The Middle | ✔️

Chapter 67 (Noah)

Noah

I slam my laptop closed and rub my eyes. That's enough homework for one night. I need to shower and change before going over to Jamie's. I've been putting it off, because I'm nervous as hell.

I get up, go to the bathroom, take a shower, get dressed, pick up my keys, head out, walk over to her house, take one last deep breath, ring Jamie's doorbell, and wait. This is it. Potentially the last time I'm ever gonna be alone in a room with her. I'm gonna make tonight count.

The door opens and Benji rushes me. I'm gonna miss this dog. He's really grown on me. Jamie smiles at me, and the moment I look at her I lose all doubts about what I need to do tonight, because I know. She's the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on. I wanna keep looking at her, after tonight. I'm gonna tell her that. Just as soon as we get this fucking paper finished.

"Come on in." She says, opening the door wide for me. She's wearing jeans and a Biffy Clyro band t-shirt. She's left her hair down. I like it when she leaves her hair down.

We head to her kitchen, where her laptop is set up ready on the table. She offers me a drink, and I decline. I wanna get this fucking paper out of the way, before I do anything else.

"So, we've pretty much analysed our question, we just need to summarise the main points and draw our final conclusion. Shouldn't take too long." She says as we sit down next to each other at the kitchen table.

"Right. Then I can forget about Pride and Prejudice for the rest of my life." I say, and she laughs. I really like her laugh. I wanna keep hearing it after tonight. I'm gonna tell her that too.

We summarise our main points, draw our conclusions, tidy the essay up and sign it off. Done. Finished. And I've only been here an hour and a half.

"Fuck, we got through that quicker than I thought we would." I comment, leaning back on my chair and rummaging both hands through my hair. I need to stretch. I notice her eyes lingering on my hands. Right, she did say something about me messing up my hair in front of her. She said it drives her crazy... I put my hands down quickly, not wanting to piss her off.

"Right." She shifts in her chair uncomfortably. "We make a good team, I guess. I bet we get a B- at least."

"Get real, this thing is A+ material." I say with a smile, and she laughs again.

"Well, I'm confident we'll pass at least, and that's all I care about." She stands up. "Coffee?"

I turn my head around to watch her walk over to her kettle and flip the switch. She takes her Friends mug out of the cupboard, before turning to face me. She's waiting for an answer. I really don't want any of her instant coffee, but I don't wanna be rude. Coffee is an excuse to stay longer, at least.

"Uh, yeah, sure." I say, and she rolls her eyes at me.

"You know, the guys tease me about my shitty instant coffee all the time." She tells me as she heaps spoonfuls of coffee into two mugs. "But there is a story behind it."

"Yeah?" I wanna hear the story.

"Yeah." She turns to face me, leaning back against the kitchen counter while the kettle boils. "My mom always made instant coffee. She was too impatient to brew coffee properly at home. She said there were far better things she could be doing with her time than waiting around for good coffee. So, it was always instant. My dad kept up her tradition after she passed, and when I grew up and started drinking coffee too... I don't know, it just stuck."

"That's cool." I tell her, because it is. "So, do you actually like instant coffee?"

"Not at all." We both laugh. "It's grown on me though."