reputation | a doah story

Don't Blame Me

"For you I would cross the line, I would waste my time, I would lose my mind. They say she's gone too far this time" - 'Don't Blame Me' by Taylor Swift

Dixie drove down the Pacific Coast highway with her Tesla window down, her dark hair blowing in the wind as she enjoyed the hot late July sun. Noah silently admired her natural beauty from the passenger seat. They'd become close friends over the past few weeks, hanging out with their mutual friend group almost every free night they had. Noah had been dismissing the sharp feelings he got for her beneath his rock-hard stomach as just an innocent crush and not a burning obsession he was hiding.

Dixie was just so beautiful and so effortlessly cool it was impossible not to fall for her a little bit, right? He tried in vain to reassure himself. Deep down he knew that this wasn't like the little crush he had on Addison from behind a screen this winter. Dixie wasn't a fantasy, she was sitting right next to him smelling like daisies and lightheartedly criticizing his music choices as car DJ.

Her car's monitor suddenly lit up with an incoming call from Griffin. Noah stiffened at the sight of his name. He and Griffin were cool on the surface, but he sensed some tension between him and Dixie whenever his name came up.

He didn't seem to get mad at her for hanging out with any of her other guy friends, it made Noah uncomfortable that he got singled out. His burning crush on Dixie sometimes felt like a drug, but he'd never consider making a move on anyone's girlfriend, let alone his friend's.

Noah noticed Dixie had the same visceral reaction to Griffin's name interrupting their peaceful ride. She hesitantly answered it as she rolled up her window to kill the background noise. "Hey Griff, you're on speaker so don't say anything stupid." she chirped. "Hey babe, what's up?" he replied back. "Just driving to Malibu now with Nick, Ryland, Bryant and Noah. Bryant is doing the beach photoshoot I told you about the other day" she said trying to jog his memory.

She bit her lip waiting for his response. Griffin had never explicitly told her she wasn't allowed to hang out with Noah, but that didn't stop him from implying it. She knew he was jealous, she just wasn't sure of what. It's not like he ever wanted to hang out with her instead. She fidgeted in her seat trying to not think of the silly disagreements they had gotten into recently.

Griffin's pause made the whole car uncomfortable. No one had said anything to Dixie, but Griffin's jealousy grew like poison ivy over Noah and it hadn't gone unnoticed. His unexpected appearances at the Hype House when he would find out Dixie was there with Noah weren't going over anyone's head.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I was just calling to see if you wanted to come to a party with Carson and me at my manager's tonight. I want to see you before you leave for Connecticut tomorrow." He responded. Dixie didn't realize she hadn't released her breath since she had stopped speaking to him.

She let out the contents of her lungs in one deep sweep relieved that this wasn't turning into a fight. "Yeah that sounds like fun!" she replied, excited that he was actually inviting her out for once even if it was with his college friend. He even surprised her by remembering she was leaving for her high school graduation. "Ok, see you later." he replied. "Love yo- ." she tried to respond before he hung up on her. An awkward silence flushed over the Tesla as everyone took in the exchange.

Nick quickly changed the subject which Dixie was grateful for. She only half listened to the boys joking behind her, rolling down her window again and allowing herself to get lost in her thoughts. Noah wasn't paying attention to the conversation either, he was too busy studying Dixie, trying to read her mind behind another awkward Griffin exchange. The two could talk to each other in comfort about absolutely anything since the first night they met with the glaring exception of Griffin.