Loving Noel (Wildcat Graduates Book 1)

  Loving Noel

  A Wildcat Graduates Novel

  by Xana Jordan

  Copyright © 2016 by Xana Jordan All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author and or publisher, and where permitted by law. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Ebooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away, as it is an infringement on the copyright of this book. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events or locations or other public venues is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by: Emma Mack at Ultra Editing Co.

  Cover photo by: www.123rf.com

  Cover Design: Tiffany Black at T.E. Black Designs

  Formatted by: Brenda Wright at Formatting Done Wright

  This book is dedicated to all of you who believed in me and encouraged me to what I always wanted to do. If it weren’t for you, Xana and Noel’s story would never have made it this far.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  We had our first high school band practice of the summer today. Cade and I had only thought the junior high band was big. Having both junior highs combined into one high school band was amazing. The sound was louder and bolder, and the marching more intense. I loved it.

  The other amazing thing was seeing her. Xana Bradford. She’s a sophomore who plays the French horn, and is the most breathtakingly beautiful girl I have ever seen. She has the most captivating blue eyes, and long strawberry-blonde hair that frames her face in wild, sexy waves. Since I stand at nearly six feet tall, she is a lot shorter than me, the top of her head not reaching my chin. The way she smiled at me when I was introduced in our sectionals, made my breath hitch, and I almost forgot to say hello. I was never more grateful to play a brass instrument in my life, since it let us be in the same section.

  She was very shy and didn’t talk a great deal, but she laughed a lot at Cade’s jokes. I can still hear her laugh in my head. It’s hard not to smile when she laughs, because her whole face lights up, showing her happiness.

  She’s a year ahead of me, but since I barely missed the cut-off for pre-K enrollment, we’re not that far apart, age-wise. I found out she’s really only a few months older than me, so that was a nice surprise.

  Today, we mainly practiced marching skills, and then broke into sections to work on the show music for our performance. The members in our section, brass instruments, are really funny. They were always making fun of each other and telling lame jokes. I’m not sure how we got any practicing done.

  After we were through for the day, several people lingered around the band hall and parking lot, catching up with friends about what they did over the summer. Xana and her friend, Stacy, were talking to a few of the upper classmen woodwind players, so Cade and I decided to go over and join them. Cade saw how fascinated I was with Xana in sectionals, and was more than happy to help me out, but I really think her short, sassy, little blonde friend was what really caught his attention. She really is a spitfire and seems to love giving Cade a hard time. I’ve never seen him quite so frustrated and enthralled all at the same time.

  I always love it when summer band starts. We usually begin about two weeks before school, learning new music and marching drills for the upcoming season’s performances. It’s a great time to get caught up with friends we haven’t seen all summer before the demands of classes and teachers take over.

  Today was our first day of band practice, and it did not disappoint. We have some amazing music to learn, and the drills will look really amazing if we can get them down. Everyone in band wants to be here, and we all have a lot of fun together. I think that’s what I love about it most. We all truly appreciate music, and have some very talented and accomplished musicians in band. They always amaze me with everything they do.

  Meeting the new freshmen is something we all look forward to. The seniors love to lord their seniority over them, and the rest of us are just thankful it’s not us any longer. Fortunately, our section leaders were never really cruel, and the freshmen we had playing brass today fit in pretty well with all of us, even him, Noel Daniels.

  Noel Daniels is a freshman who plays baritone and has the looks of a Viking God. I swear he has to be six feet of toned, rugged handsomeness. He’s so gorgeous he makes me forget to breathe. He has this really thick blonde hair that my fingers are begging to run through, bright green eyes that make you feel like you could get lost in them for hours, and a smile that makes me forget to speak, when I am lucky enough to receive one.

  As much as I seem to be attracted to him, I know there will never been anything more between us than friends. I’ve seen the way every girl in band tries to get his attention, and that was fine with me. After everything that happened in junior high a couple of years ago, I’m not interested in a relationship with a guy at all. It’s just too much drama.

  Fortunately, almost everyone from my junior high seems to have forgotten about what happened to me, but having the cutest guy in school pretend to date you while he only wanted to embarrass you in front of his friends, kinda makes a girl a little jaded about dating anyone else. That was the worst three months of my life, and I swore I would never let that happen to me again. Even for Noel.

  “Are you go
ing to ask him to formal,” Stacy asks me for the one hundredth time.

  Good Lord, she’s asked me this question at least twice a day for the last week. “I’m not sure. I want to ask him, but I don’t know if we’re like that or not. I think we’re more like friends, but I don’t want to mess it up and make it awkward, Stace.” I shift the phone to the other ear as I eat more of my sandwich.

  “Come on, Xan! You know he likes you. Heck, everyone knows it! We all see how he looks at you after practice and at lunch, for that matter. Why do you think he hangs around until your parents pick you up? He could easily leave as soon as practice is over, but he doesn’t,” Stacy argues.

  “That doesn’t mean anything. He talks to everyone, not just me, and he doesn’t look at me like anything! You must be imagining things.” I reply as I walk to the fridge to get more Pepsi. I can hear Stacy cover the phone and yell something at her grandma. It must be about time for her to get off the phone. Her grandma is wonderful, but she sure is a stickler for time limits on phone calls, local or not. We’re used to how she is, and love her for it. Stacy’s been living with her mom’s parents since she was six years old. Her mother and father split up, and left her with them. Her mother has been to see her a few times, but Stace really doesn’t like to talk about her. Something big must have happened, but I never question her about it.

  “Get real, Xan! You’re the one who must be blind not to see it.”

  “We’ve barely known each other for that long. Besides, he has all of those other girls falling all over him. Why would he look at me? I’m not as fashionable as they are, or as blonde.” Sitting down at my desk, I start to get my history homework out. If I don’t start now on my project, I’ll never get it done.

  “Whatever. He isn’t that much younger than you are, ya know. You know I’m right, and you’re gonna ask him. We both know you are. I’m asking Cade tomorrow, so you have to ask Noel. Then we can double date!” Stacy, once again, covers the phone’s receiver and yells at her grandma about hanging up.

  “Look, I’ve gotta go now. You know Grandma and her time limits. We’ll finish this discussion tomorrow.”

  I sigh, knowing she’ll never let it go. “Okay, fine. Talk to ya tomorrow. Bye.”

  Stacy laughs at the irritation in my voice, “Oh, you know we will! Later!” Stacy hangs up the phone and I sit at my desk, staring at the receiver in my hand. I make a disgusted face and hang it up, rather loudly. Shaking my head, I begin to work on my history project, making a list of what I need to get started.

  Campfire Formal is a girls’ choice dance held in December by the Girl Scout groups, but you don’t have to be a member to attend. Everyone goes, and of course, everyone makes a big deal out of it. It’s not like there aren’t three other dances throughout the school year. In fact, we just had football Homecoming a month ago. My friend Andi and I had gone with two guys we had gone to school with since elementary school. She really liked Jaxson, and when he asked her, it was just assumed his best friend, Blain, would be my date. We had a really good time, but Blain and I are just really good friends, and have been since we were practically toddlers since he lives down the street from me. In fact, you can say he’s probably my oldest and best friend, so going with him to Homecoming wasn’t a big deal to either of us.

  Part of me wanted to go with Noel, but I knew dating anyone would end up badly. He ended up going with some sophomore majorette he had gone to junior high with, so that solved the problem for me. Even then, Stacy said he had wanted to ask me to go with him, but I didn’t believe her. I had no reason to.

  I can’t believe she thinks I need to ask him to the formal. I mean, yeah, we talk a lot, all of us, during after-school band practice, but that doesn’t mean he was staying just to talk to me. Did it? He is a little flirty with everyone, so why did Stacy think it was just for my benefit? Besides, why mess up a good, friendly relationship just for some stupid dance? I can’t see how it’s worth it.

  By the time I get everything in order for my project, I’m tired of thinking about homework and that blasted dance, so I put everything away and go to bed. I’ll think about it all later.

  Morning classes were awful. I swear, just because you have honors classes doesn’t mean you can read minds. It does mean that I can read the words in the book and understand them, so if I actually come up to your desk and ask questions or need clarification, I really do need your help. Don’t tell me to read the chapter; been there, done that. At least three times, so just do your job and teach!! Thank goodness I have friends that understand that mess and can help me with the homework tonight.

  After putting my morning books in my locker, I head to the band hall for lunch. Cade, Noel, Stacy, Erika, Jason and I always sit on the orchestra hall steps, which is directly across from the band room. It’s all under a covered walkway so we never have to worry about what to do when the weather is bad. I grab my daily Pepsi and candy bar from the vending machines on the way, and run into Stacy. She asked Cade to formal during band this morning, so that’s all she can talk about, that and insisting I ask Noel at lunch. That’s all I need after the morning I had in Chemistry. I can only shake my head at her and let her talk all she wants about formal.

  Lunch is completely different from my awful morning. We always have a lot of fun joking around with each other, and Cade’s sense of humor always makes me laugh. You could call him an odd ball, but he gets along with everyone. I’m sure the caffeine I just consumed helped my mood a little as well. God bless Pepsi.

  “How many clarinets does it take to screw in a light bulb,” Cade asks whoever is listening.

  “Really Cade, you can’t come up with any other jokes? Get some new material, man,” Jason tells him and Stacy simply rolls her eyes.

  “Just answer him, somebody, and let’s get this over with. You know he will keep at it until someone plays along,” Stacy begs, looking at each one of us with a look that makes me kinda shake in my shoes.

  “How many does it take, Cade?” I ask, hoping to keep Stacy from hurting someone. Well, from hurting Cade.

  “Two,” he replies, a smug smirk on his face. Uh oh, there’s a catch somewhere.

  “Two? That doesn’t sound like a good joke. I think you’ve lost your touch, Cade,” Erika teases him, as he continues to smirk.

  “Yeah, two; one to hold the clarinet, and one to ask what a light bulb is,” Cade almost yells, trying to keep his laughter in check. He really is proud of that joke. Noel lowers his head, shaking it back and forth in disbelief.

  “That was pretty lame, man. I may have to deny I know you from now on.” Noel shakes his head again, trying very hard to suppress laughter. This makes Cade’s smirk fall, and he crosses his arms over his chest.

  “You didn’t think it was so lame when you told it to the eighth graders last year, smart ass,” Cade raises his eyebrows and looks at Noel accusingly. I can’t help but burst into laughter at the sight of them. Noel loves giving Cade a hard time, and Cade loves acting like the slighted one. Everyone breaks into laughter after I do, even Cade and Noel.

  Jason alerts us that the bell for class is about to ring and we all throw our trash away before it does. As we start gathering up our things to head to our next class, I can’t help but feel like Noel is waiting around for something. Stacy, Cade, and Erika head toward the English wing, while Jason walks off for his math class. Noel gathers up his books and falls in step beside me as I head for Mr. Reed’s history class. We’re still laughing about the joke Jason tried to pull on Erika, but failed miserably. It really was priceless. We’re not sure who was more embarrassed, Jason or Erika.

  I have no idea why he is walking with me since he usually walks with Jason and goes to his locker before going to science. As we continue to walk, I keep noticing him looking over at me. How have I not noticed this before? Stacy told me he looks at me a lot, but I didn't believe her. Could she be right?

  We’re almost to my next class and at the place where he needs to turn to go to Mrs. Anderson
’s for science, when he seems to slow down a bit. Noel turns toward me a little and I look up at him, trapped by those light green eyes. They’re such a bright, light green that I can’t look away from them. He gives me that smile of his, and before I realize it, I’m blurting out something I never expected to say, ever.

  “Do you want to go to formal with me?” I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Holy crap, did I just say that out loud? I can feel my face turning red as people bump into me on their last minute dash to class.

  Noel’s smile gets wider as he replies, “Sure. I’d like that.” I quickly find myself smiling back at him.

  “Great. I’ll see you after school at band practice,” I exhale and turn toward my class before I can die from shock.

  “Sure thing. Later Xana,” Noel calls out to me as he heads toward Anderson’s class.

  History is more boring than usual because we have a substitute. Mr. Reed is out having some sort of minor surgery. His replacement merely gives us the assignment, due by the end of the week, and I can barely remember what the instructions were. What did I just do? Asking Noel out was not what I had planned on doing, and could be a huge mistake. Sure, we all have a lot of fun in band and at lunch, but what if this date just makes things awkward afterward? Lunch and anything band related sure could get complicated if things go south. What did I get myself into?

  I spend the rest of history thinking about going to the dance with Noel, and what he will look like in a tuxedo. What color I should get my dress in that won’t clash with my strawberry blonde hair and make me look too pale? How it would feel to have him hold me while we dance? He’s a lot taller than me, and I hope dancing won’t be too awkward. I wonder what my corsage will look like, and how our pictures will turn out. Before I know it, the bell is ringing and I am rushing to get my things together and leave.

  The rest of the afternoon passes quickly, and I’m able to get my act together and concentrate on my classes. I even manage to forget about Chemistry and Noel, until I run into Stacy in the band hall after school. How on Earth she found out about me asking Noel to formal this fast is beyond me. I swear she must have spies everywhere.