The Kissing Booth: New Love

Chapter 30

Noah decided a few weeks into the summer that we should go somewhere together, just the two of us, before he leaves for Harvard. Now that we're down to just a couple weeks before Noah's departure date, it's finally time for our weekend getaway. He frowns when I call it "One last summer adventure". I know he's tired of hearing about the last this and the last that. I can't help it, though, the only way I'm getting through these last few weeks with Noah, without thinking of him leaving and getting emotional all the time, is to try to make a big deal about everything we do. I can't cry on our last swim in the ocean, no being upset for the last sand volleyball game, so instead I try to make them feel like some sort of milestone to be celebrated.  To crowd out the sadness I feel at the thought of Noah leaving.  But, in my head, all I can think about is how spoiled I've been getting  to spend the whole summer with Noah and how lost I'm going to feel when he's gone.

So, when Noah comes up with the idea for a trip, I think getting away from the beach house will be good for us. We didn't go far, just a few hours away from home to Joshua Tree. Having spent the whole summer at the beach, we wanted something a little different and you can't get much more opposite from being at the beach than going into the desert. Noah planned the whole thing and rented us a cabin. It was the first time either of us had done anything like this and we felt so grown up. Like adults. And I suppose Noah is actually an adult, getting ready to leave home soon.

I had to beg my Dad to let me go away for the weekend with Noah. I may also have coerced June into going to bat for me with my Dad. I'm not sure what she told him to help him decide that I could go but I do know she had to promise him that she'd already had follow up safe sex talks with both of us recently before he agreed. And as much as I hate the thought of our parents talking about our sex lives, I can handle anything as long as I get to go on this trip with Noah.

Noah rolled his eyes, as I came down the stairs with my biggest suitcase, backpack, and bag of toiletries. "It's just a weekend, Shelly, what all do you have packed in there?"

Lee, who was sitting in the living room, started laughing. "Well, let's see. She probably has enough clothes for at least a week, just so she has options everyday. . ."

"That's enough Lee." I yelled.

"Ooo, and I know she was debating about which of her lingerie she looked sexier in . . . " Lee made a gagging motion when he said the word lingerie and Noah shot him his best threatening scowl.

"I'm gonna kill you, Lee!" I yelled again to stop him, giving him my own threatening look this time. I'm sure I had turned bright red. June was somewhere around the house, I had said good-bye to her a few minutes ago, and she doesn't need to hear any of this.

Lee went on, clearly not worried about Noah or me. "What? I can't help that I overheard her talking to Rachel. And also ew, like I want to know anything about what you two do in private."

"Okay, that's enough Lee." Noah came to my rescue, pulling me into a sidearmed hug before grabbing my bags. "You can bring as much stuff as you want, Shelly. Are you all ready?"

"Yep, I just have to get the cooler and bag of snacks from the kitchen?"

"You put her in charge of snacks?" Lee asked.

I'm pretty sure Noah was working to keep his eyes from rolling a second time when he saw the size of the bag of snacks I was bringing along. "It's a long drive there and you want to make sure to have enough food for the whole trip . . ." I tried to explain. Okay, so maybe I had gone a little overboard, but this is the first time I had been going on a trip without a parent and I just wanted everything to go perfectly.

"Three days, Shell, we're only gonna be gone for three days." I heard Noah mumble as he started to carry everything out to the car.

"You guys have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Lee called out as we walked towards the door.