The Hudson Boys

C H A P T E R 2 1

C H A P T E R 2 1

"MK?" I knock lightly on the door, calling softly through the gap in the frame. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." I hear a muffled reply from the other side of the wooden door.

"Are you sure?" I ask again.

For a moment she doesn't reply but then she gives a light,and very forces, "No."

It sounds like she was talking underwater and I knew that meant she was more upset than she was letting on.

"Do you want to unlock the door?" I ask. Again there is a pause before I hear the pin turn in the lock.

Her eyes and cheeks are red and she quickly wipes her face with the back of her hand to try and cover up the tear tracks.

"MK? What happened between you and Noah?" I ask cautiously. I know that I'm probably rushing into a big conversation but I need to get it out of her before she shuts down again.

"It was a long time ago and I know I'm probably overreacting. I feel ridiculous but sometimes I can't help it.." She starts to babble as her eyes get watery again.

"Hey, hey. Slow down." I say softly, sliding down the wall to sit beside her as I put a hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

"We used to be friends," She begins and I can already tell that this is going to be a long story, "Good friends, even best friends. Since we were like, four years old, our families have been really close. Our dads went to school together or something.

"Anyway, when we were in about seventh grade. His Dad got offered some big office job further north and so they moved away around the same time I realized that I had a crush on Noah." At this point her forearms are resting on her knees, her palms pressed to her damp cheeks.

"I know, typical, sappy, sob story, girl-falls-for-her-best-friend." She laughs darkly under her breath. "But yeah, he moved away and I moved on. Or at least I thought I had.

"Two years later, his dad's business got downsized and so they moved back here. I didn't know they were coming back to Fordman, so when I saw Noah walking through the school hallway I was extremely surprised and also extremely unprepared. It was like every feeling I thought I had locked away came flooding back. And he was no longer the short, skinny, socially awkward kid I had grown up with. He was older and he had filled out and he became friends with the popular kids in our year and joined the football team.

"I bumped into him once in the hallway. It was awkward. He asked how I was and I asked him in return. Then we both made excuses to leave. He came round to dinner with his family later that week. We were civil. But we didn't interact much, just shy smiles across the table.

"We said goodbye at the door and that was really the last time we spoke to each other. He made lots of new friends. He got himself a girlfriend, which ended badly by the way. It was clear that he didn't need me around anymore." She finishes as the sobbing starts again.

I don't know what I am supposed to say so I just shuffle closer to her on the shiny tiled floor. She leans her head on my shoulder as I rub my hand up and down her arm in what I hope is a soothing manner.

"I told you it was pathetic." She mumbles.

"It's not," I say in all seriousness. "The heart is a fickle thing."

"But it happened years ago. I should be over him by now."

"Sadly, it doesn't always work that way," I say. "But at least you're talking again."