38. Zoey
38
Zoey
M y luck has more than run out.
We’re four weeks into senior year, and just as I expected, Shannan couldn’t wait to play her wicked games. Only it’s so much worse than it ever was last year. She’s had time to plan and hit me right where it hurts. Rather than public performances to humiliate me, which would leave her vulnerable to witnesses, she keeps it private. Stalking me into bathrooms. Editing my face onto naked selfies to spread through the school. She’s even gone as far as hacking into my phone and spreading some of my risqué texts with Noah.
Tarni hasn’t been any better either.
Now that she’s got her friends back and is no longer the school outcast shamed under Noah’s reign, she’s moving back up the ranks and taking revenge in the form of snide comments and insults. Though, I know Tarni better than she knows herself. This is only the beginning.
School is about to become my biggest nightmare. The little six-year-old version of me who was fighting cancer would even pity me now. If I didn’t have Hope, I’d be lost. She’s been my rock over these past few weeks, and despite the little time we’ve known each other, she’s become closer to me than Tarni ever was, and she knows more about my life and who I am as a person. What’s more, outside of Noah, she gives me something to be excited for.
Hope isn’t shy about her dislike of Shannan, and because of how genuine and kind she is, she naturally draws people in, all of whom stand with her against Shannan when she brings out the claws. So far, it hasn’t rattled her. Shannan’s used to people not liking her, but Hope makes me feel optimistic that things will be better one day.
As for all of this, I haven’t dared to tell Noah.
I’ve given him a few updates here and there and told him that Shannan’s been causing trouble, but I haven’t explained the depth of it. If he knew the truth, he’d drop everything to race back here and try to make things better. But I need to learn how to stand on my own two feet. There was a time I thought I had learned how to stand on my own, but it turns out, I was just pretending. I’ve never felt strong on my own, but I think I’m getting there.
Over the past four weeks, Noah’s only been able to come home once, and it’s killing him. He feels like he’s letting me down, but he’s been so incredibly busy adjusting to college life. Staying on top of his schoolwork and meeting the required training schedule for football is a full-time job. He’s starting to settle into his new schedule though, and the second he does, I don’t doubt that he’ll be sneaking in through my bedroom window just like he used to. There’s no denying it though, every second he’s been gone, my chest has ached for him. The way I miss him . . . It’s breaking me.
It’s been a big week with too many assignments already building up, but nobody claimed getting through senior year was supposed to be easy. On top of everything else, I still can’t seem to find energy, and my world has slowly been spiraling out of control.
I was almost home on Friday afternoon when I got a call from Hazel that she’d missed her bus. I had to turn right around to go get her, and after a silent and broody drive home, she’s stomping up the sidewalk in front of our house before I can even put the Range Rover in park. She’s not exactly having the best day, and for some reason, I think it has something to do with a boy. It’s always got something to do with a boy.
Striding through the door that Hazel left wide open, I pull it closed behind me just as my phone chimes with an incoming text.
I glance down to dig it out of my pocket and find a text from Hope. Before I check the message, I haul my ass up the stairs and drop into my bed with a long sigh.
Hope: Sooooooo…I know I demanded that we go to that party at Laura’s place, but would I be a total ass if I bailed? My mom may or may not have found a joint hidden in the bottom of my bag, and I may or may not be grounded.
I gape at the phone, unable to believe what I’m reading, but I’m also kinda thrilled about not having to go to a party tonight. I just want to crash.
Zoey: A joint? WTH!!!! And to think…I thought you were a sweet, innocent person when you’ve really just been waiting for your opportunity to corrupt me!
Hope: I mean, maybe there might have been a small reason why my parents had me transferred out of St. Michael's.
Zoey: I’m flabbergasted!!!!
Hope: So, I take it that you don’t want to sneak out and smoke it in the park tomorrow night?
Zoey: F L A B B E R G A S T E D!!!!!!
Zoey: And also, I’m 100% there! Love a good corruption story! But if that shit makes me puke, you’re responsible for everything that happens after that.
Hope: Your big scary boyfriend is gonna kill me.
Zoey: They’re the risks you take when you live on the wild side, girl! Get used to it. Besides, he’s all kinds of sexy when he’s angry and defending my honor. It’ll be the best fun I ever had!
Hope sends me back the vomit emoji, and I laugh as I sprawl out over my bed, stretching my arms wide on either side of me as I just stare at the ceiling. Before I know it, I close my eyes and fall into a deep, exhausted sleep.
I hear Mom getting home, and I peel my eyes open, surprised to find my room cloaked in darkness. A loud yawn rips from my chest, and I sit up, feeling like the living dead. I must have napped for a few hours at least, definitely not my usual Friday afternoon activity, but I needed it all the same.
Mom starts fussing around with pots and pans and the sound flows right up the stairs and assaults my ears in the worst way. Then just when I go to get up and trudge downstairs, my phone rings from somewhere on my bed. Feeling certain that it’s Noah, I quickly scramble to find it.
Noah’s name lights the screen, and a wide smile stretches across my face as I quickly hit accept, scooching up my bed and bringing my blanket right up to my chin. “Well, hey there, stranger.”
“Were you sleeping? Did I wake you?”
“No,” I grumble before I’m hit with another yawn. “Sorry to disappoint, but Mom had that honor.”
“Damn, and to think I didn’t get to be the one to ruin your granny nap.”
I laugh and snuggle deeper against my pillow, closing my eyes and just listening to the sound of his soothing tone. “What are you doing?” I ask, picturing him as though he were right here in front of me. “Is there some big start of the season party tonight?”
“It’s college,” he says with a laugh. “Of course there’s a big party tonight.”
I roll my eyes. I should have seen that one coming. “And?” I prompt.
“And what?”
“Are you going?”
“Maybe,” he says, his tone deepening. “But I’d prefer to be in that bed with you.”
I scoff, sitting up. “I’m not in bed,” I argue, not wanting to sound lazy when I should be living some kind of extravagant life. “Not anymore at least. Hope and I were going to go to a party. Rumor has it, it’ll be the best one of the year.”
“You’re not going to that party,” he states.
“Excuse you, resident asshole, but I’ll have you know that I can go to any damn party I want,” I tell him, as my brows furrow. “Wait,” I say, my heart starting to race. “How the hell did you know I was in my bed?”
A gentle knock sounds on my bedroom window, and my head snaps up to find Noah perched outside like some kind of creepy stalker, but the hot kind the girls always fall for. “Like I said,” he rumbles. “You’re not going anywhere tonight because you’re all mine.”
I squeal, undeniable happiness surging through my chest as I throw myself out of bed, my phone catching in the blankets and flying across the room. I race to the window with overwhelming emotion pulsating through my body and sending hot tears streaming down my face.
I struggle with the broken lock, and before I know it, the window is open, and Noah tumbles right through it and into my arms. The force of his momentum sends us both tumbling to the ground. His arms lock protectively around me so that I don’t get hurt, and before I can even gasp, his lips are on mine.
Noah kisses me as though it were the very last time, savoring every second of it as I do the same. I take in the feel of his muscled body weighing down on mine, the feel of his tongue sweeping into my mouth, the sound of my racing pulse beating so loudly in my ears. My hands shake as I struggle to pull him closer, and damn it, no matter how long I kiss and hold him, it’ll never be enough.
His hands roam over my body, each of us desperate for more until I can’t take it a second longer and pull his shirt over his head. Noah is more than happy to oblige, and before I know it, I hear the familiar crinkle of the condom wrapper. It all happens at warp speed, and then finally, he’s right there, easing the ache I’ve held for him for way too long.
When we’re both exhausted and panting, Noah drops his forehead to mine, his hands so soft against my bare skin. “Fuck, I’ve missed you, Zo,” he tells me.
“If that’s how you show a girl you missed her, then you ought to miss me some more,” I tease.
He laughs as his lips drop to mine. “Then just wait ’til you see how I show a girl exactly how I make up for missed time,” he tells me, sending an electrical thrill shooting through my body and lighting up every inch of me. “As for now, I think I need to get dressed, sneak back out your window, then go down to knock on the door.”
I grin wide, knowing damn well that it won’t be long before Mom comes up here and knocks on the door to let me know dinner is ready. “I think that’s a smart idea. This whole college thing must be knocking some sense into that brain of yours,” I tell him, watching as he reluctantly climbs off me and offers me a hand, helping me to my feet. Then just to be the perfect idiot I’ve always known him to be, his hand comes down in the perfect arc to my ass, the sound like music to my ears and making me jump.
He grins down at me, not daring to move his hand off my ass as he produces my panties in his other hand. “I think you’ll be needing these.”
I snatch them right out of his hand, and he laughs as he quickly gets dressed. Then all too soon, his lips are on mine, telling me he’ll see me soon, and as he slips back outside my bedroom window, I can’t possibly wipe the smile off my face, not even if I tried.
With my window closed and locked, I get myself dressed and hurry down to the bathroom, needing to splash some water over my flushed face. As I close the bathroom door behind me, the lack of energy hits me hard, and I sway, falling right into the bathroom vanity. My hip slams into the porcelain sink as I try to catch myself.
I whimper as agony tears through me, and I lower myself to the ground, needing to breathe through it as my head spins.
I close my eyes, trying to find myself, when Mom’s voice sails through the house. “ZOEY,” she hollers, her tone telling me she’s just found Noah at our front door. “Someone’s here to see you.”
I cringe, knowing she expects me to race down the stairs with the force of a whole army, but there’s no way I can pull that off right now. Both Mom and Noah will see right through me. They’ll know something is wrong.
“Give me a sec,” I call back, hoping they can’t hear my voice waver through the closed door.
Mom and Noah are talking downstairs, and a second later, I hear Hazel’s heavy thumps outside the bathroom door as she races out of her room and down the stairs, her high-pitched “NOAH!” booming through the house.
I grip the vanity for balance as I pull myself off the ground, and a throbbing pain shoots through my hip. There’s no way I’m going to get this one past Noah.
I get control of my spinning head while trying not to think about what this could mean, but it’s hard not to fear the absolute worst. Instead, I focus on trying to enjoy having Noah home, even if it’s only for a short while.
Creeping out of the bathroom, I make my way to the stairs, following the sound of voices coming from the entryway. As I reach the top of the stairs, his eyes come to mine, and his whole face lights up as though he’s never been so happy in his life. Every fearful thought of this constant dizziness and lack of energy fades away, leaving nothing but him .
A wide, booming smile breaks across my face, and I want nothing more than to throw myself down the stairs. “Look who the cat dragged in,” I tease, inching my foot down the first step, only to come to a startling halt, agony blasting through my hip.
A pained whimper slips through my lips before I get a chance to stop it, and I watch as Noah’s brows furrow, his smile fading away, replaced with pure concern. “What’s wrong?” he rushes out, already halfway up the stairs as Mom peers around Noah’s big frame from the bottom of the stairs.
His hands are on me in seconds, roaming over me as he tries to figure out what the hell could have happened in the last ninety seconds.
“It’s nothing,” I tell him, catching his hands and bringing them to a stop in front of me before he accidentally touches my hip. “Just a little water on the bathroom floor. I slipped and rammed my hip into the sink, but I’m fine.”
The second the word hip comes out of my mouth, he pulls his hands free from mine and grips my shirt, easing it up before slipping his fingers into the waistband of my shorts and pulling down the edge of it. He takes a look, and as I see the way his eyes widen, my heart races, regretting not waiting a second to check it for myself. “How bad is it?”
“Fuck, Zo. You need ice.”
“Shit.”
When Noah tells you an injury needs ice, that means it’s borderline catastrophic. At this point, I should avoid looking down because I probably don’t even have a hip left. Noah is usually the type to just shake it off. He thinks Band-Aids are a waste of time and bruises are a trophy of whatever ridiculous thing you did to earn them.
“I leave you alone for two fucking seconds,” he mutters under his breath, letting the rest of the sentence trail off. With that, his arm curls around my back, and just when I think he’s about to help me hobble all the way to the bottom, he scoops me up against his wide chest, lifting me off the ground.
I loop my arms around his neck, and he walks me right to the bottom, not stopping until he’s lowering me on the couch. Then before I can even say thank you, he’s in the kitchen, rifling through the freezer for ice.
He gets me sorted out, and it’s not long before Mom calls Aunt Maya, deciding that tonight we’ll have our own kind of party. Dinner is served, and as Mom and Aunt Maya lose themselves to three bottles of wine, Noah sits with me on the couch, holding me against his chest as Hazel finally explodes and tells us all about this boy at school who is absolutely not worth her time.
The hours pass far too quickly, and when I’m falling asleep on the couch, Noah lets out a sigh and scoops me up. “Mmmmm,” I groan. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to bed,” he tells me as I snuggle in, more than content with staying right here. “I don’t need to go back until Sunday afternoon, so I’ll be sneaking back through your window first thing in the morning.”
“Okay, but just so you know, Hope and I are sneaking out tomorrow night to smoke a joint in the park.”
Noah sputters and gapes at me as he makes his way up the stairs, and all I can do is grin. “Tell me you’re lying.”
“Like you’ve never done it,” I scoff.
“That’s beside the point,” he says, but as I snuggle back in and close my eyes, he just shakes his head. “Guess it’s time that Hope and I have a little chat.”
And with that, he lowers me into my bed and presses a gentle kiss to my lips. “Love you, Zo,” he murmurs. “Sleep tight.”