Noelle balled her hands into fists at her sides. “The son of Abigail and Thomas Miller… You’ve got a bright future ahead of you, Kelly, just like your parents.” “I thought you looked familiar,” one woman in a pant suit was saying. As she walked by, she listened in on their conversation.
The well-dressed people were likely either college scouts or the board in charge of giving out scholarships, Noelle decided with a scowl on her face. Hartfeld stood with them, looking at Miller like a proud parent. Their team won – barely – but rather than feel the pride of victory, all Noelle was aware of was the sting of rage and even betrayal, made only worse when she found Miller speaking with a group of well-dressed individuals outside of the auditorium. Particularly next to Miller, who was carrying the team single-handedly. She answered a few questions, particularly near the end when she had finally managed to get her head on straight, but still, she looked like an even bigger idiot than Gavin. Unfortunately, the kiss was a combination of all of these things, which meant that it was bothering her, which meant she kept thinking about it, which meant it was difficult to focus on, well, anything else.
She hated surprises and things she couldn’t prepare for and, most of all, she hated Kelly Miller and how he knew just how to get in her head. Noelle hated when things didn’t make sense. There was no time to worry about why she had responded to Miller’s touch in such a way, for it was time for the games to begin. The sound filled her ears and, again, she forced herself to focus. “No! Can we just get out of here and win this thing?” If the pounding of her heart had, for a moment, paused, it was back again at the reminder of the kiss. She turned her face away before Elodie could see. “I said, I’m fine,” Noelle repeated, this time careful to keep her tone soft. You can’t let the boys have all the glory, you’re our girl power!” “Look, I have no idea what’s up with you but you gotta get it together. “Sure, okay.” Elodie didn’t sound convinced at all and Noelle wondered if she had spoken a bit too forcefully. She was awoken from her thoughts by Elodie snapping her fingers in Noelle’s face.
End of story.īecause that kiss hadn’t felt platonic at all. She dug her nails into the palms of her hands. But every thought that reminded her to focus was one more that wasn’t focused at all. Focus! the first logical thought to cross her mind said. She still had a moment or so to sort out her thoughts and focus on winning.īut he kissed me. She knew his pre-game speech by heart now anyways, so she wasn’t too worried yet. Hartfeld was talking but Noelle couldn’t hear a word he said over the pounding in her own head. The team had since been rejoined by Miller, who was cool as a fucking cucumber, and they had all migrated from the library to the auditorium where the entire event was to be held. She felt as though she was being betrayed by her own body. Her face had flushed with anger, but her heart was pounding in her ears and her lips were tingling as though they had been given a jolt of electricity. Noelle’s thoughts were racing, spinning around and around in her head until she was dizzy, yet still she was no closer to answering her unspoken questions. Also the writer of this recommends that you listen to this song during the bonfire scene. Warning: Contains some strong language, some very text-heavy sections (particularly near the end), and mentions of underage drinking.