The Middle - Volume Three ✔️

Chapter 39 (Noah)

Noah

“Sounds good, I’ll see what the others say.” I tell Will over the phone.

He and Maddie are gonna be back in North Bridge later today, so he wants me to invite Zach, John, Kim, Aubrey and Jamie over for drinks. It is Saturday after all, so why not? He doesn’t know what’s happened between me and Jamie of course, but I’ll fill him in when he gets here.

“Cool, make sure there’s plenty beer and shit in the fridge, will you?” Will asks.

“I will, have a good flight.” I end the call.
I down the rest of my protein shake before lacing up my running shoes and heading out of the dorm.

It’s a nice morning so I’m meeting Stefan in the park beside campus to go for a run. We both haven't done much running over the holidays, so we need to get ourselves back on track. I jog over to the park and head for the bench by the fountain where Stefan and I agreed to meet. No sign of him. So I start doing my stretches.

I’ll text Zach and John after this to ask them over for drinks tonight. I’ll tell them to bring their girlfriends. As for Jamie, well, I guess I’ll send her a text too. I haven’t heard from her since she left my dorm on Thursday night, but she said she needed space to think, so I don’t wanna pester her. Will told me to invite her over though, so this should be okay. Maybe I’ll run over to her house after this, instead of just texting her. Maybe she’d appreciate the effort. Maybe seeing me in my running clothes will help her make her mind up about me...

I gotta admit, not knowing what she’s thinking is driving me a little crazy. I’ve had to stop myself from texting her a few times these past couple days. I just wanna know what she’s gonna do. It’s funny, I’ve never had a girlfriend before and I never wanted one. But now that I’ve asked someone out and I don’t know if they’re gonna say yes or not, I feel like I’ve never wanted something so much in my entire life. It’s the typical 'I only want what I can’t have' thing. Which is me all over, I guess.

I finish stretching and look around the park. Where the hell is Stefan? And then I spot him, talking to a couple of pretty girls. Well, there’s a surprise.

I walk over to them and as I get closer I recognise one of the girls. I can’t for the life of me think where I know her from. Did I sleep with her? I hope not. Surely I’d remember that, come on. She has long wavy blonde hair, but the bottom half is lilac. She looks a little alternative, but she is naturally stunning. I don’t think I slept with her, maybe we had a class together last semester or something.

“Hey, Stefan.” I say as I approach them.

“Ah, here he is, my best wing man.” Stefan says, clapping a hand to my back. He wonders why he struggles with girls.

“Hey, I know you.” The lilac haired girl says. “You’re dating Jamie Hawkins, right? We met at the Winter Fayre?”

Ah, now I remember. She’s one of Patrick’s many conquests. Cool.

“Right, yeah, you were there with Patrick.” I say, hoping things between her and Patrick aren’t sour now. Jamie did say that was the first time she’s known him to ever take a girl out. Maybe they’re still dating now.

“Right.” Her face falls a little. Obviously they are no longer dating. Oops.

“You dated Patrick Moore?” Stefan asks her. “He never dates, you must be special.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.” She says awkwardly.

“He is the most confusing boy ever.” The other girl offers, rolling her eyes.