Chapter 14
Liv
"Miss Preston, we have zero tolerance for violence here at Franklin High." I roll my eyes at the Principles lecture, which I've been listening to for the last half hour since I was carried in here kicking and screaming. Definitely not one of my finest moments.
"Olivia." My Dad draws the word out in warning.
Damn I hate my name, soon as I'm old enough I'm changing it. I don’t know why I felt the need to hand Brandy her ass, maybe it was the whole locker thing, maybe her annoying ass laugh, maybe it was the way she said my name in the same snarky tone the Bitch uses, or maybe it was the look of confusion on Noah's face when she listed out those boys names. Whatever the reason, I'm finding it really hard to have an ounce of regret for my actions, bitch has been cruising for a bruising for weeks now. Hopefully, the two black eyes she'll get from her now crooked broken nose will remind her in future that it doesn’t pay to be a bitch.
It's not like I've been hiding my past from Noah, he knows full well that I'm not a virgin. He also knows that I didn’t do boyfriends before him. To have my dirty laundry aired out in front of most of the senior class though, in front of the boy that I'm falling harder and harder for by the hour, well that just pushed me over the edge. I don’t know if Noah has any idea what that ginger bitch has been spouting the last few weeks, since she only ever seems to do it when he's out of earshot.
"I have no alternative but to suspend you for a week, Miss Preston. Hopefully you learn in your time away, that violence is not the answer. If this happens again, I won't be so lenient and you may find yourself without a school place at all."
I nod. I can't even find it in myself to act apologetic, I'm still way too pissed.
I stand up with my Dad and we make our way out of the office.
"I can't believe you'd be this silly. You’ve only been here for a couple of weeks and already you've been suspended." He drags his hands down his face. "Why would you hit that girl?"
I shrug my shoulders. What am I meant to say? That she announced how much of a slut I am in front of everyone? That she basically called me a sicko for being with someone that is technically my step brother? Yeah I can see those explanation going down real well. I see Noah leaning against the wall directly opposite the admin offices. Upon seeing us, he lifts off and walks towards us, his eyes sweeping up and down my body.
"What happened?" He asks, not taking his eyes off me for even a second.
"She was very lucky, that’s what happened. She was only suspended for a week."
Noah's eyes shoot up in surprise to my Dad, he obviously didn’t think they'd be that harsh on me, even though my Dad seems to think I'm apparently lucky with the punishment I got.
"It's nice of you to wait for us and check but you should really get to class Noah. I think we've had enough trouble for one day. We'll see you at home later."
Noah looks to me, as if to check that I'm ok. I give him a slight nod and small smile before carrying on with my Dad towards the parking lot. I can feel Noah eyes staring at my back as I leave but I don’t have it in me to look back. After all, those things Brandy said didn’t just humiliate me.
***
I'm waiting for some tumbleweed to blow past and the music from the old Western movies to start, you know the one that’s just before the whole dueling scene. Me and my Dad are currently locked in battle of wills. He's pissed because apparently I embarassed him and I'm pissed because that fucker actually tried to ground me. I'm nearly eighteen for fucks sake, I'm pretty sure people get married at my age.
We are currently sitting in the living room, him on the big ass armchair, me on the sofa. My Dad's never been a yeller, he goes with the whole silent treatment but that doesn’t work on me. It didn’t work on me when I was six and tried to choke Declan Padgett for decapitating my Peppermint Candy Cane Barbie doll and it sure as hell isn't gonna work on me eleven years later, especially since he hasn’t seemed to of improved his technique at all.
"I don’t see why you had to stay home from work, it's not like I need a babysitter." Ok, maybe I'm not exactly making things easier on myself but if he's gonna be my shadow for the rest of the day, the least he could do is talk.
Nope, still the silence continues. I can't even watch TV since he seems to have hidden the remote and I'm not even gonna risk getting my phone since he's already promised to confiscate it as soon as he claps eyes on it. My Dads a gentleman, he would never go through a ladies purse so that’s sure as hell where my phone will be staying for the foreseeable future, at least until he leaves the room. The guy is gonna have to go to the bathroom some time today.
I may not have lived with my Dad for the past five years but he's a guy that’s stuck in his ways so I remember him pretty well.
"You told me when I was little that if some kids upsets me that I should hit them."
That should work, chucking his own words back at him.
"No I said if some kid hits you, you hit them back. That girl didn’t hit you though so your point is about as much use to your cause as a chocolate light bulb."
"A chocolate light bulb?" I'm barely restraining my laughter but I notice his lips do a slight twitch and I know I've got him.
Ain't nobody that can say I can't wrap my Daddy round my little pinky finger.
"I heard it on the TV and don’t try changing the subject. This isn't Atlanta anymore Liv, I don’t know what your Mother let you get away with but that stuff is dead here."
I barely restrain the rolling of my eyes as I attempt to look chastened. I was locked in a war with the Bitch for years, I'm pretty sure I could take on King Kong and not be scared of that shit. If it gets him off my back though and of course, if it gets that dumb grounding idea out of his head, I'm all for it.
"Liv, are you listening to me?"
"Hmmmm yep got it, no more knocking people out unless they hit me first."
"Please, enough of your sass, you could at least try to act remorseful."
I give a slight nod and look down in a bid to hide my smile. He sighs and stands up.
"You hungry? I managed to sneak in the new Avengers movie, might as well try and save this day from being a total bust and Pams at her Mother's so no Stallone." He rubs his hands together and I nod and give him a wide smile as he walks into the kitchen mumbling something about not being allowed to watch movies without Stallone in and Pam being a glutton for punishment.
As I said, I can wrap my Dad around my little finger.
***
I can hear to lock in the door from in the Living room and my Dad jumps up out of his seat, popcorn falling out of his lap onto the floor. He grabs the remote and switches off Grudge Match, the movie we're about halfway through.
"Crap crap crap, we need to clean this up, if they see this theyre gonna get ideas and Pam'll have my guts." He whispers as he tries to kick the pieces of popcorn under the chair.
I can't even keep the roar of laughter from coming out and I snort in a very unattractive fashion at the exact moment Noah comes strutting in. That soon has the laughter dying away and the blush creeping up.
"Kids, your back." My Dad says in a completely over-excitable tone as his shoulders jig from side to side.
This is definitely one of those times I wish I had a video camera. Noah looks from my Dad to me and then back my Dad again, who is still trying to look as natural as possible.
Chase comes in a few seconds later and straight away zooms in on my Dad.
"Hey, have you guys been eating popcorn?"
Huh? I should have figured the kid wouldn’t be able to tell his ass from his elbow most of the time, but as soon as foods involved he opens his eyes. I spend the next few minutes that my Dad spends digging himself into a hole, looking at the adonis that is Noah. I unconsciously lick my lips as I take in his wide built chest that is unfortunately hidden under his t-shirt, luckily I can use my imagination since I've seen it.
He looks right at me and gives me a look that tells me he want to tal
k to me. I look to my Dad and Chase who are now in some kind of heated discussion involving the hiding of popcorn, get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen with Noah hot on my tail.
Just as I turn the corner into the kitchen, I feel an arm grab the top of my arm and spin me around, where I come face to face with that same hard chest that I was ogling a few minutes ago. His lips come down on mine in a searing kiss that nearly makes me forget that my Dad is only in the next room. His tongue pokes past my lips, which I eagerly accept as he holds me so close I'm wondering if it's possible for him to absorb me.
He pulls away and my eyes stay closed a few moments longer, trying to recover from his onslaught. I feel the gentle brush of a hand down my cheek and open my eyes to stare into his beautiful deep green eyes.
"Are you ok? I've been worried about you all day. Why didn’t you text me back?"
My thoughts are muddled from that hot kiss.
"Ermmm, my phones in my bag, I haven't even looked at it." I say, he lets out a sigh of relief.
"I missed you today."
My stomach does that same backflip, youd think id have gotten used to it by now but no.
"I've missed you too." And I really did, which completely scares the hell outta me.
"You know, you’re the new hero at school."
Hero? The look of confusion on my face must show.
"You're not the only person Brandy has been a complete bitch to. At lunch there was a petition going around to get your suspension withdrawn."
I raise my eyebrows at that, though it just cements in my mind that punching Brandy out was the right decision. The returning memory of what went down this morning has my shoulders slumping though.
"Hey." Noah says pulling my chin up with his finger so I'm looking right at him. "Your lockers been cleaned up and what with you slugging Brandy, nobody's even mentioned it."
"What about the things she said?" I ask, though I fear the answer.
"Are you kidding me? All anyone's been able to talk about all day is Brandy's nose exploding. I gotta say, those freshmans have some pretty overactive imaginations, I've heard everything from you hit her with a hammer to Brandy got so angry that her nose just exploded right on her face."
I wait for the inevitable question to come as to who those names belong to that Brandy announced earlier, it doesn’t come through. Noah just takes me into his arms even tighter and gives me a little squeeze before letting me go. I don’t know whether to be grateful that he's not asking or worried. I know id be asking if I was him and I can't help but wonder what his angle is.
Chapter 15
Liv (Again)
I sit at the dinner table, slowly spearing the peas into my mouth while keeping my eyes trained on Noah. He still hasn’t started snooping yet and its been two days, it's making me more than uneasy. We spent last night talking about any and everything while laying in each others arms. As someone whose spent their entire life very much anti-cuddling, I was more than surprised to find that I actually like it. Though, with the Bitch as a mother, no wonder I'm not so good with affection, it's not like she showed me an ounce of It in my entire childhood. The phone ringing has me almost miss the pea I'm trying to stab with my fork and everyone at the table looks towards the living room where the home phone is. It's almost half seven at night, nobody usually calls at this time of the night. It carries on ringing and everyone looks towards each other before my Dad gets up from his chair, huffing and puffing.
"Looks like I'm answering it then." He mumbles, walking away.
I look back to my plate, its probably one of Chases friends from school, since they seem to be calling the house a lot lately. I don’t know why seeing as though he has his cell phone.
"Are you looking forward to going to Savannah this weekend Liv? You haven't seen your friend since moving from Atlanta, have you?" Pam asks sweetly.
It's Thursday today and hell if I'm not totally excited over going to Savannah on Saturday. Id barely gone a day without seeing Trina in all the time I've known her. It's more than a little weird to go for weeks.
"Yeah, I'm super excited."
"I think it's so good that your going with her Noah. I'm so happy that you two get along, we were worried about the whole sibling rivalry you know."
Of course, Noah is taking a sip of his glass of water at the same moment she picks to drop that little bombshell. Water flies out of his mouth, soaking the table and the front of my top. Chase is laughing his ass off and Pam is gently slapping Noah on the back as he coughs his guts up. Real smooth.
My Dad walks into the room, his face ashen as his rubs his hands up and down his face. You'd think someone had died with the expression on his face.
"Everything ok sweetie?"
He completely ignores Pam and keeps his stare on me. Oh shit, what the hell am I supposed to have done now? If its that bitch Brandy, imma kick her ass again. Her parents have been calling here the last few days with threats of charges and lawsuits and something about my Dad forking out for the slutbag to have Rhinoplasty on her nose.
"Liv, that was the Hospital in Atlanta."
Why would a hospital in Atlanta be calling my Dad? And what could that have to do with me? Shit, I hope Brandy didn’t hit her head or anything when I knocked her on her ass. It would be just my luck for the damn bitch to go and have some brain aneurysm or whatever it is people have when they get knocked out. I'm just about to start arguing my defense when his next word stop me cold.
"It's your Mom, she's been in a car accident."
I stare blankly at him as the whole room goes still, probably waiting for my reaction. I can see Noah out of the corner of my tensing, I know he's itching to get to me and comfort me.
Maybe I should be ashamed, maybe I should be guilty, but I feel absolutely nothing. Not a thing.
"She alive?" I ask, though I'm sure she is, after all, they say that the devil looks after his own.
"Yes sweetie, shes just a little banged up."
"Alrighty then, can I finish eating now?"
And just like that, I go back to my food. I'm sure I look positively cray cray but I couldn’t give a shit. They have no idea what my relationship is like with the Bitch, how much its deteorated to the point that the only thing that I worry about when she dies is forking out for her funeral. Hell, the state can bury her ass for all I care. Not even Noah knows that much about it, I try and avoid that line of conversation as much as possible. I don’t want her infecting my life here with her poison. I take a sip of my drink, trying to ignore the four pair of eyes staring at me, as if waiting for me to breakdown or something.
My Dad knows that me and the Bitch don’t get along but I'm sure he doesn’t expect this reaction for me. He doesn’t realize that she's been dead a long time as far as I'm concerned, roughly about two years to be exact.
"Liv, sweetheart are you ok?"
"I'm fine, thanks Pam." I smile as everyone continues to stare at me like I'm a snake about to strike.
"Well, we need to go to Atlanta."
Well that’s a sure as hell way to get a reaction out of me.
"Why?" I ask through gritted teeth.
I know I'm being completely unreasonable and I sound completely loko but I can't find it in me to give a shit. They have no idea what kind of a poor excuse for a mother she's been, if they did I'm sure they'd be agreeing with me. The way I see it, if she's gonna die, that one less piece of shit in the world and if she lives, it's no skin off my nose since she's two hundred miles away.
"Liv, did you not hear me just now? Your Mother is in the hospital, we have to go and see her."
I let out a sarcastic laugh at my Dads statement.
"No way, not a chance in hell. You can go if you're that worried about the evil dragon but I don’t see why I should waste my time on her."
"What on earth has gotten into you, she's your Mother."
I look my Dad square in the eyes, with a completely cold countenance.
"I don’t care."
; His mouth drops open at that one and I scrape my chair back and exit the table.
"Where do you think your going?" He yells out after me.
"OUT!"
If I stay in this house a second longer, I'm gonna explode. They don’t understand, they never will understand. I feel the outside of jeans pocket for the outline of my phone and grab my purse from the hall table on the way out, trifling through it for my keys. I can hear footsteps behind me and whizz around to find Noah following me.
"Liv." I hold my hand up to him, I've heard my name enough for one night.
"I just need some air, I'll be right back."
I hope he understands that at this moment, I need to be alone. I've got a whole lot of shit running through my head and I can't think when he's around me. I see the tick in his jaw which tells me he's not at all happy about this but he gives me a simple nod and I walk out the front door to my car.
I get into it and start her up before screeching out of the driveway, Noah running out of the house with a look of pure panic on his face. He'll just have to get over it.
***
I pull in front of the dilapidated fence and get out of the car. It sure does feel good to have driven it, it's been way to long and I feel a little guilty at having thrown it over to travel in Noah's Mustang.
I lean against the side of the car, lying my head back with my eyes closed while fishing in my pocket for my phone, which has been ringing non stop for the last half an hour. I scroll past all of the missed calls, which alternate between Noah and my Dad. Pressing on Trina's number, I pull the phone to my ear listening to the ringing tone and praying she picks up.
"Hey Boo, what's up?"
Forever Love Page 12