Crazy but Sweet, Sweet but Crazy

47: of birthdays

"Hey, how're you Clare?"

In the school parking lot, Noah Hall greeted me with gusto.

By his side was Bianca, who was on her phone.

When she saw me, she pulled out a chocolate bar from her pocket and handed it to me.

"I heard you fainted. God, you look like shit. M*fucking Richard Lockwood, I swear to my great grandmother's tombstone that I will tear him to pieces and..."

As Noah gazed upon her as if she were speaking sweet words of a love poem, Bianca swore with such unprecedented viciousness I was sure they would have some sort of a negative impact on Richard Lockwood.

When she'd finished, Bianca gestured to Noah's car.

"C'mon. Heard Elliot and Ester went for tennis club practice. You're coming with us."

I shook my head, chuckling. "I don't want to third wheel in your date."

"We're going to the library to study and then have a fabulous dinner! SATs are around the corner," Noah protested. "What impure and unholy thoughts are you having, my dear sister-in-law?"

The drive was short and loud.

As soon as we'd all gotten in, Noah turned on the radio at what I dared to assume was the loudest volume.

Attracting much of students and teachers' attention, he drove us off campus, laughing out loud through the rolled down windows.

At the town library, I witnessed Noah maintaining the longest silence I'd ever seen him maintain in the time I'd known him.

Until the sun had set, the three of us studied in the corner of the top floor of the library quite isolated from other seats.

When it was about 7PM, Noah tapped on his watch, grinning.

"Dinner time," he whispered.

To shelter us from as much unwanted attention as possible, Noah had reserved a room for three of us at a nearby Chinese restaurant.

We'd be saved from all the furtive glancing and snapping of phones during our meal.

"My mum's calling," groaned Bianca, as with practiced ease, after Noah had expertly ticked boxes on the order paper and handed it to the waitress.

"Please convey my love," Noah waved, and without so much of a reaction, Bianca left the room.

"I saw Elli in the last class today. He looked better than I thought," he remarked with a smile, after the door was closed. "You guys talked things out?"

"There wasn't much to talk about," I said sheepishly.

"So I presume the cold war that seemed to have been going on between you two in the morning- ended amicably in the afternoon?" Noah grinned mischievously.

I sniffed. "Kinda. And I presume there is no cold war between you and Bianca at all?"

"Oh, no. There's only 'war' if both are in the fight. Usually it's me surrendering," he sighed, but with the look of someone who was only glad to do the surrendering.

"I've stopped contact with all of my female friends. I'm pretty sure they hate me now. Not that it matters."

"Well. Only one person matters." I smiled slightly.

He took a sip of the hot tea, and nodded. "Undoubtedly."

The doors of the room opened, and a waitress with blue hair came in, pushing in a cart with our appetizers.