Cross My Heart

3. NOAH

Chapter 3

NOAH

14 YEARS OLD

T he drive to the zoo is less than an hour, yet here is Tyler, asleep with his head on my shoulder as I gaze out the window. Pretty sure he’s drooling too. With anyone else, I’d think it’s gross, but I think he could do just about anything and I’d let it slide. I look at him briefly, his full lips that I would love to kiss one day, and the way his nose slightly tips up at the end. He’s so pretty.

My dad catches me looking, I can see him watching me, and he raises an eyebrow. I smirk and look back out the window, taking in the Atlanta skyline. It doesn’t take very long before we arrive at our destination, and Tyler stirs as soon as we pull into a parking spot. He stretches his arms above his head and accidentally bumps into Scarlett, who is sitting on the other side of him, and she shoves him toward me.

“Watch it, Scar,” I growl at her, and she scoffs. “You too, Ty. She’s a lady.”

“She ain’t no fucking lady.” He rolls his eyes. “She’s a heathen.”

“Hey—” Scarlett protests.

“Language, Tyler Levi Hayes,” my mom scolds, “I’m not afraid to spank you.” But she winks at him playfully, and we know she’s just playing around.

I huff a laugh, loving how comfortable they seem to be with each other after only a year.

“I’m too old for that, Mae.” Tyler rolls his eyes but grins. She’s never spanked anyone a day in her life, and we both know it. But he still taunts her. “I know you won’t.”

My mom turns in her seat and narrows her eyes at him, but when she sees that he’s smiling, she just chuckles and turns back around. She’s a gentle soul—she’s only yelled at me a handful of times. Positive reinforcement and redirection are her motto, and it’s quite obvious she’s been a pre-k teacher most of her life. She has the patience of a saint.

“You’re an asshole,” Scarlett whispers, and I’m pretty sure my mom hears it and pretends not to.

Sometimes I think Ty has a thing for Scarlett, then again, he’s mine and she knows it. I called dibs and she didn’t seem to care. Though I think she’s jealous I don’t spend as much time with her. But she’s gotten better at sharing me. It’s not her fault she’s an only child and no one taught her to share.

We get out of the car and go get our tickets; thankfully, the line is short. Before we know it, we’re walking in and stopping at the exhibits. The first one is of little meerkats, and Tyler seems fascinated by them. I stay close to him, reveling in his scent. Something woodsy.

His brown hair looks lighter as the sun shines on it, and when he turns and looks at me with those crystalline blue eyes, my heart threatens to stop. They’re glowing, thanks to the sun as well, and I’m lost in their blue depths. I can’t look away. It’s like I’m memorizing them. That is until Scarlett bumps into me—hard.

I turn around and give her a death glare, but she completely ignores me as if she didn’t just interrupt my moment with Ty. My parents are completely oblivious, now moving on to the lions. We follow silently, and I grab Tyler’s hand and pull him toward the glass. But it’s a ruse. I only did it to hold his hand. To feel his skin against mine for a few seconds. Pretty sure he’s completely oblivious to it too.

The lionesses are growling and screaming, and the male lion is just pacing everywhere. They seem agitated, and honestly, I would be too if I were locked up like that. I try not to think about it too much, but suddenly I want to leave. So I take his hand again and pull him toward the otters, who are happily swimming in their giant pool. They’re floating on their backs and then jumping on the rocks, diving to the bottom, and coming back up. They’re cute and entertaining. Much better.

“Aren’t these cute?” I ask him.

“So cute,” Scarlett says from my other side. “Awww, look at them!”

Scarlett points at a mom with a baby on top of her belly, and she’s hugging it tightly as she swims backwards. It’s possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. “The cutest.”

“Noah,” my dad calls out, and I look back at him. Tyler holds my hand out of nowhere, derailing my thoughts. My dad looks down at it and raises his eyebrow at me again, and I shrug. “Let’s go see the monkeys.”

“Alright,” I tell him, pulling Tyler behind my parents.

But Ty ends up gravitating toward Scarlett, interlacing their fingers together and letting go of me. My heart squeezes tightly as jealousy consumes me, and I look at her. She’s not making eye contact though, instead, she is looking ahead like she’s not confusing the hell out of me.

I go to Scarlett’s side and whisper in her ear, “What the hell are you doing? He’s our friend.”

I called dibs!

“Friends can hold hands.” She shrugs.

I narrow my eyes. “That’s crap and you know it.”

“Ugh, shut up, Noah.” She rolls her eyes. “Maybe I like him too. I think he can decide for himself. Let him pick who he wants to be with.”

I tense—because what the fuck . “Are you kidding me right now?”

“No.” Scarlett narrows her eyes on me, and I narrow mine right back. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

A big deal.

“Whatever,” I huff.

I stay back and let them walk ahead of me, trying to control myself. I don’t know why I care so much. Maybe he doesn’t feel the same way about me. Maybe he likes her too. I narrow my eyes at the back of her head because she can’t have him. That’s the one thing I won’t budge on.

We finally arrive at the monkey exhibit, and Scarlett lets go of his hand, going directly to one specific monkey. She puts one hand against the glass. The monkey mirrors her, and suddenly she is crying, tears streaming down her face rapidly. “Hey, hey, hey.” Ty turns her around slowly. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s not right.” She shakes her head. “Look how smart she is. She shouldn’t be locked up.”

“I know, Red,” he whispers, hugging her to his chest. “Let it out.”

She cries into the crook of his neck, and he rubs her back slowly in circles. And then they stay like that for a while. Holding each other. And I don’t think I’ve ever felt my heart break like this before.

I sigh.

This fucking sucks.