16: Loud Music & Equally Loud Heartbeats
The fact that March break seemed to have gone in flash for me was actually quite surprising considering the fact that most of my March breaks consisted of watching marathons of my favourite sitcoms, working on a random piece of painting, and babysitting my little brother and sister.
This March break, however, was different. Not only was I going out of the house more with my friends, but I felt like I was doing something productive with my time whenever I worked on the mural with Nolan since I was learning different techniques from him each and every day. Besides, it felt good to see a smile on Lorenzo's face whenever he stopped by to see the progress of the mural since it was an indication that my lack of experience with graffiti wasn't screwing up the mural.
"The reflection of the city lights on the water is gorgeous, Isabella," Lorenzo said from behind me.
I was on my knees when I looked over my shoulder and smiled at the elderly man. "Thank you!" I chirped.
Lorenzo smiled back. "So where's Nolan? He's usually out here for hours..."
"I made him go on a coffee run," I answered as I continued moving the spray-can across the brick wall.
Lorenzo chuckled. "You made him, eh?" He chuckled again.
Confused, I laid the spray-can on the concrete ground and stood up to face Lorenzo. I then shrugged, still puzzled as to why he would find what I said amusing.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked.
Lorenzo folded his hands behind his back and laughed again. "Oh, I just find you two awfully cute together," he stated.
I blushed. "Cute?"
"Yes," Lorenzo said, nodding. "You and Nolan make a lovely couple--"
"Oh!" I cried out. "No, no! We're not a couple. Well, um, not yet at least. Oh, wait. What the hell am i saying? We're just friends who just so happen to like each other, but we're not a couple. I actually don't know what exactly we are, actually. I mean, I'm not too familiar with this crazy thing called love, you know?" I felt my face heating up as I looked at Lorenzo who continued to hold an amused grin on his face and I ended up slapping my forehead.
Why do I just ramble on about nonsense?
Lorenzo laughed as he walked towards to me to put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, my dear," he said. "You have all the time in the world to understand what love really is. Just don't force it to happen. It should happen naturally."
I snorted. "You make it sound so easy," I complained. "Falling in love is awkward."
"What's awkard?"
My head immediately snapped upwards and I found Nolan holding a two cups of Tim Horton's in his hands behind Lorenzo. He was wearing a red beanie over his mess of a hair but even in his tired state, he looked good.
I didn't realize I was in a daze before Lorenzo walked up to Nolan and patted his shoulder. He then said something to Nolan in a low voice, and Nolan just looked down onto him with a small smile and nodded. I found myself straining to my ears to overhear the conversation but before i knew it, Lorenzo gave Nolan one last pat, looked over to me to give me a nod, and the old man made his way down the alleyway.
"What was he saying to you?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.
Nolan shrugged. "I don't know," he said, handing me my cup of coffee.
"You're lying."
Nolan grinned. "Yeah, but you can't prove it."
With my eyes still pressed onto Nolan, I took a sip from the coffee. Almost immediately, I spat it out and started gagging.
"What is this?" I cried out, pointing to the coffee. "Taste like shit!"
Nolan made a face. "What are you talking about?" He asked.
I handed him the coffee. "Taste it," I said.
Nolan rolled his eyes as he took the cup in his hands and took a sip from it. He then started to laugh as he shook his head. "Oh, my bad," he mumbled. "This is black coffee. It's mind. This is yours. Triple the sugar, right?" He looked down onto with raised eyebrows.
I bashfully took the other cup of coffee from his hands, "Yeah," I mumbled.
Nolan grinned as he gestured towards the other side of the wall. "Let's sit," he suggested. "We've been working on the mural for nearly three hours now. We should rest for a bit."
Once took a seat on the concrete ground and pressed our backs on the brick wall that faced the mural, both Nolan and i sat in silence for a little while we took a moment to look at the mural and all its details. We were basically half-way done, but if there was thing that i learnt about Nolan and I over the past few weeks while working on this mural is that we both were obsessed with getting the smallest details perfect.
"The water kind of looks flat," I murmured.
"The edges of the buildings needs to be straighter," Nolan added in.
"Maybe we should add some stars in the sky or something?"
Nolan looked at me with a raised eyebrow and laughed. "It's Toronto," he stated. "There's barely any stars."
I grinned. "But stars are pretty!" I protested.
"Yeah, okay. Flowers are also pretty but you don't see me putting a bunch of lotus flowers in the water, don't you?"
I smirked. "You think flowers are pretty?"
Nolan rolled his eyes. "I was being sarcastic," he said.
i laughed out loud as i continued to drink my coffee. Just then, an abrupt thought came to mind. "So about tonight..." I said, trailing off.
Nolan looked at me with his greyish blue eyes and his face softened. "What about it?" He asked.
"What concert are we going to?"
"It's just a bunch of unknown rock bands at this place. You probably never heard of any of the bands but the music's great, I promise," Nolan assured me.
"So where is this place exactly?"
Nolan let out an amused laughter. "You make me sound like i'm taking you to some scary music rave or something. Relax. It's at this old building a few blocks from here.
I blushed a little as I looked down onto my shaky hands. "I-I didn't mean to make it sound like that," I said. "It's just that, you know, I've never really been on a date before much less to a concert... so yeah."
"You've never been to a concert?"
I looked at Nolan and nodded.
"Wow," Nolan said in disbelief. "You're missing out on a lot. Concerts are probably just about the best places any teenager can be."
I smiled. "So what are you?" I challenged. "Some hardcore rocker dude?"
Nolan snorted. "Hardcore rocker dude?" He echoed.
I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean."
Nolan chuckled. " Well, I do love rock music but I'm not a 'rocker dude'," he said, air-quoting the last two words as if they were to most ridicules things to say together. He then laughed again as he gestured towards me. "What music do you listen to?"
I bit my lips. "Ugh, just music."
"Yeah, i know. But what kind?"
I let out a shaky laugh. "Music. That's all," I repeated.
Nolan sighed as he patted my head like a child. "You know, it's completely okay if you're a One Direction or Justin Bieber fan. I honestly will not judge your for the odd taste in music," he said as he continued to pat my head.
I immediately slapped his hand away. "So what if I listen to some of their songs? I listen to a lot of different things, anyway!" I protested.
"Like what?" Nolan said, leaning closer.
I turned red. "Like, like.... Coldplay, The Fray, Kings of Leon, You Me At Six, City & Colour, and you know... a little bit of Hunter Hayes--"
Nolan's face crunched up. "Ugh, country music," he muttered, turning his head away from me.
I smacked his arm. "You're so narrow minded!"
"Why? Just 'cause I don't like country music?"
"Yes!'
Nolan looked back at me and half-smiled. "The concert's at eight, so if you wanna go home to get ready, you can. I'll clean up for today," he offered.
I frowned. "It's only four o'clock in the afternoon," I murmured.
Nolan grinned. "Don't you girls take forever to get ready for dates though?" He asked, teasingly.
I punched his arm.
"Ouch!" Nolan cried out. "God, I was just kidding, Izzy! No need to resort to violence here."
I rolled my eyes as I got up. "So am I meeting you up there or--"
"What the hell? Of course not!" Nolan said, getting up as well. "I'll pick you up."
I smirked. "With what vehicle, Casanova?"
Nolan slumped his shoulders. "God, Izzy," he groaned. "Can you stop trying to make me feel like less of man here? I'm gonna borrow Dustin's truck for the night, so yeah..."
I laughed. "So I'll see you then?" I asked, smiling widely.
"Well, considering how I asked you out, you probably will be seeing me," Nolan said, smirking.
"Stop being so sarcastic."
Nolan held up his hands in defence. "Hey," he said. "I've been hanging out with you way too much, so technically, it's not my fault."
I rolled my eyes as I turned around. "Goodbye, Nolan!" I said loudly.
"Hey, Izzy?" Nolan called out to me.
I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "Yeah?" I asked.
Nolan sipped his coffee slowly. "Do you like me?" He asked, narrow his eyes in my direction. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was teasing me but at the same time, somewhat serious.
I bit my lips. "Well, i said yes to the date, so shouldn't that speak for itself?" I asked in a low voice.
"You didn't answer my question.
I gulped.
What the hell was wrong with me? It was such a simple question to answer-- it was either a yes or a no. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to admit the obvious. Not now, at least.
"Anyway," I said, changing the subject. "I'll see you at eight!"
Then without another word, I quickly turned around and continued to make my way down the alleyway. Even when I reached my car, I could hear Nolan chuckling in pure amusement.
"Izzy and Nolan kissing in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N--"
Before Aaron could finish spelling out the word, I grabbed one of my teddy bears and threw it at his face. "Shut up!" I bellowed.
Aaron who was sitting on my bed with Angie just smirked. "Oh, look at you putting them eyeshadows on," he teased. "Who you trying to impress, huh?"
I looked away from my mirror and grinned. "It's you, honey," I replied, in a sweet tone.
Aaron immediately brought his two hands up to his neck and gagged. "Ew!" He cried. "That's gross!"
I laughed as I grabbed my eyeliner and lined my eyelids. From behind me, I could hear Angie laughing. "I love how this girl knows how to apply her makeup so perfectly even though she barely wears any on a daily basis," she said.
"Well, Izzy is an artist, so I'm just going to assume that because she knows how to paint a canvas that she knows how to paint her face--"
"Paint my face?" I asked, confused.
"You know what I mean!" Aaron cried out.
I laughed as I turned around and let out a heavy sigh. "So how do i look?" I asked, fidgeting with my fingers.
Angie titled her head to the side. "Your makeup is fantastic. Your attire? Yeah, not so much," she said.
I frowned as I looked down onto what I was wearing. On me was a simple white tank top with a navy blue blazer on top and black leggings."What's wrong with it?" I protested.
Angie sighed as she got up and opened my closet. After a few seconds of making weird noises with her tongue, she pulled out a patterned tank top that she bought for me at Forever 21, the shortest pair of demin shorts I owned, and a leather jacket. Afterwards, she took off her black leathered ankle boots and threw everything in front of me. She then smiled. "It's a freaking concert, Isabella," she said. "You don't have to cover everything up."
I blinked. "Those shorts are too short though," I mumbled. "I only wear them when it's really hot."
Angie rolled her eyes. "You have nice legs!" She shouted. "Show them off for Christ's sake! You're only young once, and when you're old and wrinkly, you're gonna regret not being able to show off your body. And besides, you're seventeen. You're aloud to be sexy once in awhile." She winked.
Aaron laughed. "Not too sexy though," he said, wagging his finger at me. "Or else you're gonna be sending the wrong message to Nolan."
I grabbed the largest teddy bear I owned and I held up in the air. "I will continuously beat you with this teddy bear unless you shut up," I warned. "Are you going to shut up?"
Aaron held up his hands up in defence. "I will," he said.
I rolled my eyes. "Good."
Angie then gestured towards the bathroom. "Now go change, girlie," she said.
After changing into new attire, my friends and I exited room and made our way to the living room where my family were. My parents were already dressed up for their date night and it felt odd leaving my the babysitting job to Aaron and Angie.
When my family took one look at me, their eyes widened in shock.
My mom looked up at me and laughed. "Wow," she said. "This is something I would wear back in the 80's. But I'd probably pair it with bright neon stockings."
My dad laughed as well. "Ah, the 80s. Those were the days," he said. He then let out a sigh as he looked at me, his facial expression hardening. "You better be home by eleven, okay? Once that concert is over, you come straight home, you hear? And remember--"
"No drugs, no alcohol, and no sex," I said in sync with my friends.
Angie, Aaron, and I looked at each other and laughed.
This was how we knew that they come to my house way too often.
"Anyways, we have reservations at the restaurant so we better jet," my mom said, pulling me and my friends into a hug. "You three take care. And remember Aaron and Angie, all the emergency contacts are on the fridge, so if there's a problem, just call us or any of those numbers, okay? We'll be home by ten."
Aaron laughed. "Don't worry, Jen," he said. "We got it."
"Well, I do," Angie said, waving him off. "Not him. Now you two lovebirds go off now! We have everything under control."
Once my parents left, that clearly wasn'tthe case considering the fact that Irene and Isaac were already harrassing my friends.
"Choo choo!" Isaac shouted as he continued sitting on Aaron's back. "Move, you stupid train!"
Aaron looked over to me and groaned. "He has a big mouth on him," he muttered. "Just like you."
I laughed but just as I was about to say something, the doorbell of the house rang.
Angie looked over to me as she continued to allow Irene to braid her hair. "Have fun," she said, winking.
I laughed. "Thanks," I said. "Bye, Irene and Isaac!"
"Bye, Izzy!" They chirped.
After putting on my leather jacket, I made my way towards the front door and swung it open, and my mouth literally fell to the ground at what i saw in front of me.
Nolan Harris had cut off the remaining lengths of his brown hair and now it was short, making all his best facial features stand out; his strong jawline, his defined cheekbones, and his eyes, especially his eyes, became very prominent.
The corner of Nolan's lips pulled up into a small smile. "You ready?" He asked.
Laughing, I closed the door behind me and nodded. "Take me away, Prince Charming."
"Nolan. This place is creepy as hell."
Nolan looked over his shoulder and chuckled. "Just trust me," he said, as he walked up towards the backdoor of the old building and knocked four times. Almost immediately, the door swung open and there stood the bulkiest guy I had ever seen in my entire life.
"You two here to see the show?" He asked.
"Yep," Nolan said, handing him two tickets.
The guard opened the door wider, revealing the large amount of teenagers who were already inside drinking. And by what I could from outside, it looked more like a club inside than just a worn-out building. "Just keep walking straight ahead," the guard instructed us.
Nolan nodded as he took the first step in and I shyly followed behind him. Almost immediately, I could feel the amount of stares that we were both receiving as we fought out way through the tight crowd. When we passed by a group of guys, they started whistling at me.
"Oh my god," I mumbled, grabbing Nolan's hand and pressing my head against his arm.
Nolan gripped onto my hand tightly. "Don't worry," he whispered.
As we continued to walk, I kept my head low and my hand in firm grip with Nolan's. The more that we walked closer to the large doors ahead, the more that we could hear the loud music that was already being played and the roaring fans from inside. When we walked in, one of the bands must have finished because the sound of the crowds began to vibrate against the walls, making the whole building feel like it was about to collapse.
Looking up, I realized just how the dark the whole place was and just as a new band came up on stage, Nolan and I were immediately swallowed up by the crowd to the point where it was impossible to even look behind your shoulders.
"How you guys feeling tonight? Are you ready for us?" The guy with tattoos on stage shouted in the microphone.
The crowd answered with loud hollers, and when I looked over to Nolan, who already had let go of my hand, he too was screaming loudly.
It wasn't till the first strum of the guitars and heavy singing from the leader singer that the vibe of the entire room completely changed. For some reason, everybody was bobbing their head back and forth, jumping like they were stepping on hot rocks, and shouting very, very loudly.
I looked around me and realized that I was basically the only one standing still like a lost puppy.
I felt completely out of my element.
But what seemed uncomfortable to me at first quickly subsided as the minutes passed by and the mob mentality took over, and I eventually found myself screaming on the top of my lungs for bands i didn't even know the names of. I jumping up and down, pumping my fists into the air, and basically, I was acting like a typical teenager high on drugs. But i couldn't help it. The whole place felt so euphoric that it was impossible to stand still.
"This place is amazing!" I shouted over to Nolan.
Nolan laughed. "I told you!" He shouted back.
Just as I was about to shout something back in response, somebody harshly bumped into me and I found myself knocking my nose against Nolan's hard chest. "Ouch," I murmured, looking up to him.
All of sudden, looking into Nolan's greyish blue eyes, I felt my stomach doing those uncontrollable flips again. Not only that, but heart literally felt like it was going to leap out of my chest.
Nolan took my hand into his and before I knew, he was already leading us out of the the concert and back into the equally crowded hallways. I didn't know where he was taking me now but for some odd reason, I couldn't care the slightest bit. The only thing i was more concerned with whether or not Nolan could hear my loud heartbeats because I was pretty sure he could.
By the time Nolan and i had reached outside where he pressed me against the brick wall, I was already in a daze.
Nolan's lips were so close to mine, but he didn't move.
He then started to whisper something in French again but obviously, i couldn't understand a word that he was saying.
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed Nolan's shirt and pulled him closer to me so that our lips would meet. At first the kiss was slow and soft, but something must have gotten over Nolan because when I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pressed my back harder against the wall, the kiss immediately intensified.
Within minutes, I was already out of breath but it wasn't till I felt Nolan's tongue on mine that I finally pulled away.
Nolan chuckled, "Sorry," he whispered. "Got carried away."
I nodded as I bit my lips. "Yeah, I'm still sort of inexperienced, you know?"
Nolan laughed. "Right," he said, smugly. "I almost forgot I stole your first kiss."
"Dont' get too cocky about it."
Nolan winked. "I'll try not to."
Just as I was about to say something in response, my phone started to ring from inside the pocket of my leather jacket. Immediately, I took it out and answered, "Hello?"
I was expecting to hear Angie or Aaron's voice but instead, it was somebody else's.
"Is-Isa-Isabella," Emma stammered in tears. "Can you pick me up?"
I frowned as I looked up to Nolan who looked concerned. "Em, what's wrong?" I asked.
Emma choked for air. "I just need you right now," she said, softly. "I'm at the bus terminal."
"Okay. Stay there. I'm coming to get you," I said, hanging up the phone.
Nolan looked at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.
I sighed. "It's a friend," I answered. "She needs me right now."
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[A/N]: Sorry for the long update! I've just been really busy the past two weeks.
But anyways, to make it up to you guys, I'll be updating another chapter this weekend. I can't do it tonight because, well, I'm tired and I need to finish up a few projects so I don't have to do it on the weekend. But yeah, I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter even though the last part wasn't the usual cute and fluffy stuff that you guys usually read about in this story. Lol.
On another note: I'll be entering TCTCL in the Wattys this year (if i finish by the deadline), so it would mean the WORLD to me if you guys vote and comment during these last few chapters, and go back and even vote for the previous chapters. If you guys can do that, that would be so amazing.
So yeah!
FIVE MORE CHAPTERS!!!
Vote. Comment. Fan? :D
- kelly_1231