Chapter 7

"Come." he left me up the driveway with his umbrella and Elise opened the door tentatively, careful not to let her feet get wet.

Her eyes were wide, watching him as he made sure not a single droplet fell over my head. "Mr. Wyatt?? What are you doing here??"

I had to glare her down. "He's my ride. He was nice enough to take pity on me and keep me safe from the rain."

"Well thank you Mr. Wyatt. I felt horrible not knowing if she had gotten a ride home."

"No problem." He laughed softly and waved at us as he walked down the stone steps.

"Thank you. I appreciate everything, and sorry about...the inconvenience." I turned red, again, the warmth filling my cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you two girls in class on Wednesday." He waved goodbye as he walked away.

Elise came up behind me and whispered, "Noelle Rose."

I clenched my teeth at the sound of my full name and tried my best to ignore whatever she was going to start ranting about. I slammed the door shut behind me as I walked into our living room.

"Nell! I know you know what I'm thinking."

I shook my head at her outburst and plopped myself down hard on the charcoal-colored leather sofa.

"Just saying, but you have to admit he is so fucking gorgeous. Tell me you're not incredibly lucky." Elise followed suit and sat right beside me, her legs curled up underneath her and her robe flowing over onto the floor.

"I'm not lucky in the slightest." My face still felt red from the car ride.

She sighed and it was almost as if I could hear her eyes roll in her voice.

"Dude, he's beautiful. What is wrong with you? He went out of his way to bring you home."

I shrugged to her comment and finally made the eye contact I knew she was dying to get. She wanted me to spill my feelings about how he was so hot and admit that I was head over heels for him. When in fact, I was quite the opposite. I was annoyed, but grateful, and humiliated.

"Why are you making that face?" She crossed her arms.

"Do you really wanna know what's wrong...with all of this?"

Her eyes widened. "Yes!"

"Okay look," I paused to breathe deeply, " he was the guy I told you about—at the bar—last night when I was getting harassed by that creep."

Her mouth dropped wide open and she brought her hand to her forehead. She made no sound, she knew the details of my encounter the previous night, the fact that I was so drunk I couldn't remember who it had been that not only saved me from a creep, but had also endured my inebriated state of mind.

"Noelle...are you sure? I mean, you were wasted, maybe you don't remember-"

"HE remembers!" I cut her off.

"Shit. Now it all makes sense. He was messing with you during class, and he knew your name. Oh honey, I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine. He was cool about it...I just feel so humiliated."

"No, don't feel like that, it wasn't your fault. You've never been drunk before. You hold liquor better than anyone I know."

"It doesn't matter, I have him as a teacher for the rest of the semester."

She kept quiet and stood up from her seat and headed towards the bright white kitchen across from the living room. I could see the outline of a plate on top of the counter, and secretly hoped it was for me.

"Let me heat this up for you and then we can keep talking. For now, relax." It was as if she read my mind. She picked up the plate and placed it in the microwave. After the minute had gone by and the microwave made its delightful ding, she brought me a plate of spaghetti. It was still steaming hot so she held the plate far from us as she sat back down beside me.

"It's hot, be careful." She pushed the plate towards me and I could smell the tomato and garlic sauce. The steam coming off of the pasta made my mouth water even more, which was a little upsetting because now I had to wait for it to cool down.

"Noelle," she paused, "it's really no big deal. Mr. Wyatt wouldn't have brought you home if you had really been that inconvenient to him. I think he might even have a soft spot for you."

"Honestly, I don't even care right now. I'm so hungry—that's the least of my worries. This smells delicious."

She tucked her short hair behind her ear and laughed as I took the plate from her just to place it on the coffee table. "Of course. Well, eat up and then go shower and relax. Don't worry about this whole ordeal, cause there really isn't anything to worry about."

I nodded, a smile spread across my lips. I couldn't tell her she was right. Though I wanted her to be but social anxiety used to be something I struggled with, and now to have something so embarrassing happen to me made me feel so self-conscious.

We spent the rest of the night watching television instead of movies, and binge eating spaghetti. After so many episodes of Charmed, we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. We had already binge-watched the series twice, so now when the sleepiness set in from how late it was, it hit us hard and we were unable to fight it.

"I think I'm going to bed. You should go to bed too, you have class tomorrow morning before mine even starts." I tugged at her robe as I stood up. I had showered and changed, so my body was begging for sleep, but Elise was someone who could pull all-nighters no problem which worried me.

"I'll go to bed right now. I'm just going to finish this episode."

I rolled my eyes softly. "Fine...I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Night."

I took the hallway where the bathroom was and walked up the staircase. I had to hold tightly onto the rail. I was so exhausted I was afraid I would lose my balance and fall. So once I was at the top, I tumbled into my room nearly falling on the floor. I closed my white bedroom door behind me and turned the light on just to immediately dim it. There was a soft green glow to the walls with the light dimmed so low. The light itself was a warm white and my walls being a mossy green always gave this beautiful sunset effect. The window opposite my bed and next to my desk was a huge bay window. I had enough natural light during the day and this beautiful warm light at night that helped keep me calm.

I slid my black bra off from underneath my silk camisole and threw it on the end of my bed. I didn't care where it landed I just wanted to crawl into my bed and smother myself in my pillow, which is exactly what I did. I turned the light off and curled myself up under my sheets while hugging my pillow. I didn't have to wait long for my lids to glue themselves shut. I had drifted off to sleep, unprepared for the dream that awaited me.