On Our Way

Prologue

Prologue

The world around Noah blurred into streaks of colour as he ran. It was his last lap of Knighthood forest before he went home to his Mum and twin younger brothers. Noah hadn't seen his Dad in well over 5 years. The last time he saw him, Noah was 12 and it was after his minor league football game. His Mum had taken him because his Dad had insisted that he couldn't miss out on the very urgent 'business meeting' he had that evening. Turns out that his Dad's 'business meeting' was some woman that he'd been seeing for 3 months behind his Mum's back.  Noah remembered how his Mum had been hysterical; floods of tears had run down her cheeks. She'd screamed several profanities at him and the woman; whose name we later found out was Barbara, before storming up the stairs and shoving all his Dad's clothes into a black bin bag. His mum kicked his Dad out of their small 3 bedroom cottage and he hasn't seen him since. He was glad. His mum deserved better.  

                Noah's lungs felt like they were going to burst out of his chest as he finally slowed his pace down to a slow jog and finally came to a stop beside a big oak tree. He gulped in huge breaths of air and collapsed against the tree in exhaustion. He could feel the rough bark through his thin t-shirt as he slid down until he was sitting with his back propped up against the tree. Once his heartbeat had calmed to its normal steady beat he slowly stood and began to walk back towards his house, number 3 Fairview road.

                Noah pulled out his spare key and went to unlock his front door only to find it open. It was supposed to only be him home today as Josh and Mark were at their rugby game and his Mum was at work. He slowly opened the door and reached for the baseball bat that he knew was kept behind the door.  He crept into the hall, wincing as he stepped on a creaky floorboard. He froze and listened. No sounds. He made his way into the sitting room, baseball bat raised. He stopped dead at what he saw. The baseball bat hit the floor with a clash. His Mum and the mystery man looked to see him standing in the doorway. His nose scrunched up in disgust. He looked to the man that was desperately trying to cover himself up. "Get dressed and get out of my house" Noah growled throwing him his trousers that were lying on the back of the sofa. Noah stormed into the kitchen and got a glass of water that he sat down at down at the island.

                Ever since his Mum had caught his Dad cheating she'd turned to alcohol, drugs and men to numb the pain of his Dad's philandering. Noah tried so hard to get his Mum to clean up her act and to be there for them, Josh and Mark especially as they were still only 10. They didn't need to see her like that but his Mum wouldn't listen. Sometimes she'd start a job and he'd hope that would be it, she'd finally going to stop with the alcohol, drugs, stop with everything but then she'd get drawn back to them like a magnet to a lump of steel and she'd be back to square one. Noah had turned 18 last month and was saving up for apartment so that he could take Josh and Mark with him and try to give them a stable home for once in their lives. He was nearly there, two more weeks of working and he'd have enough for the down payment for the apartment he had in mind.

                 He heard the front door slam and the padding of bare feet walking down the hall. His Mum entered the kitchen quietly. His Mum was quite pretty for a 40 year old woman. Her blonde hair and brown eyes gave her a look of warmth and comfort. If only that was the case. His brothers looked just like her; they had the blonde hair and brown eyes of their Mum while Noah had the Chestnut brown hair and sea blue eyes of his Dad. He looked just like his Dad; maybe that was why his Mum resented him so much, he was a daily reminder of the man who had broke her heart.

Noah turned and glared at his mum. "Who was that then, your new boyfriend, your bartender, drug dealer? Please, enlighten me because I don't know how much longer I can put up with this Mum!" His voice rose as he went on.

"He's just a friend!!! I swear!!!" his mum exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Yeah, sure 'cause making out naked is totally what you do with all your friends, right?" Noah said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "What if it'd been mark and Josh who'd come in early from their rugby match, huh? I bet it would've gone further if I hadn't come in!!!"

                The silence was deafening in the kitchen. His mum stood with a shocked look on her face but said nothing. Noah felt a wave of satisfaction flow over him at the look on his Mum's face. He glanced up at the clock 5:45, he was going to be late to pick up Josh and Mark! He cursed under his breath and snatched up the car keys that were lying on the table.

"Wait, Noah!" Noah ignored his mum and walked down the hall.

"NOAH, PLEASE!!!" his mum cried out in desperation. Noah ignored her cries and slammed the front door behind him and made his way over to his black 1999 Honda Civic. He'd got it second hand for his 17th birthday present from his uncle Darrell.

When Noah arrived at the local community centre; where Josh and Mark's rugby club trained, he spotted the twins sitting with their backs against the wall. He glanced at the clock above his radio, 6:10. "Damn" he muttered under his breath, no wonder there were no other cars. He pulled over to the footpath and rolled down the window called out "Sorry I'm late!"

"S'okay Noah" Josh said and Mark nodded in agreement.

"Well, come on, get in!" Noah laughed. He really did love his brothers; they could cheer him up no matter how bad of a mood he's in. His moods have steadily been getting worse because of their mother. He could be in a really good mood after getting off the bus from school, but as soon as he stepped inside the door his mother would be waiting, the house an absolute mess; beer bottles laying everywhere and the odd stub of a cigarette. It'd be up to him to get his brothers something to eat and get their homework done, if he didn't they'd be going to bed hungry and getting in trouble in school. 

"So, how was rugby?" Noah asked, attempting to sound happy.

"It was great! We have a game next Friday! We both get to play!" Mark exclaimed, his grin was enough to lift the weight off of Noah's shoulders. Noah remembered how the last time their club had a match Mark thought he was playing but when they got there it turned out he was just a sub. Even though Mark tried to hide it Noah could tell that he was really disappointed, especially when Josh got to play and he didn't.

"That's great Mark! I'm proud of you, bud" Noah said, smiling. He glanced in the mirror and saw that the grin on Mark's face hadn't left, but grew even wider.

Hi, I know this chapter is a little boring and short but I wanted you to get to know Noah and a little bit about his life. It'll pick up in the next chapter!!

p.s please tell me if there's any typos or mistakes

p.p.s comment and vote! Don't be a shy little reader, SPEAK UP!! :)

-C  xxx