Prologue
Seven months before
"Noah Nickerson," the principal said into the microphone. The crowd erupted into applause as Noah walked across the stage to collect his diploma. Graduation day was a day I had been dreading since this school year started. I knew it meant that it was the beginning of the end. No more sneaking looks at him when I would hang out with his little sister, my best friend Blare, after school at their house. No more playful arguments or sarcastic responses. He would be leaving for college in a couple of weeks, leaving Blare and I to navigate high school by ourselves.
After the graduation ceremony, I walked with Blare and her family over to meet up with Noah. He was talking to a few friends, but when he spotted us walking over, he smiled. It might have been all in my head, but when his eyes fell on me, he looked me up and down with an unrecognizable look in his eyes. I felt my heart rate pick up speed as he left his friends and met us halfway.
"Congratulations, Noah!" His mother beamed, giving her son a hug. Noah hugged her back and then shook his father's hand.
"Yeah. Congrats, bro," Blare said. Noah ruffled her hair and she rolled her eyes. Noah laughed as his attention fell on me. I suddenly forgot how to breathe. He stepped closer and gave me a side hug which was more or less him hugging my shoulders because Noah towered over me. I took in his scent of pine and fresh spring water, a scent that I'd grown so fond of.
"If I'm not mistaking, you owe me five bucks, Ann," Noah chuckled as he gave my shoulders one last squeeze before dropping his arm. We had a running bet at the beginning of the year because Noah thought that he could graduate with honors. However, I didn't believe that was possible.
"First, when will you learn that my nickname is Anna, not Ann," I started. Noah rolled his eyes as I crossed my arms, continuing, "Secondly, you owe me five dollars because, even though you did graduate, you didn't graduate with honors."
Blare laughed and gave me a fist bump as we started walking away. Noah let out a low chuckle and followed us to the car.
Two weeks later, Noah said goodbye to his family and I. I held in my tears into I got home, but as soon as I climbed into my bed, I lost all control. My heart was broken over a guy who only viewed me as a little sister and nothing more. I vowed to myself to stop focusing on guys and start putting my focus on my studies. If I wanted to get into a good college by the end of this coming school year, I needed to keep my grades up.
I was able to successfully keep this vow until Christmas break. That's when all hell broke lose.
