Obsessive ~ Noah Foster [1]

Chapter Five// Psycho

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"I can't focus on The Goodbye Girl when my dad is doing Gone Girl."

--Brooke Maddox

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"A man should have a hobby." I whispered to Noah, who sat across from me. " Well, it's, it's more than a hobby. A hobby's supposed to pass the time, not fill it." Noah said back, staring at me intently. "Is your time so empty?" I questioned. "No, uh. Well, I run the office and uh, tend the cabins and grounds and, and do a little, uh, errands for my mother. The ones she allows I might be capable of doing." Noah answered. The way he was looking at me... it took me so much not burst out laughing. But I held up. "Do you go out with friends?" I asked. "Well, a boy's best friend is his mother. You've never had an empty moment in your entire life, have you?" Noah said the most famous line in scary movie history. "Only my share." I said back. "Where are you going? I didn't mean to pry."

"I'm looking for a private island." I replied. "What are you running away from?" He asked. "Wh-why do you ask that?"

"People never run away from anything--" That's when it happened, I burst out laughing. "O--oh, my God!" I said inbetween laughs. "I can't keep a straight face!" I cried, holding my stomach. "Aw, come on, Arielle! That line is ranked #56 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations!" Noah huffed, a smile tugging at his lips. "We can't do Psycho!" I pointed at him. "And, I just proved that." Noah frowned, as I stopped laughing. "Ooh, what about..." I looked through the papers of selections that Mr. Branson handed out. "Oooh, ooh! 'You had me at 'hello.'" I said, channeling my inner Renée Zellweger. "Jerry Maguire? Really?" Noah laughed, grabbing the papers from me. "Aw! That line is #52 on the top 100 movie quotations." I tsk-ed. Noah's eyes lit up. "Oh, I got one. 'Nobody puts Baby in a corner'." He grinned. "Hm... Dirty Dancing...? So you want to have a dance scene, too? Branson'll love that." I rolled my eyes. "He'll like anything I do. He's the only teacher, who still allows me to talk in class." He said, truthfully. I laughed. "I carried a watermelon." I whispered. "Carried a watermelon..." I trailed off, just like Jennifer Grey. Noah laughed. "Do you want to get together, like, at the cafe sometime? To get a grasp on this whole thing." Noah grabbed the Dirty Dancing script. . "Su--"

"Arielle? Noah?" Mr. Branson had walked up to the table we were sitting at in the library. "Yes?" Noah and I said at the same time. "Riley, here... has no partner, so, I was wondering if you were okay to have three people..?" Mr. Branson said, as Riley smiled at us, shyly. "Oh, of course. Yeah." Noah said quickly.

If I was being honest, I didn't want to be a... threesome. I just wanted it to be Noah and I. It was better that way. And now I was a third wheel.

xxx

"HEY! Audrey!" I called out to the girl. She turned quickly, and sighed once she realized it was me. Damn.

"What do you want?" She said, as she kept walking. "Do you know Noah's number, so I can call him. We were supposed to meet at the cafe, but he wasn't there." I said. Audrey stopped walking, once we reached her car. She exhaled deeply. "He's probably at work. Get in." Audrey gestured to her car. "A--are you sure? I don't want to be--"

"It's fine. Just get in." Audrey huffed.

"Uh... so..."

"We don't have to talk, Arielle." Audrey told me, as she drove. "I mean, we don't have to, but--"

"We don't have to." She said. I took that as a hint. But of course, I didn't wanna take that hint. "I'm really sorry about your girlfriend."

Audrey looked over at me. "Thank you." She said, before turning back to the road. "I get it, you know. Death. Nina's death really got to me." I explained. "How are you two related?" Audrey asked suddenly. "Well, her mom's my mom's si--"

"No, not what I mean. I just... you're so you... and Nina was... well, Nina." Audrey said. "I don't know." I shrugged. "Nina meant well, she was just... mean." I said. "You can say that again." Audrey scoffed. "Sorry." She whispered, after she realized. "No, no... I know Nina bullied you."

"After all, you were here when she started." Audrey said. "Oh, come on. We were twelve. Nina was just being mean, I honestly didn't think anything of it at the time." I said truthfully. "Well, maybe if you had, then that video wouldn't have happened." Audrey said, going cold on me. "You're right, I'm very sorry that my cousin was the reigning Queen of the Bitches." I said sarcastically. "I still don't understand." Audrey shook her head. "Understand what?"

"How you two are even related?" I couldn't answer that question. Because, I, as well, didn't even know.

xxx

I thanked Audrey for the ride, before walking towards the gaming store, where Noah worked. I hummed an unknown song as I did. Just as I went to open the front door, my phone chimed. I sighed, and reached into my purse to grab it. I looked at the I.D. Unknown.

I heard my heart beat in my ears. I took a deep breath, before answering. "Hello?"

"Hello, Arielle." Oh, God. That voice. Again. "I'm really not in the mood for your stupid pranks." I huffed. "I want you to play the game, Arielle." He said. I shook my head, "what game?" I scoffed. "The same game Emma and I are playing." He chuckled. Emma. He was talking to Emma, too. "What's the game?" I asked. "Let's call it, 'How to Keep Arielle's Friends and Family Alive'." He laughed wickedly. "I'm calling the police." I whispered. "Say anything and I will kill her." I stopped all movements. "Wh--who?" I asked, panicked. "Hmm... how about Katherine? Wait, no... how about Mommy?" He taunted. "What do you want from me?" I gave in. "I want us to be friends... maybe allies."

"Why in the hell would I want to be friends with you... you sicko." I spat. "Oh, come on. I'm the only one around here you can trust." He said. "That's not true. You're disgusting, and if you call me again, I'm calling the police." With that I hung up. I opened the front door to the store. Everything was dark, except for the huge TV's on the wall. That's when I heard the giggling. Oh, no. "--So, do you?" I heard Riley ask. Oh, no, no, no. What have I walked into. I sucked in the air through my teeth, and began to back up. BOOM. I gasped, as I realized I had bumped into a Superman collectible. "Oh, shit." I immediately dropped to the ground, and crawled behind the counter. "What was that?" Noah asked, alarmed. "It was probably just nothing." Riley dismissed. "Okay." How long was I supposed to stay back here. God, no wonder Noah ditched me. Sex over Dirty Dancing, I think yes.

"Oh, what is that?" Noah asked again. My eyes widened. Did he hear me again? "Relax, it's just my phone." Riley giggled. I waited for them to speak again. "Oh, my God!" Riley gasped. "What is it?" Noah asked. "It's Tyler. He just texted me." Tyler. Tyler, as in Nina's boyfriend. I stood up immediately. "AHH!" Riley screamed. "AH!" I screamed back. Noah turned his head, and was so surprised, that both he, and Riley fell off of the couch. "Oh, shit!" I rushed over to them, but backed up, once I realized Riley was in her underwear.

"Okay, I'm waiting outside!Just... my sister has my car, so I'm going to need one of you to drive me." I called to them, as I walked to the front door. "Wait, what? Where are we going?" Noah called back.
I turned back for a second. Noah and Riley stood up, Riley still hadn't changed. She looked up at Noah. "The police station, dummy. This is Tyler, we're talking about."