Bad Timing

Venti nove

Noah sat next to me on the bed of his truck and stared at me with those blazing blue eyes. He intertwined our fingers, brushing his lips across my knuckles. Happily, I leaned my head against his shoulder and relished in the moment we finally had to ourselves.

We didn’t even have to do anything. Sitting here with him alone was enough to make me satisfied and content. All I wanted to do today was spend it with him.

“So, it was Ms. Brayer?” he asked curiously.

I nodded my head. A small smile was etched onto my face as I thought about it. “Yeah, it was her sending the notes. She put the notebook in my locker.”

Apparently, Ms. Brayer heard our conversation that one day when Noah and I conversed about Nick’s murderer. She wanted to help, but kept herself anonymous because she could get fired for disclosing information to students. 

Ms. Brayer tried to go to the police about it, but Officer Priestley – who was in charge of the Callaway Case – would send her away before she could even mutter a word about Nick. When she heard that Noah was planning to figure it out, she wanted to help us.

Nick Callaway used to be in her class. When he passed away, Lauren read his notebook and was shocked with its contents. She knew something wasn’t right, but she didn’t know how to get concrete evidence that it was Brian who killed Nick.

It was only when I put a thank you note in my notebook and received a purple sticky note in return that read, “Thank you, E.” that I knew it was her. She was the only one who used that nickname. However, I decided not to bring it up with her or anyone else besides Noah. I really didn’t want her to lose her job.

I couldn’t be more grateful for the perfect timing. Two nights before I was pushed off the Pier and into the depths of the waters, cameras were installed on the Pier for safety reasons. Brian was caught on camera for the assault. This opened a whole new case on Nick Callaway.

They were able to find concrete evidence that was hidden by Officer Priestley. Unfortunately, he lost his job and was arrested for being involved in a murder. Brian was sent to a mental facility and was charged to life in prison once he got better.

“Hmm.” Noah smiled, nodding his head slightly. “She’s a bad ass teacher.”

It was silent as we drowned in our own thoughts. In the time of our comfortable silence, two girls walked towards us with high pitched giggles and shorts shorter than my underwear. I frowned when they stopped in front of us and flicked their perfectly curled hair over their shoulders.

“So, I wanted to apologize,” the blonde one with the belly button piercing drawled, hooking her arm into her best friends own. “For all the crap everyone at East Carteret High put you through.”

The redhead cocked her head to the side and smirked. “We didn’t believe that you killed your brother though.”

“Yeah,” the blonde one added. “Not one bit.”

I rolled my eyes and inched closer to Noah. That’s when they finally noticed me. I smirked in arrogance when their sickly sweet smiles faltered a little.

“If you want to hang out,” the redhead suggested subtly.

The blonde smirked and looked down at me. “Just let us know.”

Noah smiled, but didn’t seem the least bit interested. “Thanks, but I’ll think I’ll pass.”

“Oh,” the blonde one said, her smile completely falling. “But if you change your mind – “

“I don’t think I will,” Noah replied with finality.

It took a couple of minutes for the two girls to recover from rejection. I bit my tongue, resisting the urge to laugh aloud. They nodded their heads and walked away quickly from the both of us.

I rolled my eyes once more. Since the news that Noah Callaway definitely did not kill his own brother, the attitude towards him changed dramatically. He was back to where he was at before this whole fiasco. They wanted to befriend him for his boldness and his courage, girls swooned over him and pretended that they didn’t believe the whole accusation situation, and the elders felt completely guilty for treating him the way they did. Sawyer, who constantly bashed at him in class, even apologized.

The good news is that Noah didn’t get it into his head. Sure, he forgave them but what they did to him was something he would never forget. He simply didn’t care what society judged him for anymore. He just stayed the same and I praised him for doing so.

I smirked, playing with his dark hair. I teased, “Their offer sounded pretty good. Three some sounds like every guy’s fantasy. How could you turn down two girls?”

Noah shrugged and wrapped his warm arms around my waist. He brought me closer so our foreheads touched and I could see every different shade of blue that were in his beautiful eyes. He, too, smirked.

“I’m a ‘quality over quantity’ type of guy.” He winked, causing my cheeks to turn red at his subtle innuendo. “And I definitely don’t need more when I’ve got all I’m looking for right here with me.”

I feigned a groan and pushed him away. “Your sappiness is grossing me out.”

Noah laughed and pulled me back against him again. He kissed the stitches on my forehead. “I’m only speaking the truth, Emmy.”

“No, but seriously,” I continued, looking down at the ground. “Don’t you want your old life back? You’re just going to push people away once they’ve opened up to you again? Isn’t belonging something that you wanted besides finding closure over your brother’s death?”

“Hey,” Noah warned. He cupped my face in his hands and forced me to look up at him. “Belonging isn’t that great. I mean, if I haven’t went through all that crap I wouldn’t have met you.”

“There you go again.” I feigned a gag. “Corny.”

“Hey, you said no negativity on this street, right?” Noah smiled, looking around us – the traffic light at the end, the cracked sidewalk, Old Lady Jenkins’s yellow house, and the overgrown grass at the other end. “But since I’m feeling particularly corny … I love you.”

“I love you too,” I whispered before his warm lips worked its magic with my own.