The Middle | ✔️

Chapter 80 (Noah)

Noah

"Will!" I call over to my roommate because I can see him standing in line waiting to get into the ballroom with Madison, Zoe and Zara. He's closer to the front of the queue, hopefully we can squeeze in beside him.

"Hey, come on up!" Will calls over, so me, Zach, Stefan and a couple other guys from Track walk over to join Will and the girls.

"There's a line for a reason you know!" A girl dressed up like an exotic bird barks at us as we jump the queue. I just ignore her.

"Looking good tonight, Mr Adams." Zoe beams at me. Her and Zara are dressed up like the twins from The Shining. I'm a little surprised Zara agreed to that, but they look cool together.

"You guys look awesome." I tell them, before turning towards a panicked looking Zach to make sure he's keeping his cool.

"No sign of them yet." Zach hisses at me, his eyes darting around the kids in the queue.

"Dude, just relax. We'll talk to Walker and Adrian when we see them, we'll ditch them, and we'll keep an eye on the girls. It's gonna be fine..." I try to assure him, but I'm not too confident about it myself.

When we finally get inside, the place is fucking packed. The low lighting and dry ice makes it almost impossible to make anyone out, and the costumes aren't helping. This might be okay. We might not even see Walker and Adrian.

"Did they tell you what they'd be wearing?" I ask Zach as we both scan the dancefloor. Zach shakes his head.

We weave our way through all the people, heading towards the back of the hall to get a table. Madison, Will, Zoe and Zara have stopped to talk to some people I don't recognize. I have no idea who the band that are currently playing on stage are, but it's definitely not Fall Out Boy. I guess they'll be on later.

We're about half way across the dancefloor, when a familiar voice causes me to stop dead in my tracks.

"Well hello there, New Yorkers." Walker.

He's dressed like Zoro, with a black mask covering his eyes. Adrian stands beside him, grinning at me and Zach. He's wearing a NYPD costume. We've barely been in here 2 minutes, and here they are. My old friends from High School, who I am in absolutely no mood to talk to tonight.

"What are you guys supposed to be? The Men in Black?" Adrian asks us, looking us up and down.

"Yeah, something like that." Zach mutters.

"What's the matter, Zachy? Aren't you happy to see us?" Walker asks, smiling down at Zach. He's much taller than him. "And what's up your ass, Adams? Isn't this a happy surprise?"

"Yeah, it's good to see you guys." I say coolly. Walker doesn't intimidate me. "I'm just wondering what the hell you're doing here?"

"Thought we'd come check out North Bridge. We've been hearing so much about it from Zach, and I'm screwing a chick that went to High School here. This place sounds like fun." Walker says, barely batting an eye. "Haven't heard much from you since you moved here though, Noah?"

"I've been busy." I say, and Walker laughs.

"Yeah, I bet you have." He says, just as Madison, Zoe, Zara and Will approach us.

"You guys coming to get a table?" Madison says, smiling at me and Zach. She smiles at Walker and Adrian too. She has no idea who they are, of course. But she looks really good tonight in her angel costume. I watch Walker and Adrian for a reaction. They're looking Madison up and down like they wanna devour her.

But luckily, I'm not the only one that notices this. Will immediately wraps an arm around Maddie's waist and guides her over towards the back of the room.