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Noah
I am really accustomed to sleeping at Adi's place that this... seems weird—to sleep at Bella's. Probably, the fact that this is the only time I am in some girl's house and I am not—well, we don't exactly talk or even hug.
Or, maybe, Bella is different. Not different, she is like fresh air; something that is rare, nowadays.
So rare that I told her the reason for me sleeping here. And I do not even tell Adi the whole extent of any reason for staying at his place, except for that day. This reminds me that Adi is probably going to do a whole 'my best friend doesn't trust me and slept at some other person's place but I approve of her so it is okay' act but I already messaged him that he doesn't need to worry about me.
Today was a shit day, I admit.
And more fucking shit after a particular realization: I fucking loathe Thomas Scott.
That seems more angsty—like me.
Ignoring the fact that he is Bella's ex-boyfriend, the way he held onto her hand even when she was trying to get it away really had pissed me off. If it wasn't for Bella, I think I would have picked up a fight with him, right then.
And I am very capable of kicking his arse.
I didn't tell Daisy about Thomas or anything when Bella had rushed upstairs. That is something she would tell her sister if she wants to; I am not going get into that.
It is already enough that Daisy is Percy's someone—not sure where they both are standing and no, I am not going to question it. So, I just do not want the conversation to be infelicitous.
I sigh, putting my hands behind my head and stare at the ceiling.
I curse—that is not new at all.
I curse at whoever is there above who people pray to. Because that is the only thing I do, every night I can't fall asleep. Sometimes I feel like caffeine runs in my blood, instead of hemoglobin.
Now, I hear the faint sound of bare feet pacing outside the room. I sit upright, alert, but relax after I hear some mumbling from the other side.
Bella paces around for some more time until I go and open the door.
She jumps back a step, in surprise, looking at me. Her messy raven-black hair falls, unceremoniously, just above her shoulder.
Bella.
I had told her, "I would not call you a mess."
She had asked a question in return. "Then, what would you?"
I had wanted to reply.
Heck, I want to hold her face in my hands and reply to that sentence. But no, because a) I do not know the answer, myself, and b) I have to control this caveman of mine that sometimes bursts out for her
But—of course—she is the wrecking ball to all my plans.
I lean against the frame of the door, waiting for her to explain—rant about it.
"What is it?" I ask her. She opens her mouth to say but stop as her eyes sweep over my body.
Oh, right. I had taken off the sweatshirt she had given me. It is probably not getting back in her closet—not anytime soon, at least. I frown, internally, at how much of a creep I am being but, fuck, that is the truth.
"Bella?" I say, getting her attention back to me. Blood rushes towards her cheeks from her neck and she looks away.
"Could you put a shirt on? Hmph." She frowns at me and I raise my eyebrows. But I do go back inside and put on the sweatshirt.
"I sleep naked, Bella," I tell her, walking towards her, and she gets more flustered. "Probably not your lucky day to see me—"
"Shhh." She grumbles, "Could you like not do that?"
"Like what?"
"Just...being you."
I just look at her, waiting for another explanation, but it seems like that is all she is going to give me. And this is odd.
Bella, I have gotten to know these few weeks, likes to talk and when she does not, I do not really know why but it is making me worried—really worried about her.
"I can't sleep," She mutters and I freeze.
"I can't sleep, either," I confess, too.
A pause and then, she gasps. "Is it...contagious?"
I narrow my eyes at her. It is too evident that she is faking it and trying really hard to do so. But I play along...for now.
"Bella?"
"Yeah?"
"That was a bad attempt at a joke."
She lets out a laugh, making strands of her fall on her face. I smile at her, giving a one-shoulder shrug.
She steps back and looks up at me, saying, "I need to you do something."
Selfishness, alright. My selfish want to keep her beside me, even when I know she won't be with me. Maybe now she is but in the future, I am sure she won't be. Call it my low self-esteem but I know this—no one wants trouble like me.
But, right now, I fuck off all the sane thoughts of pushing her away and say, "Anything."
***
She wants a late-night snack.
A fucking late-night snack.
I have no idea how to feel about this.
"—Yeah, so, I could definitely not make anything and you are a natural in cooking," She says, sitting on the dinner table, which is in front of the kitchen.
"You called me here to cook...for you?" I ask, still standing and looking, doubtfully, between her and the kitchen counter.
"You are asking me to cook for you at—" I look at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. "—three-fifty am?"
Yeti, her dog, sniffs me, looks at me, and licks my feet. Our steps had woken him up but the way he had gone straight for Bella tells me enough that this midnight thing, apparently, happens a lot.
I smile at him, bending down to pet him as I get the message loud and clear: He approves of me.
I look up at Bella as she has a sheepish look on her face. "Well, I was just gonna ask you to get the nachos from the top cupboard since you are..." she gestures to me. "...some ten feet tall."
"I am not ten feet tall. Just some six-four I think," I pause, straightening up, and Yeti goes towards Bella. "Why didn't you wake up Daisy? As far as I know, she came back some hours ago."
"Yeah, I tried but," She says, shrugging. "She has passed out and, from past experiences, she is not going to wake up anytime soon. I heard you cursing out, so—"
"You heard that?" I ask her, surprised.
"My room literally some few steps away and it is not exactly soundproof." She smiles, guiltily.
I chuckle. "Where is it?" I ask her, looking at the cupboards.
"You ain't gonna cook?"
I raise my eyebrows. "You want the nachos or not?"
She, visibly, pouts. "Fine," She says and gets up to go to the refrigerator. Then, she gets a huge tub of vanilla ice cream out and goes back to her seat.
All this while, I notice her, getting out the nachos... Just why did I never she kind of dances with each and every step she takes? Not only that, her head bobs as if she is singing a song in her head.
"What's the ice-cream for?" I ask, giving her the nachos and sitting on the chair, beside hers.
Yeti woofs at me, tilting his face, as he goes and sits in his little room—which I am sure is made by Bella as it has so many shades of blues and white.
"When everything else is just...fine, Vanilla never disappoints me."
She frowns but it is covered by a smile, really quickly. I would not have really noticed it, if I never understood the tactics of fooling people; it seems like Bella knows all about it, too.
Bella takes a whole spoonful of ice-cream, telling me, "Also, Vanilla is better than all other flavors."
"Surely, it cannot be..." I trail away as Bella starts licking the ice-cream.
Her tongue flicks around the spoon and the top of ice cream. The edges of her lips lined with it as she takes it in her mouth with a low moan, closing her eyes and arching her head with a small smile.
It is enough to send blood rushing through my veins and straight to my groin. Nothing—nothing—of this sort has turned me on, so damn fast. Then, those traitors of hair have to brush her cheeks so softly—it makes me want to—
Cazzo.
I literally rip open the nachos packet. Bella opens her eyes and looks between the packet and me with utter confusion.
"What did the poor packet do to you?" She snickers.
"Nothing," I say, making my mind think of all the repulsive thoughts, giving her the nachos packet.
She eyes me and says, "You don't like nachos."
"No," I clear my throat. "I am just indifferent to these overly flavorful chips."
"Overly flavorful chips?" She laughs. "I really wonder how you and Adi are best friends."
"He didn't give me a choice." I smile at her amusement. She takes a nacho and eats it, looking at me—actually the eyes. "You certainly like my eyes more than me."
She blinks and looks away. She murmurs something along the line, "...can't be subtle...ugh"
I chuckle, shaking my head. She turns to me and asks, bluntly, "Insomnia or just trouble with sleeping?"
"I sleep—very rarely," I answer her after some moments.
"Why?"
"You ask a lot of questions, Bella."
She frowns, pouting a bit, and says, "Not fair when I told you so many things. You are telling me nothing. Just tell me what are you thinking?"
I look at her for a moment. I say in a low voice, still looking at her, "I am thinking that Thomas is a prick to let you go but then, again, not anyone deserves you."
She looks up at me, surprised.
"I am thinking that I am an asshole, probably the worst of the century. The fact that you are being nice to me is unsettling for me." I gulp, looking into her eyes.
Because one day, you are going to leave like all others and I will be alone to pick myself—again.
"You haven't really given me a reason yet to be not nice to you," She whispers and gives me a smile.
"Bella," I say. "You are melting my non-existent heart."
"That," She points her spoon at me. "is stupid. Everyone has a heart," She takes my hand. I tense at the touch but when she traces the veins, I slowly start to relax. "You have blood—which means, obviously, you have a heart."
"Metaphorically, I don't." I clarify.
"You have a heart, technically and metaphorically, unless..." she trails away and looks up and down at me. "Unless you are alien."
"Probably."
"Probably," She agrees, nodding her head.
We stare at each other for a whole moment. She breaks the contact first and frowns at the tub. She eats another spoonful of ice-cream.
"So, your ceiling has 38 stars? Why?" I ask her, changing the topic.
She smiles as she eats the nachos, after eating the ice-cream. "38 months. It took me 38 months exact to get myself do En Pointe." She explains, "To stand on the toes of my feet."
She proceeds to get another scoop of ice-cream only to find nothing in it. She frowns and grumbles, "I am gonna kill Caleb—no, it was definitely Mike who ate this in the morning."
"You ate seven scoops of that and half-packet of nachos," I offer, drily.
"Yeah, so?"
Sometimes, I really fail to understand her.
"No regrets?" I ask back and she grins.
She leans towards me with that grin and says, "Never was."
I know I should be punished for what I do next but I have already fucked off the sanity in me before I agreed to come to the kitchen with her.
I lean down, meeting her gaze, and—fuck—she doesn't even lean away as if assessing what I will do next. I brush my thumb over her upper lip, removing any remnants of the ice-cream and she shivers.
Her eyes widen but she doesn't say anything. She just... looks across my face, lingering on my eyes and then, on my lips.
"Bella, if you..."
"hmm?" Her breath fans over me.
FuckFuckFu—
"If you..."
"Yeah?"
—ckFuckFuck
"If you eat so much, you might explode really soon."
And I lean away with a fucking grin
She gapes at me, smacking my shoulder. She looks absolutely feline as if she is just going to pounce on me anytime soon.
But she settles on huffing out in anger. "I hate you, Noah Arthur."
And just like that, we talk (sometimes taunt) till the sunlight enters the room and a new day starts.
***
I stretch my arms, readying myself, for the practice.
The day has gone as smooth and normal as it can be.
Caleb had taken Bella away from me as soon as we had reached the school while Adi had started questioning me—I swear these are two busybodies who absolutely need to know every-fucking-thing about us.
Colt had just grinned at me, before going towards Bella and Caleb (the sole reason why I like him better).
Right now, during the first set of practice, I can feel Caleb's eyes looking at me and assessing whatever I do—I do not care.
But he is not the only one. I have been noticing for some time Nick and Coach are looking at me or sometimes at Benjamin. Ever since Nick stepped down as captain, there have been some questions about the new captain while Benjamin is particularly sure about him being the captain.
As a team player, I think Benjamin will suck as a captain. He doesn't get along with most and, also, tries to pick a fight with me—he needs to try hard because I don't want to waste my breath on that asshole.
I look over at him and stop myself from scowling. He is flexing his arms at a group of cheerleaders and tries to look subtle about it.
"Cristo," Colt scowls as he is exercising just beside me. "If he wasn't the vice-captain and had some sort of powers, I would have shredded his so-called manhood. Pathetic."
"Seems like I am not the only one who thinks like that," I comment. "How the hell did he get appointed as VC?"
"After Nick, he was voted as VC—probably, bullied half of the team since Caleb was almost near to be the VC," He answers. He looks at me. "I wish you were in the team before, Noah. There was no chance—"
I interrupt him. "I don't care about the position until I play for the team."
"You are quite devoted to the sport," He shrugs. "And who knows what the future holds?"
We, both, look at other players as they practice with Nick or Caleb.
"Colt," I say and he turns towards me. "What do you think about Thomas?"
"A dick-less dick," He answers really fast.
I smirk. "Good to know that my other striker shares the opinion as me."
"Good to know my other striker is not as much as of a jerk he claims to be." He grins but now, pauses. "Where's Iry? Isn't she supposed—"
A loud thump on the ground behind us gets our attention. Grumbling, Bella has put her bag on the bleachers and is fixing her small ponytail.
"Looks like someone had a bad practice," Colt draws out, amused. She turns to glare at him.
"Not a word about it." She walks towards us and I take notice of her outfit: a maroon colored t-shirt, that has a huge cartoon on it, with black shorts and blue sneakers.
"Nice t-shirt," I say just to irk her more.
She snarls—snarls—in reply.
Colt bursts out laughing while I shake my head, chuckling.
"Stop laughing, both of you," She says, crossing her arms over her chest. "It was a hard practice."
Colt composes himself and asks, "The dance fest? Isn't that like this Saturday?"
"Yeah," She sighs, letting out a breath. "And, apparently, only solo and duet is happening—that means only three people have to participate from the school. A lot of the team members didn't even want to participate in it. So, it just was who wanted to do..."
She sighs, again. "Keisuke and I had been planning for it, so we agreed and then, Juliet volunteered."
"You doing solo?" I ask her.
"No, Keisuke is doing solo," She replies. "Juliet and I are in the duet." She groans. "But that doesn't mean the practice wasn't hard—I can't feel my muscles...or my bones."
Then, Caleb comes and whistles. "What's got your—"
"Say it, I dare you," She growls, her mood changing quickly.
"I need my body intact—so I am going back to—"
"Alright, team, come here," Couch calls us and also gestures Bella to come too.
She groans, beside me, as she walks, slowly—which is slower than my slow walk but I maintain the same speed as hers.
Though I know the answer, I ask, "Need some help?"
"No."
"Nice and clipped answer for my caring arse. Thank you."
She says, sweetly, "Noah?"
I look at her. "Yeah?"
"Shut your piehole or I'm gonna kick you, right between your legs. It won't be hard for me."
I give her a smirk and say, "It definitely will be hard for you, Bella."
She stops, thinking about my answer, while I go, smirking, before she can—
"Oh my god," She says and I hear her quick steps towards me. "You uncultured swine—"
"Okay," Coach starts saying, interrupting Bella. Nick gives Bella a hug and she returns it back as Coach continues, "Since I have some meeting to attend to, Iris will be the coach for today."
She looks surprised at first but that dissolve into a smile, slowly.
The whole team is looking at each other happily, except for Caleb, Colt, Nick, and I. We, four, have visibly frozen.
"Iris as..." Caleb starts and gulps.
"Death is near, I feel it, somehow." Nick purses his lips.
"Oh, it won't be bad." She says and Colt gives her a look.
"See, she said it won't be bad. For now, you are the coach. Here's the whistle." Coach hands her the whistle and goes off.
Benjamin starts, "Oh, thank goodness, a good day off for—"
"Alright, team," Bella whistles, and all of us turn to look at her. She, somehow, got herself a little stool to make her seem taller. I want to laugh but I prefer not to, looking at her.
Benjamin raises his hand to touch her face. "Aw, look at shorty—"
I almost take a step but stop.
Bella's eyes flash with anger and determination. "I may be the temporary coach but if you ever get to know me, I assure you will go crying back to your momma."
He grins and says, "Thomas seemed to—"
She whistles loudly, cutting him off. "Russo, one hundred laps around this right now." She sneers at him.
"What? You can't—"
She holds her chin high. "If you don't do it, right now, the whole team—along with you—will do two-hundred laps in fifteen minutes."
Some murmuring goes on as everyone gets on alert.
Even with that, the asshole protests, "That's not even—"
She gasps. "Omg, you surely want to make the team practice more. Two twenty-five for the team unless you wanna..."
Nick steps in before Benjamin can say more. "Just do it, Russo."
His eyes hold a simmer of anger—not for Bella but for Russo who was near to comment on something he has no business with.
Benjamin glares at Bella who gives one back and goes off to run around the field. I look at Bella and I can't help myself as I smile.
I, officially, term this day as one of my favorites.
Then, she whistles, again. "Team, twenty burpees right now. Take your places."
Alright, this is not going to be my favorite.
"Come on, lazy asses—start doing it."
Most grumble but do it, anyway. Caleb and Colt try to give her their best puppy faces but she ignores it. Nick and I exchange amused glances, before turning to do it.
She gets down the stool with a smug expression and sits on it.
"Hmm, being a coach is kinda cool," She says but next, she frowns. Her eyes glaze over looking forward with a sad expression; something I have been noticing on her for the last few hours.
But as fast as lightning, that look vanishes.
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- a u t h o r ' s n o t e -
...and it is saturday! *cue some good saturday music in the background*
i've always loved saturday and food and books and—alright, me gonna stop before i start giving out my list of favorites. but you know what i really hate? dust storms. Rain? fine. Storm? lovely. Dust storms? Thank you, next.
fun yet not so fun fact: i did not know that ice-creams and nachos are actually a thing until i actually searched about it for my curiosity. when i found out, a thought comes like 'hmm, iris cooper will definitely dig this' and ding-ding-ding, i put it in this chapter!
Follow me on instagram (octoberasters) —i post sneak peeks! 👀
until next saturday and next chapter,
sayonara,
Inerys