me, and he paused for a second, staring at the ground. "Hey," I said softly, "we'll keep trying, I promise."
He shook my hand from his arm gently, "Yeah." And then he marched back into the foliage, leaving me trailing behind.
Suddenly I realized that I was in way, way over my head.