8. Noah

8

NOAH

I checked my phone for the time. It was almost ten. Easton and I had decided to play video games in his basement after Lexi and I finished our game-planning session for the next days at school.

I wondered if I could just ask Easton to let me sleep here. It was late enough that he'd probably let me chill on his couch for the night.

Mr. Stevens’ heavy footsteps sounded at the top of the staircase.

"Time to hit the lights, boys. You've got school tomorrow."

Easton groaned, but he paused the game. "Looks like you'll have to wait until tomorrow to decimate my city." He saved the game and then shut the system down .

I stood and stretched, trying to get up the nerve to ask if I could stay over.

Hey, it's late. Mind if I crash on your couch? I ran the words through my head. That didn't sound like a weird request, did it?

"Noah, it's time for you to head home now." Mr. Stevens’ voice bellowed down the stairs.

So much for staying out of the cold tonight. My shoes suddenly felt like they were full of lead. They did not want to carry me up the stairs and out to my car. That was about the last thing I wanted to do.

But as much as I didn't want to go outside, I was still too stubborn to go crawling back to my dad's house again. And too prideful.

So I grabbed my letterman jacket from the couch and shrugged into it.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow." I nodded to Easton.

He yawned and stretched. "Have a good night."

I'll try.

I trudged up the stairs and met Mr. Stevens at the top.

"You be careful out there driving on the ice," he said. "I heard the roads are slick tonight."

I nodded and met his eyes. I was technically an inch taller than him, but I always felt small in the presence of this giant of a man. "I'll drive slow."

I went out the door and was instantly hit with a gust of wind and snow. I could barely see a few feet in front of me in the blizzard.

I turned on my car and let it warm up, shivering as my body adjusted to the cold. I blew on my hands. I really didn't feel like getting caught in a snowstorm tonight. So instead of heading off toward my usual camping spot, I drove a few houses down and settled in for the night.

When my alarm woke me at six the next morning, my car was buried. I leaned over the center console and started the engine, hoping it would warm up quickly.

While my car was defrosting, I wriggled out of my sleeping bag and pulled on my boots from the backseat. By the time I had them on and had slipped my arms into my coat, the car was warm enough that some of the ice that were stuck to the windows started to melt.

But I still had to climb out and scrape the thick pile of snow off the windshield. Winter sucked.

About ten minutes later, I could finally drive to school. If I didn't get there soon, all the drill team girls would see me sneaking into the boys’ locker room. And I knew Ashlyn would most definitely be curious about why I was at school so early. Back in October, when my mom was in the women’s shelter, Ashlyn had gotten suspicious, questioning me about where I had been staying. If she knew that I was sleeping in my car now, she might interfere. And she didn't need to worry about me anymore. I was no longer a problem for her.

I parked in the lot by the gym and snuck in through the back door. Thankfully, no one saw me before I slipped into the locker room. The hot shower felt amazing on my skin, and I spent a few extra minutes lathering up. Half of the night I’d been awake, alternating between shivering and turning on the car heater for a few minutes because it had gotten so cold. My new sleeping bag had made it better, but if we had another night like that, I might have to humble myself and ask my dad to let me in. I knew I could probably just tell my mom about what was happening, but I really didn't want to cause any more problems between her and Paul right now. She said to give them a few days, so I would do that.

"Are you coming to the game today?" Raven sidled up to me as I walked from my third-period class to fourth.

"I hadn't really thought about it. But yeah I'll probably go." Then realizing that she was probably asking because she wanted me to sit near her as she cheered, I added, "But I'll be sitting by Lexi and the pep band, now that we're public. She's been telling me all month how she's been dying for me to get over my fear of Easton beating me up and just come and sit by her."

Okay, so that was a huge lie, but Raven seemed to believe it since her expression fell.

But almost as soon as I saw her disappointment, she forced a smile onto her face. "I'm going to have to get used to that. I still can't believe you and Lexi are actually dating. That came out of nowhere."

"Yeah." I shrugged as guilt gnawed at my insides. I remembered how Raven and I had made out just the week before Lexi and I had allegedly started dating. "You never know what's gonna happen. But she is certainly one-of-a-kind." I probably should've come up with a more romantic-sounding compliment for Lexi. One that would make this whole thing more believable. But I wasn't the romantic type of guy who wrote sonnets or sang love songs to girls. I was more of the "Hey girl, wanna make-out?” kind of guy. I certainly hadn't treated Ashlyn like she wanted, and I wasn't interested in dating Raven like she wanted. So this fake-boyfriend thing with Lexi would be kind of perfect. At least it would keep me from making out with random girls and then feeling guilty when I realized I was on my way to breaking another heart.

"Well, I guess I might see you at the game then." Raven quickened her pace to leave me.

"Sure," I called after her. "I'll see you then. "

I pulled out my phone when I got to my next class and quickly shot Lexi a text.

Me: Can I sit by you at the game tonight? Is that allowed?

It took her a moment to respond, and I was worried she'd say no—which was crazy, since we weren't really dating. But for some reason, my heart raced like it thought she really had the power to hurt me if she turned me down.

I sighed when my phone vibrated with her text.

Lexi: You sure you don't mind sitting with the band nerds instead of your cool friends?

Well, since one of my cool friends was hoping to be my girlfriend, I really didn't feel like sitting by her tonight. Plus, I was pretty sure Easton had plans to sit with Mercedes since things were going well for them after their first date.

Me: I'd rather sit by you. And we can try to make your secret crush jealous while I'm there.

Lexi: My secret crush?

Me: Isn't Harrison in the pep-band too?

Had she seriously forgotten about him already? Hadn't she just been trying to snag a date with him on Friday? Not that much could have changed since then. It was only, like, five days ago .

Lexi: yeah, you can sit by me if you promise not to embarrass me too much.

I laughed. That was going to be hard. So I sent her the most honest reply that I could.

Me: I'll try my best.