When I Met You

Chapter 8

Miss Miller didn't understand the awkward silence that had ensued when she'd arrived at the table. Noah stared and Natalie stared right back. She wondered if she'd made a grave mistake by pairing the two of them. Noah didn't make a move to seat down and Natalie didn't offer a seat to him. Miss Miller cleared her throat. "well, I'll leave you two to get to it" she announced, giving Natalie a small smile and walking away. Noah pulled out a chair and slumped into it.

"I have a feeling I'm gonna flunk," he said. Natalie made no reaction to his statement, she just pulled out one of her notebooks and opened it. She showed him some exercises and gestured for him to do them. Noah sighed, took his pencil out of his bag, and began to do them. Natalie sat and stared at him as he worked. She had nothing else to do. Noah looked up after a few minutes.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked. "why are you giving me the silent treatment? It wasn't my fault your diary went missing and I'm sorry I read it and you should be grateful, I'm not some creep who would have posted it on the school walls". Natalie glared at him. Talk about justifying yourself. he could have just picked it up and given it to the receptionist to keep, instead of reading it. Her name was boldly written at the front.

"Look I won't stop bothering you until you accept my apology". Natalie shrugged. Noah didn't seem to understand what the diary meant to her. Since she wasn't one to talk, she wrote down everything she had to say in that book, every opinion that she had. It was her brainchild and he'd gone through it. The way he stared at her, Natalie knew that he knew a lot about her. He knew all her deepest secrets, embarrassing moments, the truth about her family, and everything.

Noah shoved his completed exercises to her to look through, she merely glanced at it, knowing fully well that he'd got everything wrong. She wrote down the correct answers and put the book back for him to see. Noah groaned. Jacob took that very moment to make an appearance. He walked into the library in all his glory. Natalie didn't fail to notice the glare that passed between him and Noah. It wasn't uncommon news that Noah and Jacob weren't on the best of terms. Jacob dragged his eyes away from Noah and looked at Natalie who had her eyes trained on him.

"hey peaches, I've been looking for you everywhere," he said, pulling out a seat and sitting by Natalie.

"peaches?" Noah scoffed "I could come up with something better". Jacob sent an annoyed look in his direction.

"keep your opinion to yourself, Snicket, nobody invited you to this conversation" Jacob retorted. Natalie could feel a fight brewing and she didn't want to be a part of it at all. She stuffed her books into her bag, placed them on her shoulder, and stood up. This caught the two boys' attention.

"Need a ride?" Noah asked, standing up too. Natalie shook her head and when Jacob offered to she turned him down. She was going to walk home or she could just call Darius. Natalie headed out of the library ignoring the heated argument that had ensued. The school was empty except for the soccer players who were having practice. Natalie headed for the road. She wanted peace and quiet. She didn't understand herself.

She'd forgiven Noah a long time ago but anytime he spoke to her, she felt the need to remind him of what he'd done but he was right, she should be grateful that he wasn't a creep. If not all her secrets would have been posted on the school walls and she'd be making a hole in the ground to live in. Natalie realized that maybe she wasn't mad at Noah because of the diary, she hated the way her heart started to beat fast every time he spoke to her, she hated how she unconsciously searched for his face in school, stole glances at him in class even though she pretended not to know he existed. Hill view was becoming a big problem. It was changing her and bringing out the teenager in her. Natalie's thoughts were interrupted by a loud horn. She turned startled to see Noah in his car parked at where she was.

"let me drive you home, at least to show how sorry I am" Natalie stared for a few moments. Entering the car won't hurt but it'll lead to other things she wasn't ready for so she shook her head. Noah came down from the car, locked it, and stood beside her.

"let's walk then". she didn't move. She just stared. Noah took the initiative to take her hand and pull her along. She froze when she felt his hand on her skin. It was warm and smooth. She pulled her hand free from him and walked ignoring the look he gave her. They walked in silence until they reached Natalie's house. Natalie didn't say anything as she headed up the porch.

"am I forgiven?" Noah called out. She paused and turned to him. She gave a slight nod of her head, Noah shouted a yes and punched the air. "so we are friends now?" Natalie shook her head no but her response wasn't enough to throw the enthusiastic Noah off the board. "I'll prove I'm worth your friendship," he said, giving her a short wave and heading in the direction that he'd come. Natalie watched his retreating figure for some time before she headed into the house. Cree and his friends were in the living room playing games.

"Look who's home" They all turned and stared at her. She froze like a deer caught In a headlight partly because all attention was directed at her and that Jacob was sitting in her living room.

"peaches?" he asked. He was confused as to what Natalie was doing there.

"don't tell me you have a nickname for my sister" Cree groaned, walking over to where Natalie stood. "how was school? You were supposed to be home an hour ago?"

"she was tutoring" Jacob answered "Noah freaking Snicket". Cree raised an eyebrow. It was a surprise that Natalie was tutoring other kids at school.

"That's good Natalie, tutoring is a good way to make friends" She gave her brother an incredulous look. She had no intention of making friends with Noah freaking Snicket, in the words of Jacob. She headed for the stairs and ran to her room. She was tired, worn out, everything and she had to go to work the next day. Screw Cree for making her do it.

"nice bedroom," Jacob said, leaning against the door frame of her room. Natalie looked at him with a blank expression. She wasn't in the mood for his shenanigans. She watched him walk into the bedroom, like he owned the place, looking around at everything and nothing. He looked at her suddenly a serious expression on his face.

"if Noah bothers you, you come to tell me, I mean it Natalie" he stated emphatically. Natalie gave him a confused look. Since when did he care about her talk less about if Noah was bothering her or not?

"you don't like Noah?" she inquired.

Jacob smiled "We have history, nothing to worry your little head about".

It was something she was already worrying about.