The Line Between Us

ChapterTwo

Noelia’s POV

Time seems to slow down in that moment, as the rest of the house races towards the door. Well, maybe not everyone, because Dante and Roselyn do not move an inch. Right from Dante’s dismissive response when Luca asked about Angelo, I have suspected that something is up.

But their problems are the last thing on my mind right now. I try to stop my heart from beating hard against my chest, but it is difficult to do so, standing a few feet from the pool, still in my swimsuit.

“I knew you’d make it,” my mom cries, pulling him in for a hug. Mom has always favoured Angelo right from when we were kids. I remember the time we got into trouble for taking the cakes out of the refrigerator in the middle of the night and forgetting to return them.

We were all punished, but Angelo wasn’t. Mom said the idea had to have come from either Luca or me, because in her eyes, Angelo can do no wrong.

I grew to see him in that light, as the infallible angel I looked up to. Angelo was the one who saved me from bullies when I was a toddler. He taught me to ride a bike and to count numbers. And he sparked my interest in the stars of the constellation.

But when our mothers had that fight five years ago, he seemed to have dropped off the grid. And I felt so alone.

“Lucienne.”

His voice has grown deeper than I remember, and when he comes in through the doorway, I have to stand on my toes to see those deep blue eyes. He is taller now, and his blonde hair is longer, teasing the top of his eyes.

I swallow when he engulfs my mom fully, towering easily above her. But something feels different.

His eyes.

They meet mine from above my mother’s head, cold and expressionless. But I see the double-take, the way the boys at my school glanced at me on my first day in senior year. The way they do each time I go to the beach for a party.

And Angelo Hill has never looked at me like that before.

But it is all gone before I can even begin to think about it, before the flush on my face means more than it is supposed to. My mother closes the door after him, and her eyes search for me in the living area.

“Noel! Angelo is here!”

My feet finally listen to me, and I cross the space, walking into the living room with a smile stretched on my face. It doesn’t feel real for some reason, almost like I’m hiding something else beneath the smile.

‘No, Noelia. You’re not hiding anything. You are just mad. Mad at your best friend for not checking up on you for five good years.’

“Hey,” I breathe, bringing my hands from behind my back, waving shyly. Angelo doesn’t wave back. Instead, he blinks. His lips move slightly before he swallows and then brings his eyes to Luca. They hug the way boys do, their loud voices echoing through the walls of our house that has been quiet for so long.

I pull away from the living room, and I doubt anyone notices. Taking the stairs, I get into my room smack in the middle of the hallway and head straight for the bathroom. I try not to think of anything as I have my bath and wear something other than the swimtrunk.

Standing in front of the mirror in a pair of jean shorts and a white tube top, I angle my head, putting my hair up in a messy bun. My hand fishes for the gloss on the vanity, and I lean forward into the mirror, spreading the thin line on my lips before smacking them in satisfaction.

The door barges open behind me suddenly, and I jerk my head around, groaning when my brother strolls in like he has every right to be weird.

“What’s wrong with you and Angelo?” He mutters, throwing himself onto my bed and grabbing the pack of chips by the side of the stool. “That was…weird.”

“Weird?” My voice sounds too high. Way too high. “There was nothing weird about that. We were perfectly normal.”

Luca laughs, in between chewing so annoyingly. “Right. You are angry.”

“I am not angry!”

I turn around in that moment, throwing a random t-shirt on his head.

He laughs again, shaking it off his head. “You are definitely angry, kiddo….” But Luca stops when he lifts his eyes. His head stretches forward, every inch of his face stretched with surprise, disbelief and a tease.

“Noelia Crawford, do you have gloss on?”

“Urghhh! I usually….”

“No, you do not. Tell me, my dear baby sister, does this have anything to do with…”

“No one!” I scream, rushing over to him. I drop on top of his frame, trying to press him into the bed. But Luca is stronger, easily pushing me off. We struggle like kids on the bed, our long limbs kicking at each other until the door cracks open quietly.

Luca and I stop mid-action, the bed in total disarray, the pillows strewn all over, and our eyes on the door. I jump away from Luca at once, attempting to smooth down my hair.

“Erm…” Angelo doesn’t move a step further. He lingers by the door, his eyes darting from outside to inside, like he was forced to be here. “Dinner has been served. Lucienne asked me to get you over.”

I know when he sees the gloss, because his eyes narrow on my lips. And then, he walks away, his footsteps echoing in the silent hallway.

Luca follows him out, his loud voice belting. “Noelia is finally becoming a lady! Isn’t that great?”

I hear my mom swat his head from downstairs. “Shut it, Luca. She has always been a lady. Just a little…”

“Unladylike?”

Dante.

A loud roar of laughter takes over the dining room, and I move back to the mirror, wiping the gloss off with the back of my palm before storming out.

“Finally,” my mom breathes as I walk down the stairs. “I was thinking we were going to have to start without you.”

I know it has been a while, but the sitting arrangement has changed. There is someone else sitting beside Angelo.

My best friend, Talia.

Oh no.