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Chapter Thirty Two
For the rest of the week, Noah waits for me by my locker in the morning and walks me to all of my classes. I know he's doing it to be sweet, but a part of me is annoyed with the constant attention. I can barely see Logan and Chloe without Noah by my side.
As for Hayden...he hasn't been to art all week, he hasn't been at my locker- not that he would even be able to talk with me since Noah's always there- and I rarely even see him in the hallways. When I do, he avoids looking at me and walks right past.
It hurts every time I see him and see how he's blatantly ignoring me. I don't know what I did, but I'm too afraid to try and talk to him. Besides, it's probably better this way. With Hayden ignoring me, I can focus on Noah and try to build my relationship with him and forget about the feelings I have for Hayden.
If he had any for me, he seems to have forgotten them.
Tonight, Noah invited me to his house for dinner with his family. He's on his way over now, and my mom is helping me find something to wear. Chloe decided that she doesn't want to help me get dressed up for Noah because she doesn't like him- even less now that he's taking away our girl time at school.
I hear the doorbell ring as I pull on my shirt, and Bruce and Angel dart off my bed and rush down the stairs, almost tripping one another on the way. Bruce lands awkwardly on his three legs and falls into Angel, and she assists him as they continue to trot downstairs.
"Looks like he's here," my mom says, walking down after them.
This is the first my parents will have met Noah, so I'm sure he's nervous for this first impression. I'm nervous to meet his parents tonight for the first time. They saw Noah at the vet, but they never actually talked to him or anything.
I walk downstairs and my eyes widen at the scene in front of me. Noah is pressed against the wall as my dad tries to hold Bruce and Angel away from him.
Even with only three legs Bruce looks terrifying.
"Noah, I'm so sorry! They're never like this!" My mother exclaims, helping my dad pull them towards the back door.
I gasp and rush downstairs as Bruce breaks free and hobbles towards Noah with his teeth bared. He stumbles slightly, but it doesn't lessen the threat.
"Bruce!" I exclaim, stepping in front of him. He instantly puts on the breaks and almost knocks into me, lowering his ears as I begin to scold him. "Bad dog!" I snap, smacking his nose lightly. "You and Angel go outside right now," I command, pointing to the back door.
He whines and turns with his tail tucked and head lowered, and Angel follows after him. I shake my head and look at Noah who looks beyond terrified.
"I am so sorry," I breathe.
He laughs shakily and relaxes his tensed muscles. "It's alright..." He smiles at me and kisses my cheek.
Then he pulls out flowers from behind his back, slightly crumpled from how tightly he was clutching them before, and hands them to my mother.
I look closely and notice that they're roses and I mentally face palm. My mom is allergic to roses.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Holt." He says, turning on a charming smile.
Mom smiles awkwardly, "That was sweet of you Noah, thank you. But I'm actually allergic to roses."
His smile falls and he quickly lowers his hand, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't know."
She sneezes once and Noah cringes.
"It's okay, I'll be fine," she says, waving it off. "If you'll excuse me I'm going to go to the kitchen to wash my hands," she gives Noah another smile, sneezes again, and walks towards the kitchen.
My dad steps forward with his arms crossed and puts out his hand for Noah to shake. "Nice to meet you, Noah."
Noah smiles and shakes his hand, "Nice to meet you too."
He places his arm around my waist and kisses my cheek once he lets go of my dad's hand, and I see my dad stiffen a considerable amount.
Noah, why would you kiss me when my protective father is standing three feet away?
"Ready to go?" He asks.
I smile and take his hand, wave goodbye to my dad- who had a stiff scowl on his face- and we start driving to his house. This is the first I will have actually been to his house, surprisingly. We've been dating a week, which isn't necessarily long, but it's long enough for me to need to meet his parents and actually see where he lives.
As we pull into his driveway, a short five minutes later, I see that while his family isn't as rich as Hayden's, he is obviously pretty well off. He has a two story house- most likely with a basement because of the terrain it was built on. It's a mixture of gray stone and windows, every room is lit up and spotlights illuminate the columns framing the entrance.
"I think you're gonna love my parents," he decides.
I glance at Noah as we get out of his Toyota Solara, "Why is that?"
He grins and kisses my cheek, "Because you're great."
As soon as we step inside, I'm met with a strikingly thick wisconsin accent and am pulled into an equally...thick body for a hug.
"Oh my goodness you must be Reagan!" The lady I assume is Noah's mom exclaims, her accent driving through my ears while she practically buries my face in her boobs.
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Stone." I mutter into her, and she breaks away from the bone crushing hug to smile at me.
Noah definitely gets his smile from her. Her face is beautiful, and she resembles the standard soccer mom with the 'let me speak to your manager' haircut. She's a little overweight, which made the hug great, and has kind eyes like her son.
As I glance around his house and meet his dad as well, I instantly pick up on the fact his home life is beyond perfect. His parents are both amazingly sweet and kind, and I can tell that they are very much in love, and they certainly think Noah is the golden child.
We start on dinner and his parents began asking me all sorts of questions regarding literally everything about me. It felt slightly like an interrogation, only with two super kind cops.
"So Reagan, dear, where do you want to go to college?" His mom, Cheryl, asks.
I have to choke down a bite of my salad in order to answer her since I was mid bite. "I've applied to a few places and I'm waiting to hear back. I'm not sure which I will choose, but I'm thinking of majoring in fine arts. If my art can get me somewhere, I plan on sticking with it."
Instead of interest, I see both of his parents faces flood with disappointed shock. But they cover it up with fake smiles.
"Oh, well now isn't that something!" His dad exclaims, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Noah here wants to go to medical school and become a doctor."
"Not just any doctor. My little boy wants to become a neurological surgeon," Cheryl gushes.
I look at Noah and my eyes widen- I never knew that. "He does?"
Noah fakes a smile like his parents and nods, but I see the actual answer clear in his eyes.
No- a doctor is the last thing he wants to be.
"He applied to Harvard, Columbia University, and Yale," Cheryl boasts.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps down the steps and a few seconds later an older, rugged Noah walks into the room. He catches me completely by surprise and I'm sure the shock is evident on my face.
"Jake what are you doing down here?" Noah snaps out, his brows furrowed together.
He saunters into the room, flipping his messy hair off of his forehead. His arms are covered in all sorts of tattoos, and his clothing is black and unforgiving. He's carrying a sinister smirk as he walks into the room, clearly aware he's unwanted.
"It's my house, bro."
I never knew Noah had a brother. I don't think anyone knew he had a brother, actually.
From what I've seen so far from Noah and his parents, I'm not surprised they don't share their eldest son with other people. Noah's parents seem to be a very high expectation family, and Jake looks like the high school dropout type.
Dang Reagan, way to judge a book by its cover. Maybe he's a doctor too.
"You're 25, 'bro' isn't it about time you move out anyways?" Noah retorts. "You'll have to find a job first."
Jake chuckles and shrugs, walking towards the fridge. "Sorry I'm not an aspiring doctor or lawyer or a whatever," he shrugs, taking the milk and drinking from the jug.
Okay, so not a doctor. I was right.
"Can you go back to your room or whatever?" Noah mocks.
Jake lowers the jug with a smirk. "Why dear brother? Don't want your little girlfriend scared off by the tattoos?" He glances at me and blatantly looks me up and down, but I can tell he's only trying to annoy his family.
"She's kinda cute," he hums. "If you want a good time babe, you can find me in my room. You ever done it on a waterbed?"
His parents choke on their food at Jake's comment, and I see their eyes widened in horror along with Noah's. But I laugh. I don't take offense to what he's saying, I can tell he doesn't mean anything by it.
Jake notices my small chuckle and his smirk melts into an approving smile.
"Jake go back to your room!" Cheryl snaps.
He placed his hands up, "I was only asking."
I chuckle and he smiles at me and winks. "Bye babe."
I wave as he walks out of the kitchen, and the rest of his family breathes a breath of relief.
"We are so sorry about him, dear." Cheryl quickly apologizes.
I shake my head, "No reason to apologize. I never knew Noah had a brother."
They look down at their food and avoid the question behind my statement.
Noah takes my hand and leans over to whisper in my ear. "He dropped out of high school about six years ago, we just don't talk about him."
I take the hint and awkwardly go back to my food. I pretend, like his family does, that I didn't just meet an older brother no one knows Noah has.
---
"Chloe, he asked me to prom."
Chloe's jaw drops along with her purse as she steps inside.
After dinner with Noah and his family, he and I went for a drive to some cute scenic area that he had set up as a promposal. He had a hundred roses spell out the word "prom" in an open field. I had completely forgotten prom was only a few weeks away- the entire year went by so fast.
My project with Hayden was a few months ago, and to me it feels like it was only yesterday Duncan paired us together.
"He asked you to prom?" Chloe reiterates.
I nod and pull her up to my room, "He brought me to some field and had the word prom laid out in roses."
I sit down on my bed, listening to the headboard slam obnoxiously against the wall as I sit, and watch as Chloe sits in my desk chair.
"I can't believe that... He already asked you."
I nod, "I mean prom is only like two weeks away."
"This year has really flown by," she sighs.
"I know, I don't even remember winter or Christmas..." I trail off. "It's as if we skipped so much, yet I know it all happened. Which is why I was so shocked when Noah asked me to prom, I forgot all about it."
"Yeah, I can't believe he asked you," she muses half to herself.
"He's my boyfriend."
"Yeah, but..." She trails off and shakes her head, and forces a smile. "That's exciting, right?"
I roll my eyes at her and laugh, "Yes it's exciting! I have a date to the senior prom!"
"You could have had one without Noah."
My smile drops and I look away, "You mean Hayden? The guy who's been ignoring me all week?"
"That's the one."
"Who says he would have even asked me?"
"Me."
I scoff and roll my eyes at her, laying back on my bed. "He wouldn't have asked me, Chloe. Besides, I have Noah now."
But even the mention of Hayden's name had my heart jumping. Thoughts of him are swarming through my head and I feel a familiar pang in my chest.
"How is he?" I ask quietly, staring up at the ceiling.
"He misses you."
I shake my head, "Yeah, right."
"And you miss him."
"I'm with Noah."
"You didn't deny it."
I sit up abruptly. "If he missed me, he wouldn't be avoiding me and ignoring me."
Chloe sighs and looks away, "I guess."
"What about Cole? What's the status there?" I ask, changing the conversation as quickly as I can. "Has he asked you to prom?"
Her attitude does a complete 180 at the mention of Cole and she grins. "Him and I are great. He hasn't asked me yet, but I'm assuming he will soon. Especially once other promposals start happening."
"Who's Hayden asking?"
Stupid Reagan. Why do you have to bring everything back to him?
Chloe looks at me and sighs deeply, "I don't know anymore."
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