Chapter Twenty-Five Noah
Chapter Twenty-Five
Noah
Noah came across Celine and Kyle making out with each other in the woods. Which wasn’t wholly unexpected. But it certainly
made things awkward.
“Hey, what’s your problem?” Kyle asked when Noah approached them. “Are you jealous or something?”
All the friendly “bro-eyness” was gone from Kyle’s voice, replaced by the sharpness of a serrated knife. Well, that hadn’t
taken long.
“No,” Noah simply said. Because it was true, he realized. He wasn’t jealous of them at all.
Before anyone could say anything else, Noah stepped aside to reveal Kallie standing behind him with her camera. Noah himself
hadn’t known Kallie was following him until he heard her whispering into her walkie-talkie, calling Mia for backup. He didn’t
want Mia to have to deal with . . . whatever this was. He resolved to take care of this mess before she arrived.
Kyle cursed under his breath. And Celine, who’d been glancing between the two boys in horror, said, “Noah, how could you? We just wanted some privacy.”
“For the record, I didn’t tell Kallie to follow me,” Noah replied, keeping his voice low and even. “I didn’t even notice she
was here until now. I just wanted you two to know there’s a camera here, so you won’t do anything you’ll regret being aired.”
“Why were you even following us in the first place?” Kyle snapped. “Aren’t you supposed to be in your own cupful or whatever?”
“It’s cuffle,” Noah said, matter of fact. “Respect the terminology. And you guys both know you’re not supposed to be out in
the woods like this. You heard what Mia said.”
Celine dropped her gaze to the ground, but Kyle retorted, “Okay, Mom. Jesus. We’re not in the frat house anymore, Noah. And
even if we were, I’m no longer part of Alpha Tau, so you can’t tell me what to do.”
Noah ignored Kyle, opting to talk to Celine instead. That was why he was here, after all. Not to have a pissing contest with
someone who was three years younger.
“Celine, I know this isn’t something you’d want to hear from me. But I just wanted to warn you about Kyle. He got kicked out
of Alpha Tau for being an all-around asshole.”
Celine’s jaw dropped. Kyle rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, come on—”
“Given the kind of guy he is, I don’t think Kyle has the best intentions,” Noah went on, cutting him off. “I’m pretty sure he’s only trying to date you because he wants to be me.”
“You take that back!” Kyle yelled, with just enough outrage that told Noah he’d struck a nerve.
But before either boy could say anything else, Celine exclaimed, “Noah!” Anger burned in her eyes as she hissed, “First you
waste my time, and now you stalk me and the guy who’s actually into me, just to burst in and say weird things about him?”
Noah took a step back. This was not how he expected this conversation to go at all.
“What do you mean, waste your time?” he asked. “And stalk? I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
A slight movement caught Noah’s attention. Kyle was shaking his head, which annoyed the hell out of Noah. But at least he
was staying quiet. Noah was surprised Kyle was even doing that.
“But why?” Celine asked Noah. “You don’t even care about me. I liked you, Noah. A lot. I DMed you so many times. You ghosted
me, but I figured you got busy, like you said you did. Then on the show, you just led me on!”
Noah sighed, not because of Celine, but because he was frustrated with his past self.
He needed to get better at communicating with other people, both online and face-to-face.
“First of all, I’m sorry. Truly, I never realized how me being busy could hurt someone like that.
” He softened all the edges in his voice before continuing, “But on the show, I wasn’t leading you on.
I was genuinely trying to get to know you. I just don’t think . . .”
He hesitated, wondering if he should say this next part.
Celine crossed her arms. “What?” she asked. “Say it.”
Noah briefly closed his eyes. People were going to make him into a reality TV show villain because of this, but someone had to be honest. “Look, our first two dates were great. But I’m not sure if we’re compatible. Or if you even like me. You were literally out here kissing another guy.”
Tears erupted from Celine’s eyes, but Noah wasn’t sure if it was because his words had hurt her feelings or because he’d forced
her to confront the truth on camera. Maybe a bit of both.
“I tried, too, you know!” she exclaimed. “You just weren’t the guy I thought you were.”
It took all of Noah’s self-control to not visibly react to that revelation. “Right, and there’s nothing wrong with that . . .” He trailed off. Nothing in Celine’s face told him she was
willing to listen, to meet him halfway so they could come to a peaceful resolution. It’d been a mistake for him to follow
her here.
He took another step back.
“Wait, where are you going?” Celine grabbed his hand.
Noah flinched away. He’d already been tense from Kyle grabbing him earlier, but now, he’d reached his limit.
Noah glanced around the forest and caught sight of Kallie’s camera.
He gritted his teeth. He hated that it was there, capturing him at his worst. Everyone was going to see him like this.
The students at Marlon, the viewers on YouTube, and the who-knows-how-many of his followers that watched this show.
Suddenly Noah couldn’t breathe. His body started shaking from head to toe.
“Hey,” Celine said, sounding genuinely concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Should we call for help?” Even Kyle looked worried. Which was just great.
Noah opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He had to go. Now. Before he completely shut down and made even more of a fool
of himself.
He forced out a breath and tried again. “Sorry,” he said. “But I can’t do this right now.”
And then he ran away. Away from Celine and Kyle. Away from the camera. And away from Mia’s show.
Beyond the trail, the woods were thick and unforgiving, sending Noah tripping and falling multiple times into the snow. But
he didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. His heart was pounding too loudly in his ears. His head, hammering along with it, a confusing and jumbled rush of thoughts
and memories.
He’d moved an entire ocean away from home to flee from a life where he’d spend endless nights watching movies and TV shows to even just momentarily escape from reality.
In his head, Noah knew that this was different, that his current situation on The Cuffing Game was not at all like the circumstances he faced back home. But his body took a lot more convincing.
I never should have come here. Noah had thought Mia’s show would be a fun challenge, but maybe it was one he hadn’t been ready for.
His legs gave out beneath him, and he got a face full of snow. A quiet “oof” escaped from his mouth. He turned over and lay
there for a moment, chest heaving.
Snowflakes began falling around him in the twilight of the forest. It was beautiful. Peaceful, even.
Noah sat up when he felt like he could breathe again.
When he’d been running, he’d felt hot and cold all over, but now, as the icy wind cut through him, he was freezing. He stood
up and began retracing his steps.
Noah had always thought he had a good sense of direction, but apparently that didn’t apply to the woods. Every tree, stump,
and rock looked the same, worsened by the now steady snowfall that was slowly covering everything in sight.
He could have sworn he’d run for only ten, fifteen minutes tops, but he was still lost after he’d walked for much longer than that.
Shadows stretched and lengthened as the sun sank.
Soon, Noah was trembling again. He was still wearing his coat, but the cold pierced into the exposed skin of his face, his lungs, everywhere.
Is this how I die? Noah thought.
For the sake of his pride, he hoped he was at least miles and miles away from the lodge. It’d be so embarrassing if his frozen,
lifeless body ended up being discovered just five minutes away from everyone else.
His legs were about to give out again when he saw it: a small cabin in the woods not unlike the one he’d seen in a horror
movie.
I’ll take my chances out in the cold, Noah thought.
He’d only taken ten more steps when a coyote’s howl pierced the thin air.
Noah turned around and dashed for the cabin.
At least most of the deaths in The Cabin in the Woods were quick.