Loving Noel (Wildcat Graduates Book 1) Read online

  The band hall is busy with activity when I get there. I barely have time to put my books down and get my French horn out of its case when the tardy bell rings. Stacy sits in front of me since she plays the flute. Noel plays baritone and sits back and down from me, while Cade sits across the room on the other side to play alto saxophone. Since Jason, who plays trumpet, sits close to him they’re always making faces at us and cutting up in class. Luckily, Mr. Scott doesn’t seem to be bothered by it as long as we are ready to play when we’re supposed to. Our Christmas concert is Thursday night and we’re working on fine tuning our music. It’s a joint concert with the choir and is a lot of fun.

  After band is over, Stacy and I put up our instruments in the instrument room and catch up on how our morning classes were. “So, where were you this morning? You didn’t come to the band hall this morning. I thought you were sick or something, but it was too late to call you.” Stacy studies my face and raises her eyebrow at me as she waits for my answer.

  “Yeah, not sick. This has been one hell of a morning. You’ll never believe it if I tell you.” I place my French horn case back on the shelf and grab my backpack. “Noel was waiting for me at my locker this morning. He wanted to walk me to class.” Stacy’s mouth flies open and she almost drops her flute case.

  “He did what?! So that’s where he was. Even Cade wasn’t sure where he went this morning.” We both turn and walk out of the instrument room and head for the band room door just as the dismissal bell rings. “I told you he likes you. Do you believe me now?” I roll my eyes at her and shake my head.

  “Are you ever gonna give that up? Who knows what’s going on? I’m just going with it. My head’s too tired to think about it anymore.” As we leave the band hall, Noel and Cade are waiting just outside the door in the breezeway. Why haven’t they left for class yet? They have to walk all the way across campus. Thankfully, Stacy speaks up before I can worry about it too much.

  “What are you two waiting on? Both of you are usually halfway across campus by now.” Stacy walks up beside Cade and he puts his arm around her as they walk toward the Language annex.

  “We just thought we’d wait for you two slow pokes today,” he tells her. Stacy jabs Cade in the stomach and rolls her eyes at him, which only makes him laugh. Stacy, Cade, and Noel all have a foreign language while I have to go my dreaded Chemistry class. I swear that teacher wears me out.

  Noel steps in beside me and puts his arm around my back, just like he did this morning before he says, “Yeah, and I thought I’d walk with you to class since it’s kinda on my way.” Sure you can get to his class by walking past mine, but it’s the longer way to get there. I just go with the flow and pick up my pace so he won’t be late to his class. His German teacher is pretty nice, but I doubt she’d appreciate both him and Cade being late.

  Chemistry was frustrating. The teacher gave us a brand new chapter to start and exams are next Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s gonna take a lot of extra time studying to get all of this new stuff learned and the old stuff reviewed for the exam. I think she’s out to get me. Before I know it, school is out and Noel is waiting for me by Mrs. Hill’s room. He walks me to my locker and we switch out our books for the ones we need.

  Cade, Jason, and Shawn are joking around again, and Stacy is trying to ignore them all. Noel walks over to talk to them and joins in their conversation. I close my locker and walk over to tell Stace to call me when she gets home before leaving for the bus. She just laughs and tells me to get ready for her call. I’m about halfway to where my bus is in the north parking lot when I hear someone calling my name.

  “Xana! Wait! Xan, stop,” Noel yells out to me when I turn to see who is looking for me. I stop and look at him, wondering why he is jogging toward me.

  “What’s going on, Noel? I’m gonna miss my bus. He’s not gonna wait too long on me before he leaves.” I look toward the bus sitting in the parking lot. There are still a few people walking that way to catch their busses.

  “Don’t worry about missing your bus. I was coming to tell you that I’m taking you home. I was going to tell you after you finished getting all of your books, but you were done before I came back to your locker.” Noel comes to stand beside me and takes my backpack from me, tossing it over his shoulder. I can’t understand why he’s running after me just to take me home all the way across town.

  “That’s okay, Noel. My bus is still here. I can just ride it home. You don’t have to take me home.” I look up at him and smile as I reach to get my backpack from him.

  “I’m taking you home. End of. Let’s go, Sweetness,” Noel smiles as he grabs my hand and starts walking to the south parking lot. Well, alrighty then. Noel just got all bossy with me. Even though he’s halfway dragging me across campus, I kinda like him this way.

  By the time we make it to the parking lot, Cade, Stacy, and Jason are standing around talking by Noel’s car. They all turn to greet us once we get close enough. I don’t know if Noel sees it, but I can’t miss the looks they give us when they notice we’re holding hands. I can’t stand to have them staring at me, and I slowly feel my face turning red.

  Noel reaches into his pants pocket to get his car keys, never releasing my hand. He unlocks and opens the driver’s door, and picks up his own books from the hood of his car. I guess he gave them to Cade to bring to his car, and that’s why they’re all standing around it. He then tosses his books and my backpack onto his back seat as he looks over at Cade.

  “Thanks for bringing my books out here, man.” Noel shuts the door and leans against it, pulling me into his side. His arm goes around my waist, my back to his chest. I must have some kind of awkward expression on my face because I can see Cade’s mouth twitch from his trying not to laugh as he looks from me to Noel and replies, “No problem. It’s not like I wasn’t coming this way.” He slaps Noel on the shoulder and pulls Stacy with him as he starts walking toward her car. “Later, man.”

  “Yeah, I’m gonna head out, too. I have to meet my dad over at his office by four o’clock to pick something up for him. See y’all later,” Jason replies as he waves and walks to his car.

  “Later,” Noel replies as he stands up straight and begins to lead me to the passenger side of his car. Just as he starts to open my door, we hear someone calling out his name. Looking up over the roof of his Mustang, we spot someone running in our direction across the parking lot.

  “Who is that?” I ask him as he continues opening my car door. His hand rests on my lower back as we wait for the person, who looks vaguely familiar now, gets closer to his car.

  “Noel! Wait a sec,” she calls out as she reaches the Mustang. She is Mercedes Parker. The girl he went to Homecoming with, the majorette with the model figure. The girl who’s the total opposite of me. The girl who’s currently hanging onto Noel’s arm, even though he has his hand on my lower back and his side pressed into mine. I stand a little straighter and pull away from Noel’s grip as I try to get into the front seat. Noel tightens his grip on my waist, preventing me from getting into the car, as Mercedes begins to speak.

  “Noel,” she begins as she looks up at him pitifully, her bottom lip slightly sticking out. “Could you give me a ride home? Kara was supposed to give me a ride home, but apparently she forgot all about me.” Mercedes bats her eyelashes at Noel and gets closer to him, obviously begging for him to kiss her. Could she get any blunter? I try once again to get into the front seat, but Noel’s grip only tightens even more as he pulls me even closer to his side. Her eyes finally move to look at me. She makes an almost imperceptible face of disgust before not-so-sweetly addressing me.

  “Oh hi, Xana. I didn’t see you there. Are you still waiting on your parents to pick you up?” She has such a condescending look on her face, it takes everything I have in me to put a smile on my face and answer her. Fortunately, Noel pulls his arm away from her and steps back to help me into his car before he answers her himself.

  “Xana and I were just leaving. Do you have anyone else
you can ride home with?” Noel shuts my door and begins to walk in the opposite direction from Mercedes around to his side of the Mustang. Mercedes doesn’t let that stop her, and she follows him around to the driver’s door.

  “No one else is left,” she pouts as she holds onto his arm once again and presses her body closer to his. “Can you give me a ride? Pleeeease,” she begs as she sticks out that bloody bottom lip of hers. I swear if I have to hear any more of her fake cuteness, I’ll be forced to jab a pencil into my own ears just to avoid it. Noel doesn’t seem too bothered by it. He opens his car door and looks at me.

  “You okay with Mercedes riding home with us?” He stares me right in the eyes, and I can’t look away. Already over the situation and wishing I had just taken the bus, I put on my best game face smile and answer him.

  “Sure. It’s your car. I’m just the passenger.” Noel stares at me for a minute, studying my expression. I try my hardest to remain neutral before I turn forward in the car and pretend to be looking for something in my purse.

  With our eye contact broken, Noel stands back up and then turns to Mercedes, “You can ride with us, but you’ll have to move our books over to the other side.” Noel leans down to move his seat forward so she can get in the backseat. Mercedes begins thanking Noel for giving her a ride, jumping up to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him. She thanks him profusely before he pulls her away from him and motions for her to climb into the back. She reluctantly climbs in and not-so-politely shoves my backpack onto the floorboard before gently moving Noel’s books to the other side of the seat. Did she honestly think I couldn’t see what she did?

  Noel puts his seat back in place and climbs into the driver’s seat, shutting his door before shoving the keys into the ignition and starting the Mustang. He looks…annoyed, maybe? Before I can say anything, Mercedes leans over Noel’s seat and starts talking his ear off, as if I’m not even in the car. Totally over this day and this ride home, I pull my phone out of my purse and start checking my text messages. I quickly text Mom to let her know I had a ride home instead of riding the bus. Then I see Stacy has texted me three times in the ten minutes since she and Cade left school; just what I need, more drama and questions. I send her a quick text telling her I’ll call her as soon as I get home. I put my phone back in my purse and turn toward Noel.

  “Can you take me home first? Mom needs me to help her with some stuff.” Noel turns my way and just looks at me. I hope he can’t tell I’m lying and tries to take Mercedes home first. As much as I can’t stand to be in the car with her right now, being alone with him in the car after she’s dropped off is even worse.

  Noel has to lean forward, in order to see around Mercedes’ face before he can look me in the eye. He doesn’t seem too happy as he says, “Sure. If that’s what you need me to do?” He turns back to face the road and glances back at me.

  “Yeah, that’d be great,” I tell him and turn back to look out of my window. Mercedes continues to talk Noel’s ear off as we get closer to my house. As soon as Noel pulls into my driveway and puts the car in park, I fling my door open and grab my backpack out of the backseat before Noel can get out of the car. It wasn’t that hard since Mercedes had my backpack off the floor and in her hands, ready to hand it to me. Can she be more obvious?

  I lean into the car and thank Noel for the ride, slam the door shut, and walk as fast as I possibly can without looking like I’m running away. I don’t even look back as I climb the front steps, and enter the house. Once inside, I lean up against the door and hold my backpack to my chest, trying to catch my breath. I’m still standing there, an unknown amount of time later, when my phone starts ringing in my purse. Dropping to my knees on the floor, I put my backpack down and dump out my purse to find the ringing phone. Stace. Answering the call, I lean against the door and blow the hair out of my eyes.

  “Hey, Stace,” I greet her as I stretch my legs out in front of me on the entryway floor. No one will be home for at least an hour so I’m not worried about moving.

  “Alexandra Rhiann, you’d better spill it! Why were you riding home with Noel after school? Did you miss your bus,” Stacy laughs.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me about the ride home. I wish I had ridden the bus, but no. Noel left me no choice, dragged me to his car, and then subjected me to the ride home from Hell!” I shake my head and hit it on the door behind me.

  “Woah, Xan. What are you talking about? I thought you were okay to ride home with Noel? If I had thought you weren’t I would have taken you home myself. What happened,” Stacy asks as she changes the receiver from one ear to the other.

  Closing my eyes to settle my thoughts, I reply, “Just as we were getting in the car, Mercedes Parker ran over to us, attached herself to him, gave him the most pathetic look I’ve ever seen, and begged Noel for a ride home. She said her ride just up and left her there and she had no one else to take her home. Gah, Stace, she was all over him, and I was standing right there! Then she decided to notice me and insulted me while pretending to be sweet. Noel gave her a ride, and she leaned over the seat from behind him and talked to him the whole time like I wasn’t even there! UGH! So I made up some lame excuse about Mom needing me home faster to help her with some stuff just so he would drop me off first and I could get away from her!” I hit my head on the door again, and try to calm myself down.

  “Oh, no she di’nt!!! She was hanging all over him WHILE YOU WERE RIGHT THERE?!” I can hear Stacy slam her bedroom door so her grandma won’t tell her to be quiet.

  “Yep, she sure did. He was about to help me get into the car, had his hand around my waist, and was holding me up against his chest in front of him. She was holding onto his other arm and pressing her body up against the side opposite of me. Then she had the decency to notice me, only to turn around and mock me by asking if I was still waiting on my parents to pick me up,” I tell her in my best Mercedes voice. “She tried to hide it, but I saw the look of disgust she had when she saw how he had his arm around me, and how close we were. When he finally told her to get in the backseat, she made sure my backpack was thrown onto the floor while his books were gently placed on the other side of the seat. Like I couldn’t see what she was doing.”

  “After that, she leaned over his seat to express her undying gratitude for the ride, and continued on to talk to him about all kinds of dumb stuff, like I wasn’t even in the car with them. I just sat there, trying to ignore them and pretend I wasn’t even there when I decided to fake a text from Mom so he’d have to take me home first. Thank coconuts, he bought it and didn’t try to drop her off first anyway.”

  “Holy crap, Xan! What is her deal? I mean, she’s always around the band hall with us in the morning before school, but she’s never done anything like that, not even before you get there. What did he say to that? Did he keep talking to her?”

  “He finally asked me if that’s what I wanted, and when I said yes, he agreed to take me home first. Lay-Me-Lexus just kept on talking to him the rest of the way to my house. As soon as he put the car in park, I flew out of the car, grabbed my stuff from the backseat, which she had ready to hand to me, and speed walked to the porch and into the house before he even realized what I was doing. I never even looked back to see what he did, or when he left. I came inside and sat down in the entryway and leaned up against the front door. I’ve been here since then.” I start picking my purse contents off the floor and placing them back inside of it while I listen to Stace.

  Stacy is laughing uncontrollably at me for calling Mercedes Lay-Me-Lexus, and can barely talk without laughing. “Lay-Me-Lexus,” Stacy laughs out as she snorts loudly over the phone. “That’s way too funny for words! That’s priceless, Xana! I want to call her that tomorrow to her face!” Stacy continues to laugh as I begin to talk.

  “Shut up, hooker! She just pisses me off. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m bothered the most about, her getting a ride home with us, or her being so insulting and condescending toward me. I really shouldn’t care,” I si
gh as I shake my head.

  “It’s not like we’re a real couple or anything. She’s in the same grade as he is. She’s gorgeous and looks like a model, and she’s a majorette. I can’t compete with that at all, Stacy. She made me feel so worthless. No, I don’t have my own car and I ride the bus most of the time. My parents pick me up from stuff when they have to. I can’t help that. I have real reasons for not having my own car, but for her to make me feel dirty because of that is not okay. At this point, I think we’re better off just being friends. This is too much drama to put up with. Friend Zone status suits us much better. You know I’m not cut out for this, Stace.” I shift the phone to the other ear as I gather up my bag and purse and head toward my bedroom. I really don’t want to see anyone when they get home, which will be soon.

  “I wasn’t laughing at you, Xan, but you have to admit, that was seriously hilarious, and you’d better quit talking about yourself like that!! I know you’re scared of driving after your accident, and that’s a legitimate reason. You don’t have to compete with her because you’re in a different class than she is. She may look like a model, but I’ve heard from numerous sources about how big of a bitch she is, and I’ve even witnessed it, once or twice, with my own eyes. She just wants what Noel has, popularity. Cade can’t even stand her, and he gets along with EVERYONE! You can’t let her get to you. That’s obviously what she wants.”

  I throw my stuff down on my bed and kick my shoes off. “I know that now. At the time I was too embarrassed and thrown off to care about it. I’ve been around mean girls before in junior high, but never in front of a guy like that. And one that I’m good friends with and could be dating? It was awful, Stace,” I whisper as I sit on the edge of my bed. A tear slips loose, and I wipe it from my face with my shoulder.