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Iris
"Would you stop with that knife, Colten Dias?" I snap at my best friend.
Colt stops running his finger on the butter knife and looks at me, coolly. "Why?"
"Because this is not a fantasy novel and you cannot kill Noah with that," I say, stomping back and forth as if I am planning a murderâwhich I am.
Because Noah Arthur Radcliffe is late.
Stupid Nommy is so late that I will kill him when he comesâif he comes.
Today is Sunday and he said he would be here in the afternoon, taking me someplace, I don't know which is very concerning. He can just take me to a wide grassy area and tell me to search for treasure.
No, wait. That was what Adi told meâso, Noah would definitely not do that.
"Who said I was gonna kill Noah? I am just scarâ"
I stop my scheming walk and turn to Colt. "I will get the butcher's knife from the kitchen."
"Cristo, Iris, stop!" Colt stands in front of me, holding out his hand.
I turn towards the left.
He slides towards the left.
I glare at him and push him away.
He recovers and pulls me back.
Alas, I started throwing punches at his arm.
"Don't let me use my height," Colt tells me, avoiding all of my punches.
I jerk away from his hold. "You are already using your height. My neck will break from looking at you."
"Huh," He huffs. "I wonder what you think of Noah's seven feet height."
"He is only six-four," I grumble, looking at the door.
There is a slight pause from Colt's end, before he asks, "What's my height, Iris?"
"Five-eleven." I walk towards the door and open it.
"Whaâwhaâare you crazy? I am over six-one."
"No, I am not crazy, and really? You are over six?"
"I am your best friend for years and you don't know my height but you know the guy you met over a month agoâNoah's exact height?"
I slam the door close.
Why? Why am I being like this?
It is not a real date.
It is a friend date.
Friend dates are supposed to be amazing and fun and super platonic. I do this Nick and Alyssa a lot, even Victoria joins us now. Colt thinks it is like hanging out and calling it a date is weird. So, he never comes. Tom thinks I will have a crush on him the moment I go on a date with him. Mike just doesn't come because of Alyssa. And Caleb has 'more important things to do than be a part of this crap'.
"Before you think that it is a friend date," Colt starts and I turn towards him slowly. "Let me remind you what you told him yesterdayâI am not going to be in a relationship, then what's the point of this?"
"I said it to everyone," I argue.
"But you looked at him and said it," Colt argues back.
"He was sitting right in front of me. So, he was just... in the direction of where I was looking."
"Can you even hear yourself?"
I argue, "Yes, and I make sense. You make no sense!"
Colt groans and stomps away, before turning back to me. "Where's Steve?"
I shrug. "He had an emergency in the hospital."
Colt narrows his eyes. "Mia?"
"In the study."
He gasps and points at me. "You deliberately chose a time when both of them will be busy."
I scoff. "I wish. Dad literally was sitting there on the stairs, waiting for Noah to show up because he thought Noah would come early to meet him. Mom doesn't care because it is Noah and she trusts him."
"Noah has them wrapped around his finger." Colt nods. "Respect."
I roll my eyes when the doorbell rings.
"Ugh, finally!" I groan but almost as fast as lightning, Colt leans on the door and opens it before me, trying to twirl the knife in his hand.
I stand on my toes to look at Noah, over Colt's shoulder.
He has worn a grey long-sleeved Henley t-shirt, top two buttons opened and sleeves pushed back till the elbows, with blue jeans and black converse shoes (at which, I let out a small laugh). His hair is pointing in different directions as if he pushed back his hair several times before coming here.
But it is the lip ring that makes me fallâalmost.
Oh god, he had to put that today out of all the days.
Noah looks at Colt with his utmost blank face. "That's a butter knife."
I sigh, widening the door. "I told this idiot butcher's knife would be good."
"I agree it would haveâ" Noah stops when he looks at me.
I have worn wide-leg denim pants and a white top under a red retro plaid shirt which I have left open. I have paired them with white sneakers. I again have left my hair all to the wind but I have a scrunchie just in case.
What? I felt good and wanted to dress up. That's it.
"Fuck my life," Noah murmurs.
No other reason.
His amber eyes seem to analyze me as they sweep over me. I look away from his gaze when I feel my cheeks reddening. With that lip ring and this gaze, my face may just match my shirt.
This date is a terrible idea, now. Terrible terrible idea.
"Would you both stay like this for the whole date?" Colt interrupts and I come back to my senses.
"Friend date," I correct Colt.
He tilts his head and looks between me and Noah. He mouths, "You sure, sweetie?"
I gape at him and elbow him for using that 'sweetie'. I mouth back, "I hate you!"
Noah clears his throat and pushes back his hair. "I see you are ready," He says to me.
"You gave me enough time." I smile, tightly. "Why in hell were you this late?"
He just shrugs. I narrow my eyes but my sight falls again on the lips. A slight lift of the lips and I look away, knowing Noah noticed it.
Behind us, there is a loud bark and I just know he is awake. Noah looks behind us and smiles. Yeti, literally, whooshes past and jumps on Noah.
"Hey, hey," Noah laughs as Yeti starts licking his face when he bends down to meet him. "I missed you too, bud."
I smile, looking at Yeti's happy face as Noah rubs his mane.
Colt whispers to me, "Why is this so cute?"
"I don't know but it is melting my heart," I whisper back. I bend down and call Yeti. He turns to me, immediately, and yaps happily. I give a small look to Noah that Yeti loves me more and he just raises his eyebrows.
Holding his face, I say to Yeti, "So, Yeti, I am going with Noah on a little friend dateâ" Colt scoffs and I ignore him. "âand I will be back soon. Keep Mommy and Daddy safe and don't let them do any funny pranks when I am not here, okay?"
Yeti gives me the best puppy eyes and licks my hands as if he understands me. I kiss his mane and whisper, "I will be back, okay?"
He barks and turns to Noah, not to lick him but just stare at him. Noah chuckles and says, "Message received."
I stand up and look at Colt. "Now, your turn."
Colt looks taken aback. "Me?"
"Go to your damn house, Dias."
"Butâ"
"I am sure Alya already knows about the broken vase."
He rubs his neck and looks away. He murmurs, "She doesn't know about the carâ"
I blink. "What did youâ"
"Take her now!" Colt pushes me out of the door.
"Colt!" I say, turning towards him. "Tell me what youâ"
"Have a nice friend date!" He grins and waves at us. With that little stress on 'friend', he slams the door on my face. I hear two woofs from Yeti that means he is saying bye to me too.
"Youâyou cannotâugh! It is not your place!" I stomp my foot and turn towards Noah.
Noah steps back, smirking like the stupid he is. He holds out his hand. "Shall we?"
I ignore his hand and walk down the porch. "Dad said to be back by 11."
"Yes, ma'am."
Despite being a little angry, I smile at that.
***
"You got me to the amusement park?" I turn to Noah.
He shrugs. "Everybody likes amusement parks."
"Obviously!" I scream, happily. "Oh my god! Oh my goodness! Eeeeeyyyaayy!"
Noah looks at me in surprise. "I didn't expect this reaction."
"What did you expect?" I ask him.
"I thought you would say how childish this is," He replies in a low voice.
I stare at him. "This is how friend dates are supposed to be."
He turns to me, almost instantly. He nods and says, "Yes, yes. This is how a friend date supposed to be."
"You are being weird," I tell him. "Everything okay, Noah?"
He looks across my face for a moment, before walking away. "Yeah, everything's fine."
He is not lying but I don't know. Everything just doesn't seem fine with Noah, right now. The whole way here, he did not say much, except for clipped 'yes or no' answers. His posture is tensed and he has been pushing back his hair a lot.
Was this friend date a mistake? Why did I agree? Why couldn't be just angry more and not come with him? It would have saved him all this trouble to do get me here.
"Stop thinking what is wrong with me," Noah comments. "Most of the time, I am like this."
"Yeah," I look at him. "I am just worried about you."
We don't say anything to each other as we pay for our tickets and enter the park.
It isn't an amusement park, if you ever observe it, properly. It is like that Pier carnival that you can visit anytime you want. The boardwalk over the blue waters and next to it, on the land, the small cute stalls, selling dresses and jewelry, the game stalls â only the worthy can win, they say, but I say, the owners cheat â and, the best is the food stalls.
All types of rides, a giant wheel, and a small water park are also there. Every night they have a fireworks display that just looks like it paints the black sky with sparkling colors.
Suddenly, Noah wraps his arm around me. He looks at me, smiling. At first, I am shocked but I do smile back.
"What's happening?" I whisper ask him. Using his other hand, he brushes my cheek. I almost shiver and lean into the touch but I hold back.
"Some guys were eyeing you like you were a fucking piece of meat," He whispers. "I hate it."
"What?" I look at him in shock.
I have never seen Noah possessive ever. The tightness and anger on his face are very evident. He looks into my eyes as if searching for something, his hand resting on my cheeks nowâwhat is happening right now?
He replies, "I hate that some cannot see a woman like the way she isâthey have to eye her as if she is their next sex mission."
Noticing that there are women and men looking at him, I say, "Isn't it the same for men? Some men are way more than what they look like."
Noah blinks in confusion.
"I should kill those judgmental part of society with that butcher's knife, before they come near us, right?" I say and he smiles.
"After you kill me, right?" He says with confidence, "But I know you wouldn't kill me."
I raise an eyebrow and smirk. "Famous last words."
He chuckles, pulling away from me. Looking around, he says, "Let's try the Gladiator, first."
I whine, "Ugh, no. Let's do the rollercoaster, first."
"No," He says.
"Yes," I say back.
"No, Bella."
"Yes, Noah."
This continues for a minute and twelve seconds until the first ride we go on is the Scrambler.
***
I will never take Noah with me for sky-diving.
No. No, I should keep something on the low level.
I will never take Noah to a horror houseâthat's on the ground.
In an hour and fifty-six minutes, we had gone through most of the rides â I was the one actually enjoying it while Noah seemed a bit green, especially after Tilt-A-Whirl. After that, he told me to wait while he gets something to eat.
But no.
He leaves me in the middle of the park and is nowhere to be found, now. My mind is whirling around on which stupid picture of Noah I can give to the police department so that they can find him when I dig him out of his grave after killing him when I find him.
"Wait, why the hell am I waiting for him? I can just go to the food stall, myself," I murmur, rolling my eyes at myself. Turning towards the popcorn stall, I see another person over there as he looks at me, too.
"Iris Cooper," Tanner says, grinning.
"Tanner Hood. You seem a bit taller than last time I met you," I say to him, grinning, and he laughs.
"Thank you for noticing this!" We laugh, together. "So, are you here alone?" He asks me and I shrug.
"No. The person I came here with has vanished, apparently," I say, shrugging. Tanner gives me a look.
"Are you sure you are not the one who actually got lost?" He asks me, trying to hide his amusement.
"No," I state. "He told me to stand near some stall and I just move..." I trail away, remembering that I moved away to see a magic show (I was interested).
He raises an eyebrow, amused. "Well?"
"Okay, fine. I got lost." I sigh. "Anyway, are you alone?"
"What can I say? I am a lone wolf," Tanner says, shaking his head in mock embarrassment, and I laugh.
"How's that working for you?"
"Well, I did get you in that process, didn't I?" Tanner says, smugly, and I roll my eyes.
"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Tanner." Then, I remember something. "You didn't come to the match."
Tanner tenses a bit but replies. "Didn't want to. Anyway, Crescent lost."
I nod. "Yeah... that was some match."
"So, should IâIs that your friend?" He says, pointing behind my shoulder, and I look over, seeing Noah looking around.
"Uh, yeah. I should go and meet him, now," I say to Tanner but he is looking a bit cold and wounded. Now, I remember that Adi said something to Tanner, a few weeks ago.
"Yeah, I must go too," Tanner says to me, giving me a timid smile. Before he turns away, he says to me, "He is a great guy, Iris."
What?
Before I can ask him, Tanner has already blended in with the crowd and I feel Noah behind me.
"Bella? What the fuck were you thinking to move from that place?" Turning I meet with Noah's furious eyes but before I can say anything, he says, "What are you even doing in the middle of nowhere? Someone could have kidnapped you!"
"Why would they kidnap me?" I scoff, looking at him.
"Because..." he trails away, pushing back his hair. "Never mind."
I keep my hand on his shoulder. "Noah, I think you are overreacting. I am fine. You could've called me," I say to him, calmly.
Wait, I could have called him, too.
I should start calling myself a dumbo.
Noah runs his fingers through his hair, again. "I just... it is just..." He looks into my eyes and I can see he was scared.
"Noah, it is alright. For god's sake, I thought you left me but then, I realized how I was the one who got lost. I was going to go to that shop, anyway."
"Yes. Yes, you are right. Are you hungry?"
I am a bit shocked at his casual way of changing the topic. But instead of questioning it, I reply, "Yeah, sure. Let's eat."
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come on, i won't really leave you at this. scroll/click for the next chapter.