Chapter 27

I took the bus home so Noah could get to his practice in time. Coach was being a hardass, and rightfully so. The season was in full swing and the boys had to be at their best. The fact that I knew very little about football would have been worrying, but I had other things chewing me up at the moment.

For example, public transport systems in this country are a joke. They're good for reducing carbon footprint and all, but I was losing my mind trying to reach home before half past ten. I all but sprinted from the bus stop to home, taking the stairs two at a time. Not even taking a second to see what was happening in the house, I grabbed my bag and threw the useless things out, adding a few books that I needed for the day.

I didn't feel like taking Noah's shirt off. It felt...nice to be wearing it. Okay, I could make this work. I'd seen a Pinterest hack for it before. I wore leggings first, taking one problem out of the way. I bunched up the extra fabric and put a large knot in the middle, tucking the rest of the shirt in. This could function as a good outfit, I guessed. I grabbed a black jacket, and rushed out again, leaving River yelling after me, "Have you even brushed your teeth?"

Of course I had. Noah had kept a spare one in his bathroom for me, 'just in case' and I had smothered him in kisses when I had seen it. How he thought of everything was simply astounding. 

Sophie was waiting outside class for me when I nearly skidded to a stop in front of her. She laughed seeing my frazzled state, pushing my hair behind my ears, "How on earth did you manage to be this late?"

I shook my head, still catching my breath, "Tell you later."

We sat through two hours of gruelling lessons on the ecological balance of ocean life. I had scribbled and scribbled and scribbled notes all over the sheets till my fingers were shaking like an old Nokia phone. Sophie was texting Alex under the desk, and judging by the frustration on her face and the length of her texts, they were definitely arguing about something again.

"He's mad I was talking to Lucas yesterday," she explained as we were packing things up.

"But you're single, right?"

She nodded, "I don't know it's like if he can't move on from me, he won't let me move on either."

"That's not fair," I grumbled, worrying about how things would transpire further. They were probably one sentence away from saying really mean and hurtful things to each other, and a lot of times things you say can't be taken back at all. Eleanor had surprisingly not shown up for her classes, so Sophie and I hung out with Daniel for a bit before even he made his escape to meet Finn again.

"Do you want to go get some ice cream?" Sophie was stretching her neck side to side as we headed to the parking lot.

"I was in such a hurry, I didn't even have breakfast. You want to come home with me?" Sophie agreed very willingly. Maybe she just didn't want to be alone after Alex ruined her mood.

I dropped her off at her car, promising to come home as soon as possible on my bike. By the time she picked up the bread and the honey from the corner store, I would reach home. If I cycled at three times my regular pace. Yeah, there was no way I would be doing that, so nevermind.

I pulled out the lock off my cycle, putting my phone back in my bag. It had fallen out of my pocket more than once, and I couldn't curse the small jeans' pockets enough. Sophie was already parked on the opposite side of the street. I hoped Nathan or River were there at home to at least let her in.

The house was eerily silent as I turned the lock in, calling out to my roommates, "Nathan?"

No response, "River?"

"Sophie, are you here?"

"In here," I heard her voice from my room so I headed there, relieved that Nathan or River had stuck around long enough.

"You won't believe the nerve of some of these people on the streets-" I started, dumping my bag by the door and taking off my jacket when my eyes landed on the two people sitting on my bed, an accusation in their eyes.

Oh no.

My mind went back to this morning when I dumped all the things from my bag on the bed, having no time to clean up after myself. Noah's dark black and red jersey was an eyesore, sitting on my bed in Eleanor's lap, whose face had betrayal written all over it.

I'd taken it as a memento of sorts. It was a joke. Like I was promoted from being the girl who could wear his jersey to the girl who could wear his tee shirt. Like an employee who got a promotion, I was keeping the jersey like a keepsake. Ugh, the sentimentality of it would make anyone barf, but it was a cute moment, and I would curse myself for the rest of my life for wanting to regret it.

"Did you sleep with Noah?" Sophie asked me, holding Eleanor's shoulders in support.

"No," I was quick to answer, "I haven't slept with him."

"They why the fuck do you have his jersey?" Eleanor screamed through tears.

Okay, all that lying wasn't going to do me any good. If I had any chance to come clean, this would be it. There was a lump in my throat that refused to go away, but I had to tell her.

"Remember when we went to his party? And you guys left with my phone?"

"The Harley Quinn outfit? Yeah." Sophie nodded, some form of understanding lighting up her face, "So you stayed the night at his place?"

I nodded.

"So you didn't sleep with him?" Eleanor was wiping her tears, and it killed me to burst her bubble.

"I did not sleep with him, but..."

Fuck.

"But?"

"But there's something going on between me and Noah." Fuck that didn't sound decent enough. Clearing my throat, I tried again, "Noah's my boyfriend."

"What!" Sophie scrunched her face in confusion, trying to connect the dots. Eleanor had no patience, "Tell me everything."

"There isn't all that much," I tried to reach out and hold her hand, but she backed away from me. My heart pinched to watch her cry like this. I was the world's most horrible friend. My stomach was in knots, but the truth had to spill out before I lost my mind, "We only decided about it last night."

"So what- you sat next to him for pizza and now you're dating?"

"No, I mean, things just started happening one after the other and I didn't know how to stop it. And it was never a good time to tell you because I was so unsure myself of what was going on..." My face was flushed and I knew the waterworks were coming soon.

"Remember when you had convinced me that Noah was a dickhead, and he was manipulative, an asshole who only viewed women as sex objects? You told me he was only trying to undermine me and parade me as his trophy," Eleanor sobbed.

Finding no words, I nodded. We had been at the cafe near campus, when I told her about poor Amelia, also sporting the same jersey Eleanor had been wearing, a gift from her boyfriend, she had said. I observed for the next two days. Leslie from Zoology also came to campus in her jersey one day and I saw another girl from the History division also sporting the same shirt. Who even owned that many jerseys? I had told Sophie first, who helped me break the news to Eleanor.

The devastation on her face had made me incredibly upset, and I may have encouraged her to not take shit from anyone. I hadn't known she was going to charge at him on the football grounds the next day.

"Were you with him then?" She sobbed.

I shook my head, "It was after the thing in the football field."

"Damn, I didn't know Noah had a fetish like that," Sophie muttered, making our heads turn towards her in surprise.

"You know, the more you insult them, the more they want you? I don't know what it's called."

"It's nothing like that," I shook my head. Noah did not take kindly to my insults. Noah and I just... fell together. He was persistent, but never pushing. He pulled me impossibly closer to him, but he gave me space. He was kind, gentle and caring. He was a little rough around the edges, but his heart was of gold.

"We just kind of fell together," I bit my lip, not having much to say.

"I don't understand..." Eleanor sniffled, "Why you?"

"I'm telling you he has a humiliation kink," Sophie concluded, not reading the room at all. I glared at her, and she shrugged, zipping her mouth.

Because I saw Noah as more than just a dick.

"Tell me?" Eleanor questioned again when I remained silent, "What is it?"

"I don't know, El! How can I tell?"

"You went after him, even when you knew how much I love him!" Her accusation was dripping with venom and I was seeing red finally. There was only so much that I could take, and the idea that she loved him was preposterous.

"Okay, I don't want to be the devil's advocate here, but I don't think you really love him," Sophie was comforting Eleanor by rubbing her back, but Eleanor was not having any of it.

She said very mean and hurtful things to both of us before grabbing her things. I couldn't even begin to think about most of it, because Eleanor had always been so damn nice to me. And I'd majorly let her down. The guilt was eating me, but I was not able to do anything about it.

On her way out, she sniffled, before haughty raising her chin up to me, "I hope he was worth it, ungrateful slut."

***

Idk what anyone says I am pissed at Eleanor. Is there any redemption for her?

But also, could Brianna have done anything differently?

Theories and questions everywhere! 

Please don't forget to vote and comment, Next update is coming on Monday :)