Chapter 132 Chapter One Hundred And Thirty Two
LENA'S POV
That evening, I climbed the stairs slowly, dragging my feet as exhaustion weighed down every step that I took.
Between all that time during spring break spent dieting, and working out, and cheer training, and tutoring, and about a million other things, I never got around to finishing those reports.
If I wanted to turn them in on Monday, then I would have to fix them as soon as possible, both the one I'd missed completely, and the ones I'd failed.
I didn’t have a single second left to spare, even though the thought of staying up late to work on them made me want to cry.
As I approached the landing, I heard Noah's voice coming from inside his room. He was speaking in a low tone, carefully explaining something to someone on the other end.
"I have everything under control."
I paused, my hand freezing on the bannister. Something in his voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Unable to resist my curiosity, I hung back to listen.
"This shouldn't take long. Another month or so and I'll get what I want from her and take the next available flight back home. I hate this fucking place anyway. I can barely fucking stand it."
My blood ran cold at the sound of his voice, so unlike anything I had ever heard him say.
For a minute there I wasn’t sure if it was really Noah I was hearing, or his evil twin. But that voice… it definitely was him.
I stepped closer to his door, pressing my ear against it so I could listen a little better, my heart hammering so loud that I was afraid he'd hear it.
"—No, his old man doesn't suspect anything. It’s so hard to keep this up all the fucking time. I’m sick of this shit. Constantly sucking up to all their petty bullshit, and now I have to take the fall for that piece of... Fuck this family.”
Noah laughed bitterly. "God, the things we do for money, am I right?— No, I still have unfinished business here so I can’t get out till—"
For a second there was complete silence, and I heard very faintly the sound of someone responding on the other end.
"Of course she trusts me. Hell, I bet she thinks I'm like Superman or some shit." His voice dripped with malice.
“Did you honestly think I would waste my life here without any results? I’m this close to getting heir status from that piece of shit’s dad, one more fuck up and he’s getting—”
"—Everything is going exactly how it’s supposed to. His family will get what’s coming to them, and it’ll be worth every second of living in this backwater hellhole. The only thing I need you to do for me is—"
More silence.
"No, don’t pay any attention to the girl— just an airhead, there’s no crime in that, plus she’s useful at least for now— give me more time, Dad, goddamnit. I told you it’ll be over soon."
A million questions exploded in my mind, each one more horrifying than the last. Get what I want from her? From who? What the heck did that mean?
And what did he mean by heir status? Why was he really here?
He never mentioned any names, but I got the feeling he was referring to Jace for half that phone call, and not for anything good. Was Jace in danger?
Could I be in danger?
I realized I’d been standing there for far too long, and I needed to leave before I got caught.
I had to get to my room and think and process what I'd just heard, figure out what to do—
The door swung open.
“I’ll call you back.” Noah stood there, his phone still in his hand, his cold, dead eyes meeting mine.
I turned my head quickly, as though I'd just been innocently passing by. "Hey, Noah. What’s up? I mean, how are you feeling? Is that a new shirt?”
His eyes narrowed, going black as death as he studied me. "How long have you been standing there sweetheart?"
“Um…”
My mind raced a million miles a minute. What the heck was I supposed to do? Tell the truth? Lie? Pretend I'd heard nothing?
The silence stretched between us, as I hopped from one foot to another, nervously scrambling deep in my brain for a reasonable explanation to give him.
“Well, I mean I was just… I wanted to…”
Suddenly his expression changed, warmth and gentleness flooding back into his eyes, as though someone had flipped a switch.
He smiled, his usually charming smile that had disarmed me and made me feel safe a hundred times before. Just like that he was back to regular old Noah, welcoming and perfectly harmless.
"What am I doing?" He laughed, shaking his head slowly. "Come on in."
Hell no. I took a half-step back, shrinking back from him in fear.
"Oh, I was just passing by, really. I was actually on my way to finish a few reports so I’ll just get right on that." My voice came out higher than normal, and I couldn’t help but be anxious as hell.
"No, I insist." His hand reached out, grabbing hold of my wrist before I could retreat any further. "I was just acting weird because I just got off the phone with a friend of mine. He gets on my nerves sometimes."
A friend? Didn’t I hear him say “Dad” on the phone?
“Oh, but..”
He kissed me on the lips, probably just to shut me up, and then he pulled me inside his room before I could protest.
"Oh. Okay. I guess that makes sense," I said, even though nothing about this felt like it made sense.
Noah closed the door behind us with a soft click. "It's pretty late. I thought you would've been back sooner." He leaned against his desk, arms crossed, watching me closely. "Were you busy?"
"Yeah, I was helping the kids with their report."
"Just you?"
The room temperature seemed to drop as he stared at me head-on, waiting for his answer. I shuddered to think what would happen if I gave him the wrong one.
I cleared my throat, deciding there was probably no harm in being honest. "No. Jace was there. He- he wanted to help."
“Really? Help with what?” Noah's expression didn't change, but his right eye twitched, just a little bit.
I definitely would’ve missed that if I weren’t paying attention. I swallowed nervously, fidgeting with my fingers on my skirt.
"The report is about football."
"Why didn't you come to me?" His voice was soft, almost hurt. "You don't think I know enough about it?"
"It's not like that—"
"When we were together on the field, you seemed convinced that I was the best football player ever, the guy who practically saved the Westbrook Tigers.”
He pushed off the desk, moving closer. "I hope that didn’t come across as boastful. I just want to know… what made you change your mind?"
My hands twisted together nervously. "I guess the kids were just more comfortable with him already. Besides, they were about halfway done because of his help when I got there, so it made sense to just continue."
"So you were with me all afternoon and with Jace all evening.” He laughed. “Only just had a glow up and already playing the field. I wonder, do you have some other guy scheduled for the night? Tomorrow morning?”
I shook my head, “I swear it wasn’t like that at all. I don’t like these accusations you’re—"
“Did he try to make any moves on you?" Noah cuts me off, his face went eerily blank, no emotion whatsoever.