by Chloe Walsh
I still cringed when I thought of how I flung the front door open and tossed that bag of flour in his face. And how close I'd come to peeing my pants when Noah punched the wooden panel of my front door – a millimeter from my face...
Ellie had definitely stepped up her game though. When I opened my locker this morning I'd been verbally assaulted by Ellie and her gaggle of geese. Now I was no wimp, but when you have eight girls crowding you, taunting you and taking your physical appearance apart, it kind of sucks the fun right out of a person's day.
And that was only Ellie.
I could only imagine what sick and twisted payback Noah had lined up for me…
"Me stopping saying it won't stop him doing it," Hope taunted.
"I thought you said he was bad news," I snapped. "Keep my distance?"
"Pssh, who am I to tell you what to do." Grinning, she leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear. "So Ash was in the bathroom earlier and overheard Ellie talking with her friends."
"I'm listening," I told her, leaning closer.
Hope chuckled. "So, I think I know why little miss up-her-own-ass has it in for you so bad."
Cupping her hand around my ear Hope whispered, "According to Ellie, Noah has a soft spot for a certain blonde Irish girl next door."
My eyes widened and I turned my face to gape at Hope.
"He hates me," I spluttered. "I broke his car…." He kissed me… "He threatened my life…" And I bit him… "He told me he's going to hurt me, Hope." And then I kicked him in the balls and bit him some more… I shook my head in denial. "If that's a soft spot I wouldn't like to see how he treats his enemies."
"Think about it, Teegs," Hope said excitedly. "It would explain why Ellie-the-serpent has been more venomous than usual – she's always been crazy jealous of anyone Noah's been with. It would also explain why Noah hasn't retaliated on you for destroying his car."
Shrugging Hope added, "Well you did do a number on him, babe. Cam said it's gonna cost three grand minimum to fix. And there's the small matter of you covering him with flour."
I gaped at her. "You helped me do that."
Hope shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm a Carter."
I stared with my mouth hanging open for a moment before swinging my head around to look at Noah.
"Does that look like the look of love to you?" I demanded in a hushed tone.
"You know what they say," Hope mused as she watched Noah as he sat stiffly with his fists balled, glaring evilly at my face. "Hate is the closest thing to love."
"Save me," I whimpered as I clutched her sleeve.
"Miss Connolly!" Miss Andrews glowered at me from the front of the classroom. "Given your inability to compose yourself long enough to complete your assignment with Miss Carter, I suggest you move to another desk and start again with a new partner."
Hope snorted and I reddened.
"I'll contain myself," I told her, knowing full well who was sitting next to the only vacant chair in class. "I promise?"
"Up," she snapped and pointed towards Noah.
Standing slowly I did the walk of shame across the classroom while my legs shook like ivy leaves.
When I reached his desk Noah did absolutely nothing to put me at ease, keeping his chair – and his body – sprawled out, forcing me to climb over his lap to reach the inside seat.
The class erupted in wolf whistles and why wouldn't they? It only looked like I was giving him a bloody lap dance. I was as red as a lobster by the time I was seated.
"So…" I cleared my voice and focused all my attention on my desk. "What are you going to do after high-school?" I tapped my pen against my notepad, desperate to complete the assignment Miss Andrews had doled out to us. "What's your preferred career path or college choice?"
Noah didn't answer me, he just continued to stare, his brown eyes boring holes through my skull. "Noah," I hissed, twisting in my seat to nudge him with my elbow. "Answer the bloody question."
"You know what, Thorn, for someone who likes to play the victim, you've got a nasty little habit of vandalizing property," he said in a low tone. "You're becoming as bad as her."
Ouch.
"You and Ellie started this war," I snarled. "I did nothing to deserve your crap."
"You were born, weren’t you," he shot back cruelly.
"You asshole," I spat.
"Miss Connolly. Mr. Messina."
Miss Andrews did not look impressed.
"Detention after school," she spat. "Both of you."
Noah shrugged like he didn't have a care in the world.
Meanwhile I covered my face with my hands and prayed for death.
****
There were only two words in the English language guaranteed to send my heart into overdrive and set my body on fire.
Two words that, when spoken in sequence, put the fear of god and the desire of Aphrodite into me.
Unfortunately for me, those two words had just come out of Coach Johnson's mouth.
"I'm sorry, Coach," I choked out before clearing my throat. "I didn't quite hear you properly. Who did you say was my partner for rubbish collection duty?" Please be someone else, anyone else…a different person. Let it be my imagination….
"Noah Messina," Coach repeated and my heart soared for a brief moment before sinking into my butt.
Oh sweet Jesus no.
Please god no...
I dared a peek at the tattooed gimp across the room and discovered he was walking towards me with a face like thunder.
This was the opportunity he'd been waiting for...
He could kill me and make it look like an accident…
"Miss Connolly and Mr. Messina," Coach continued, eyes alight with excitement as he handed us a pair of metal claws and a roll of bin-liners. "Now off you go."
Clearing his throat, Coach began naming the other paired couples – students, but I didn't hear a word. I was still stuck – choking to death – on the words partner and Noah Messina.
Why did bad things happen to good people?
"This is all your fault," I snarled as I climbed to my feet and followed Noah outside where it was hammering down with rain. "And whatever happened to writing lines on a chalkboard?"
Noah ignored me and continued walking towards the student carpark.
"Noah," I snapped as I rushed after him. It was freezing cold and the raindrops landing on my skin felt like tiny razorblades.
When I reached him I grabbed his elbow and pulled him to a stop. "Where the hell are you going?" I asked him.
Noah flinched and pulled his arm roughly away from me. "Not now, Thorn, I'm late for something."
"For what?" I demanded, rolling my eyes. "Your parole meeting? Noah, you're supposed to be my partner." I knew that sounded dumb, but it was the first thing that came out of my mouth. "You at least owe me…"
"Don't," he shouted and I didn’t. I shut my mouth as I watched Noah's entire frame stiffen. He turned around slowly and fixed me with a look of such seriousness and intensity that my entire body froze to the spot.
The rain was coming down hard but I didn’t move. If the sky decided to open at this very moment and rain puppies down on us, I was fairly certain I wouldn’t move an inch. His hooded stare caused my muscles to lock into place.
"I owe you nothing, Teagan," he finally whispered before turning around and walking away from me.
****
Noah
I walked through the parking lot, forcing myself not to look back at her, as the rain poured down on me and willed myself to get a fucking grip and stop worrying about Teagan. She'd deserved my harsh words just now – she deserved a lot worse for blaming me for her guitar.
Jesus Christ, she was the reason I ended up with detention and was currently an hour late to meet JD. That girl was nothing but a huge thorn in my side and I didn’t need any more complications and pain in my life.
That wasn’t pain I saw in her hazel eyes. It couldn’t have been…
Forcing all thoughts of Teagan to the back of my mind, I
maintained an impassive expression even though my body was coiled tight and rigid as I approached the black hummer parked at the entrance.
"You're late."
JD leaned against the hummer with sunglasses covering his beady gray eyes and his mouth set in a tight line. I forced myself not to shudder when his beefy hand clamped down on my shoulder.
Hatred like I'd never felt coursed through me and it took a hell of a lot out of me not to turn around and pummel this prick's face in.
His fingers dug into my shoulder blade. "You were supposed to meet me at the Hub over an hour ago."
"I know," I replied in a tight tone as I shrugged off his hand. "I had detention."
"Not my problem, Messina," he snarled, opening the car door. "You know the rules by now. I say jump. You jump."
Grabbing the back of my neck, he slammed my forehead against the door before pushing me into the passenger seat.
"I say crawl on your knees like a bitch and that's what you fucking do," JD spat when he climbed into the driver's seat beside me. "You got that, kid?"
"I got it," I replied in a flat tone as JD cranked the engine and tore off.
I couldn’t feel any pain in my head.
I didn’t wipe away the blood that was trickling down my forehead.
My complete attention was fixated on Teagan's face, and the fear in her eyes as she stood in the parking lot with her hand covering her mouth, watching us drive away.
****
Teagan
"I'm not kidding around here, Hope. You need to call the cops. Noah's been kidnapped."
I was finding it hard to keep my phone to my ear as I ran the entire way home from school. I had a stitch in my side but I didn’t stop – my fear and adrenalin were what was pushing me forward. "A creepy red-haired dude smashed his head against the car door, shoved him into the passenger seat and drove off like a bat out of hell."
"If Noah has really been kidnapped then why haven’t you called the cops?" I heard Hope ask in an amused tone and I almost lost it with her. "Why did you call me first?"
"Because I'm stupid and obviously not prepared for a crisis of such epic proportions," I screamed, puffing out a breath when I spotted my house a few hundred yards up the street. "Where I'm from puppies are bundled into cars, Hope," I hissed. "Not six-foot, tattooed muscle-heads."
Oh god, what if he was hurt...
I didn’t like him but that didn’t mean I wanted anything bad to happen to him.
I could feel tears springing in my eyes and I quickly blinked them away. "The guy who took him was huge, Hope. I mean ginormous."
The line was quiet for a moment and then I heard her voice close by. "You're not joking around, are you?" she asked as I sprinted past her house in the direction of Noah's place.
I didn’t answer Hope – I was too busy running up Noah's porch steps. "Help." I screamed as I banged on their front door like a rip-raving lunatic. "Please help."
My knuckles were throbbing from the force I was using to knock the door. "Goddammit, open the bloody door," I roared, feeling out of breath and soaked to the skin from the rain. "Your son has been kidnapped – whoa…"
The front door swung inwards and I jerked back.
"What do you want?" the man I'd come to know as Ellie's father asked in a tight voice.
"Your son." I gasped, panting as I bent over and held my side. "Noah… he's been… taken."
His face reddened as his green eyes narrowed. "You're mistaken."
I shook my head. "No," I puffed, straightening my back. "I'm not. There was this guy at school…in a black hummer…red hair…"
Mr. Dennis stepped onto the porch.
His hand shot out and latched onto my arm, roughly squeezing my bony bicep. "I'm only going to tell you this once, girl," he snarled as he leaned close to my face. "Keep your nose out of my family affairs."
"Your family affairs?" I shouted in outrage. I tried to pull my arm free, but his hold was like a vice grips. "I'm telling you that your son was kidnapped – I saw it with my own eyes…"
"What's going on?"
I physically slumped with momentary relief when I heard Noah's voice behind me.
"This one was sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong," Mr. Dennis hissed as Noah joined us on the porch.
Sure enough Noah's eyebrow was caked in dried-in blood and my stomach sank. My fingers twitched with the urge to soothe his injuries which was insanity on a whole new level considering what an asshole he'd been during detention.
Oh crap, I ran out of detention…
Noah didn’t look at my face, he didn’t look his stepfather's face. Instead he kept his gaze on the arm Mr. Dennis was still squeezing. "Let go of her arm," he told his stepfather in a deathly quiet tone. "Now."
Mr. Dennis let go of my arm and he let go quickly. "We need to talk, son," was all he said before storming into his house and slamming the door.
"What the hell are you doing, you little nut?" Noah demanded the second the front door shut and the momentary relief I'd been feeling was quickly replaced with heated anger. "Telling George I was kidnapped?" he shook his head and glared at me. "What the hell is the matter with you?"
"Little nut?" I stalked forward and cusped the back of his neck, pulling his face down to my level. "You were kidnapped, you fool."
I touched the cut on Noah's face, his eyes blazed with something other than anger and I quickly let go – the surge of electricity tingling through my body was too much. "Who was that guy in the hummer?" I asked him. "Where did he take you? Why didn’t you kick his ass for doing that to you?" I shook my head and stepped closer to him. "Noah, what's going on with you?" I want to help…
"You need to stay away from me, Thorn," Noah rasped in a husky tone as he brushed past me. "As far as you can."
****
Noah
I stood outside the red-bricked, two-story house across the street, feeling more pain than I'd ever imagined I could feel – or endure. I had waited until well after midnight before I dared leave the house. It was pitch black outside now and I could only hope they hadn’t noticed me leaving.
The rain battered down on me but it did little to cleanse the feeling of dread looming in the pit of my stomach. Pressing the palm of my hand against the timber frame of the door, I managed to keep upright as I closed my eyes and prayed for a do-over life.
The door opened inwards and I was greeted by a pair of intense gray eyes.
"Hi," I mumbled, red-eyed and hoarse. Using one hand to hold my aching ribcage, I used my other to push my drenched hair out of my eyes, shivering violently from the cold. "I need somewhere to crash for the night."
Low lunged forward, grabbed onto my slumping body and helped me inside. "Jesus Christ, Noah," he hissed as he led me into the living room and sat me on the couch. "What happened this time?"
"Thanks, man." I sank onto the couch and watched as Low disappeared from the room only to return a few minutes later with a towel, an icepack and a first aid kit. "What do think happened this time, Low?" I held the icepack to my swollen jaw and leaned back. Logan knew what happened to me as well I did. "Life happened."
"I can't sit back and watch much more of this, Noah," was all he said as he sank onto the couch and dropped his head in his hands. "Remember what I told you – about graduation?"
I nodded. That was all I thought about. I clung to Logan's words like a lifeline.
"I think it needs to happen now," he replied quietly.
"No." I held the icepack to my eyebrow. "No goddamn way, Low." There was less than three weeks to Christmas…"I'm not having your mother's broken heart on my conscience."
"Nobody's asking you to have anything on your conscience, Noah," he shot back evenly. "I want to help you."
"You are, man," I sighed. "More than you know."
"Goddammit, Noah," he hissed as he jerked to his feet. "Why did this have to happen to you?"
"I had the bad luck of being born into a family of fucking predators," I replied in
a weary tone.
"That's not your fault, Noah," Low countered as he ran a hand through his hair and paced the floor. "You didn’t choose this life – it was chosen for you..."
"You think?" I let out a shaky breath and blocked out the mental image of several pairs of fists pummeling into me tonight. "And then I had the unbelievable misfortune of having Teagan fucking Connolly move in next door."
"Are you saying Teagan had something to do with you getting the piss knocked out you?" Low asked me as he stood with his back to me, staring out the window. "Because I find that really hard to believe, man."
I balled my hands into fists. "I'm saying they've somehow come to the conclusion that Teagan is my weak spot."
"And is she?" Low turned and looked me square in the eye. "Is Teagan your weak spot?"
"Look at me, Logan," I shot back, gesturing to my smashed up face. "What do you think?"
****
Chapter 10
Teagan
"Do you want to go home for Valentine's weekend Teegs?" Uncle Max asked me on Wednesday evening, completely out of the blue. We were sitting in the lounge. He was watching a documentary on pregnant elephants and I was attempting some trig homework. When those words came out of his mouth my jaw pretty much hit the warm furry mat I was sprawled over.
"It's December," I reminded him.
Max smirked and gave me an 'obviously' look before saying, "I'm asking you now because I need to arrange some time off work and book our tickets. I'm working all over the Christmas so the best I can do is Valentine's."
Even though the man was curing sick kids and healing the world, I knew I was too selfish to ever think of a career as a doctor. There was no way I could dedicate ninety percent of my time to the job – like Max did.
A trickle of excitement coursed through me and I grinned like a lunatic. "Hell yeah I want to go home for Valentine's weekend." I'd been feeling miserable for weeks because of Martin and this was the best news to drag me out of my funk. "You mean it?" I narrowed my eyes and studied my Uncle's handsome face. "We're going home in February, to Galway?