Without Noah by my side, my mind went back to catastrophizing about yesterday. It was hard to get past the near-death experience me and my brother had. And the last night's dream only fueled my anxiety.
I was also worried for Gabriel, not knowing how he was taking in the incident. He had seen that beast from up-close, its huge form, sharp tusks and heard its loud growls. Though he seemed to be holding himself better than me, still you never knew what might churn out of it from his unconscious side. Psychological scars took time to manifest.
I would've liked to talk to my little brother but after today's morning we weren't on speaking terms. It was my doing.
During breakfast Mom had asked Gabriel where his bag was. He had left it at school to venture into the woods. Her question gave me idea to put a leash on the little rascal. I suspected he'd run out of school again to meet his 'friend' Gorrie. I had to stop him.
I snitched on him to Mom about his little adventure, minus the Realm of Magic part. She yelled at both us, at him for the obvious reason, and at me for not telling her earlier.
The look of betrayal that Gabriel gave me broke my heart, but it had to be done. Mom called his school's administration and gave them an earful for not keeping an eye on the children. She even threatened to get other parents involved from her firm. If those people got involved then the reputation of that school was going to be on the line. Seeing my mom screaming on the phone, I realized that small woman carried lot of spunk.
Long story short, Gabriel wouldn't be leaving his school premises unless with me or Mom. So I had one less thing to worry about.
Though this whole ordeal made me feel like a villain. Gab had refused to talk to me on the way to our schools. Throughout the bus ride he didn't even look at me. I felt so sorry for him when he was reprimanded by his teachers too.
But at least I had the assurance he was safe. Eventually he'd forget about that Realm and Gorrie too and make up with me.
Right now I was in History class where Mr. Rodriguez was droning about American Civil War. My head wasn't into the lecture. There were so many other things running on it. One of them was Noah.
Besides daydreaming about him, I was also mulling over his last week's ominous warnings of staying out of the forest land. What if he wanted me to stay away because he knew about the strange stuff there?... It made sense since a large part of that land was owned by his family.
But I didn't know if I had it in me to confront him about it. This whole situation was nothing short of crazy. What if Gab and I were the only one who had seen that world? Maybe Noah wanted me to stay away from woods for other totally normal reasons and not because of this dangerous Realm.
I had already carried the tag of loner, I didn't want the one of freak. Gab could easily babble about such stuff, he was seven, no one would take him seriously. But I was an eighteen-year-old adult. Unlike Gab, I wasn't going to get free pass after rambling about Magic Realm and its giant animals.
"Ms. Martin," Mr. Rodriguez called, snapping me out of my thoughts. I jerked up and found him glaring at me. It seemed my lack of attention in class was too obvious. "What was the Missouri compromise?" He asked me.
"Uhh... It was an agreement between free states and slave states that admitted Missouri as a slave state," I answered.
His gray brows knitted. "And..."
"And?"
"And it established Maine as free state," he completed. "Stop daydreaming and pay attention in class," he reprimanded me.
I nodded and blushed having the eyes of whole class on me. "Sorry."
*******
I almost jumped as I shut my locker door. Abigail Green stood in front of me, her baby blue eyes sizing me up and down. She looked prim from head to toe with her blond hair tied up in a pony tail, and her already tall figure boosted by four inch heels.
"Can I help you?" I asked, shooting her a scowl and trying not to let her intimidating presence affect me. I wasn't yet over how she insulted me at Gordon's party.
A saccharine sweet smile curved on her lips. "Yes Giselle. I'm actually here to apologize for the things I said to you at the party. It was very rude of me." I raised my brows, surprised. This was the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth. "You see, my tongue starts slipping once the alcohol gets in me." That night it didn't look like at all her tongue was slipping. Her every word had been intentional, sober. "I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," I said curtly, wanting to get her off my back. It was lunch and I was looking forward to eat with the boys. Also I was missing Noah already.
"Thanks for taking the weight off my shoulders," she chirped, "I was feeling really guilty."
I nodded, her body language making it hard to believe her words.
"You know, Jason is really missing you," she said, "you should throw a bone to that poor guy." She clicked her tongue. "But now I think you won't be giving him much thoughts, at least for some days. Sylvan already got you. It's sad actually. You and Jason would make such a cute couple, but now Noah's going to ruin you for him."
"What do you mean?" I asked, my tone harsh. I didn't like the way she talked about Noah.
Abigail smiled. "Come on Giselle, you must've heard how Noah is. He's not the commitment type. In fact he should've been the first one to let you know that.
"When we started dating he told me beforehand to not take things too seriously. He changes girls like clothes. I, of course, knew what I was getting into, a good time before we parted ways, and that's what happened.
"But I don't think you're that sort of girl Giselle. You look so...sweet, so innocent for a player like him. It actually worries me for you." She sighed as though she hadn't just shattered me. "Well, if you know what you're getting into then it's all good I guess."
Hurt, jealousy, disappointment and anger all swirled together inside me. It wasn't like Abigail told me anything new about Noah, but it hurt the same. Her words were like a wake up call, crumbling down the air castles I had built inside my head.
I had put too much emotions in our budding... relationship? Friendship? I wasn't even sure what we were. Practically speaking, we didn't even need to figure it out. It just had been what? Only more than a day since we started... interacting.
But the connection I felt with him could surpass the years of relationship. It felt so easy being with him. Holding hands, sweet talks and doting glances, all of it felt so natural, like how it should be.
Was I the only one who was getting my hopes up? For Noah it could all very well be just another one of his flings.
"What are you doing here?" An angry voice rumbled from behind me, sending tingles down my spine despite its harshness. My whole body warmed and thousand butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Noah. Speak of the devil...
I turned around to find him glaring at Abigail. He took a step forward to stand in front as if shielding me from her.
"I was here to say sorry to Giselle," Abigail said, smiling, but her tone now lacked its sharp edge. Noah intimidated her.
Noah's eyes narrowed. "You're not the one to apologize Abigail."
"But I wanted to with Giselle. I realized I was out of line at the party."
He scowled before turning his head to look at me.
"She was here to apologize," I reassured him. 'And to tell me how much of a player you are,' I thought.
"Wow, you don't need to make such a big deal about it Noah." Abigail rolled her eyes. "You're acting like I'm going to eat her. You were never this protective of your girlfriends before-" she stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowing as she studied us. Something akin to realization passed through her face and her eyes widened. "Fuck. Is she your...? But she's..." She gasped.
"Shut it!" Noah hissed, glaring her down. "Not a word about this to anyone." He warned her.
Abigail nodded, gulping.
"What are you guys going on about?" I asked, extremely confused with their behavior.
"Nothing," Noah replied, tearing his gaze away from Abigail, who was already walking away. He took my hand. "Others are waiting for us. Let's go." With that I was dragged away in the direction of lunchroom.
"What you two were talking about?" I once again questioned him.
Noah's jaw clenched but he didn't say anything. His steps were long and I was barely keeping up with him.
"What did she mean?"
No answer.
"What am I to you?" I was getting annoyed at his silence. "Am I just another one of your fling? Another conquest? What did she-"
He stopped and I almost crashed into him. His emerald eyes glinted with anger and something feral as they met mine. "You're my everything Martin," he gritted. "If your pretty mouth says anything otherwise I have number of ways to shut it." His gaze dropped on my lips. "Understand?"
I nodded, shocked by his unusual threat.
"Good girl." He oozed dominance and it awakened something raw in me.
My feet again started moving as he pulled me with him to get us lunch.
*******
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You can read two chapters ahead on inkitt. Link is in bio.