Chapter 46 Someone Else Made You Laugh

Chapter 46 Someone Else Made You Laugh

Wren’s pov

By Thursday, people had stopped trying to pretend. It was now very much obvious to anyone.

Some people still chuckled when I passed like an inside joke everyone else understood. But others had gotten bolder.

It happened in the hallway before second period.

I was at my locker, switching books, when someone behind me said, loud enough to carry, “Do you think she irons his jerseys too?” Someone said and laughter followed for a while.

I kept my eyes on the shelf inside my locker.

Another voice. “No, she probably just wears them.”

There was more laughter.

My hands tightened on the locker room handle as I closed it carefully, adjusted the strap of my bag, and walked away like I hadn’t heard any of it.

Third period English was a quiz on symbolism in The Great Gatsby.

I finished in fifteen minutes and spent the rest of class staring out the window while rain tapped softly against the glass.

There were people in this school failing actual subjects with confidence and free time.

Meanwhile I was overanalyzing green lights and pretending I didn’t know half the junior class thought I was sleeping with the quarterback.

Life was strange.

When the bell rang, Priya brushed past my desk on the way out.

“Nice hoodie,” she said without looking at me. “Very live-in chic.”

Her friends chuckled from the doorway.

I waited until they left before packing my things.

Lunch was worse because lunch was always worse.

The cafeteria had become a theater and I was apparently running all week.

I took my tray to the far side near the windows, same seat as yesterday. Predictability had its comforts.

I opened my book before I sat down.

A minute later, someone dropped into the chair across from me.

My stomach tightened automatically.

Then I looked up.

It was Noah Patel from my AP English class.

He was skinny, wore glasses, and once corrected a teacher’s pronunciation of Dostoevsky with enough confidence to be either admirable or alarming.

“Hi,” he said.

I blinked. “Hi?”

“You left your pen in class.” He held it out.

I looked at the blue pen in his hand.

It was mine.

“Oh.” I took it. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

He stayed seated.

I waited.

He looked around the cafeteria like he had forgotten why he was there. “Can I ask you something?”

“Depends.”

“Are you actually reading during lunch or is that a defense mechanism?”

I stared at him.

Then, against my better judgment, I laughed once.

“Both.”

He grinned. “Thought so.”

Someone at the next table made an exaggerated gagging noise.

Noah ignored it.

“I’m Noah, by the way.”

“I know.”

“That’s either flattering or threatening.”

“It’s AP English. There are nine of us. We all know each other.”

“Fair.”

He pointed at my book. “Any good?”

“It was until this conversation.”

He laughed properly at that.

The sound turned heads.

Then I saw Tyler at the football table watching us with narrowed eyes and beside him Cole.

He wasn’t eating but was looking directly at our table and our eyes met for half a second.

Then I looked away first.

Noah followed my glance, then looked back at me slowly.

The rest of lunch passed in uneasy peace.

Noah left first, giving me a small salute with two fingers and taking his tray with him.

Two girls behind me immediately started whispering.

I packed up and left before I heard what they were saying.

I already knew.

At home, Mia was furious.

“The tooth fairy is a liar,” she announced the second I walked through the door.

I set my bag down carefully. “That’s a strong statement.”

“She gave me three dollars.”

Jake gasped from the couch. “That’s still a lot.”

“It was supposed to be twenty.”

“According to who?”

“Me.”

I nodded slowly. “Solid source.”

Mia crossed her arms. “I’m writing an appeal.”

“To the tooth fairy?”

“Yes.”

“Reasonable.”

Jake looked up from his game. “Can I appeal for not having a loose tooth yet?”

“No,” Mia snapped.

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop laughing.

The front door opened.

Cole walked in carrying his duffel bag over one shoulder, rain in his hair, jaw set like he’d been clenching it all day.

Mia ran to him immediately.

“The tooth fairy underpaid me.”

He caught her automatically before she collided with his knees. “Hello to you too.”

“She only gave me three.”

“That’s outrageous.”

“Thank you.”

He set her down and looked up at me only for a second.

I looked away first this time too.

“Homework at six,” I said to Jake.

“Cruel,” he muttered.

Cole dropped his bag by the stairs.

“You need help with anything?” he asked.

The room went strangely still.

Mia looked between us and Jake paused his game.

Even I froze for a second.

“No,” I said. “We’re fine.”

His expression changed so slightly most people wouldn’t catch it.

“Right,” he said.

He picked up his bag and went upstairs.

Mia watched him go. “You two are being weird again.”

“We’re not,” I said.

“You are,” Jake said without looking up. “It’s annoying.”

I pointed at him. “Homework at five-thirty now.”

Later that night, after dinner and dishes and spelling practice and convincing Mia that her appeal letter needed fewer threats, I went to the back porch with my notebook.

The rain had stopped. The yard smelled like wet grass and earth.

I wrote for twenty minutes before the door opened behind me.

I knew who it was before he spoke. He stopped beside the railing, not too close.

“That was funny,” he said.

“I know.” I replied and there was silence between us.

“I saw Noah talking to you,” he said finally.

My pen stopped moving. I didn’t look up.

“Congratulations.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Another pause.

Longer this time.

When I finally looked over, he was already watching me.

Rain-dark hair. Tired eyes. Something unreadable in them.

“I meant,” he said slowly, “he seemed to make you laugh.”

My chest tightened in a way I deeply resented.

“What are your concerns now?”