Nathan Marsh's State of Being

Chapter Sixteen

inveigled

"What are you doing here?"

Those were the first words Noel said to me when I got back from my last class before break. Thanksgiving's tomorrow and in just a handful of hours I'd be heading to the airport so I could fly back home for the five-day weekend.

My dad was going to be home for once, and that coupled with my mom's diagnosis meant I was both excited and skittish about the trip.

I made a face at Noel. "What, sick of me already?"

He chuckled and put his laptop to the side on his bed. He'd been watching something that sounded French which he paused when I walked into the room. "Not at all."

I smirked. "Is there an invisible hookup you have here, then? 'Cause otherwise I'm not really seeing why I'm not allowed in our room."

I toed my shoes off, dropped my backpack to the floor next to my desk, and went to turn my Xbox on.

"Fuck off," Noel said lightly. His eyes were curious as I studied them. "Why aren't you running around a giant circle with Harley?"

I smiled over at him and raised a brow. "You mean a track?"

He waved a hand. "Technicalities."

"He's not feeling well," I said as I shook my head in amusement and grabbed a controller. I pulled out my desk chair to sit in and watched Noel watch me while I waited for the console to boot up. "What? You're staring, Noel."

He shrugged, looking a little less neutral than his default. "What's with the schedule change?"

Here we go again, I groaned internally. "Why does everyone assume that I have every second of my life planned out?"

Noel grinned, his eyes looking prettier to the point that I had to look away. "Because you practically do. Every day you have two morning classes, then lunch with Harley, then an early afternoon class, a run with Harley, and then you come back here to shower. After that you go to the library and do god knows what for eight hundred hours, then come back again and watch your little cooking shows or play video games until you fall asleep in the middle of what you're doing. The only exception to all of that being me interrupting your evening study time with exciting adventures here and there."

By the time he was finished, I was openly gaping at him.

"Dude, what the fuck?"

Noel crossed his arms, but didn't seem fazed. "Am I wrong?"

I made a disgruntled face. He wasn't, and that was the entire problem. He summed my life up so easily in thirty seconds that it made me feel pathetic.

It also made my stomach twist knowing he paid attention like that. He was always full of surprises.

"You should be a private investigator, Mr. Stalker--I mean, Sjolberg."

"Funny." Noel snorted, getting to his feet. I followed him with my eyes as he came up to me and grabbed the controller out of my hands.

"Excuse you?" I asked.

Noel's face turned expectant, his eyes looking down at me. He jerked his head towards our door. "Come on, I'll go with you."

"I'm sorry, but what?" I asked. There was absolutely no way Noel meant what I thought he was saying.

His mouth quirked into a simple smirk. "I'll go for a run with you. On that track thing you love so much."