Chapter 4
NOAH
The crash course on Team Olympus didn’t give me anything I didn’t already know, but it was valuable to see the dynamic between the seven of them.
While they gave me the facts I already researched, I studied their body language and facial expressions and paid attention to their tone instead of their words.
By the time our team interviews were filmed, I had clocked Torin and August as practically inseparable best friends; Xavier, Ace, and Zeth as closer than brothers; Minho as a quiet observer who was more than comfortable letting others speak for him; and—much to my frustration—Skye seemed genuinely likeable.
The interviews took a painful amount of time, but Ace was diligent in making sure everyone had snacks and drinks to keep going until we were eventually told we could leave.
Throughout the day my nerves had calmed, and I’d almost enjoyed some of the banter as we handled questions from the Clik Games producers, but the moment we were done, I was an anxious wreck.
Jared and Christy—my stylist—had sent all my luggage ahead to the team house, but I’d personally never been there and had no idea what to expect.
I only knew that this was where the rest of the team lived full-time.
It’d originally been just Ace, Xavier, and Zeth, then Skye and Torin had moved in around a year later.
Minho and August were newer recruits to the team, but both had been living in the house at least six months already.
“It’s about an hour drive to our place from here,” Ace informed me as the team headed out of the production stage with all their staff in tow.
It was mind-blowing to see how many extra employees they had around them at all times, when I was used to filming content with just me and Miles.
And Rich. “Or more if there’s traffic. Are you familiar with this area? ”
I gave a noncommittal shrug. I’d lived in LA my whole life, because it was closest to the production studios that filmed Dance Babes when I was little. Miles had gone to boarding school—same one as Ace—but I’d been homeschooled to fit into my filming schedules.
“Yeah, somewhat familiar,” I replied, walking beside him as we headed toward the waiting cars. There were eight of us, but twice as many staff. How was this going to work? “Your house is in Laguna Beach, right?”
Ace nodded, a gentle touch to my shoulder blade directing me toward the second of the two white vans. “Yeah, we’ve lived there a couple years already, and it’s home, so we all agreed to stay there, rather than move into a rental for the duration of the Games.”
“Makes sense,” I murmured, climbing into the very back row when the doors slid open. I was the smallest, so it made sense to leave leg room for taller people.
Sure enough, it was Skye who climbed into the back with me, and the seats in front of us were claimed by Ace and Xavier. To my relief, it was just the four of us. No managers or publicists, and a privacy screen between us and the driver. Better yet, there were no cameras.
I let out a long breath of relief, letting my spine relax for the first time since arriving on set hours ago.
For a moment I assumed the guys would use the transit time as an opportunity to grill me for information or talk strategy for the competition or…something. But Xavier slouched in his seat, put earbuds in, and pulled his black beanie down over his eyes, clearly intending to sleep the whole way.
Ace pulled a laptop out of his bag, then turned in his seat to give me a reassuring smile. “Take a rest if you want, Eight. Cameras will be back on when we get home.”
I nodded my understanding, running my fingers through my hair again. It was turning into a nervous habit, especially since I’d never had my hair so short in my whole damn life. I actually liked it, though. Wash day was going to be a breeze.
With a yawn, I tugged my hoodie hood up and pulled out my phone. Jared had already messaged to ask if everything was okay, so I shot off a quick reply, reassuring him before opening the thread from Miles. The long thread full of shouty caps and angry face emojis.
Fuck.
My breath hissed out from between my teeth, and a slimy feeling of dread and regret filled my gut as I read his messages. It was what I’d expected, but it still sucked…
I hadn’t told him about the Olympus deal. If he’d known, he never would have let me go. Hell, he’d have willingly taken all the legal charges to stop me from joining this team, but keeping that secret meant he just found out…on live stream…along with the rest of the internet.
Miles was pissed. Big mad. The worst part, though? He said he was calling Mom.
Sure enough, there was a missed call from our mom several hours earlier.
Just one, though, which was…something. She knew I was joining the team and the Clik Games and was supportive, but I knew my brother.
He’d have gone in ranting about all of Ace’s and Xavier’s bad reputation points and panicked Mom into thinking I was in danger.
Miles hated Ace, for some reason. He never told me why, though, so it couldn’t have been over anything that serious. Right? Besides, from what I’d seen so far, Ace was nothing like the boy Miles had known.
“Hey,” Skye murmured, nudging my leg with his knee to pull my attention away from my phone screen. “You’re not looking at fan comments, right? That’s never a good idea.”
I frowned my confusion, shaking my head.
“What? No, just… family drama. And I’m not exactly a newbie, SkyeHigh.
I’m well aware how brutal comments can be.
” Although…now he had me wondering what the hell fans were saying of this version of Noah Fearly.
Did they like him? Or was the feed flooded with comments about how Noah was so very obviously a girl, and Norah Sparkle at that.
He studied me a moment, then shrugged. “Okay, if you say so.”
Shifting back into his seat, his phone screen tilted my way ever so briefly, and I caught a glimpse of a very familiar backpack in the Byte he was watching. “Are you—” I started to ask, reaching for his phone before he whipped it out of reach.
“No,” he replied quickly, but the grin on his lips said he was lying.
My jaw dropped. “You’re watching my Bytes! Why?”
“Planning my future content, obviously.” Skye rolled his eyes dramatically, a smug smile on his face as he shifted his back against the window so I really couldn’t see his screen. “Now that I’ve met you, I don’t know how we didn’t clock how short you are in these clips. Like…look at this one.”
He turned his phone to show me a paused Byte where I’m standing on the open ledge of a construction site.
Miles had been filming—as he always was—and Skye had paused on a shot where Miles had jumped out ahead of me.
So the Byte showed me—in my full suit and helmet—standing on the ledge, with a mess of construction behind me.
“Either that elevator to your left”—Skye pointed out—“is the biggest elevator door on earth, or you’re fucking short. And I guess it wasn’t the elevator. Frankly, I’m shocked Ace didn’t see this already.”
He had a point there. I’d never really made any attempt to “look tall” because why the fuck would I? I didn’t particularly care if fans worked out I was a girl. I just didn’t want anything tying NoFear to Norah Sparkle.
“I don’t see why it’s such a big deal,” I muttered, resisting the urge to grab for his phone again, because ultimately I couldn’t stop him. “You’re not exactly a giant yourself, you know?”
Skye’s perfect grin spread wide. “I know. But I am taller than you, and that’s a fucking win in my books. Actually, when’s your birthday? If you’re the shortest and the youngest, you’ll totally make my day.”
“December fifteenth,” I replied, actually engaging with him against my instincts to keep my distance. “When’s yours?” Because I already knew he was the same age as me, twenty.
He screwed up his adorable button nose. “You’re kidding me. I’m December sixteen! So close to being twins for a minute there, Noah. Sagittarius checks out, though.”
I just chuckled because I wasn’t a star sign kinda girl; I had no clue what being Sagittarius had to do with fucking anything. Skye being into that was weirdly endearing, though. He definitely gave off new-age hippie sort of vibes.
“Well, I guess that means we can have a fully sick party when we both turn twenty-one, though,” he continued, seeming like he was already seeing the benefits of our close birthdays.
“Uh, not to rain on your parade, but last I checked, Clik Games ends before our birthdays,” I pointed out. The final results ceremony was scheduled for December fourth, six months from now.
Skye didn’t seem put off. “So? You’re Team Olympus now, Noah. We’re family. Right, boss?”
“Yup,” Ace replied, not raising his head from whatever he was doing on his laptop. It made me aware that he’d been listening the whole time, though.
The casual confidence they all had when they spoke like that, as if there was no way I’d want to leave their team, was confusing.
Because it wasn’t said with arrogance, like they were the best of the best and of course I wouldn’t leave.
More like they believed in fate and the eight of us belonged together.
Confusing. Did none of these guys have even an ounce of abandonment issues? Or fear of rejection? Apparently not.
“Hey can I ask you about one of your Bytes?” Skye asked, totally oblivious to my internal puzzlement over their group dynamic.
“This one.” He showed me his phone again, displaying one of my favorite videos.
It was from about a year earlier, when Miles and I had climbed up the side of a hot air balloon in flight to stand on top—before skydiving off.
I licked my lips, nodding. “I guess. What do you want to know?”
The smile that lit up his face was like pure sunshine.
“Fuck, where do I even start? What kind of training did you need to do? How’d you find a balloon company that would let you do that?
The paperwork must have been insane! And did your camera guy intend to slide down the side like that, or was it an accident?
I noticed you have an actual cameraman on most of these stunts, which is so cool, I do everything myself and it really changes the whole vibe of—”
“Skye, take a breath,” Ace cut him off, handing over a bottle of water. “Take a drink and let Noah answer your first fifty questions.”
Skye actually blushed, accepting the water from his team leader and tossing me a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
Fuck. Fuck. Why was he so goddamn likeable? I came into this team fully prepared to hate his guts for essentially ripping off my whole platform concept, but instead…this? I couldn’t hate this!
“You’re fine,” I muttered, somewhat embarrassed myself. “I’m not really used to talking about my content with anyone but…I’ll do my best.”
Another beaming smile of excitement and I couldn’t deny it anymore.
Skye wasn’t a copycat at all. He was me.
Just…without Miles to share it with. It made me kind of sad for him, and with that in mind I found myself being totally open and honest while answering his dozens of questions during the long drive to Laguna Beach.
Eventually we pulled up in front of a staggeringly impressive beachside mansion, and Ace poked Xavier in the shoulder to wake him up.
“All right, cameras will be back on before we get out of the car so if anyone wants to fix their face, do it now.” Ace gave a pointed look to Xavier, who’d just tugged off his beanie and caused absolute chaos to his hair.
Although it was shaved tight up the sides, it was long and messy on top, and the haphazard way he raked his fingers through it did nothing to help.
“Me? I’m fine,” he mumbled, then stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. “This is what sunglasses were made for.” He perched a pair of Angry Badger sunglasses—one of his sponsor brands—on his nose and gave Ace a toothy grin.
I stifled my own smile at how vexed Ace looked, but then one of the producers knocked on the window to tell us it was time to get out.
“Ready to see the house, Noah?” Skye asked as we all climbed out, totally unbothered by the half-dozen cameras following our every movement and word. “I made sure to clear out space in our closet for your stuff already.”
That made me stumble. “Our…huh?”
Skye wrinkled his cute nose at me again with amusement. “Ah, Ace didn’t tell you? We’re roommates. Youngest, shortest, and basically soulmates…kinda makes sense, right?”
Well…fuck. This was going to require an urgent call to Jared. Just as soon as the cameras stopped filming.