Chapter 59 Chapter Fifty Nine
“There’s nothing to spill,” Noah said easily. “We’re just very different people who happen to share DNA.”
“And a house now, apparently,” Jake said. “That’s gotta be weird.”
“You have no idea,” I said, then caught myself. “I mean… not that I would know, I just um…”
Nicole was watching me with sharp, knowing eyes. “Uh huh. Sure.”
Before I could defend myself, Noah launched into a story about the time he and Jace got into a fistfight at a family reunion over a game of Monopoly, and soon everyone was laughing, the conversation flowing easily around me.
I found myself actually relaxing, actually smiling, actually feeling like maybe, possibly, I could belong here.
I suddenly worried if this was only a rare taste of friendship, mad maybe tomorrow Noah would find newer, more interesting friends, and I would be abandoned once again to myself.
My face fell, my heart started to beat faster as my anxiety piqued, until I felt Noah take my hand in his under the table.
He gave me a quick, reassuring nod, and then said something to the group about his old school’s terrible cafeteria food, doing an impression of his old lunch lady that had Jake choking on his water.
“I swear I saw her spit in it once. Like no jokes.” He finished.
“Ewwww…” Nicole said, giggling and covering her face with her hands.
I was mid\-laugh, feeling lighter than I had in months, when suddenly an ominous shadow fell across our table.
Allison stood there in all her terrifying glory, flanked by Tracy and Madison. Her smile was sharp enough to cut glass as he looked down on us with disgust.
“Noah!” Her voice was bright, friendly, completely different from the ice in her eyes. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
The easy chatter around the table died instantly. Jake and Nicole exchanged tense glances and Nicole rolled her eyes and sighed.
I felt my body go rigid, my fight\-or\-flight instincts screaming at me to cut and run.
Only Noah seemed completely unaffected. He just leaned back in his chair, casual as anything. “Hey, Allison. What’s up?”
“I just thought…” She placed a perfectly manicured hand on the back of his chair, leaning in slightly.
“You might want to come sit with us? You know, with the team? Since you made quarterback and all. It would be good for you to bond with your teammates before practice starts, instead of… with that...”
Her eyes flicked to me for just a second, dismissive and hateful, before returning sweetly to Noah.
“That’s really thoughtful of you,” Noah said, his smile polite but distant. “But I’m good here. Maybe another time?”
Allison’s smile tightened. “Another time? Noah, I’m offering you a seat at the table. Do you understand what that means?”
“I do,” he said calmly. “And I really appreciate it. Especially since we have that biology project together, we should definitely hang out later to talk about that. But right now, I’m staying with Lena.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. My heart was hammering so hard I was sure they could all hear it.
Every instinct screamed at me to leave, to get out before this got worse and spare myself the inevitable humiliation.
I gathered my things and started to stand.
Noah’s hand caught mine, firm but gentle, pulling me back down into my seat.
His steady, certain eyes met mine, and he said “Stay.”
And so I nodded a little hesitantly and sat back down, looking down at the ground and refusing to look up.
Allison laughed bitterly. “Are you serious right now? You’d rather sit here with a bunch of nobodies than…”
“I’m sorry, maybe I didn’t hear that right. Did you just all us nobodies?” Nicole’s sharp voice cut Alison’s off quickly.
Jake went, “Oh my God, Nicole. Just ignore her,” but she was beyond listening at that point.
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you!” She hissed. “How about you go fuck yourself and stop calling other people names?”
Allison’s head snapped toward her. “Excuse me? Who the hell are you? Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” Nicole shot back.
“Do you know who my father is?” Allison’s voice went shrill. “I bet you don’t, because you’re just a junior. If you did, you wouldn’t dare be so stupid.”
Nicole’s smile turned absolutely savage. “Oh, I know who your father is. He’s my sugar daddy!”
Jake burst out laughing, nearly falling out of his chair. “Oh my God. Nicole. That’s…” He was laughing too hard to finish. “That’s amazing. Good one.”
Nicole looked smug as anything, and Jake’s laughter died abruptly. “Wait… That was a joke, right?”
Meanwhile, Allison’s face had gone completely white, her mouth opened and closed like a fish in shock.
The entire table had gone silent by now, everyone staring at Nicole with varying expressions of shock and amusement.
“Obviously,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes. “God, you people are dense.”
Allison’s face flushed red with fury. She whirled on Noah, her voice rising. “You cannot seriously be choosing to sit here with these freaks…”
“Ally.” Noah’s voice was smooth and diplomatic, cutting her off with cool gentleness.
He stood up, taking her hand briefly and giving it a friendly squeeze. “Go have fun with your friends. There’ll be plenty of opportunities for me to sit with you in the future, okay? No need to get upset. I’ll talk to you later. Promise.”
He was so mature that he knew exactly what to do to get her to shut up without making things worse.
The pet name, the soft tone, the gentle dismissal, it was masterful, all the while Nicole was angrily rolling up her sleeves and squaring up, getting ready to fight.
Allison’s anger flickered, confused by his charm. “But…”
“Later,” he said again, releasing her hand with a warm smile. “Okay?”
She stood there for another moment, clearly struggling with herself between causing chaos and acting innocent, before finally turning on her heel and stalking away, her friends scrambling to follow behind her.
The moment she was gone, I felt like I could finally breathe again.
My hands were shaking under the table. Every muscle in my body was still coiled tight and ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
I’d never been under that much pressure before, never been the centre of a confrontation like that with people actually defending me.
Then I felt Noah’s hand again, cool and steady sliding along the back of my arm underneath the table.
His touch was grounding, calming me so I could take a deep shaky breath and relax.
He leaned in slightly, his voice low and meant just for me. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I looked at him, at his confident smile, at the certainty in his eyes, and somehow I believed him.
“Now,” he said, louder, addressing the whole table again. “Let’s talk about those cheerleading tryouts of yours.”