Sia's voice and mine mingled together as I sang, "You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium, I am titanium," my high pitch voice powerfully resonated throughout the auditorium.
"Damn! Girl can I have your voice?" Michael whined, putting his hands on both my shoulders and shaking me crazily.
I swatted his hands away and gave him a light chuckle.
"Stop acting like your voice is awful. Yours is just as good, if not better," I truthfully praised him.
Just as he opened up his mouth to respond, an arm draped around me and beat him to it.
"Oh, please! Annalise, stop trying to spare his feelings, we all know his voice sounds like a dying whale."
I looked up to see Zachery, his dark red hair was tied back into a short pony tail, his deep blue eyes mocking Michael. A cruel smirk played on his lips, making the red freckles that were splattered across his nose and his cheeks, spread as he broke into a wide smile.
"How dare you!" Michael grilled him, hurt across his face.
"I'm just kidding, Mike!" Zachary blurted, hoping it would calm the rage to come.
"Leave me be, you ginger!" He called out, while I took some steps back, hopefully closer to the stairs so I can run off the stage.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! No need to say such a thing," he says, stepping closer to diva side Michael.
"Get away from me peasant. I don't want you and your negativity any closer to me," he yelled, crossing his arms.
"Don't be like that! I was kidding," he pleaded.
Michael scoffs, making a desperate Zachary attack him. In a blink of an eye, he was right in Mike's face, giving him sloppy rough kisses.
"Bitch your kisses mean shit!" He shouted, until Zachary's lips smashed against his own.
Well, that's one way to make him quiet.
It was a good thing the auditorium was free of students, besides, it was after school hours. The practice me and my classmates had was long over, but sometimes I like singing on my own.
Just as I was tip toeing down the steps, Michael screamed my name.
"Annalise! Don't you dare leave me with," he starts and looks at Zachary, "with this sexy piece of meat that puts all other guys to shame!" He finishes.
Zachary bites his lips and winks at Michael, wiggling his eyebrows.
"You know it," he said, giving his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips.
PDA! PDA! Stop the PDA! I internally begged.
"I don't want to see the two of you all lovey-dovey," I explained, holding two hands to my eyes.
"Sweet innocent girl, you'll one day join the dark side and the PDA will be fun," Michael grinned.
I gave him a flat look.
"In all seriousness, what's going on with Alice?" Zachary questioned, stating what's in all our thoughts.
"You've noticed something off as well? I thought it was just me," I added truthfully.
"Nah, me too," Mike admits, nodding his head in agreement.
"She kinda yelled at me at the party. She was definitely not happy, almost annoyed," I voiced out.
"Aha! My theory is so right then!" Michael shouts out randomly, displaying a huge proud smile.
Me and Zachary stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you. Well, I saw a picture on Facebook with Tate sucking face with Kimberly," he says, scrunching up his nose.
"Damn, she must feel really hurt. Michael if we ever break up and you suck face with another guy in less than a week and post a picture of it, I'll fuck you up!" He seriously says, pointing a finger at Michael.
"Psst, I would never! That's child play. I would just send you a direct video of me sucking-"
"Lalalala! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts!" I screamed, shutting my eyes and placing my hands hard against my ears.
"Sorry for that," Zachary tells me while prying my hands off my ears, "looks like I need to punish him some more for him to understand discipline," Zachary smirks at Michael.
I shiver at what he was possibly thinking inside his head.
Hand. Pickle. Rub. My cruel inner voice whispered.
Ew no.
I shook my head vigorously and cleared any disturbing thoughts. I think I need less of Michael and Zachary, they're my closest friends, but sometimes they can be too much.
"Alright, alright, I think I'm going to head out and have a talk with Alice," I smiled, slugging on my right backpack strap.
"Fine, leave us be, bitch," Michael deviously grins, waving me to go.
I don't hesitate to run offstage and into a small aisle leading to a side door.
***
I looked down into my hand held basket and realized I had a lot of junk food. I have two jars of Nutella for me and Alice, a pack of kit-kats and reese's cups, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Everything needed to help my bff get through a rough breakup.
I started to walk towards the register, rummaging through my basket for my wallet.
Not the smartest thing to do, like do you want your wallet stolen or something? My deep inner voice snapped.
I blew out a sharp breath and brung my eyes back up. I could no longer see as I collided with a chest, the grip I had on the handle of my basket loosen and then altogether let go.
Instinctively, I jerked back, losing my balance in the process. Two strong hands wrapped around my waist firmly, keeping me up straight. In the process of everything going on, I gripped the stranger's arm.
"Annalise, babe, don't go falling for me anytime soon," a familiar deep voice teased.
Looking up, I realized it was, "Noah?"
"Missed me? I have that affect on people," he shot back at me with his pearly white teeth.
"Sorry for bumping into you. I was distracted," I smiled sheepishly, my face burning red.
"Don't sweat it, it's cool," he smirks, looking straight into my eyes and scanning my face.
I bobbed my head up and down, using the hand I placed on Noah to push a strand of my hair back.
Can you be anymore awkward? Say hi or something!
"Uh-um... your hands are still on my waist," I informed him.
He looks at his hands and then looks me back in the eye, still not letting go.
"Sorry, I just have a hard time of letting go of things that I want," he slyly grins, releasing his grip on me.
Gah! So corny!
"Good one," I sarcastically muttered, rolling my eyes away from him.
"Don't lie, it was horrible," he laughs, responding to, what I thought, went unheard.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."
"Rude? That's your definition of rude?" He started to chuckle deeply, humor filling his eyes.
Apparently, once again, I was really amusing to him.
"You wouldn't even know what rude was if it was staring at you right in the face," he said, his voice dropping lower, tilting his head while once again scanning my face, as if I was unreal.
I broke our eye contact and stared at the floor for something to study, only to find the basket I dropped. I started to bend down before Noah gestured for me to halt. I abruptly stopped my movement as he bent down and grabbed my basket for me.
He took a peep inside the basket and reached in, pulling out my wallet and handing it to me.
"Uh, thanks," I slightly frowned, he knew I was searching for it.
"So, what's with all the junk?" He questions, handing the basket over to me.
"It's for my friend, Alice," I told him.
"Hmm, sounds familiar," he frowns, tugging a strand of his curly brown hair.
"I mean, she does go to our school," I giggled.
He smiles, reaching beside me and grabbing a bag of Doritos.
"I love me some Doritos."
I laughed, the both of us heading towards the register.
I take my items out and place the small basket next to the others. The cashier scans each item and the constant beeps from the scanner stopped right after she checks everything out.
"Can I add one more thing?" I asked, hoping she won't mind since it's only me and Noah waiting.
"No problem, Miss," the old lady sweetly smiles, her face wrinkling up a bit.
I turned to Noah and gave him a big toothy grin, he had a confused look etched on his face.
I snatched the chips out of his hands, placing it with the old lady. She scans it and puts it in a separate bag.
"That'll be fifteen dollars," she says.
I take out a ten and a five dollar bill, handing it to the nice lady.
"No, I got it!" I heard Noah protest, sticking a twenty dollar bill out.
It was too late. The old lady took my money and handed me my receipt.
"Really, I could have paid for everything," he frowns, narrowing his eyes at me, like I just killed his puppy.
"I know, but I wouldn't want you too considering I was the one who got a bazillion things," I reasoned.
"True," he says, reaching for his bag of Doritos and my bags as well.
"I can carry them myself," I objected.
"I know, but I wouldn't want you too considering I'm the one with the bigger muscles," he mocked me.
"Suit yourself," I grinned, hiding my burning face with my hair.
"I'm such a gentleman, chivalry is alive," he cockily praised himself.
We walked out of the store and went to my car, using my keys, I unlocked the trunk.
I only had one bag, and so it was easy to dump it in and be done with.
I watched him as he carefully placed the bags down, his hair fell upon his eyes and he blew it away. Since I had some free time, I decided to take in his appearance, noticing how his muscles were big and the black north face he had on seemed tight at his biceps.
Yum! Muscles! I drooled.
His hazel eyes met mine and I looked down immediately. He definitely caught me studying him. A small chuckle escaped from his mouth as he closed the hood of my trunk.
"Thanks for carrying my bags," I blushed.
"Thanks for buying me Doritos," he said, stepping closer to me.
Well then.
"Have a good night," he wrapped his arms around me, blocking out the cool autumn air.
The warmth felt nice, but weird.
"Oh-uh-goodnight," I awkwardly mumbled, not knowing how to respond. I just patted his back until he broke away.
He casually whistled while sauntering over to his car across from my own.
Avert your eyes away from him!
I turned towards my car and went to the driver door, ready to pull the handle, until a call caught my attention.
"Check your left pocket!" He smirked mischievously, as he ducked his head and entered his car.
"My left..." I shoved my hand into my pocket and felt a paper feeling, pulling the material out of my jacket, it was a twenty dollar bill.
Just as I looked up to see Noah, I noticed he already pulled out of the parking slot and was staring at me. He winked, and before I could say anything, he sped off, his tires screeching as they rolled away at a high speed.
***
I knocked once, than twice.
"Alice! Open the door please!"
I knocked again.
"It's cold and I have food that your-" before I could finish my sentence, the front door flung opened and two hands grabbed me inside.
"Food? Did you say food?" Alice stared at me with wide eyes and a huge creepy grin.
We both love food, who doesn't?
"Yup," I held up the bag of Nutella, ice cream, and candy.
"You literally made my day, thank you! I'm really sorry about Saturday!" She blurts out, her guilt clearly spilling to the surface.
"It's fine," I smoothly say.
"It isn't though. I tried to find you after but then that new kid barge in and I got distracted by that, and then I couldn't find you anywhere. Trust me I looked everywhere!" She says, a small frown weighing her eyebrows down and her lips pursing into a line.
She seemed really regretful, like her words been itching to be let out and not confined into her mouth.
"Don't worry about me. I just want to know how you feel," I looked straight into her eyes, before heading into her kitchen and setting the bags down at her island.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"I know Tate was at the party we went to.." I trailed off, looking to see her reaction.
She breaks her eye contact with me and rubs her hands together.
"I saw him with Kimberly," she huffed.
She went over to the counter where the spoons are, taking two out.
Alice doesn't turn around as she continues on, "It only been a week since it ended."
"I know," I give her a short response, waiting as I know she wants to add more.
"He moved on really quick," she slowly tells me, but it's as if she's telling herself.
"It's ok, if he moved on that quickly it means he wasn't the one and clearly he doesn't care about what you guys had anymore, which means you shouldn't either," I declared, trying to help ease the pain she's going through.
If I could take her place, her pain, I would.
"You're right," she turns back to me and heads to her seat.
"Besides, I just saw the photo he posted about Kimberly and he didn't get nearly as many likes as he got with you," I chirped.
She stops turning the lid of the Nutella jar and her eyes widen, "What are you talking about?"
Fudge my life!
"The picture, you know, of him and Kim kissing," I nervously replied, feeling myself paling as I started to notice that she had no clue.
She dropped the Nutella and dugout her iPhone 8 from her ripped jeans. I could see her sliding and tapping on her screen as her fingers moved quickly.
This won't end well.
I licked the Nutella off my spoon and let the chocolate soothe the anxiety taking a hold of me. My heart started to beat faster as the look on my best friend's face crumpled.
An overwhelming weight in my chest forcefully spread throughout me, taking a deep breath in, I plopped my spoon into my jar and stood up.
"Alice?" I hesitantly laid my hand upon her shoulder, squeezing it gently.
She pushed her chair back, a screeching noise arising as the legs scraped across the tiles. I cautiously retracted my hand while she abruptly lifted from her chair, turning to face me.
"I'm fine, just a little surprise. I saw him kissing her at the party, but I didn't see him taking a picture of them together, even then I wouldn't imagine him posting about it," she shrugs, making her face display a look like she didn't care.
"Hey, don't do this, don't shut off and-"
"I'm feeling tired and it's getting dark out, you should go," she says, rolling her lips in her mouth, looking everywhere but at me.
"I'm not leaving you," I opposed her, staying rooted to the place I was standing.
"It's already seven and I need to do a lot of things. I need a early sleep today so tomorrow I can be energized for school, can't miss two days in a row," she tightly smiled at me.
"I can just help, my parents won't mine if I sleep over," I suggested, trying to stay and cheer her up.
She walks past me to get my spoon from my Nutella and her own as well, brushing past me she throws the spoons into the sink. A harsh clank noise drowns out the silence as she also slams the drawer that contain all the spoons.
"I think it's best if you leave now. I don't want to yell at you again for trying to help me. In all honesty, I don't want to be comforted by someone who can't possibly understand my pain. I'm sorry," she says hanging her head down low, her back turned to me because she's still facing the sink.
Alice wraps her arms around her and dang it, I feel as helpless as a baby, unable to do anything but watch and wait until a move is made. I could feel the tear that tugs at my heart as I smile and say, "Whatever is best."
Whatever is best.
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Fun fact: I made this chapter in less than 24 hours, which is good for me!
You've been reading lots about Noah, now for some Ricky time...