“Something’s wrong,” I explain. “Is it me? I’m sorry I put you through all that drama.”
Noah stares at me for a moment. Before I knew him, I thought he looked intimidating, but now his eyes are wide and vulnerable.
“It’s not that, Eve.”
I move closer to him. “What’s wrong?”
He sighs. “At the party, I argued with Henry. We were … you know … and someone almost caught us — Ruby.” Noah forces a laugh. It’s dry and the worst sound I’ve heard from him, and I take his hand. “Henry freaked out, and I said some things I shouldn’t have …”
“What did you say?”
“Stupid shit.” Noah rubs his brow. “He knows about the pact. Not the official name or anything, but that I wanted to make him jealous … it was humiliating. I hurt him, trying to make him jealous. Anyway …” He takes a breath. In the distance, I hear chatter and footsteps — maybe Kaito and Tiana? — but don’t let that distract me.
“We decided not to … do what we do anymore. It’s like we broke up, except we were never dating.”
“Oh, Noah,” I say, leaning over to hug him.
He hugs me like he might collapse if he lets go.
“We’re still friends,” Noah continues, speaking into my shoulder. “That’s what he said. But I don’t know if I can do it. I feel … I know it sounds like I’m being a pussy, but I feel like I’m sick.”
“You don’t sound like a pussy,” I say. “Not at all! Don’t say that. I’m so sorry. This sucks.”
He nods into my shoulder.
Something swings, and we look over at Noah’s door, pushed open. Tiana stands there, looking at her phone, mumbling about breakfast —
She looks up. “Oh!” She says in her sugary voice, grabbing the door handle. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt!”
The door slams shut, and Noah and I stare at each other.
“Your friends don’t know anything about it.”
“No. I’m pretending nothing’s wrong.”
“Tiana didn’t see your face. She won’t be able to guess that you’re upset …”
Despite that, Noah’s defences come up anyway, his expression turning blank. He stands up and pushes his shoulders back. “I’m going to cook breakfast,” he says. “Your clothes and purse are on my desk, but you can wear something of mine.”
"I'll do that." I don't want to wear clothes smelling of alcohol to breakfast.
He nods before disappearing.
During breakfast, Noah and I were quiet, despite attempting to act normal. Kaito and Tiana talked twice as much to make up for us. Sometimes they would look between Noah and me before shooting each other looks, which made me feel more nervous.
I ran out of Noah’s the first chance I got. Not to abandon Noah, but because Kaito and Tiana planned to stay there until the late afternoon and I didn’t want to make small talk with them. Besides, I needed to get home. Mum was out when I arrived, and when I called her, she said that she wouldn’t be back until dinner. She mentioned Ruby’s mother dropping me off, and I didn’t correct her.
I showered and sat on my bed and wished I had social media so I could stalk what people were posting about the party. I considered messaging or calling Ruby or Oliver, but in the end, distracted myself from reality by scrolling through the internet.
I’m making myself a late lunch — a bowl of sugary cereal — when someone knocks on the front door. Noah.
I bring the bowl of cereal with me and shove a spoonful into my mouth as I open the door. I choke on the cereal. It’s not Noah.
He’s the same height, with hair the colour of caramel. Sharp eyebrows. Soft lips. Lips that I kissed less than twenty-four hours ago.
“Oliver,” I say after swallowing. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi Eve,” he says, his hands shoved into his pockets. “Um. Can I come in?”
