Chapter 26: Thanks For Being an Amazing Chicken Wing

I stretch out on my bed, opening my eyes to the bright light streaming into my new room. Thank God for the holidays! I get up out of bed and walk over to my cupboards. Checking the time, my eyes bulge out of my head (i think) when I see its 11:30. I'm supposed to be meeting Noah at the movies at 12:00!

I hurry into the closet and take out a cropped Adidas shirt and some sports leggings and throw them on. I take a green bomber jacket that does down to mid-thigh and quickly put it on s I rush out of the room. My hair is still knotty so I tie it into a messy bun as I run down the stairs. I grab my keys and sprint to the car, Oh, dammit, it's 11:45! I unlock my car and drive out of the garage.

I race to the movies quickly and it takes 5 minutes to find a park. "Shoot," I say as I check the time and see its 12:00. I dash up the escalator and run my hands through my hair after taking it out of the bun its in. I finish ripping out the knots with my fingers when Noah walks over to me. I stuff my hair tie into my jacket pocket and push my bed hair behind me.

"Hey Nat," he gives me a kiss. "You look nice."

"Thanks?" I say, thinking of my hair. "How was your day?" I ask this because obviously, some people don't sleep in until 11:00 and actually do productive things in their mornings.

"Oh, alright. Just been doing some football training," he shrugs.

"You have to do it during Christmas break?" I say. Woah, dedication.

"Yeah," he says and take my hand, walking me towards the popcorn stand. We buy our tickets and walk into the cinemas with frozen drink and a medium popcorn each. We sit down to watch the ads. Noah pulls something out of his pocket. "I bought you a present!" he says.

"Oh! Thank you! I got some stuff for you too," I say and pull the jersey out of my hand, giving the wrapped package to him. He unwraps it and looks at it.

"Thanks, Nat!" he says and hands his present to me. I unwrap my gift and see a bottle of perfume. I smell it. Oh, God, it smells like cricket's poop. Does that smell like anything? Well, if it did, it'd smell like this. I smile at Noah. I think it might be a mix between women's perfume and men's cologne.

"Thank you," I say and put it into my bag. He leans across his chair and kisses me. If he wants this date to be a make-out session I'm leaving right now. We are sitting up the back and this is a pretty crowded cinema...

Oh no! I just wanna watch the movie! We're interrupted when some people walk down the aisle and sit next to us. I pull away from Noah and look at the two people sitting next to us.

"Alex?" I say.

"Hey dude," he smirks.

"What're you doing here?" I whisper.

"What do you think? Watching the movie, obviously!" he says quietly. I see a lock of brown whip around from the other side of Alex to face me.

"Natalie," she says.

"Hi Amanda! How's your day been?" I say brightly. She glares at me then whispers something to Alex. Who nods but rolls his eyes when he turns back to talk to me.

"Girls," he shakes his head.

"Hey! I'm a girl!" I hiss, offended.

He shakes his head, a small smile on his face and turns to look towards the screen. "You're not just a normal girl, Nat," he whispers.

I blush, thankful that the cinema is so dark. Alex doesn't seem to notice this and he continues talking, looking back at me.

"What'd he get you?" he says, looking at the wrapping paper on my lap and glaring up at Noah.

"Perfume," I say.

"Oh," Alex sounds smug. He turns back to the front as the movie starts.

***

The movie is about halfway through when Noah does the 'I'm pretending to stretch but I'm really putting my arm around you' thing. I look at him and smile forcibly. He grins back and shuffles around to get comfortable. I take a sip of my frozen drink. Mmm, that's yummy.

The movie is alright, I guess. Not the best but its pretty action-ish. I put my drink back down and wipe my hands on my pants so they're dry. I put my hand on the hand-rest next to me.

I hear a shuffling next to me but don't look over at Alex. His hand is on the hand rest next to mine and out of the corner of my eye I see his hand slowly creeping towards mine an inch. Before I can stop myself, my hand moves in the direction of his. His hand moves a centimeter towards mine and I look back up at the screen and feel Alex's eyes do the same. Both our heads are looking at the front but our minds are with our hands which are inching slowly closer together.

My heart is going a million miles a minutes when my hand finally reaches his. The elephants are having a party in my stomach and my hand his hand slowly turns over and I place mine on top of it. My cheeks heat up when our fingers intertwine slowly. My breaths become uneven and I feel his fingers between mine.

My heart beats even faster when he keeps holding onto my hand for another fifteen minutes. I can barely focus on the movie, only on his warm hand in mine and the butterflies in my stomach. I don't register Noah's arm around me or Amanda's head on Alex's shoulder.

Is this classified as cheating? What if Noah sees? Or worse, Amanda. I should let go of him, but it feels like his hand was just meant to be there.

His hand fits so well in there, like someone molded his hand to fit mine. I don't know what Alex is thinking, he's watching the movie with no sign of any expression on his face. My heart deflates a bit and I'm snapped out of my daze when Noah turns to me. I quickly let go of Alex and my heart stops pounding, but the blood rushes to my face. I grab my drink and slurp it, trying to disguise the blush. Noah mustn't notice it though because when I put my drink down he places his hand on the back of my neck and kisses me.

I want to pull away, I really do. I can feel Alex staring at my back and can hear the movie perfectly. I don't want to be rude to Noah, but I don't want to be one of those people in the cinemas.

Luckily, the movie finishes and I lean my head against the back of the wall. Noah grins foolishly, thinking I'm tired because of what his kissing. I look to my right and see that Alex has left. When did he do that? I didn't hear him go.

Amanda is standing, glaring at me.

"Stay away from Alex," she hisses before walking off, her heels click clacking when she walks. Noah grabs my hand and pulls me up. He slings his arm around my waist and walks off. The wrapping paper falls off my lap and onto the ground. Noah notices this but does nothing and walks away with me. WHAT ABOUT THE TURTLES?

***

I tap my pen furiously on the desk, running my hands through my hair. I'm trying to think of something deep to write to Chloe but all I can think of is:

Dear Chloe,

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a break, you deserve it. Thanks for being an amazing friend and

I accidentally wrote 'and' at the end because I was concentrating more on cake by the ocean which is playing through my head phones. What can I say? Thanks for being an amazing..... Jelly baby? Noodle? Catfish? Chicken wing? Yeah, thanks for being an amazing chicken wing, Chloe. I decide to write companion, because I'm a lame toad.

My phone buzzes with a message from Instagram. I've been ignoring them all day, knowing that they're just other insults and rude messages from Amanda. I quickly write the rest of the Christmas card and hear the doorbell ring. Just on time.

I rush downstairs and open the front door. Meghan, Kate, Chloe and Bubbles all come through. We decided to have a little gathering thingo before Christmas and before Kate left for Mexico, where her grandparents live.

I show my friends the house before taking them up to my room. I give them their cards and they return some they made themselves. Bubbles is a really creative homemade card that has a Santa popping out when you open it. She's written a sweet message and I give her a hug after reading it.

"Thanks Bubbles," I say and sit down on the bed. She tosses me a brush. "What's this for?"

"You are going to sing Santa Tell Me by Arianna Grande," she says and takes out her phone.

"Wha-" but she already hits play. Chloe gestures for me to start singing and I roll my eyes and begin.

"Santa tell me if you're really there, Don't make me fall in love again, If he won't be here next year,"  I start off. "Santa tell me if he really cares, 'Cause I can give it all away if he won't be here next year."

I get up off the bed and decide to dance around, prancing like unicorn and singing at the top of my lungs.

"Feeling Christmas all around, And I'm trying to play it cool, But it's hard to focus when I see you walking around the room. Let it snow, it's blasting now, But I won't get in the mood, I'm avoiding every mistletoe until I know..."

My friends laugh at me as I dance, trying to act like Arianna would. "It's true love that he thinks of. So next Christmas, I'm not all alone, boy!"

I thrust a hand up into the air and point, singing loudly again. "Santa, tell me if you're really there, Don't make me fall in love again if he won't be here, Next year," I step side ways and click with both hands before turning the other way and doing the same before flicking my hair and walking around the room like a wanna-be model. I keep singing the chorus and my friends laugh at me

"Now I need someone to hold, Be my fire in the cold, But it's hard to tell if this is just a fling, Or if it's true love that he thinks of, So next Christmas, I'm not all alone, babe!" I sing. And belt out the chorus at the top of my lungs.

"Santa, tell me if you're really there, Don't make me fall in love again if he won't be here, Next year. Santa, tell me if he really cares, 'Cause I can't give it all away if he won't be here, Next year," I sing and then morph my fake singer expression into a serious one and walk forwards, holding the brush right up to my mouth.

"Oh, I wanna have him beside me like oh-oh-oh, On the 25th by the fire place, oh-oh-oh, But I don't want no broken heart, This year I've got to be smart," I sing. And then jump onto the bed and yell the chorus, hitting the high notes in a softer tone. I jump off the bed and pretend to be serious.

"Santa, tell me if you're really there, Don't make me fall in love again if he won't be here, Next year, Santa, tell me if he really cares, 'Cause I can't give it all away if he won't be here, Next year...." I finish. My friends all giggle and are looking behind me. I turn around and spot Alex standing on his balcony, half smiling, half smirking.

I walk over and unlock the doors. I lean against the railing and he does the same, his hair blowing all around his head wildly.

"That was quite a show you put on," he says, flicking up his Ray Bans.

"Would you expect anything else of me, Alex?" I ask goofily.

"Are you flirting with me Natalie?" he smirks. I blush.

"No," I say.

"Really?" he says, his eyes twinkling when he sees my reaction.

I groan. "Good bye, babe, have a nice life."

I start to walk away when Alex leans over the railing and stretches out his long arm, grabbing my hand and pulling me back so that I'm leaning so far over the railing we're face to face.

"Who texted you last night?" he asks, his expression dark. I look away.

"I told you, it was Mum."

"C'mon Nat, I'd be a fool not to see through that lie," he says, rolling his eyes. I get goosebumps when he says my name but I quickly dismiss the feeling.

"Then maybe you should get your eyes checked because the only thing you can look through is ghosts. See ya later!" I say and quickly walk away before he can stop me. I walk into my room and close the doors, drawing the curtains behind me. My friends give me curious looks.

"SO!" I clap my hands, thinking of something to say. "Who wants to help me decorate the treehouse?"

***

"Ahhh," Bubbles flops down onto a grey bean bag in the tree house. It looks really good.

We've put up some curtains, not that the tree house needs any because of the shade, but it looks good. We've decided to name it Bobby. There are a bunch of bean bags in the corner with some patterned Walmart pillows. On another side I have a stack of books on a book shelve. And then in another corner there is a collage of photos. Me and Adele, me and Bubbles and the others. I even stuck up one of Alex, the others smirked at me when I did.

"Oh shut up," I had scowled at them.

Kate and Meghan are reading books and Chloe is walking around the platform. Bubbles is relaxing because she was the one that pulled all the shelves and books up by a rope that is connected to a platform as though we were in Swiss Family Robinson.

The tree house is about 9 meters off the ground and has a surrounding balcony. There is a ladder connecting the tree house to the ground. There is heaps of shade and the only things that can be seen out of the small windows is green leaves. Its pretty warm with the door closed and the curtains drawn which gives it lots of flexibility in Summer when I can just open the windows and let the cool air stream in. I could also sit on the surrounding platform and dangle my legs of the side. We also found a pole that connects to the tree house and looks like a fireman pole. Its fun when we slide down at six o'clock.

I wave goodbye to all of the girls and then walk up to my room. Alex is lying on my bed. I go and plop down next to him. He sits up and crosses his legs. I shut down my phone in my pocket. "How'd you get in?"

"The door was open," he says, shrugging.

"Should have closed it," I mutter to myself.

"Hey!" he says and slaps my arm playfully. Before I can stop myself I slap him really hard. "Ow!"

"Sorry! I lost control! I must be being possessed," I cover my face it my hands and lie back on the bed.

He laugh and lies down next to me. I take the Deathly Hallows off my bedside table and continue reading it. Alex takes out his phone and starts playing candy crush. "HA!" I yell when he runs out of tries. He looks over at me, his dark hair falling across his forehead.

"Lets see you try then!" he hands me the phone and I play, taking a minute before I stop playing when it announces that I've won. Boom! Take that you nutcracker! Actually, I want to see that new Nutcracker movie, it looks good. Oh, I love the story of the nutcracker. I wanna be able to dance.

I see Alex's frowny face and laugh. I pat him on the head and ruffle his hair. Oh my god! I didn't know someone's hair could be so soft. I want to play with it all day...

Ew.

Gross.

Stop it Nat! This is not normal.

I pick up my book and keep reading, pulling it down onto  my face when I blush because of my thoughts. Luckily, Alex continues his game and I keep reading about Harry dying. So sad. :(

A/N: Sorry if I spoiled that for any of you HP haters that haven't read it yet. GO READ IT RIGHT NOW!

We lie there for a couple of hours before I check the time.

"Oh my God! Its ten o'clock!" I say. Alex looks over at me. "Were you really playing candy crush for that long?"

"Nah," he says.

"Then what were you doing for all that time?" I ask.

"My phone went flat," he replies, not answering my question.

"When?" I ask.

"A couple of hours ago."

"Oooo, were you sleeping all that time?" I tease him.

"You were too busy reading to watch me," he says. "Why're you grilling me with all these questions, dude?"

I shrug. "Dunno, babe."

He smiles. "Good night."

He grabs his phone and walks out onto the balcony, jumping over to his side. "Good night!" I call after him. He waves and closes his glass doors. I go and have a shower before walking back into my room and lying on my bed.

My phone keeps beeping non-stop with messages from Amanda. I pick it up and put it on do not disturb, but not before I read the text messages. First its the sl-word and b-word and then a couple of comments about how I'm ugly and fat. Then there's a 'go to hell' message. I put it back on my beside table and turn off my light.

***

When I wake up in the morning I'm greeted by four people crowding over me.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat." Paul pulls my eyelid open and I sit up.

"What?" I snap. I see Felecia holding Liam from in between Lucas and Paul.

When I wake up in the morning I'm greeted by four people crowding over me. She gives him to me. "Hi Liam."

He pulls on my hair while I sit him onto my lap. "Apparently the parents want all of us in our house because they're all going out and you have to supervise us," Felecia says rolls her eyes.

"Ok," I sigh and check the time. Only 8:30? Really? "I'll be down soon."

I hand Liam back to Felecia and the others leave my room and I push back my covers and walk over to the closet. Felecia quickly runs back in with Liam.

"We wanna go swimming! Wear your bathers," she says before rushing back out to her house to get dressed. I walk into my cupboard and open the draw with my swimmers in it. They're not there. I usually wear a black one-piece with  navy swim shirt but neither are in my draw. Actually, I haven't swum since we arrived in America, maybe we didn't bring them?

I guess the others wanna go swimming because the Collins' pool is heated and its winter.

I pick out the bikini Bubbles was so excited about buying. They're blue and white. And the bottoms have a weird water-y pattern on them. Its the top I'm worried about. Its not a halter neck one which I would prefer but it is tied around the back not fixed with the elastic. I sigh and put it on, drawing my white shawl thing around me. Its like a dress but is kinda see through, so its for the beach. I put my hair in a bun, grab a towel and make my way downstairs.

I have to walk all the way downstairs and then out the door and then into the next house and then  out it into the pool yard and then into the pool.

I contemplate not getting in but then Felecia informs me that she wants me to hold Liam while she play with the twins. So, as quickly as I can, I untie the little dress thing from around me and dive into the pool. Luckily its as warm as I expected it to be when the water hits my skin.

I rise up to the top and wipe the water out of my eyes. Felecia hands me Liam who is dressed in a cute swim shirt and floaties. I take him and bounce him in and out of the water. Felecia, Paul and Lucas are playing Marco Polo while I sit on the sit and play with Liam, who've now sat in a pool doughnut.

Liam is laughing and giggling, wiggling his tiny feet so that he moves around me slowly. I smile at him. The pool gate opens and I turn around to look at who has just entered. Instinctively, I slip into the pool so that my whole body, up to my shoulders, is in water.

"Hey dude," he says, coming to sit on the edge of the pool and flicking up his Ray Bans. His white teeth shine brightly when he smiles and his eyes sparkle.

"Hey babe," I say and turn back to Liam. I take him out of the donut and hold him against my chest. He puts his little hands on my collarbone and rests his head on my neck. I bounce up and down slowly and he closes his eyes.

I turn back around. Alex is looking at me with an expression I can't place, but he quickly changes his demeanor.  He says nothing and we look awkwardly at each other before I flick water at him slightly and he jumps up.

"Hey!" he says and runs around the pool. I keep flicking water up at him, making sure it doesn't hit Liam's little and soft face. He tries to leap across the pool from a side to another side, cutting a corner. He misses the side and falls into the pool. I turn around quickly and clutch Liam to me, hearing his small breaths while he sleeps and trying not to get the water from Alex's splash on him. I turn around when the water stops spraying everywhere.

Alex resurfaces and flicks the wet hair out of his face. I roll my eyes. I hate it when boys do that. Alex walks over to me and pouts.

"My shirt is ruined!" he says.

"Oh, I'm sorry that your plain white shirt is ruined," I squint at him and smile sarcastically. I look at his shirt which is drenched and clinging to his skin. Its now see-through and I see his six pack  through it. Woah he looks-

STOP IT NATALIE!

I look back up to his face and see he's smirking. I blush and he laughs. I splash him with water again and he flicks some back at me. I turn around and shield Liam.

The boys start playing a game with water guns and so Felecia comes over to me. "Oh, you're with him," she spits. Alex glares at her. I laugh. She takes Liam from me and walks out of the pool to sit on the bench and dry off, Liam sleeping beside her.

Alex splashes me again. And I splash him back. He splashes me again and it goes on for around fifteen minutes until we both rest against the wall and let our eyes get rid of the chlorine.

He splashes me once more and I flick the water back into his face before hiding behind a pool toy. I don't know where Alex is and so when he comes up behind me and splashes me I squirm and splash him back. He swims away and I follow. The boys have left the pool and are playing on scooters and bikes with Felecia while Liam sleeps on the bench still.

I swim after Alex and he stops right in front of me. I bang into him and try to splash him but no water hits him this time when my hand makes contact with his wet shirt. I pull it away quickly before I feel my hair tie fall out of my hair. I dive after it and come up again. Alex isn't anywhere in sight. I don't get the time to look for him before he jumps in beside me, splashing me with a bomb dive. When he resurfaces I splash him back.

He flicks some more water at me and I scoot closer to get the water into his face. He splashes me back and walks forward, pulling my hands so that I can't splash him. I laugh and kick against him. He ducks under water, still holding my hands, and pulls me down with him. He lets go of my hands and I jump back up. When he re-surfaces he grabs my waist and pulls me into him so that his forehead is level with mine. I splash him again and he smiles.

Woah, how can someone have eyes that blue and teeth so white. Even with his hair wet, it still manages to curl itself into ringlets. He's surveying me as I am to him and when his eyes rest on my smile it quickly fades away and my heart starts to pound and the elephants have a party in my stomach again.

He pulls me even closer into him and my heart skips a beat and feels like its rising through my throat. His forehead touches mine and he looks at me with his ocean blue eyes.

I suddenly remember something, because, somehow, I manage to take my mind off what's happening here and now and think about Noah.

But its not that that makes me swim away and quickly dash out of the pool to dry myself and put on my beach-dress. Its the next thought I have that makes me tell Felecia, Lucas and Paul to go into the games room and do something productive while I follow them with Liam  in my arms. Its the next thought that makes me turn and watch Alex sitting on the pool step with his head in his hands.

Amanda.

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YO! THIS WAS ABSOULUTELY DISGUSTING. I don't blame you if you don't vote!

Anyway, here are some aesthetics I made:

few rude words in  this last one

HAVE A NICE DAY!