Chapter 24

24

" I can only assume your midterm went perfectly," Ivy said, sitting down next to me at the large wooden table. I only had one exam left this week, and then midterms would be over.

"Of course it did," I responded without looking up. Despite spending the entire day last Saturday at Noah's flat watching ridiculous films and discussing whether there were bigger themes to the movies than action, I did exceedingly well on the four midterms I'd already taken.

"Seems all you have left is your…" Ivy picked up a set of notes I had on the table. "General Policy 513 midterm?"

"Yep. And then I will enjoy the entire weekend sleeping." That wasn't entirely the truth, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to tell Ivy. Oh, I'm spending both Saturday and Sunday at Noah's house, who you think I'm currently dating, but I'm not actually dating him, even though I've recently concluded that I do indeed fancy him. Oh, and instead of doing anything remotely related to dating, we're going to be studying more into this recipe we found for a love poison to determine if this entire academy is in imminent doom. But don't worry, we are actually—(not)—dating.

Yeah, that wasn't something I could just tell Ivy. It might lead to her pushing me toward another miserable bloke I had no interest in getting to know.

"Why don't we go shopping after your exam tomorrow?" Ivy's suggestion gave me pause because it was something she used to ask me to do. She hadn't asked me just to spend time with her with no strings attached in…well, months. At least, that was how it felt.

Noah and I hadn't made plans to meet until after his game tomorrow night, and my exam would be over by ten in the morning, so that gave Ivy and me plenty of time to shop, eat, and catch up on normal best friend things.

I knew my constant studying was a strain on our friendship, but it never seemed to affect either of us. But over the past few weeks of trying to figure out this anti-potion, my time to spend with friends had dwindled to almost nothing.

"Yeah, that would be great! I just have to be back in time to—"

"Go to Noah's game, I know." Ivy genuinely smiled as she said it, but my stomach was in my throat.

If she hadn't said that, I wouldn't have even considered attending Noah's game. We planned to meet after, and the thought of attending to support my boyfriend hadn't crossed my mind. I was a terrible fake girlfriend.

"Yes, exactly!" I hoped the heat in my cheeks wasn't showing.

"Remy and I were going anyway, so you should just come with us."

"Oh, um, that's perfect!"

"Yay! I'm excited to finally spend some time together." Ivy's face suddenly turned serious. "Look, I know I've been pushing you to date, and that I wasn't very supportive when you told me you and Noah were dating, but I promise I'll give him a chance. You seem really happy with him. And if you're happy, then I'm happy."

Though I knew our relationship was a ruse, I couldn't help but smile at my best friend. "Thank you, Ivy. That really means a lot to me. I do think you and Remy will like Noah more once you get to know him."

"You mean to tell me he isn't the prick we've thought him to be this whole time?" Ivy laughed as she said it, and my shoulders relaxed.

I shook my head and laughed with her, glad to be feeling normal once again.

Eventually, Ivy left me to study on my own. It had been hours of me silently working my way through all the notes I'd taken this semester, making sure I was familiar with everything. Only once I felt I deserved a break did I take out my phone as I'd wanted to this entire time.

Me: Looks like I'm coming to your game tomorrow.

Noah: Really?

Me: Yep. I'm going with Ivy and Remy. Because that's what good, supportive girlfriends do.

Noah: Where are you?

I paused, wondering why he ignored my previous message so entirely before texting back. There was a twinge of fear that had me looking over my shoulder, wondering if there was something amiss.

Me: The library. Why?

Noah: Stay there. I'll be there soon.

I set my phone down, again checking my surroundings to see if anything seemed off. No one was snogging, so that was a good sign. The love potion hadn't been cast again.

I returned to looking over my textbooks and notes but couldn't focus on them. Why would Noah—

"Darling," Noah cut across the thoughts I'd just been having, and I nearly jumped in my seat with surprise. He smoothly pulled out the chair next to him and sat down then pulled the chair as close to mine as possible and threw an arm around my shoulders. The emerald green and gold of his football practice jersey made his eyes even brighter in the low-lit library. "Are you almost done here?"

The look on his face didn't seem concerned or alarmed, so I let some of the tension in my muscles release.

"Not even close." I chuckled, pushing my notebook closer to him so he could see I was only halfway through it.

"You'll do fine, even if you stop studying right now." He placed a kiss on my temple, showing everyone in the room who could potentially look our way that we were an item. I forced myself to remember that was why he did it.

"Sure, but I'm not going to do that."

"You can stop to come have dinner with me. And then you can finish studying at my house." He didn't even wait for me to agree before he started closing my notebooks and books.

"Wait, you can't just put my stuff up like that!" I swatted his hands away, placing a bookmark in the notebook after flipping through it to find where I'd been. Noah was already grabbing my backpack and trying to stuff my textbook in it. I squeaked, pulling that away from him too, because he certainly did not know how to put my things away correctly. No one did, for that matter. "And I never said I agreed to stop!"

"Well, you're already putting the book away, so that looks like a yes to me." Noah stood, pushing his chair back and gathering my pens and highlighters, throwing them all in the pouch I had sitting on the table. He was just trying to help, but I cringed at how horribly he arranged my things. I couldn't help how particular I was, though I giggled at him.

Regardless, I zipped my bag, and I followed him out of the library no less than a minute later, our hands intertwined. And damn if I didn't enjoy it.

This was so painfully temporary. More importantly, it was fake. Yet I allowed myself to think for just one second that it could be real.

Sure, I'd told myself so many times that romance wasn't an option. I was too busy for it. I couldn't find an interest in someone. Yet, over the last few weeks, I'd spent many hours nearly every day with Noah, working on the potion. It wasn't for a grade, and I'd made time for it. There had still been plenty of time for my assignments and studying, and none of my scores had dropped. I'd been the perfect student all while spending my time doing something that wasn't related to a project or an exam.

I could make a relationship work, but I'd never actually wanted to before. I'd used school to hide behind my insecurity that no one could want me.

And I supposed that was still true. Sure, the potion had worked on Daniel, but I could chalk that up to me being present and him just wanting something out of a willing female, hence his infatuation. I could say the same for Ollie.

"I brought you something," Noah said, nodding his head back to the football bag he had slung over one shoulder. "I'll give it to you when we get to the car."

It was then I realized we weren't walking toward the dining hall, but the front gate.

"Oh, are we not going to dinner?"

"We are. Just not here." He offered no other explanation, nor did he leave any room to question further.

Once at his car, he threw both of our bags into the boot. Opening his bag, he pulled out an emerald green jersey not unlike the one he wore, except this one was obviously for games. The Forrestbriar Academy emblem was large on the front, with Noah's number, 11. When he handed it to me, I just blinked at him.

"Wear it to the game tomorrow." With a smirk, he closed the boot of the car and walked to the passenger side to open the door for me.

"Oh, since we're fake dating." It took me a second to catch on.

Just before he closed the door, he gave a quick chuckle. "Yeah, that's why."