Chapter 49

Chapter 49
DALIA
Exams had ended and the relief I felt at not having to go to school for several weeks was immeasurable.
The whispers and looks I had gotten every time I went to school had almost made me sick, and when Noah quit the day after everyone found out, most of the students had assumed he was fired and that I would be the next to go. I had also thought that despite Noah telling me I wouldn’t get expelled because he had spoken to the dean; I always expected any email I got to be a summons.
The looks professors gave me were worse than what I got from my coursemates, but each day had been a bit better than the last because of my friends. They - especially Harvey - never left my side on campus and that discouraged most people from asking me about Noah whenever they came up to us or sat close to us but it didn’t stop their snide remarks. My friends always retorted though, and I was really grateful for them but it made me feel like a child sometimes.
Everything sucked and I was glad and also not glad that this shit had happened before exams. Glad because I didn’t think I would be able to handle the stares from students and professors for weeks if it had happened in the middle of the semester. Not glad because I hadn’t been able to completely focus on exams. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to focus at all if not for Harvey.
“Harvey, I’m bored,” I muttered as I dropped his iPad on the bed and pushed myself into a sitting position.
“At your service,” he replied, swivelling his chair to face me with a smile on his face, and I grinned at him. “What do you want to do?”
“Let’s play monopoly.”
His smile slipped off and he raised a brow at me. “With real cash?” he asked and I bobbed my head. “No.” He swivelled his chair to face his laptop again and I whined, getting to my feet and walking over to him before pulling his chair away from his desk. “I lost a lot in the last game. I’m not eager to lose any more.”
“Come on. Don’t let your recent loss make you, uh-”
He lolled his head back, so he could look up at me. “Cautious? Careful? Scrupulous?”
“I was going to say knock you off your feet,” I said and he scoffed before my phone began to ring. I let go of his chair to pull it out of my pocket and my smile grew wider when I saw the call was from Noah, while Harvey moved his chair back to his desk. “I’ll be right back.”
I ruffled his hair before quickly making my way out of his room and when I got to the balcony, I answered the call. “Hey, Noah.”
“Hey,” his excited voice filtered through the receiver and I couldn’t stop my lips curving into a smile again. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” he asked as I leaned against the wall and my smile instantly slipped off while my shoulders sagged. My parents and I were having dinner with my mum’s siblings and I couldn’t get out of it because they had been planning it for a while now.
“I would like to, but I’m having dinner with family,” I replied and he let out a groan that made me feel bad. We had only been able to hang out twice since when people at school found out about us and that was because he was always busy. Whenever he wasn’t busy, I was busy. “Sorry. Maybe we can do lunch tomorrow?”
“I’ll be busy this weekend. All weekend.”
This was so fucking frustrating. “Oh, um, maybe sometime next week then?”
“Uh…” he trailed off while rustling came from the other end. “That should be fine.”
“Are you at work right now?”
“Yeah,” he drawled and heaved a sigh. “I wish I was with you. I feel like I haven’t seen you in years,” he added and I pressed my lips together.
“I miss you too, Noah.” If my internship application to Goodmans got accepted, I would probably be able to see him more, so I desperately wished it would.
“,,, I gotta go now,” he said and I nodded, feeling a bit disappointed, before leaning away from the wall. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. See you next week.”
“Was that Tamika?” Mum’s voice came from behind me just as he hung up, and I quickly turned around to see her standing in the doorway.
“Uh, yeah.” I slipped my phone into my pocket and walked over to a chair, sitting on it while she walked onto the balcony.
“Have you picked out what you’re wearing for dinner?”
“Yeah,” I muttered half-heartedly, leaning back in my seat. “Are you going back home with dad the week after next?” I asked and the corner of her mouth quirked up.
“Are you chasing me?”
I gave her a smile and shrugged. When she and dad finally left, I’d be able to spend more time with Noah at his place without having to answer a shit ton of questions. They were a bit too protective and I didn’t mind that; I was also like that when it came to them. I just hated that I haven’t seen Noah in quite a while.
“Maybe.”
“Huxley and Julie said I can stay forever,” she replied and I raised a brow.
“You’re not staying forever. I’ll drag you back home if I have to.”
She gave me a once over, sneering at me, before glancing over the balustrade, and her expression turned sour. “Ugh. What does he want now?” she muttered as I followed her line of sight to see Forrest talking to dad next to the gate, and I furrowed my brows.
“What’s his problem?”
He had been showing up even more frequently nowadays - like a couple of times a day - and always said he wanted to talk to Julie, but Julie didn’t want to talk to him, and he didn’t seem to understand that.
“Dalia.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Harvey walking towards me and when he saw who was at the gate with dad, he pursed his lips, but returned his attention to me a moment later.
“You have an email,” he said and my brows shot up before I gave him a look, silently asking if it was the email I thought it was. The email I was expecting from Goodmans regarding my internship application. He gave me a nod.
I quickly got to my feet and followed him back to his room where I saw the email in his inbox on his laptop. Oh God. I was nervous. I was really nervous. I had been looking forward to the email all week and now that it was finally here, I didn’t know if I should open it.
“Open it, Harvey,” I said after he sat on the chair in front of his desk, and he looked up at me.
“Really?” he asked, drawing his brows together, and I bobbed my head before he inhaled sharply. “Okay,” he muttered as he opened it and it only took me a couple of seconds to know what it was.
A rejection email.
I couldn’t stop my shoulders from sagging in disappointment and a helpless feeling washed over me like a tidal wave. “...Oh.” I stared at the email for several moments more like the words in it would magically change to what I had hoped they would be.
“Dalia,” Harvey called out softly and I hmmed as I faced him, pressing my lips together. He looked sad and a bit worried, and I plastered a smile on my face before closing the email.
"...It's fine."