The Other Guys

Chapter 7

 “Yo, Miller!” someone hollers after me as I exit the cafeteria and I’m so lost in thought, I almost don’t turn back and carry on my way. When I look over my shoulder though, I watch as people step aside and let Noah pass through, so that he can jog up to me. He slings an arm around my shoulders lazily and I stumble, but as I’m about to scold Noah and warn him to be careful, especially since he knows I’m accident-prone, I notice that he’s beaming down at me even after the little fiasco that just took place in the cafeteria not too long ago. Knowing Noah, chances are he’s forgotten all about it already.

“What do you want now, Noah?” I ask grumpily, breathing deeply through my nose, but he knows I have a soft spot for him and can’t stay annoyed at him for long, or, like, at all. “I’m not letting you copy my Spanish homework again if that’s what you’re thinking,” I warn him beforehand because Noah might excel at a lot of things, but the only language he’s fluent in is English. Unless, of course, you consider suave talking and flirting to be a language of its own. Then, by all means, Noah might as well be a polyglot.

“Nah, you don’t have to get prissy with me. I’m skipping Spanish today,” he tells me and somehow I don’t find that surprising in the least bit. I’d be probably more shocked if he told me he’d be attending and taking notes for once, instead of hitting on the girl sitting behind him in class that also, like Noah, would never learn anything because she’s too busy flirting and batting her eyelashes at him.

“God knows how you haven’t been suspended yet,” I mumble, but Noah obviously hears me because he chuckles lightly.

“Ah, the mystery of life,” he says dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air before he drops the act and stares at me with this intense look in his eyes that never fails to give me the chills. “There’s something I can do for you, actually,” he informs me in all seriousness, piquing my interest.

I cock an eyebrow up at him, curiosity getting the best of me. “Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”

If he tells me he’s going to build me a tree house as he promised when we were ten, a promise he hasn’t kept, then I might as well jump off a cliff because obviously, the end is near.

“I can go beat Brayden up for you if you like.”

I pause, stopping dead in my tracks in the middle of the hallway.

The fact that he’s being so businesslike when he says that has me rolling in stitches.

“I’m serious,” Noah insists, getting affronted that I’d even think he might be mucking around, “nothing helps get a guy’s head on straight like a good ass-kicking,” Noah says to me, but he doesn’t need to convince me. I’m sure of it because the amount of fights he’s been in is nothing short of disturbingly impressive, especially considering that Noah looks like the kind of guy that can’t hurt a fly.

“I bet you do,” I say to him, patting his back consolingly, “and don’t take it the wrong way, but I’m going to have to take a pass,” I tell him apologetically, even though the last person I’d ever want to see get hurt is Brayden, no matter how much of a jack-ass he can be.

“The offer still stands, though,” Noah informs me, shrugging one shoulder flippantly, like he didn’t just offer to kick his best friend’s ass for the hell of it, “if you ever want to take it.”

“Thanks, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary,” I assure Noah, thinking to myself that if it ever comes down to it, I’d rather do my own beating.

“Your call, Syd,” Noah shrugs again, then looks back at me, “I just wanted to make sure you know I’m on your side.”

“Aww, are you trying to make me blush?” I joke, trying to lighten the mood because I feel like we’re getting too personal and I think I rather like it when Noah’s being his goofy self because a serious Noah puts me on edge for some reason.