Chapter 5

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. My ringtone Sparks Fly was playing loudly making it difficult for me to avoid it. Finally, I sat up reaching for the phone on my side table.

Who the hell is calling me? Today is Saturday I can sleep for the whole day no school. The phone stopped ringing before I could answer it.

Thank God! I buried my head in my pillow trying to sleep again. My phone started ringing again. I picked it up and it was Noah.

What the hell? It’s eight in the morning. He is disturbing my beauty sleep.

“This better be important.” I said angrily as soon as I answered without even saying a hello. I hate being disturbed specially in the morning.

“Hi. Wow! You are in a good mood.” He said sarcastically.

I frowned. “What do you want? It’s eight in the morning, on a Saturday. I want to sleep.” I said honestly making him laugh again.

“You are grumpy in the morning. Not a morning person huh?” he asked with an amusing tone as if he expected me to be a morning person.

“Please, just say what you have to and let me go back to sleep.” I said pleading him to understand.

“Ok. Can you come over today?” he asked.  Why? I don’t want to go anywhere. On weekends I like spending my time reading and just being by myself.

“Why? What’s the occasion? I asked.

“Next Friday I have a basketball game. So, we won’t be able to do our assignment after school. If you come today, we could cover-up the work for Friday.” He said.

I should go otherwise we will not be able to submit the assignment on time. Some grades depend on it. On the plus side, I get to see Noah again which would be nice. I smiled. I quickly realized I was still holding the phone.

“Ok I guess. We do need to complete the assignment by the end of the month.” I said easily trying to control my excitement. I get to spend time with him again today. Looks like I am in luck.

“Great! Will see you in an hour or so? He asked sounding hopeful.

“Yes ok. See you.” I said. I was so excited I could burst. I was looking forward to this. Yesterday I had so much fun. He was so sweet and caring last night.

“Ok, don’t go back to sleep.” He said warningly before he hung up.

I was excited but a little nervous too. Why did he make me so nervous? I should get up and start getting ready. I don’t want to be late. I walked into my en-suite bathroom, brushed my teeth and showered, washing my hair.

I wrapped a towel around myself and walked to my closet. I just stood there staring at my clothes. I really need to go shopping. What should I wear? After a long time of staring, I slipped on some boy shorts and plain white tube top. I wore a checkered shirt over it and rolled the sleeves up to my elbows.

I applied some clear gloss and took one last look in the mirror. I grabbed my bag and ran downstairs in a hurry. I practically skipped to my car and started driving.

After driving for a few minutes, I reached Noah’s house. I parked my car and walked towards the door. I took few calming deep breaths and then knocked on his door. My heart was beating fast.

“Hey. I knew it was you. Come inside.” He said smiling and taking hold of my hand and pulling me inside. His every single touch sent tingles and sparks throughout my body. He led me straight towards his bedroom still holding my hand.

I sat on the bed while he was gathering the things we needed. “Sorry I disturbed you in the morning.” He said looking at me apologetically.

I smiled. “It’s ok. Sorry I was rude to you in the morning. I like to sleep in on weekends.” I said honestly.

He smiled at me and it made my heart ache. I loved it when he smiled at me liked that. It makes me happy to see him smile.

“I have something for you.” He said and headed out of the room before I could ask him anything. He came back with a tray in his hand and set it down in front of me.

There were two plates of chocolate chip pancakes and two glasses of orange juice. He made breakfast for me. He is so damn sweet. I looked up to see him smiling at me. How is he so thoughtful? I smiled gratefully. I was hungry.

“I thought you won’t get time for breakfast so I made you some.” He said smiling as if it was nothing.

“Thank you. I love chocolate chip pancakes. How did you know?” I asked looking at his deep blue eyes.

“I didn’t know that. I like chocolate chip pancakes.” He said looking at me a little sheepishly and smiling a little.

I laughed and picked up my plate cutting my pancake with the fork. It was really good and quite tasty. He lives alone so maybe he is a good cook. I took another bite. “Um this is really good.” I said with a mouthful.

He laughed.” Very lady like Rebecca.” He said, shaking his head. I rolled my eyes and got back to my pancake. It was delicious.

“Where did you learn to cook so well?” I asked removing my books and the pages we used yesterday from my bag.

He frowned before adjusting his expression. “My mom and I use to make pancakes on every Sunday.” He said and got back to writing.

“Where is your mom? Does she work too?” I asked. He told me yesterday that his Dad worked and he was not home very often.

Noah looked a little upset. Maybe he doesn’t like talking about her. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have asked anything. It’s none of my business anyway.” I said. I didn’t mean to upset him or anything but, he looked sad.

“No it’s alright. I just…” he stopped. I shouldn’t push him. He can talk to me if he wants. He should know that.

“If you ever need to talk about anything I will always listen.” I said looking straight into his eyes so he would know that I meant it.

He was quiet for a long time. I really upset him. I shouldn’t have said anything. Stupid Rebecca!  Now he is upset. He looked at me and I smiled at him warmly not knowing what else to do? I started writing again.

“My mom left me and my dad when I was 12 years old. She never even called to see whether I was alive or dead. Who abandons their young child and husband like this?” he said looking at me with hurt in his eyes. I couldn’t say anything.

“She ran away with her boyfriend. She had been dating him only for a year. She left us for him. You know what hurts the most?” he said looking at me so intensely. I just shook my head and moved a little closer to his side.

“She didn’t even wait for me and dad to come home. We were at the park that evening. She left a note on the counter. I didn’t even get a goodbye or a hug. She had left me a letter which I never opened. I didn’t want to listen to her excuse for running away leaving us behind.” He said and resting his forehead in his hands.

“I am so sorry Noah.” I said sadly and putting one hand on his shoulder and other on his thigh gently grazing it. He looked so sad. I blinked a couple of times to make my tears go away. I needed to be strong for him. He looked up into my eyes.

“We were really close. I told her everything. From my day at school to my latest crushes. Everything and she just left without saying anything to me or dad. She never even called either of us. Dad threw himself into his work. My life changed in a matter of days. That’s why I don’t like to talk about her. Its only brings back the bad memories.” He said, still holding my gaze.

He moved his hand and took hold of my hand resting on his thigh interlacing our fingers. His gaze was so intense it was scaring me a little. “I am sorry. I will never ask about her again.” I said assuring. I felt tears welling up my eyes but, I refused to let them fall.

He nodded. “I actually felt good, saying those things aloud. It had been inside me for too long. I am now relieved. Thank you.” He said softly, squeezing my hand gently.

“You don’t need to thank me. We are friends right? I am there to listen to you.” I said smiling at him squeezing his hand assuring. I meant it and I needed him to know that.

He smiled, really smiled. His smile reached his eyes. “Let’s get back to work then.” He said.

I nodded. We were sitting so close, I quickly moved away from him. “Yes we should continue. It’s almost lunchtime. I have to leave in sometime.” I said.

He frowned. “Do you have anything to do today?” he asked crossing his hands over his chest and looking at me.

He looks so handsome. “No. Why?” I asked curiously.

He smiled and sat down. “Then you are spending the day here with me.” He said sternly like he has already made the decision.

I shook my head, whole day? What will I tell my parents? I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. “I don’t want to hear anything. You are spending the day with me and that’s it. End of discussion.” He said shrugging.

I could spend the day here. Even I wanted to. Noah was so sweet and nice, making me laugh. I would love to spend my day with him. “Ok I will spend the day with you.” I said smiling at him happily.

He smiled his beautiful smile and looked at me so tenderly it made my heart speed up. “You have no idea, how much fun we are going to have.” He said raising one eyebrow at me, making me laugh.

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Thanks J