Chapter 19
I paced my room back and forth. Should I call him now, or wait? What do I even say? "Hey, uh, Noah. I was just joshin' you. I'm not really dating Ray. It was all a big joke!" I said to myself for practice. I didn't like that. How would he respond? Would he be mad that I lied to him or happy that I'm single?
I could tell him that me and Ray broke up, but then he would be like, "Why did you call me then?"
I had to tell him the truth! It was all just a big jealousy stunt and Ray took it way too seriously, especially when he hurt him. Would Ray still be overprotective, though?
My head was just creating more and more questions as the day went on. It kept creating scenarios for each outcome, and some turned out to get really, really bad. That's why I was unwilling to call Noah and tell him. What if he said a response that would lead to the worst possible outcome?
I flopped onto my bed with my face buried into the comforter. My whole body was sore from yesterday from all the walking and dancing I did. I hated when I was sore, but it did feel good when I stretched my muscles afterwards, but that's beside the point.
What was I going to do about Noah?!
Then, suddenly, my phone rang. In an instant I looked to see who it was. It read Ray. Why on earth was Ray calling me?
"Hello?" I said, half-annoyed.
"Better call him soon, Keaton. Practice starts in an hour. I know an hour to you is like a minute, in your mind, y'know. Since you're a girl and all," he chuckled.
"How do you know I haven't called yet?" I asked in surprise, and ignoring that last part of what he said.
"Because. I just do. I've gone through many girls, Keaton. I know how they are with these things," he laughed. "And, if you did, I think Noah would text me and ask me if it was true, also."
"He would do that?" I asked. "That's kind of weird."
"It can smart in some circumstances," he informed. "So, do you want me to call him or are you going to do it now?"
"Uh, I'd rather talk to him in person," I admitted.
"Are you serious?" he shreiked, but then realized that I wasn't joking and calmed himself down. "That's really, uh, different. Isn't is easier to just call or text?"
"Not for me. Do you know how long I've been staring at my phone, not knowing when to call him?" I asked. "This is very stressful."
"That's only because you're making it stressful," he laughed. "So, I'll come by your place and pick you up and then you can talk to him in person. I'll stand right there when you tell him, if you want."
"Sounds good," I answered. "See you later then. Thanks."
I tapped 'end call' before he answered back. I was already dressed for the day, so I just brushed my hair again. My hair always managed to get knots into it, even though I wasn't doing anything. It was so annoying.
After painfully pulling my brush through knots and failing at getting them to untangle, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, my only option. I grabbed a hoodie and slipped on my Converse and ran outside when I heard a door slam.
"Mom, I'm going out for a little bit. I'll be back in an hour and a half or so!" I yelled into the echoey house. She was bound to hear what I said, but I promised to call her when I got there, just to make sure she knew. I closed the front door and when I turned I ran right into Ray.
I fell back and slammed my butt on the stone below me. Lucky for him, he didn't even budge. Of course he didn't budge. He was like the man of steel and I was the most clumsy girl alive.
I slammed my eyes shut when the pain attacked my bottom. Ray picked me up and sat me in the car, laughing.
"That was... ha-ha... priceless!" he breathed between laughs. At least one person found that when I get hurt it's the funniest thing in the world. I glared at him, while also trying to find a way to sit without my butt hurting even more.
"That really hurt my butt. Thanks a lot," I snapped, looking out the window.
"Hey, at least I was nice enough to carry you there," He added, the laughter dying away. "Noah wouldn't have done that."
"Again, the stupid Noah comparisons. I already know that you think you are better than him. We don't have to go over this topic, again," I told him, rolling my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. So what are you going to tell him?" he asked, curiously.
"Just the truth, obviously. And you sir, are not allowed to hurt him. But you can defend yourself if he decides for some reason to attack you, which probably won't happen," I warned.
"Alright."
"There he is," Ray said, frowning and pointing to Noah, who just jumped up and rammed his side with Logan's.
"Follow me up to him, okay?" I asked Ray. He nodded and rolled his eyes. He trailed behind me as I walked up to Noah.
Then I was hit with the full force of nerves. It wasn't as bad as the nerves at homecoming when I received my crown, but my heart was racing and I felt like there was a lot of tension in the air between me and Noah even though he wasn't looking at me.
When I got close enough I called his name and waved him over. I gulped hard, getting butterflies in my stomach. I hated that feeling. It made you think that you were going to throw up any minute.
"Is something wrong?" he questioned. I sighed and bit the inside of my cheek. I opened my mouth to speak and when I did, a low manly voice came out. I was surprised, but then I realized that it was Ray who was talking.
"We just want to apologize to you," Ray began. "She'll explain why."
"We aren't dating," I blurted out.
"Okay. You broke up?" Noah asked.
"No. We never dated in the first place. It was just a stupid joke where I wanted to make you jealous..." I trailed off and looked down in shame.
"Oh."
"It was all pretend. I'm sorry," I apologized, cracking my knuckles to ease the nerves.
"I knew something wasn't right." He laughed. This was a good start! He didn't sound mad at all. I was extremely grateful.
"I'm really sorry," I apologized again.
"You know what? It's okay. I was trying to make you jealous, too, so I guess it wouldn't be fair if I was mad if you weren't. But I'm actually not mad. I am kind of glad you aren't dating him," he said, glaring at Ray.
"Let's save all the mean glares and tackles for the field, guys," I suggested, not wanting to be in fight between to muscular footballers. I would obviously be crushed. I've gotten hurt by Ray before and he didn't even mean to hurt me!
"Yeah, all the fighting for the field, Owens," Noah repeated.
Ray rolled his eyes and just walked past us without saying a word and walked off to his stupid friends. Oh, how much I despised his friends.
"Thanks for not freaking out," I smiled at Noah. "Ray would've punched someone if he was you right now."
He nodded in agreement, laughing. "We should try another date sometime, then," he suggested. "I mean, if you want to. You don't have to."
Usually I would've rejected the offer, but I decided not to this time. Plus, I felt bad so I just said, "That sounds really fun, actually. A lot has been happening recently," I said, remembering what the girls had said and then feeling the slightest bit uneasy again.
"Great," he said. "I'm excited. I'll call or text you sometime then. Right now I have to, uh, go." He pointed at the coach who was talking with some of the other players, obviously not knowing that one was missing.
"Bye, King," I joked, referring to homecoming.
"Bye, Queen," he smirked. Oh, that smirk! It was even more contagious than Ray's dreamy eyes. My heart fluttered when he smirked. He was just so attractive, it killed me.
I walked off the feild and sat in the stands, alone. This probably was a good time to call my mom and tell her that I had left, just in case she didn't hear me when I said it the first time.
"Hello?" A tired voice said through the receiver. "Keaton?"
"Hi, Mom. I wanted to tell you that I went out. I didn't come and tell you, but I yelled it through the house, so I didn't think you heard me."
"Yeah, that's fine," she said. "I heard you. Thanks for the call."
"Alright. I gotta go, now. Bye, Mom."
"Bye, Keat."
She hung up before I could press 'end call'.
I watched the game, not knowing what was going on. I wish I paid more attention in seventh grade gym, where we played flag football. My score in that class would've gone up a whole grade letter and I would understand why these people were doing what they were doing. Now that the football season was starting, I kept thinking that I should go to one of the games or at least watch it on TV with my dad.
Just kidding. I tried watching it with my dad once and he told me to stop talking because I asked so many questions.
The team walked through some different plays and got yelled at by the three coaches. After that, they broke up and some practices catching and throwing, and some practiced tackling.
If I played football, I would be a hot mess. Catching and throwing wouldn't be that difficult, but I would get crushed in tackling. I weighed around one hundred twenty pounds and those guys out there weighed way more. If one of them tackled me, I would be killed in an instant. Well, probably more like seriously injured.
My eyes kept watching Noah during the practice. My heart fluttered when he took off his helmet and his hair was all wet with sweat because he just looked so, so hot. It was just unbelievable how hot he was. I can't even explain it. After all this
When he finished tackling and moved onto catching and throwing, I noticed that he would take little glances at me. I was the only person in the stands, so, I mean, he had to be looking at me. To be honest, I wanted him to look at me.
I always had a little crush on Noah. He was really sweet and funny, and also really romantic, judging by the last date we went on. Mostly, he was determined. He kept asking me for a date until I said yes, and though it got annoying, I would never get tired of that sexy body of his begging for me to say yes.
The only thing was that boyfriends were a big no-no right now. I kinda already broke that rule with Ray and now, Noah was becoming my main choice, if I had to choose. I was getting really tempted to say yes and then Noah wouldn't be annoying me to be his girlfriend anymore and everyone would stop calling me the Johnson rejecter, which led me to a weird question.
Why didn't any of the guys call him by his first name? What was with the whole 'Johnson' thing? I guess it's just a boy thing.
I went back down to the field when the players came back from the showers. Thank God for showers. Or I would have to sit in a car with a smelly, sweaty, and dirty boy by the name of Ray.
Noah walked to me, carrying all his stuff in a bag. His hair was all wet and there was some water dripping down his face from his hair. I just stared at him. Why did my brain decide to just start thinking about all these really dirty thoughts when Noah came around? This never used to happen!
"Do you need a ride home?" he asked.
"Uh, well, I think Ray is driving me home," I said.
"You can go with him," I heard Ray say from behind me. "Besides I have to carry all this home and my car is going to smell really bad."
He was holding a box of uniforms. I could already smell the stink.
"Yeah, I'll go with you. I can't stand that smell," I admitted, plugging my nose. Ray laughed and then said bye to us then walked away, leaving me and Noah alone.
"You hungry? Do you want to get some lunch at Debby's with me?" he asked when we began walking to the car. "I heard they have really good sandwhiches."
"I don't have any money with me." I bit my lip in embrassment. He didn't say anything. I looked up at him and he was just staring at me.
"Noah," I said.
No response.
"Noah!" I repeated, waving my hand in front of him, grinning. He shook his head and blinked his eyes, snapping himself out of his daze.
"Sorry, I'm tired. What did you say?" he said.
"I said I don't have any money."
"Okay, I'll pay," he smiled cheerfully. "No worries."
"Hakuna matata," I said, laughing. He just looked confused.
"It's from 'The Lion King'," I hinted. "You know, the Disney movie?"
"I've never seen that movie before."
I was shocked. What person has never seen 'The Lion King'?! "Then, you did not have a childhood!" I shreiked. He laughed at me.
"I'm going to make you watch it one day," I promised. He nodded.
"Come on. Let's go eat," he insisted. "I'm so hungry."
We got inside his car. It smelled really nice inside, almost like a girl's perfume. I sniffed the air silently, hoping Noah wouldn't notice. The smell was really familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly who it came from.
"I know it smells weird in here," Noah admitted. He had noticed me sniffing the air. How embarassing is that?
"Yeah, like a girl's perfume."
"Kayla's," He responded, frowning. "She was spraying some on the way to homecoming. It was bad. I smelled like her perfume until my third shower."
"Three showers?" I asked. "That's crazy!"
"I can't have my manly smell taken over by some fruity designer perfume!" he laughed.
The rest of the ride was in silence. But it wasn't an awkward silence. It was actually pretty comfortable. If only silences like that were always comfortable!
When he parked in a space, we hopped out of the car. The restaurant smelled like pancakes and maple syrup. My mouth was watering. How could I forget to eat breakfast?!
"Table for two?" The hostess asked.
"Yes, thank you," Noah said politely, nodding his head once.
"Right this way," she smiled and walked to a table next to window, with a lone flower sitting in a glass vase.
We recieved menus and then ordered our drinks. We sat in silence, waiting for our drinks and looking at the menus.
"Hey," I said, peeking my head from behind the menu. "Would you judge me if I got breakfast food for lunch?"
He looked up at me and shook his head. "I was thinking of doing the same thing," he laughed.
I loved his laugh. It would always make me laugh and I would always feel happy. If I ever got upset, I would want a recording of his laugh to make me feel better. Even if that was kind of weird.
The waitress returned to our table with our drinks. I took mine and took a sip. I was dying for a drink. My tounge was literally turning dry.
"Ahh," I smiled when I stopped drinking. Man, that felt good.
"So, I couldn't find you at Bailey's after party," Noah said.
"Oh, uh, that's because I didn't go. I wasn't feeling very well. I think I ate too much or something," I lied. My cheeks flushed pink. He seemed to buy it.
"Why not? It was fun," He said. "But it would've been funner if you were there."
"Funner's not a word, Noah," I chuckled as he shrugged noncaringly. "What did you do there?"
"Uh," he paused. "Just partied, I guess."
"Oh."
Why did he act so weird when I asked that? He must've done something at the party that he wasn't very proud of. And I knew it was rude to ask, but I couldn't help myself.
"What did you do while you were partying?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. His eyes flicked from me to the table and back to me again, then back to the table.
"Well, I danced," he chuckled.
"With who?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If you were there, then you would've known," he said in defense. I realized that what I had said was really pushy. Guys don't like pushy girls!
"Sorry," I muttered.
The waitress came by and we ordered our food. I got blueberry pancakes and Noah got some weird sandwhich thing. I don't even know what it was called.
"Mm," he said, taking a bite out of the sandwhich.
"That looks really good," I admitted, peeking over and looking at his dish. He nodded in agreement.
"I don't know what I would do without food," he laughed.
Noah drove me home and then walked me to the door.
"You can come inside for a minute," I said, when I saw that he was looking inside the window.
"Aw, sweet!" he cheered. I opened the door and welcomed him inside. He looked around, staring at the different statues and artwork. "This place is sick."
"Uh, thanks," I said. He looked up my the stairs. "Do you want to see my room?"
"Yeah!" he exclaimed. I lead him all the way up the stairs. I pushed open the door to my room and he stepped inside, passing me as I held open the door.
He bellyflopped onto my bed, making me laugh. I sat on the edge, while he rolled around. Finally, he sat up next to me.
"So," he said, looking at the ground.
I looked up at him the same time he looked up at me. It was quiet, dead quiet. Our eyes locked and he kept flicking his eyes down at my lips. I knew it was going to happen. He would kiss me again. He reached his hand up and brushed a peice of hair behind my ears. His touch made my heart skip a beat.
Surprisingly, I was the one who leaned in first. I couldn't handle myself. I wanted that kiss, I needed those lips.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, his lips were on mine.
And, damn, did it feel amazing.
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I'm obsessed with people kissing at those like romantic, silent moments. I'm sorry. It's so cutee!
I hope you liked the chapter!!!!
chapter 20 is coming up soon! i cant believe there 20 chapters in this book. thats alot especially for me because I quit stories super easily, but I have a lot of confidence in this one. I feel like this story is the chosen one!
Each chapter could be longer because I usually dont put that much effort into them, I know, I'm lazy. This one is kinda long... right?
Thanks for reading, lovelies!!! <3
-alyssa