Chapter 22

I arrived home at 12:21 AM. My mother knew that I was going to be getting home late so she was sitting on the couch watching a movie when I arrived. She quickly hit pause on the remote, stopping the movie. She turned towards me, patting the spot on the couch beside her. Slowly, I walked over and sat down next to her.

“So, how was it?” she asked me.

“It was fun,” I responded with a slow nod.

“Did you dance with anyone?” she asked with a knowing grin.

“Yeah, I danced with Floyd and some other guy; I forgot his name,” I shrugged.

“What about Noah?” she asked. “Are you guys okay now?”

I nodded as I stared at the television. “Yeah, but he didn’t want to dance.”

“But you guys talked?” she asked.

“Yeah, we did,” I told her with a small smile on my face. I still dont' know why he was mad, though. “In fact, we’re going to be hanging out tomorrow- just the two of us.”

“A date?” my mother asked with furrowed eyebrows. “I don’t want you and him alone at his house."

I quickly began shaking my head. “No, mom, not like that,” I was blushing furiously, “We’re going guitar shopping.”

“Since when have you been interested in playing the guitar?” she scoffed.

“Since a while ago, mom, get with the program,” I told her.

“You mean since you found out that Noah plays guitar,” she told me with narrowed eyes.

“No, mom, I’ve wanted to play for a while. I think dad would be proud of me if I learned how to play a new instrument,” I told her.

“He wouldn’t be proud of me for letting you spend so much time with Noah,” she rolled her eyes.

“Noah’s a good guy. I think dad would like him,” I nodded as I stared at the floor. “The two of them have the same taste in music.”

“Noah likes rock?” she asked.

I nodded, laughing quietly. “Yeah, every time we’re in a car together, he puts on at least one Green Day song.”

“Your father did that,” my mother mused. “But he would sing along and he was terrible.”

Laughing, I nodded. “I remember.” We sat in silence for a few moments as we reminisced about my father.

“So, you’re going to learn the guitar?” she asked.

I nodded with a smile. “Yeah, but I need guitar money.”

Giving me a smile, my mother laughed. “How much do you have already?”

“Seventy, not including my old birthday money,” I told her.

My mother narrowed her eyes at me. “I’ll give you money, but you have to do a lot more chores around here.”

“I already do enough chores!” I told her.

“No you don’t! You’re lazy!” she responded. “When you were little—,” she began.

“Is that a fat joke?” I cut in. My mother stared at me for a minute before breaking into laughter. I joined in, laughing loudly with her, just like I would a few years ago, when everything was okay.

<<>><<>> 

I woke up late and when I say late, I mean 11:30 late. Normally on Sunday evenings, I’d sleep in until about 12, maybe a bit earlier, and sometimes a bit later, depending on the weekend’s events. And getting home a little after midnight, being interviewed by my mother, and not being able to fall asleep until one (because Dakota was too hyper) took a toll on me. So the moment I woke up, I immediately jumped out of bed and dove towards the closet, intent on getting ready quickly.

I planned on taking a five-minute shower but it turned out to be fifteen minutes and I didn’t have time to dry my hair. And going without a shower wasn't an option- I was jumping and dancing about all night, and I didn't shower when I got home. I pulled on a pair of black jeans and the cleanest t-shirt sitting in my dresser- it happened to be a dull gray color. I heard a car horn honking outside of my house as I went to pull on my sneakers. Realizing that my hair was still damp, I cringed and grabbed an elastic band and shoved my hair into a sloppy bun.

Filling my pockets with my phone, my lip balm, and the money that my mom gave me last night after I begged her for some, I rushed down the steps. Listening to the rain pounding the roof like a hammer, I quickly grabbed a hoodie from the coat rack in the corner of the living room.

I slipped outside of the house, walking towards the familiar red car. Ducking into the passenger seat, I sighed in relief as the warmth greeted me. Times like this, I don’t understand how people actually deal with snow. “Your hair’s wet,” Noah noted as I yanked down the hood of my jacket.

“Yeah, I woke up a bit later than I would’ve liked,” I admitted as I buckled my seatbelt, feeling the car jolt as he pulled away from the sidewalk and began driving down the road.

“What time did you plan to wake up?” he inquired as he stopped at a red light.

I sighed and placed my head on the headrest, closing my eyes tiredly. “Nine thirty.”

“And when’d you get up?” he asked.

“Eleven thirty,” I exhaled. “So what’d you do when you got home?” I stupidly asked.

Giving me an annoyed look, he sighed. “Unfortunately, I had to listen to Marissa blast her One More Try albums until two in the morning in preparation for the concert. Thanks for that, by the way,” he glared.

I grinned in response, shrugging. “It’s my pleasure,” I told him.

We slowed to a stop at an instrument store and we stepped out into the rain, jogging towards the store. Noah was ahead of me and I had to move quicker to catch up. I was practically dying by the time we reached the store. The sound of the bell and the warm air greeted me and I let out a breath, looking around. Drum sets, guitars, violins, violas, cellos, basses, flutes, clarinets, and even foreign instruments that I couldn’t place names to decorated the store. “Wow,” I muttered in astonishment.

As if he did this every day, Noah walked towards the back wall where guitars were hanging. “You play?” a girl’s voice asked. A girl with several piercings walked over with a name tag on her shirt: Clarabelle Q. She looked at Noah who nodded and skimmed the guitar labels. “Why don’t you look at something a bit more complex? These are beginner guitars,” she explained.

“She needs one,” he responded, nodding his head towards me.

The girl began asking me questions about the type of guitar I wanted. I looked to Noah when she asked questions that I didn’t quite understand, and he’d answer them for me, which I was grateful for. When the girl finally brought me to a wall of guitars and told me that they’re the best choice for me, I quickly went with the basic acoustic. I didn’t expect the guitar to be that expensive but luckily, I brought enough money. I also got a free guitar pick.

Noah carried the guitar out for me, mainly because I had to hold the umbrella. It was hard to do because he’s so much taller than me and I had to keep it above his head. He grumbled occasionally as I brushed the umbrella on his hair. He put the guitar in the backseat of the car before getting into the driver’s side. I was seated in the passenger’s seat, watching as he shook his hair out like a dog.

“When do the lessons start, teacher?” I asked him curiously.

He shrugged. “I don’t know…whenever, I guess”

As we sat back, pulling out of the parking lot, my stomach decided to be an idiot and start roaring like a lion. I let out an awkward laugh as Noah chuckled. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, rubbing my hands along my jeans. I hadn’t eaten since the party last night.

“Do you want to stop at McDonald's or something?” he muttered quietly.

“Uh, yeah, that’d be great,” I responded, turning on the radio so that the song would tune out the sound of my stomach. We drove for about ten more minutes before we pulled into the McDonald's drive through, which was surprisingly empty. We ordered and Noah decided to pull into an empty space in the parking lot.

We silently ate, not bothering to speak. The music filled in for the absence of our voices. I decided to speak up, placing my burger onto the napkin on my lap. “Thanks for bringing me,” I nodded.

“Uh huh,” he muttered as he continued to eat. I thought he wasn’t going to speak anymore so I lifted the burger to my face and took a large bite. “What songs do you plan on learning?”

I held up my finger as I chewed my food. My jaw was growing tired as I struggled to finish the bite of burger in my mouth. An amused smile perked the corners of his lips up and I held back a grin. Once I finished, I sighed, rubbing my jaw. “Well, I plan on learning mainly acoustic versions of my favorite songs.”

“Sounds fun, you have a lot to learn before you can do that, though,” he told me with a small smile.

“How’d you learn how to play guitar?” I inquired, shoving three fries into my mouth.

“I taught myself,” he shrugged.

I stared at him, slightly amazed. “How do you know you’re not doing it wrong?”

“I watched videos and read books; I’m not a complete imbecile,” he told me with a scoff.

Holding my hands up, I snickered. “Okay, okay, no need to get all defensive.”

Rolling his eyes, he chuckled. “I’m not getting defensive.”

I assumed that the conversation was going to die yet again and I slowly went back to eating. “So how’s Dakota?” Noah piped.

I laughed, shaking my head as I looked at him. “You’re so socially awkward,” I told him.

“What? No I’m not,” he fought.

“It takes you ten minutes to think of a topic to talk about and you bring it up twenty minutes after we stopped talking,” I told him with a laugh.

“That’s not socially awkward,” he shrugged, “Being socially awkward is when you struggle to talk to people without being uncomfortable or making others uncomfortable—.”

I quickly cut him off. “And what do you do? You don’t make eye contact and you’re always fidgeting,” I told him.

“I’m not like that with everyone,” he told me, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, because you’re rude and sarcastic,” I told him.

He scoffed and shook his head, pressing his tongue to the front of his teeth. “Are we going to sit here and talk about my flaws all day?”

“Hey, I’m not attacking you. I have a bunch of flaws, too,” I told him, offering a smile. I honestly didn’t mean to make him upset.

“Yeah, I know- you like to nag, you’re annoying, you talk so much, you have an unhealthy obsession with chocolate—,” he began listing.

“Are you calling me fat?” I joked, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to look angry and annoyed.

“What? No!” he responded, his eyes widening.

“You just said that I’m obsessed with chocolate! That’s calling me fat, Noah!” I joked. He obviously didn't take it as a joke.

“N-no, I was just saying that you like chocolate a lot,” he corrected himself; “I didn’t mean to insult you. You’re a nice size- not too thin, not too big, not that I wouldn’t be your friend if you were really tiny or really big. I don’t discriminate.”

Staring at him, I let out a small chuckle before falling into a fit of guffaws. Noah noticed my quick mood change and he glared at me, picking up a chicken nugget and tossing it at me. I quickly caught it in my hands and ate it, watching as he grew even more annoyed. “That fell on the floor. Why else would I toss a perfectly good chicken nugget at you?”

I gaped at him as I began choking on the nugget that was in my esophagus. The drink that was in my mouth went pouring down my shirt as I processed his words. I swear I saw a black dot on the nugget when I tossed it into my mouth, but I didn’t think much of it; I thought it was seasoning! It was Noah’s turn to keel over with laughter as my face grew red and my breathing was slowly stopping. Finally, I managed to swallow the chicken nugget, though the only thought that kept running through my head was “floor nugget” and it wasn’t helping to keep the meal down.

“I was kidding,” he told me through laughs. Normally I would be angry but I’ve never seen him laugh so hard. His head was resting on the steering wheel as he held his stomach, his back hunched over as deep laughs filled the car. He was occasionally gasping for air.

I mustered up the strongest glare I could manage before turning and looking out the window, letting the glare slip off and a small grin fall on my lips.

____

As we reached my house, I went to get out of the car but Noah stopped me. “Uh, wait, Kennedy,” he told me, sending butterflies fluttering throughout my stomach as my name fell off of his lips.

I turned around, noticing that he had moved a bit closer to stop me from leaving. He grabbed something from the back seat, tucked away behind the guitar, and gave it to me, his cheeks tingeing pink. “I just, uh, want to apologize for being a jerk and all,” he nodded as he motioned towards the gift.

I opened the gift bag and grinned at the sight of chocolate. I quickly grabbed a piece, unwrapped it, and shoved it into my mouth. Sighing in delight, I looked at Noah who looked entertained. “All is forgiven,” I joked and he smiled at me. The rare sight of his dimples and his white smile made my heart melt and I let my shoulders slump slightly.

I moved forward slightly to grab my bag, and his eyes widened when he realized that my face was a mere three inches away. Allowing my eyes to flit down to his lips, I glanced back up at him. I blinked a few times, feeling my face burn like an oven. Slowly and cautiously I moved forward, waiting for him to jerk backwards and abruptly tell me to leave, and mostly watching as he ever so slightly tilted his head.

His lips met mine and I swear my heart exploded. Heat coursed through me as our mouths moved together, sweetly and delicately. My eyes were automatically closed as I dropped my bag and brought my arms up to his neck, pulling him closer to me. I ran my hands along his hair, enjoying the feeling of his dark waves through my fingers. The drizzling of rain surrounded us along with the sound of a hushed All of Me by John Legend playing on the radio. The kiss lasted three minutes (I counted), and it stopped once his hand touched my face and slowly, we pulled apart. His eyes, along with my own, were as wide as saucers.

I began to stutter as he quietly swore. Awkwardly, I opened the door and stumbled out, reaching towards the back door. Grabbing the large guitar, I pulled it from the backseat, placing it on the wet street beside me as I closed the door. The chocolate, my purse, and the guitar filled my arms as I quickly tried to escape into my house but Noah called my name. “Kennedy!”

I turned around, my eyes staring down at the ground. I felt my face continue to burn as cold raindrops landed lightly on my cheeks. “Are you sure that I’m the socially awkward one?”

Glad that the door was unlocked, I barged into my house, letting out a relieved sigh when I saw that my mother wasn’t in the living room.

<<>><<>> 

“What?!” Marissa shouted. “You what?!”

“We kissed,” I muttered as I sat on my bed, my head resting on my hand and the phone pressed to my ear.

“And what happened after? Did you tell him how you feel?” she asked.

“What? No! I ran inside like an idiot!” I frowned.

“What about Noah? What did he do?” she asked.

“He called me socially awkward!” I groaned as I slammed my face down on my pillows.

“You guys make me so angry! How hard is it to tell him how you feel?” she practically growled.

“It’s not that simple, Marissa!” I told her.

“What isn’t simple about it? You like him! He’s actually nice to you! In fact, I think he likes you, too! He kissed you like ten times!” she retorted.

“It was only twice," I noted. "And it’s not that easy."

“What isn’t easy? I told Eric how I felt—,” she started.

“That’s different, Marissa. You have self-confidence! You can’t care less what people think about you! And I’m…I’m not like that. And Noah isn’t like Eric. Eric is a popular guy- he has a lot of friends, a lot of girls like him; he’s used to that type of attention. If you haven’t noticed, Noah is guarded and when someone tries to do something remotely nice for him, he freaks out and shuts them out! I don’t want that to happen because I can’t control my feelings! And he even said it himself that he isn’t looking for a relationship!” I vented.

“I don’t know why you’re not confident. You’re smart. You’re pretty. You’re funny. What isn’t there to like about you?”

“I’m not happy with myself and that makes me feel like everyone else isn’t happy with me, like I’m not good enough,” I told her quietly. Marissa was going to speak but I cut her off. “But I have to go, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I quickly hung up and tossed my phone on my bedside table, covering myself with my blanket and falling asleep.