Home Run Kiss

Sixteen

The bell above the door jingled slightly as I shut the door behind us. I could see Maddie and Abuela sitting in the living room, which was a bad thing. I had to cross the living room to get to my room, and I really didn't want to do that. 

"Where are we going?" Noah said loud enough for Maddie to hear. I saw her head whip to the side, landing on the two of us. A mischievous smile appeared on her face. 

"My room will be fine." I took him by the hand and brought him into the living room. Maddie kept her gaze on us, so Noah awkwardly waved to her. Abuela was looking out the window so she didn't see the two of us. "Madeleva, if you need any help, come get me."

"Alright," she said, her voice light and airy. "I don't think I'll need much help, so I'll leave you two alone." She winked, and I made a noise. "Just so you know, Mom is coming home soon, so I would advise you not to get caught with a boy in your room. She's already in a bad mood because of me."

She grinned at me, but I turned away from her. She was up to her annoying habits yet again, and I was not in the right mood to listen to her. 

Pulling Noah forward, I dragged him to my room. When we both were inside, I shut the door, sighing. I flipped on the lights since my blinds were shut. "Sorry about her," I said, watching as he looked around my room. "She loves to make fun of me."

Noah walked over to my bed and sat down, looking up at me with a weird facial expression. I stayed where I was at, and then crossed my arms over my chest. "She's fine," he said, shaking his head. "My siblings love to tease me too."

"Oh, you have siblings?"

"Yeah." A smile worked its way onto his face, leaning back on my bed. "I have four siblings. I'm the oldest, so it's been fun watching them grow up."

"Wow," I said, laughing. "I couldn't have more than one sibling. I think I'd get too annoyed with them, though I already get annoyed with Maddie."

"They are annoying sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for the world." 

He stared at me for a minute longer before looking over at my messy desk. I wished I had time to clean it up, but I didn't know he was coming home with me, so I obviously didn't. I realized that I left my backpack in the car, but I didn't care then. I wanted to make sure that Noah was alright. I knew that he was still thinking about what Taylor had said, and maybe he would want to talk about it. 

"So," I said, making Noah look over at me, "how are you doing?"

"Fine, how are you?"

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "How are you really doing?"

His jaw clenched for a second, and I knew I hit a nerve. "I'll only answer your question if you answer my question."

"I could be better," I said truthfully. He nodded once. "Taylor upset me pretty bad today, but I know not to take his words to heart."

Noah's facial expression suddenly melted away, leaving a sad one in its place. He didn't look like the boy I knew; he was usually all smiles and jokes, not frowns and sad ramblings. I wanted to take him into my arms and hold him, but I didn't do that. Instead, I stood where I was and listened to him speak.

"For four years, I've handled Taylor, or tried to handle him. Our freshman year, Dad was appointed the coach of the baseball team, so I joined it to spend more time with him. Taylor thought that Dad helped get me on the team, but he didn't. I tried out and actually made it." Noah shook his head, his eyes flashing. "His jokes started out okay. I could take them. But then they escalated to where I started getting affected by them, but I never did anything about it because I thought I could take it. Anyway, Xian and Granger were my friends, and they didn't go along with the jokes, so I thought I was alright."

I moved slightly closer and noticed that his eyes were full of tears. Rushing over to him, I sat down next to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He leaned against me, his head in the crook of my neck. "You don't have to hold it in anymore," I whispered to him. "Let it out and try to let it go."

"How can I let it go, Lola? How can I ever forget the words he said to me?"

The cry in his voice struck me. "I didn't say to forget what he said. Just like Aang said in Avatar: The Last Airbender, it's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive. I'm going to add something to that, though. It's easy to do nothing, it's hard to forgive, and it's even harder to keep in mind what they said to you." I squeezed his shoulders tight. "My grandparents taught me that you forgive a person for their actions, but don't forget them. You know what they are capable of doing to you, so keep that in mind. But you can still forgive them."

"Your grandparents are pretty smart," he commented, lifting his head off of my shoulder. There were a couple of tar streaks on his face, so I took my arms away from his shoulders and wiped the tears away. "You're pretty smart, Lola."

"Thanks," I said, smiling slightly. "I learned a lot from them." For some reason, my heart was thudding against my rib cage. I kept my hands on his cheeks, realization hitting me. Sophie knew this, she knew that I liked Noah before I even knew myself. I wasn't sure when I started liking him, but I did. "How are you feeling now?" I asked awkwardly. 

"I'm a little better," he whispered, his eyes flicking down for a second. "I still need to work things out, but for right now, I'm okay." He hesitantly grabbed one of my hands with his, saying, "Lola, I like you. I've liked you ever since you joined the team as the manager. You're so smart, pretty, kind . . . I've never liked a girl like you before."

I swore that Noah could hear my heart racing in my chest. Before I could even think, I leaned forward, gently kissing him. I could tell that he was surprised, but he quickly kissed me back. These past couple of weeks had been hard and trying, but Noah was one of the only best things from them. He was a great friend, and now, maybe something more. 

Everything around us fell away. I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't hear the door open. The only thing that brought me back to the present was someone speaking. "Mom's home, lover boy and lover girl," Maddie said, and I jumped away from Noah. "She would be so happy that you found someone, Lola, but not like this."

I covered my face with my hands as she shut the door. I was so embarrassed that she walked in on our special moment. 

"Lola, what do I do?" Noah asked, taking my hands away from my face. His eyes were wide and panicked. "How do I leave with your mom seeing me?"

The only thing that I could think of my my window. "You have to leave through my window," I said, getting up from my bed. I hurried over there and pried the window open. "I don't have a screen, so you're able to climb out."

I watched as he clambered through the window, landing near some bushes that went around the house. He started walking away but looked back at me, a pretty smile on his face. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" 

"Okay." 

I was afraid to talk to him later, though. Things were different between us, and that was what scared me. I wasn't used to being that close to a boy, but what harm could it do? I liked him back, and he was such a nice guy. I wanted to help him through his sadness, and I wanted to be there for him after that. Noah was right; I had never felt like this before either, and it thrilled and terrified me.