Chapter 54 Who Could It Be?
Lana’s Point of View
The silence between Noah and me was loud as we walked back to our dorm room. From the way he walked, I could tell he was angry. Even though I was kind of concerned for Christian, I don’t know if it’s safe to leave them both alone, but now my attention was shifted towards Noah.
He wasn’t his usual playful self, and he didn’t ask anymore question the moment I confessed that I went along with Christian willingly.
As soon as we entered our dorm room, I mustered up the courage to speak to him.
“Noah,” I called hesitantly, unable to leave the door, my face covered in the hue of my embarrassment, and he glanced at me, his blue eyes sizing me up with restrained anger, or rather hurt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t stay until the end of your show.”
He let out a small sigh.
“I’m quite offended.” He confessed, strolling to sit on his bed. “I know we are not very close, and you don’t owe me an explanation for the things you do, but I was worried.”
Silence descended on us.
“I consider myself your friend, and I was genuinely worried about you.” I bit down on my lips. “Xavier was more worried for you; you should have seen him.” He continued with a snicker. “He was like a madman, searching everywhere for you because he thought someone had kidnapped you.”
“What?” I asked curiously. “Why would anyone kidnap me?”
“I said the same thing, but he said you’re a short, weak boy, anyone could grab you off.”
I swallowed hard, realizing just how furious Xavier was going to be when he got back.
“I know how selfish and irresponsible I am right now, but I promise you, I didn’t leave the hall intentionally.” I started, and he allowed me to explain. “I badly wanted to see the competition, and I’m sorry I didn’t see it till the end.”
My voice trembled as I explained, I never wanted to hurt anyone, but from the way Noah looked and talked to me, I could tell he was deeply hurt.
I mean, why wouldn’t he?
He kept singing about this competition, and about how he wanted me to come. Just a few minutes in, he was sad and nervous that Xavier wouldn’t make it, and then in the middle of the competition, I suddenly vanished.
He didn’t deserve this because he was a good person. I used to be uncomfortable with him before because he was quite touchy, but I never expected to connect so well with someone, especially a boy.
Noah was just different; he was so friendly and kind.
He spoke to me even when I didn’t know what to say, and it happened so naturally.
“I called my brothers, I wanted to take advantage of the competition to see them,” I confessed, and his face snapped towards me. “Brothers?” He queried curiously. “You have brothers? You never told me about them.” I nodded hurriedly.
“Yeah, they are twins,” I confessed. “I went out to speak to them, but they had bad news for me. When they left, I broke down crying.”
“Why were you crying?” He asked curiously, suddenly getting up to check my face, “Were you hurt?”
I shook my head before answering.
“No,” I confessed. “It’s just some family stuff.”
“So, Christian found you crying?” He asked, and I nodded.
“He only wanted to help me feel better.”
Noah scoffed. “To think that jerk would have human feelings, it’s almost unbelievable.” His fingers threaded through my hair. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
I shook my head, considering everything that happened; in fact, I had the upper hand throughout our stay.
“I forgive you.” Noah smiled at me, “But only for the sake of your brothers. Damn. I wish I had seen them.”
“I’m certain you three will get along.”
“Are they identical?” He asked, and I nodded almost immediately.
“Yes—I can hardly tell them apart when they are not speaking.”
Just as we kept talking, the door to the dorm room opened suddenly, and Xavier stormed in.
He stopped for a while when his green eyes met mine, and the smile that was on my face slowly disappeared. Wordlessly, he ambled towards his bed and plopped down.
“Hey,” Noah’s eyebrows furrowed together as he neared him. “Look at your face. It’s all wounded.”
“I know.” Came his gruff reply, he turned his back towards us, and Noah turned back towards me. He winked and then announced.
“Oh shit, I forgot I’m supposed to meet with the math teacher.” He yelled, signaling to me to go talk to Xavier.
I shook my head, trying to tell him I’m not ready to be left alone with him, but the closing thud of the door answered me.
“You were out with Christian again.” He pointed out, turning towards me. “Are you ever going to give me a chance?”
My eyes flickered towards him guiltily.
“Do you like him more now?” He pressed further.
“Xavier—” He interrupted me sharply.
“Right now, I feel like I’m about to go insane, thinking about all the things he must have done to you.” I pushed myself out of Noah’s bed and gingerly stepped towards him. “You didn’t even tell me your name.”
“You didn’t ask,” I retorted softly. “You have never asked.”
He chuckled. “So, right now, Christian is better than me?”
“I never said that.” “But that is what you mean, Lana.” He called my name, and I felt my chest tighten in surprise, my eyes quickly flickering to the door. “I don’t care what you both did while you were away, but I want you to know, whatever he made you feel…I can do that five times better.”
I swallowed hard, unable to speak anymore. “It’s high time you look at me, Lana. It’s my turn now.”
“Ugh!” I groaned when I heard the sharp ring from my phone. My eyes squeezed open, glancing at the clock; it was barely 6 in the morning.
My heart skipped a beat as I jumped up in my bed when I noticed the caller was my brother. Why were they calling so early in the morning? Could it be that the loan sharks are there to kick them out of the house now?
If that were the case, what would I do? What can I do?
I answered the phone nonetheless, feeling the sharp pulse in my neck.
“Lana!” Their voices were jumbled up in my ears. Liam and Leon were talking at the same bloody time; they were talking so fast and so loudly that I could barely hear them.
“What the hell?” I cursed into the phone as I got out of my bed, climbing down, and headed towards the bathroom.
“Leon, let Liam explain to me alone,” I told them sternly, and when Liam’s voice came through the phone, it was clearer.
“The loan sharks came.” My heart sank, and I gripped the front of my shirt. “And we don’t owe them anymore.”
My eyebrows tugged up almost immediately. “How?” I asked curiously. “You said Dad mortgaged the house, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but they came this morning, and claimed someone paid up all our debts; they even returned the keys to Dad.”
I could hear Leon in the background, yelling over the line.
“The person even paid Mom’s hospital bills for a whole year.” He chirped in.
“What?” I froze.
That’s impossible. That kind of money… we’re talking about millions of dollars, we had no one who could give us such money, not even the banks dad used to borrow from.
Who would do something like that?
A noisy gasp escaped me as a thought struck me.
It can’t be him… No… it can’t possibly be.