Chapter 15

AT LAST THE school week was over. I hadn't seen much of Noah, unless you counted the times when we passed each other at lunch or in the corridors on the way to class, or when I saw him briefly when I went to Lee's to hang out.

It was Friday night. The sun was just setting, staining the sky pink and red before it turned inky black and starry. It looked so picturesque and pretty.

The boys were dive-bombing into the pool, challenging each other to make the biggest splash, to do the wildest stunt, and all the other stupid things boys will do. I was lying back on one of the sun loungers with Rachel and Cam's girlfriend, Lisa, from one of my classes. They were talking about going shopping, but I was perfectly happy just to lie there and close my eyes, completely relaxed, bopping one of my feet in time to the song that was coming from the speakers on the decking.

It was still mild enough for me to feel comfortable in my bikini. It wasn't quite the weather for sunbathing, especially at nine in the evening, but it was nice to just lie there.

'Hey, you girls coming in?' I opened my eyes lazily to look at Oliver, who flicked his dripping hair off his face as he leaned on the edge of the pool.

'Maybe in a minute,' I said.

'Um, maybe,' Lisa said. 'I don't know . . .'

'Yeah, I don't really want to get my hair wet,' Rachel admitted with a sheepish smile. Oliver rolled his eyes but I smiled.

'Isn't it really cold?' Lisa asked dubiously.

'See for yourself,' Warren challenged, surfacing next to Oliver.

'No thanks,' Rachel laughed. 'We're good.'

Warren looked at me expectantly. 'You coming in, Elle?'

'Maybe . . .' I replied lazily, letting my eyes droop shut again.

'Elle, what's going on with you and Flynn? I mean, really?' Rachel asked quietly. I heard a chair creak as Lisa leaned toward me too.

I shrugged. 'Nothing.'

'But you act so . . . I don't know. It's strange. You're so normal around him.'

'Yeah, but that's hardly surprising,' I pointed out. 'I grew up with Lee, and Noah was always around. That's why I don't call him Flynn. But also because I know it gets on his nerves when I call him Noah.'

I heard Lisa laughing a little and I smiled. Rachel said, 'He's just so protective of you I thought maybe there was something . . . you know . . .'

I shook my head slightly. 'No. That's just how he is. It's not that big a deal.' It wasn't exactly a lie . . .

'I guess,' Rachel said.

'I think you'd be quite cute together,' Lisa commented. 'You're so opposite it'd be, like, a perfect match, don't you think?'

I couldn't help but snort dubiously. 'We argue constantly. If we were ever like that – not that we would be: God, no – we'd end up killing each other.'

They both laughed, and then started talking about some new movie. I tuned out, too content and drowsy to be distracted for long.

After a few moments of peace, I felt something grab my ankle. Another something snatched up my other leg, and my arms were pinned at my sides. The sun lounger disappeared from under me too, all in the space of a second.

My eyes flashed open, and I saw Lee, Dixon, Warren and Joel all grinning and laughing down at my horrified expression.

I started thrashing around as they carried me off. 'Let me go! Put me down!'

They just kept laughing. Lee said, 'No can do, Shelly!'

'Put me down! You're going to drop me! Put me down!'

'If you say so . . .' Joel said mischievously. The boys swung me back and forth, once, twice . . .

I screamed out, laughing helplessly. 'Don't!'

Too late – they'd already launched me.

I landed with a huge splash in the middle of the pool, hearing everybody laughing as I smacked down through the surface. I felt more than heard it when the boys bombed in after me.

The water was freezing! I broke the surface gasping for air, my hair plastered to my face and neck. My teeth chattered slightly. 'I hate you guys!' I yelled, but I was laughing.

They laughed, and I looked at the girls, who were both giggling helplessly.

'It won't be so funny when they throw you in next,' I told them, and they laughed even harder.

I made to swim for the ladder so I could get out again.

'No! You just got in – you can't get out already!' Warren protested, and dived at me, trying to pull me away from the ladder. I laughed and scrambled to get out, but it was like trying to run through treacle: I felt Warren pulling me back again.

'What's all the screaming?'

I yanked myself up the ladder just as Warren made a grab at me. My bikini top came away in his hand, and everyone was silent as Noah looked at me with a disapproving frown.

I threw my arms around my bare chest, cheeks burning.

Oh, God.

How humiliating was this!

My cheeks were burning, even though the rest of my body trembled with cold.

Then I heard someone spluttering with laughter. Lee. I recognized that laugh all too well. And once he had broken the awkward and embarrassing silence, everyone else started laughing too.

'Warren, I officially hate you!' I said, turning to glare at him when I'd made sure I was completely covered.

He grinned sheepishly, then said, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to grab it . . . I wasn't intending to pull it off.'

'You complete idiot,' I giggled.

'Do you want it back, or . . .? I mean, I'm not complaining if you don't,' he teased, and I laughed sarcastically.

'I haven't exactly got any hands free to get it back,' I told him flatly.

'Oh yeah.' He laughed again and tossed my bikini top at me; with a wet slap, it landed on the ground. Oliver swam over and dunked the unsuspecting Warren, keeping him under for a few seconds before letting him back up for air.

I laughed along with everyone else. 'Got him for ya!' Oliver told me proudly with a thumbs-up.

'Just wait till I get my hands on him, then he'll be sorry,' I threatened, but I was still laughing too much for anybody to take me seriously.

'Wait till Flynn gets his hands on him, more like,' I heard Dixon mutter, and when I turned around, I saw Noah looking at us with a frown on his face.

I sighed. Here we go . . .

'Don't,' I hissed at him sharply, stalking past him and into the house. Luckily, Lee's parents had gone out for dinner since Lee had invited us all over, and they still weren't back. If they'd been here, it would've been just plain embarrassing to go in to find one of Lee's T-shirts with my arms wrapped around me to cover my bare chest. I had clothes by the pool, of course, but I had no free hands to collect them.

I rummaged through Lee's drawers, and found a T-shirt from a concert we'd been to a couple of years ago, then tugged it on awkwardly over my damp body. It was a little big for me, but not by too much.

I heard a throat being cleared behind me. The noise made me jump a mile; I hadn't even heard anybody come up.

Noah was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, and a look on his face that made my palms turn a little clammy. His expression was pretty neutral, but it was the shadow in his bright eyes that made me anxious.

'What, did you nearly break Warren's rib too?' I snapped at him, covering my nervousness with irritation.

'No,' he said, his brow knitting together.

'Oh, what then – his leg? An arm, maybe?'

He took a couple of steps toward me. 'No. I think he got the message to back off just from the look I gave him,' he said smugly. 'I scared the shit out of him.'

'But you . . . you didn't actually say anything to Warren? Or do anything? Oh my God, I must have stepped into some parallel universe.'

He laughed sarcastically. 'I didn't have to do anything. He already got the message.'

I shook my head slightly to myself, still reeling from the shock.

'Besides, even I could see it was an accident,' he muttered grudgingly.

'It's not like anybody saw anything.'

'Except me.'

'Well, yeah, but . . . I mean, you've . . . You know what I mean.'

He smirked at my red cheeks and my confusion.

'You're the one who wears Superman boxers anyway.' I could see the band peeking over the top of his jeans. I remembered how I'd actually made him blush when I saw him in them.

'Whatever,' he said dismissively – though he couldn't meet my eye. I grinned triumphantly, knowing I'd managed to embarrass him.

As I strolled out of Lee's room, brushing past Noah, I said casually, 'Imagine what everybody would say if they found out that bad-ass Flynn wore Superman boxers—'

'You wouldn't.'

I looked over my shoulder with an innocent smile, biting my lip as if daring him to try me.

When he tried to grab me, I gasped and made a dash for the closest room, which just happened to be his.

I couldn't decide whether to say thank you or curse my luck, but I was now stuck in Noah's room and he closed the door behind him, grinning at me.

I backed up, but he took a step closer to match each one of mine.

When my back hit the wall and I had nowhere left to turn, Noah seized his advantage and was suddenly pressed right up against me, his hot breath tickling my face.

'Sometimes, Elle,' he breathed, his lips brushing against mine ever so lightly, 'you are too irresistible for your own good.'

A small thrill ran through me.

He dragged his lips over my jaw, making my pulse go manic and my breathing catch in my throat. When I couldn't stand his teasing anymore, I grabbed his face and kissed him. This time, I didn't clash teeth. A hell of a lot of practise had seen to that.

He pulled away when I was totally breathless, and my eyes opened very slowly to meet his. Noah brushed a piece of still-wet hair off my face and let his hand linger on my cheek tenderly.

'You're so gorgeous, Elle, you know that?' he said softly, his thumb brushing over my cheek. I saw him smirk when I blushed. It was so weird. The girls had told me a couple of times that I was pretty and I'd get teased by the guys that I was hot – but when Noah said it, my heart did those weird flip-flop things.

'I love making you blush.' I could hear the laugh in his voice.

'Shut up,' I muttered, pushing against his chest weakly.

'You should go back,' he murmured, 'before they start to wonder what's taking you so long.'

'Or before Lee thinks we've murdered each other.'

Noah chuckled. 'Yeah, that's more likely.'

But he didn't step back. I could've walked away if I really wanted to, but we both stayed exactly where we were, and Noah's thumb kept stroking my cheek. My eyes trailed over the lines of his cheekbones, his jaw, the bumps in his crooked nose, the length of his eyelashes, the barely-there freckles on the bridge of his nose – little things I'd never really noticed before.

'Noah . . .'

'Yeah?'

'I really need to go.'

I said it reluctantly – my voice gave away my true feelings – but he sighed and stepped away, dropping his hand. The atmosphere was thick enough to choke me. All I wanted to do was stay here with Noah, but I knew I couldn't, and I turned and headed downstairs.

My cheek tingled where his hand had been; I could still taste his lips on mine. I had to stop for a moment and compose my expression so nobody would notice anything was up. The hardest part was having to rein in my smile.

'Flynn seemed pretty tetchy,' Rachel said quietly when I joined her again. 'What did he say?'

'I didn't see him,' I lied – I hated how easy it was to lie to her.

'You should've seen Warren's face,' Lisa giggled. She picked up her cell phone, tapped some buttons and handed it to me. A picture of Warren's face filled the screen; he was white as a sheet, eyes bulging, mouth hanging open gormlessly.

I laughed. 'Oh my God, that's fantastic!' And that was that.

I sighed internally, relief washing over me. It didn't look like anybody suspected Noah and I were together.

I was determined to shove all thoughts of him to the back of my mind and enjoy the rest of my Friday night with my friends.