Chapter Fourteen

Noah I saw Sara walk away, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. I hadn't done what I came here to do. Sara being there made things so much worse, because I realized that the woman Dad planned on conning was Sara’s mother.

The fact that she and I were now stepsiblings dawned on me after that.

Of all people, did it have to be her mom?

When she walked out of the room with all of us watching, I felt something go tight in my chest. I had a feeling that, if I didn’t go after her, she might never let me talk to her again. Right on the tail of that thought, I finally moved, going around Alicia and Caroline who were left stunned by Sara walking out on them without a word.

I ignored them, but I might find them later and talk to them about minding their own fucking business.

“Sara! Please, wait!”

She didn’t stop when I called out to her, as if she couldn’t hear me. I picked up my speed and moved around until I stood in front of her, so she wouldn’t ignore me, but she kept her head down. When she tried to go past me, I moved in her way, hands raised up.

“Would you please wait,” I pleaded quietly. “I really need to talk to you, Sara. Don’t just walk out like this.”

For a long moment, she didn’t speak or look up at me. I held my breath and waited, until I couldn’t hold it anymore. I breathed in to speak again, but she spoke at last.

“Can you please leave me alone?” She murmured, her voice quiet. “I just really want to be alone right now, Noah.”

My chest ached in pain for her. This must have all been a shock for her, even worse than it was for me. Dad never mentioned Tina having a daughter, and I wondered if she’d known. Then, to have Alicia and Caroline show up, it must have all been too much for her. She sounded defeated and really upset to the point it really worried me.

“Sara, I’m sorry,” I murmured. “About those girls. Something happened at the school, and they found out, I swear I didn’t tell them. But that’s not the problem right now.”

The most important thing was to tell her about my dad’s plan with her mom. I didn’t feel good about it, but if I told Sara, she could go right then and warn her mother. Then, Tina would probably divorce him, and the whole stepsibling issue would be dealt with.

I didn’t know what she would think about me since it would be my dad that had screwed with her mom like that, but it was better than doing nothing.

Just as I was about to tell her, she looked up and met my gaze, and the words froze in my throat. That look on her face pierced me right in the chest because while she had been shocked before, she now looked so sad. Her eyes were wet, and I wondered if she would cry.

“Sara, I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I am so sorry. But this really is something important. Can't you just listen to me?”

She huffed, mouth tilting up on one side, but I couldn’t call it a smile as her expression crumpled. She covered her eyes for a second, rubbed them subtly before her hand fell away and she frowned at me.

“I’m sorry, too, Noah,” she said, her voice getting stronger. “Really sorry, but I don’t want to hear it right now, whatever you have to say I don’t want to know. I’m afraid that if I hear any more news today, I’m going to break down and humiliate myself in public, so please just stop and let me pass?”

I hesitated. The devastation on her expression told me she wasn’t kidding. One more thing would break her at that moment, and the news I had for her wasn’t exactly great on top of everything else.

“Do you know, I had no idea?” She continued, when I didn’t speak or move out of the way. Sara gave a laugh, but it was such a shattered sound that it felt painful to hear it. “That she was even seeing anyone. She called me up yesterday, yay, a surprise visit! But then I get here, and she’s introducing me to her husband. And of all people, did he have to be your dad, Noah?”

“Wait, that was his Dad? I thought he was someone your mom was seeing since you said it was just the two of you in your family, but this is even more hilarious.”

My body stiffened, and Sara just sighed as she closed her eyes, expression pained, shoulders hunched. She shook her head as a warning, but the two girls refused to be ignored. Alicia and Caroline had caught up with us, and by the expression on their faces, they were clearly not done causing trouble.

“Would the two of you please leave us alone?” I said through gritted teeth. “Don’t you know anything about privacy?”

Alicia pretended to look around, and Caroline joined in.

“Uh, you’re in a public place, you know? If you want to have private conversations, then do it in private, okay? I know that, so doesn’t that mean that I know more than you?”

“Anyone could be walking through this lobby,” Caroline added. “And you guys are standing right in the middle of it. You don’t even realize that there are other people around, do you? Or you would have known we were right behind you. We weren’t exactly trying to hide it.”

I glanced around, cursing silently. There were more than a few people around. Neither of our parents were there, but curious eyes were staring right at us. Because Sara was right in front of me, I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings.

“Whatever,” I muttered, frowning at them. “Thanks for the tip, but can you two please go, now?”

“And why should we?” Alicia retorted. “You can’t chase us out of here, try and call security, we’ll leave then. We’re just standing around here; there’s nothing wrong with that. Right, Caroline?”

Caroline nodded pensively. “You’re right, Alicia.”

My eyes turned to Sara. She still had her eyes closed. I knew I couldn’t make a scene in the middle of the lobby. Our parents hadn't shown up yet, but it would probably be a good idea to keep the relationship between us a secret from them for now. Seeing the way Sara had reacted, she probably didn’t want to cause her mother any trouble.

I didn’t want to embarrass her, and while I didn’t want to say anything with those two there listening in, I had to at least get her to agree to talk to me. As much as I didn’t want to hurt her, I didn’t want her to hate me after my dad ran off with her mom’s money.

“Sara?” I said, lowering my voice. Alicia and Caroline, as if determined to be a nuisance, shifted a little closer to hear better. I glared at them, because they were being too obvious, but decided to ignore them. “Can we please talk? It doesn’t have to be now; we can go back to school, we can do it privately. But at least let me talk to you, all right? I promise, it really is something important. You’re not going to like it, but you still have to know. If time is what you need… I can give you some.”

I hesitated at that last part because I wasn’t sure how long we had. Shit, they were already married, legally. There hadn't been a wedding, but the certificate was the most important part. I didn’t know what my dad’s exact plans were, and it would depend on how long her mom would take to make the funds transfer, too.

There were just too many variables. He might even be worried because I knew now, and I could still choose to tell Tina. No matter what, I had to let her know today.

Sara’s eyes opened, but her expression was blank.

“Are you guys going to meet for a secret rendezvous?” Alicia asked, giggling. “I should tell you guys; it won't be that big a secret. Who hasn’t seen you two together around school?”

“Even quite a few seniors are talking about the two of you,” Caroline added, as if it actually mattered that people had seen us together.

Alicia continued. “There’s a lot of weird rumors, too, like you guys fuck everywhere, including the library? We didn’t think it was possible, but I’m wondering if it was true. Sara’s holding the wallet, so was it her idea? How about it, Noah?”

I held back a wince so I wouldn’t give anything away. We really had fucked in the library. I was sure no one had noticed, or I would have heard of it not long after it happened. That was nearly two weeks ago.

Sara’s expression was blank, but it started breaking a little when they said that. Looking at her closely, I saw that she was trembling. Her eyes stared straight at my chest, but the look in them was far away as if her mind was trying to distance her from what was happening at that moment.

I glanced at Alicia and Caroline, who were both giggling in excitement after humiliating Sara. I clenched my fists beside me and reminded myself that it would be bad to hit a woman. They were determined to be a nuisance, so getting away from them might not be easy, not with Sara looking the way she was.

In the end, I thought it would be better not to try and push her. Maybe I could give her the space she obviously needed and try to talk to her later. I’d give her a day, two tops, then try again. Hopefully, Dad wouldn’t have done anything by then.

“It’s fine,” I murmured. “You can go back to school, Sara. I won't bother you for today, okay? Just go to your room and sleep. You don’t look too well.”

Sara blinked, then looked up at me. I moved to the side, making sure I’d be in Alicia and Caroline’s way in case they tried to follow. Sara didn’t decline the offer.

It was hard, keeping an eye on her and the two snide girls at one time, but she managed to get into a cab before they moved past me. I figured the best thing I could do for her right then was stall them, so they wouldn’t give her more trouble. Hopefully, she’d go back, do what I suggested, and wake up feeling better and more open to talking.