Chapter 42

Chapter 42
DALIA
“Do you want to sit?” Harvey asked when I leaned against him and I shook my head sideways.
“I’m fine like this,” I muttered and heaved a sigh as I continued thinking of what to get for Noah. His birthday was tomorrow and I had put off getting a gift for him since last week because I wanted to give him something amazing that he’d really like, but I hadn’t been able to figure out what. I didn’t want to get him a perfume or a watch because that was way too basic and besides, he had a lot of those, so I had suggested that we go to the mall.
I thought I would be able to find something for him by going through stores but Tamika, Norma, Huxley, Harvey and I had been here for almost an hour and the only thing I had bought was a hoodie that had ‘World’s Best Boyfriend’ on it. If I found a store which had one that said ‘World’s Worst Girlfriend’ on it, I would get that too because that was exactly what I was.
“Dalia!” Tamika suddenly called out and I quickly glanced in the direction her voice had come from, thinking something serious happened, but when I saw her running towards me with a huge smile on her face as she waved a shopping bag in the air, my shoulders sagged.
“So annoying,” I muttered just as she got to us and hunched over to catch her breath. “It’s too early for your craziness.”
“I got the bag. The bag,” she said with emphasis on ‘the’ and I furrowed my brows before muttering an ‘oh’ when I understood her. “I got one for you and Norma too.”
“Oh,” I repeated, but this time, it was in surprise, and I stood upright as I glanced at Harvey. “Um… Harvey already got one for me,” I added and her smile was instantly replaced by a scowl which was directed at Harvey.
“...Sorry?” he muttered after a line appeared between his brows and her scowl deepened while Norma and Huxley finally rejoined us.
“Don’t talk to me. I’m not talking to you.”
“Eh?”
“You cut your hair... I loved your hair. It made you so pretty,” she stated and I slightly tipped my head to the side while Huxley snorted.
“He still looks pretty,” I said and Huxley’s brows shot up before he moved to my side with a dopey grin on his face.
“So you think I look pretty?” he asked and I shook my head sideways while smiling at him. My gaze then fell to the shopping bag in his hand which contained candle holders and I narrowed my eyes at it. Should I get that for Noah? …No, no, it’s too basic and he might- For fuck’s sake, Dalia!
At this rate, the only thing I’ll be leaving the mall with is a hoodie that I couldn’t even count as a gift. Come on. Think, think!
“But… but when he ties his hair up or styles it in different ways… He always looks a million times hotter. But now his hair has just one basic style.” She looked like she was really troubled over this and I sneered at her before Harvey and I shared a look. “My sweet, precious Harvey is gone forever.”
“I don’t belong to you,” he replied, sounding bored, while Norma muttered, “Girl… his hair will still grow out.”
“Ladies, ladies. It’s all good,” Huxley started, drawing our attention, and threw his arm over me and Tamika’s shoulder. “My hair is still the same and thankfully, there’s enough of me to go around.”
I gave him a blank stare for several moments and when he realized we weren’t going to respond, he pouted. “Why do you guys always treat me like this?” he asked with a sniffle and I shrugged his arm off just as my phone began to ring with a call from Noah. I then excused myself and walked away from them before answering the call.
“Hey, Professor.”
“Dalia… I miss you,” he said and a smile instantly crept onto my face before I slowly took a deep breath. He had asked me to come over today but I told him I wouldn’t be able to leave home because I was really busy. I couldn’t exactly tell him I waited till today to get his birthday gift… a gift I didn’t have yet.
“I miss you too.”
“Are you coming over tomorrow?”
“Of course I am.”
“You won’t cancel?” he asked and I realized he sounded different
“I won’t.”
“Dream girl,” Huxley suddenly called out and I glanced over my shoulder. “Do you want ice cream?” he added and I mouthed ‘duh’ before he grinned at me.
“Why does he call you that?” Noah asked as I faced forward and spotted video game consoles in a store several feet away. Should I get him that? He didn’t move anything game-related into his new place, so it seemed like a good gift as I stared at it, but a couple of seconds later, I decided against it. “Dalia?”
“Huh?”
“Why does he call you dream girl?”
“Oh… I don’t know.” That was the first thing he said to me when we met and I wasn’t able to ask him what that meant right then because Harvey had slapped him the next moment. “He has been calling me that ever since we met and I never asked,” I replied and he hmmed before clearing his throat. “Are you alright? You sound a bit different.”
“I’m fine. I just have a headache,” he said and I drew my brows together.
“Have you used aspirin?”
“I will,” he muttered just as my eyes fell on what was hanging on the walls in the store across the console store, and I cocked my head to the side.
“Okay, Noah. I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. Bye Dalia.”

NOAH
“Are you okay?” Dad asked and I stiffened because of how close he sounded, before slowly pulling my arm away from my face to find him standing next to the couch. Now? …Is he going to ask about her now?
I was currently at my parents’ place and on my way here, I had hoped dad wouldn’t bring Dalia up. He hadn’t. He hadn’t even given me a questioning look and that was quite unnerving because I knew there was no way he had forgotten her.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, pushing myself into a sitting position, and he patted my shoulder before taking a seat on the couch opposite me. I narrowed my eyes at him as he began to scroll through his iPad and when he still didn’t look up after a while, I turned to face Taylor who was painting her toenails. “What about your film festival, Taylor? Isn’t it today?”
She lifted her eyes to mine and gave me a sad look. “I’m not going. I don’t have anyone to go with.”
“I offered to go with you,” mum said and the corner of Taylor’s mouth twitched before she returned her attention to her nails. She had been ignoring mum since she got here and when I had asked her what happened,the only thing she said was ‘I really don’t like Lou-Anne’.
“Oh, Noah. Will your girlfriend come?” she asked and my eyes instantly darted to dad to find him watching me with slightly furrowed brows.
I hadn’t even told Dalia there was going to be a birthday dinner but I definitely wasn’t going to invite her to it because of my parents, Avery and a couple of lecturers that would also be at the dinner. “No,” I replied and dad cleared his throat as he got to his feet and headed out of the living room.
“Why?”
“... She’s busy.”
“But it’s your birthday. Can’t she make time for it?” she asked and I set my mouth in a hard line as I turned to face her again.
“We’re hanging out before the dinner, so it’s all good.”
“But -”
“Mum,” I stated firmly, frowning at her, and her shoulders sagged while her expression dulled. “What did you do to Taylor?” I added when I saw Taylor shooting her a dirty look and she scrunched up her face.
“Why do you always assume I did something wrong whenever she ignores me?”
“Because doing something wrong is kind of your thing,” I muttered and she sneered at me as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The first thing I saw after unlocking it was a message from Dalia and I glanced at mum who had gone back to the list she was making, before opening it.
Dalia: Have you taken it?
“... Can Shane come over?” mum asked, shattering the silence that had settled over the living room with the tact of a hammer, and I paused before lifting my eyes to hers. I had suspected that this would come up and her asking after dad left meant he wasn’t aware of this.
“Is it his birthday?” I replied, raising a brow, and she pressed her lips together but didn’t say anything. “...Then why?”
“I… I don't want him to be left out,” she muttered softly and I hmmed before realizing that Taylor had slowly started to gather her things.
"We had get-togethers on Sundays without him. He'll be fine.”
“It will be your first birthday without him.”
"Yeah, and it won’t be the last. I’m not beating myself up over it.”
"Noah -”
"No,” I said, cutting her off, as Taylor quickly made her way out of the living room. I was starting to get pissed off and she should know because my voice was getting higher but she didn’t stop.
"He's still your brother -”
"Back off.”
"Noah,” she said softly and I scowled when I saw that tears had gathered in her eyes. “Please…”
Jesus.
I slowly relaxed my shoulders and took a deep breath before giving her a small smile. “You know what?” I muttered as I got to my feet and headed towards the door. “Do whatever the fuck you want.”