60 days of learning love ✔️

Part 22

Olivia POV

I couldn't really sleep last night, I kept waking up and going back to sleep. The first time I woke up was around 3 am, but I immediately fell asleep afterwards. Like, who gets up at 3 am?? And then I woke up again at 4 am, feeling slightly annoyed, but I managed to fall back to sleep. But when I woke up again at 5:30 am, I realised that Noah was nowhere to be seen.

I didn't think anything of it at first, my first thought was that I'd only woken up because he had left the room to go to the toilet, and woken me up during the process. But after staying awake for a few more minutes, I found that that wasn't the case.

My second thought was that he'd left and gone home to get ready for school, so I checked my phone for a message. When I realised that there wasn't a text, I searched my room with my eyes, and they landed on a piece of paper by my door. I wasn't going to look at it at first, telling myself that I'd look at it when my alarm went off, but something didn't feel right. After how Noah was yesterday, I felt like I had to see what was on that note.

And that brings us to now.

I'm currently debating on getting out of bed and walking over to the note, and there are so many pros and cons. (there isn't actually that many)

Pros: I get to see if Noah is okay, I can ease my worried mind, I'll know where he is.

Cons: bed = warm, warm = comfort, comfort = sleep, sleep = peace.

And although the cons of getting out of bed were so tempting, I needed to know if Noah was okay. So I took one foot away from the warm covers, and I instantly regretted it, the air in my room was freezing. But because I'm such a trooper, I continued peeling myself away from the warmth of my bed. I was moving at horror film pace, but that was okay.

When I finally lifted my head off the pillow, I was ready. And I was already walking towards the random note, picking it up in my cold hands.

"I'm sorry"

Was all it read, and I didn't know what Noah was apologising for. Was it for leaving? But where did he go?

I immediately walked back to my phone and dialled his number, if he didn't answer than I had a reason to be worried. Noah always answers a call. And when the phone went dead, even more thoughts started filling my head, thoughts I didn't even want to think about.

What if Noah was saying sorry because he's leaving... For good?

Noah wouldn't do that to me, right?

I knew he was sad and hurt yesterday, but was he so sad that he felt the need to...end his sadness. No. I refuse to belive that.

I let out a shakey, worried, breath before calling again. It went to voicemail. I called again, and it went to voicemail again. In fact, I called a total of 6 times, not once did he answer. So I called Mia instead, I don't know why. I guess I just needed someone to tell me he's okay. And Mia is the only other phone number I had.

So I called. And she picked up.

"Olivia? What's going on? You okay?" Mia's concerned voice filled the line and brought a smile to my face.

"Hey Miller, Noah isn't here and he left me a note saying nothing but 'I'm sorry' and now I can't help but think the worst has happened to him. Have you seen him at all in the last couple of hours?" I asked her, desperate.

"Sorry Liv, I haven't seen him. Do you want me to pick you up and we can search for him together?" Mia asked.

I thought about it for a short while before agreeing, and then she told me she'll be around mine in 10 minutes. That's plenty of time to get dressed and ready for school.

~~~

Mia beeped her car horn, letting me know she was here. I'd practically ran out of my house and towards her car, jumping into the passenger seat.

"Do you have any idea where he could be?"

I nodded my head and gave her directions to Noah's house. And she started driving immediately.

"He's gonna be okay, Liv." Mia said, trying to comfort me.

I knew that he probably was okay, but that didn't stop me from wanting to call the police and file a missing persons report. He was my best friend. And I was worried sick.

"But what if he's not okay?" I asked, I could hear the sadness in my own voice and it surprised me, I couldn't remeber the last time I'd sounded this...numb.

Mia placed her free hand on top of my shaking ones, and it felt nice. My cold hands soon heating up. I expected her to pull her hand away immediately, but she didn't. She just kept driving, one hand on the steering wheel and the other placed on top of mine. I felt a tight feeling in my chest and stomach, but I still had a hint of a smile on my face, loving the comfort she gave me. And she stayed like that until we pulled up outside Noah's house.

I stepped out of the car as soon as she parked, and I ran over to his front door, and knocked loudly, but not too loud.

A few seconds later, a middle aged woman opened the door, and she looked a lot like Noah, leading me to belive that this was either his mother or his sister. She was gorgeous, and she looked like a model.

"Hello, how can I help?" the woman asked.

I took a nervous breath before speaking, I was feeling a little intimidated by her.

"um, good morning. I just wanted to know if Noah was here. He stayed at my house last night and when I woke up this morning, he was gone" I tried not to worry her too much, but even as I told her he was missing, her facial expression never changed. Leaving me to believe that he is here, and he is okay.

"Sorry, dear. But I haven't seen Noah in a while, and I don't think he's here. I'm sure he'll turn up. He always does" the woman said, before shutting the door in my face. And her facial expression still hadn't changed.

"Does she not care about her son?" Mia asked, making me jump since I'd forgotten she was beside me.

"I don't know. I hope she does care, and I hope she was only nonchalant about it because she knows where Noah is" I tired to convince myself.

"I think she was being honest Olivia, I don't think he's here" Mia gave me a smile, but I couldn't return it. Instead I made my way back into the passenger seat of her car.

~~~

We drove around the town for a while, and it was now 7. It was an half an hour before school starts, and I was still with Mia, searching for Noah.

We even went to the school to see if he'd came in early, but he hadn't.

It seemed hopeless and my mind was going to the darkest places. But Mia kept placing her hand on mine, and it made butterflies erupt in my stomach, and I didn't like it. But I did, it was nice being comforted, it was just the butterflies I hated.

Our final stop of the morning was Rox, and I really needed a coffee.

When we entered the building, the first thing I noticed was the tired eyes Tyler had. He obviously hadn't slept last night.

"Hey Tyler, can I have a coffee?" I asked. Tyler just gave me a small nod.

"Do you know where Noah is?" Mia said suddenly. I wondered why she had asked that, but then I realised that asking him was probably a good idea. Noah and Tyler seemed close, really close. And if there was anyone else in this town that might know where Noah was, it would have been Tyler.

"um, yeah. He's sleeping upstairs in the staff room. He had a rough night last night, and I found him at th- on the side of the road. He probably shouldn't go to school today, Olivia. He's really not in the best place right now" Tyler said.

I was surprised to know that Noah was here, but I was also relieved that he was safe, and the search was over. I didn't know why he was here, but I did trust Tyler to take care of him. So I gave Tyler a nod and headed back to Mia's car with a cup of coffee in hand, Mia joining me soon after. And then we made our way to school.

Mia's hand yet again on top of mine.