Chapter 31 | The Million Dollar Question
Currently editing some other chapters at the moment, because they suck, like really bad XD Besides that, here's a question of the chapter. What's your favorite song? I have a lot, but my favorite from Pentatonix's new album in Are You That Somebody× New Rules
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"Bro, Taylor and Carolynn were totally fussing over you," Axel exclaims as he ducks into the front seat and behind the wheel of Noah's car.
Before we had left the hospital, we made sure to check in with the rest of the crew. On speaker, we let them know about Noah's confirmed concussion and they decided the best course of action would be to take him straight home.
Like Axel had mentioned, Carolynn and Taylor were fussing over the phone to make sure Noah was okay during the exchange, which I guess for some reason Axel's so excited about.
Anyway, here we are now, about to trek the twenty minutes to Noah's house from the hospital parking lot.
"I'd like to have chicks flocking over me to baby me. On top of that, YOU GET OUT OF WORK IN SCHOOL!" Axel shouts enthusiastically, expression positioned in envy. It's as if Noah is now his new idol, just because he's hurt and lost the ability to do certain things.
I dramatically roll my blue hued eyes at Axel's words. "Yes Axel, I'm sure Noah loves this new life," I say sarcastically, flicking him on his thigh as a signal between us for him to shut up while he's ahead.
Unfortunately, I've learned there's no changing his immaturity. Boys will still be boys, no matter how old or wise they may be. I've learned from experience with my silly dad, so I doubt Axel would ever change in the coming years. Not that I want him to, he's fine the way he is, it's just sometimes he's a bit. . . extra.
In the side mirror, I observe Noah copy me and roll his tired eyes, dark circles yielding just underneath. Guilt flushes my face for the hundredth time today, even though the two guys had attempted to make me feel better. I'm transported back to their words in the doctors room, letting the conforting echoes calm me down.
"Mhm. . . for sure," he says, interrupting himself during the middle of his sentence with a splayed out yawn. After he finishes, I suppress my own. For whatever reason, whenever someone yawns I feel the need to do the same.
"You should go to sleep," I suggest after I'm sure a snippet of the built up yawn won't escape. This time, I'm sure it's safe for him to. The concusion is bad, but not to the extent he won't be allowed to sleep.
Unsurprisingly, Noah doesn't bother to listen. He reaches between the from seat, hooking up his phone to the AUX. Before I have a chance to argue, Eminem is blasting through the speakers.
"Oh, you didn't just do that," I growl in a low tone, playfully shooting daggers at him through the reflection of the rearview mirror.
"Do what?" He asks innocently, his head tiled to the side so his messy dirty blond hair falls to one side.
The amount of energy in this boy amazes me, and I'm in envy. If I was him, I would've been out like a light, but here we are, fighting once more on what gets played in the car.
"Give me your phone," I demand, quickly turning myself towards the backseat with my hands outstretched. I hope to catch him on the unawares, which I manage to do with the help of his disorientation, which is a side effect from his condition. I'm aware I'm playing unfair, but desparate times call for desparate measures.
"You need to rest mister," I sternly scold, turning the music down a couple notches while I do so.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not."
"Yes, I am," he insists, releasing a hardy sigh at my retaliation.
"No you're not."
"Yes. I am."
"Fine," I finally give in, against my wishes. Knowing the two of us, we are bound to argue until we are both blue in the face, which won't help anyone in the car.
A mischevious grin spreads on my lips as I cunningly form a plan to get him to do my will. Since his phone is still unlocked, I have full access to YouTube.
As I enter the app and the Eminem shuts off, Noah somehow picks up on my plan. He groans, running a hand lazily through his hair with a huff. "If you put on Bruno M-"
So, I click it.
"Oh, her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair
Falls perfect without her trying."
This time, both boys emit loud groans. A satisfied, evil smile broadens on my mouth at their reactions, for they were just how I intended them to be.
"Make it stop! My ears!" Axel jokes, shaking his head like a dog as if he can't get rid of something in his ear.
I expected them to act this way, but Axel struck a nerve. As much as I'm offended by his harsh words however, I remain quiet and simply turn the music up to its original volume. It's only a matter of time before my other subject―
"Okay, okay!" Noah finally grumbles, rubbing his temples in the process. "I'll take another nap, but only if you turn the music off."
"That's what I thought," I say punctuatedly, holding up my side of the deal and shutting the music off.
Axel laughs. "She outsmarted you there bro. How does it f-"
"Shut up Axel," Noah grunts moodily, although from my view in the mirror I catch the sides of his lips quirk upwards in a lazy smile.
"Come on guys. That song is arguably one of his best, even though it's extremely unrealistic."
Noah cocks his head, eyebrows furrowing. "Unrealistic? How?"
I shrug, pulling my lips to the side. "I don't know, I just feel the song implies perfection. That's kinda impossible though. No one can really be perfect."
I don't include, that lump of people doesn't include Chance.
So quiet that I think I imagine it, I hear Noah mutter, "I can think of one person."
****
"I'm back," whispers a sadistic voice from besides my spot in the middle of the bed. Just as I'm about to turn my head to reveal the source, an unseen force takes control of my movements, hindering me from moving freely. Every time I try and move my head in the slightest, energy seems to drain right out of me like water from facuet.
As if it senses my struggle, the mysterious presence cackles. The sound rings through my ears, disorienting me from everything around me.
As the one voice continues to cackle, another one speaks up from under me, just below my line of vision. "I'm going to find you." it torments, voice cold and threatening.
"You won't escape so easily next time," howls another, overriding the others with its similar chilling vibrato.
A certain background sound adds to the edginess, harshly beeping every other second. All of the different noises and cackles overwhelm my brain, making me feel like I'm drowning.
I sit up in bed with a strangled gasp, tightly gripping my bedsheets with a grip of steel. The aftermath of the unexpected nightmare leaves me shaken, my heart practically beating out of my chest cavity.
I inhale large breaths, eventually allowing my heart to slow a small amount.
This has went too far. The fear instilled in me by the Black Hoodie has now found its way into my dreams, which were once peaceful. What if I continue having these? I'll never get sleep.
Just another reason why finding Damien is so important.
With a shaky exhale, I manage to calm myself down further, repeating a mantra inside of my head.
It was only a dream, it was only a dream, it was only a dream.
I know for a fact it's not, but the words help the last of my uneasiness to wash away.
Once I'm collected and after brushing my tangled hair out of my face with my fingers, I reach over the bed and grab my phone. I expect it to be about ten in the morning give or take, but to my horror, its twelve thirty in the evening.
I have an unopened message from Chance, sent thirty minutes ago.
Sylvia's good? The pizza place? At 1?
I text him my confirmation before darting off the bed. I had barely gotten four hours of sleep since the time I got home until now, and the sudden nightmare hadn't done me good during the night. With that said, my eyes strain to keep open, but I hurry up and get dressed anyways.
*****
"You look stunning, as always," Chance compliments as I approach the table, his inviting amber eyes trailing over my outfit. I wear black leggings and a plain white tank top, hair as curled as I could make it in ten minutes.
It isn't an extremely hot look as Taylor might've wanted. My makeup is limited because of the time crunch, only mascara and a bit of lipstick on my face. I rushed out of the house so fast, I think I could outrun a cheetah.
"You don't look so bad yourself," I answer with a smile. I put my stuff down beside my chair, but before I have an opportunity to sit, Chance is on me in a millisecond.
"Here you are," he says in a presenting tone, pushing my chair back so there's room between it and the table. With a wave of his hand, he motions for me to sit.
"Thanks," I mutter, a bit taken aback by the sudden gesture.
"Anytime."
As he makes his way back to his seat, I begin to wring my hands around under the table nervously. There's so many ways I can cause this date to go wrong, and then there's our chemistry that already makes everything ten times more awkward . . . Well, to me at least.
I've got to think of something to make this less awkward. Maybe ask him a personal question?
"So how was your weekend?"
Someone give me a Grammy already.
He shrugs his wide stature, half a smirk present upon his narrow lips. "It was boring up until now," he flirts, eyes focused on my reaction as he smugly takes a sip of his water.
My eyebrows shoot to the sky and I can't help but smile at his behavior. Chance sure is special. A gentlemen one second, then flirty the next. Like the two faces of the sky. They're opposite, but they go well together.
"I'm glad you think so highly of me," I say through a slight giggle, twirling my hair around my finger like a lovesick girl. Which I admit, I am.
"Who wouldn't?" he quips teasingly. "Anyways, how was your weekend?"
Here's the part where I can lie and save myself from a long explanation. The part where I fib and simply say, 'great'. But I need that information on Damien. Chance goes to our school, if there's anyone I need to go to, it has to be him. In order to ask though, I need a believable background.
"Bad. This kid named Damien took something of mine, and I need to know where he lives so I can get it back. Can you help me?"
The only reason I'm able to get through this is because it isn't a lie, its just not the full truth. Damien did take something of mine yesterday, and all of the other times we met, assuming he is my stalker. He took my friends health, pride, and my comfort. Because of him, I'll never be able to go places alone without looking over my shoulder every five seconds.
"No, but if I find out I'll tell you."
Wow, such a great help. Now how am I supposed to find out more on this guy? I was relying on Chance a bit too much, I realize, and it's going to push me back from finding him because I don't have a backup plan.
"Oh, thanks anyways."
"So, how's life at home?"
"Good, but I barely see my dad and my mom is usually sleeping. It kinda sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it. What about yours? I've never heard you talk about them."
He nods his head, as if he expected me to shoot the question back. "I have a younger sister, Cleopatra. I also have two younger brothers, Carson and Caleb. They're annoying sometimes, but they're fun to be around. My mom is a stay at home mom and my dad works for some company on night shifts."
Intrigued, I ask"What's with the names that start with C?"
He shrugs, his red shirt wrinkling at the movement. "My parents just thought it was fitting, I guess."
Both of us unsure what to say now, silence falls between us. With perfect timing, our waiter elegantly walks over to our table. He puts the pan of pizza on an elevated plate in the middle of the table, wishing us a good meal before walking off.
"So how's Noah?" Chance asks nonchalantly as he reaches over, picking up a cheesy slice of pizza to put on his empty plate.
"What?" I ask confusedly, icy blue eyes widening as my eyebrows furrow.
I never told him about what happened with Noah, so I have no clue how the heck he knows about Noah's concussion. "Why? And how did you know about him?" I fire suspiciously, slim figure rigid.
"Axel's Snapchat story," he says slowly, giving me a look as if I'm crazy for my uncalled for reaction.
"Axel wouldn't―"
No. Yes, he would.
I hold a finger up to single a time out in the coversation as I open the app, clicking on Axel's name. Sure enough, on his story there's a picture of Noah.
I don't know how he managed to get it while he was driving and without me noticing, but it takes place from in the car. Noah's sleeping in the backseat like I made him, dirty blond hair a ruffled mess. The caption reads, Poor Noah, he has a concussion. Hit us up and donate your services (only girls).
I'm guessing Noah hasn't seen it yet, because if he does I bet he's going to rip Axel to shreds. Concussion or not.
"He was alright the last time I saw him," I answer distractedly as I put my phone back down, making a mental check to tell Axel to take it down before he gets himself in deep trouble. I can text him right now, but I find that rude to Chance.
For some reason, the atmosphere between us suddenly becomes extremely awkward. Chance makes it awkward, his amber eyes darting left towards the walls and back to me.
I can tell he wants to ask me something by the way he nervously taps his fingers on the table. He ignores his pizza too, which us odd behavior for a hungry teenage boy.
"Do you have something to tell me?" I inquire to him hesitantly.
He opens his mouth, drawing a large breath in preparation. "Well, you know I think you're pretty. You're also really cool and I feel very comfortable around you. In other words, I like you. I know you like me too."
"No- no I don't, " I stall in a shaky falsetto, heart racing as I scurry to process the meaning his words. What is he leading to?
"We've almost kissed on multiple occasions," he counters.
Good point.
"Anyways, I know this is a bit sudden but I don't know, I just feel like you're right for me."
"And you're saying?" I drawl, biting my lip harshly as I anticipate what's to come.
He smiles broadly, leaning forwards as if he has to tell me a secret.
"Kirsten Blair, will you be my girlfriend?"
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:O shooketh. I love seeing your guys comments and opinions, so I would appreciate it if you let me know what you think!