Since When?

Chapter 5

Hallie Miller

Noah? Why is he texting me so late? How did he get my number?

Why is he suddenly agreeing?

Me: Carter? You want to fake date?

Noah: Yes. I changed my mind.

I looked over at Robin who was still sleeping. Should I tell her?

I stared at my screen. What if he's drunk?

Me: What changed your mind?

Noah Carter: Don't worry about it.

What? I'm so confused but I'm not going to question it because he finally agreed.

I hear Robin shuffle around and turn to look at her. I decided not to tell her because I think it's safe if nobody knows, not even my best friend. Especially not our families. We will just have to convince them that we had a change in our relationship and realized our undying love for each other. We can pull that off.

Me: Meet me at the café on the square tomorrow @noon, we need to discuss plans.

He left me on read. I hope he shows up because we can't just jump right into this without a plan or a schedule of some sort.

I lay my head back down and think about how we are going to go about this. We only have one class together this semester so the only way for us really to be seen is if I become more social. Great.

This is the reason Ben broke up with me, right?

—

I arrived at my house after waking up at Robin's. I ended up falling asleep soon after my "conversation" with Noah ended.

I headed upstairs to take a shower and change because I hadn't bathed since the bonfire party last night and I still smelled like smoke.

"Hey, honey!" My mom yelled as I was going up the stairs

"Hey, mom. Just going upstairs to take a quick shower, then I'm headed out again," I said, feeling sort of in a rush. It was already 10:30 a.m. and I'm hungry.

"Okay, well I made breakfast down here when you're ready to eat, just pop it in the microwave!"

I got out of the shower and put on athletic shorts and my University of Tampa sweatshirt on. Then, I went downstairs to grab some bacon and just ate it without heating it up. After taking a shower and getting ready, it was now 11:35 a.m. and I decided to get there a little early. This could be a bad idea considering he may or may not show.

I walked in the café and found a seat in the corner. I sat there and pulled out my laptop to do some of my online work. That way, if he didn't show up, I wouldn't look like I was expecting someone.

After twenty minutes or so, it was twelve O-clock. I kept looking up at the door every time it opened, but it was never him. Are there multiple cafés on the square? Calm down, not everyone wants to be early like you.

I pulled my hair back into a claw clip out of frustration and kept working. After a little while I checked my watch. 12:25 p.m. He isn't going to show.

I started packing my stuff up when the bell to the door rang. I decided not to look up because I knew it wouldn't be Noah. I started to scoot out of the booth when someone slid in. I looked up and- no way.

"I thought you weren't gonna show," I said, peering down quickly to see what Noah was wearing. Sweatpants and a Buccaneers crew neck.

"Yeah, well," was all he said.

"Okay... well I was thinking and figured we need some sort of game plan-"

"This isn't a football game, we aren't celebrities, and this isn't a business transaction. We're just faking a relationship, stop making it more difficult than it needs to be," he said, leaning back into the booth and crossing his arms.

Wow. "I wasn't trying to make it more difficult. I was actually trying to make it easier for us," I said, offended. I wrote notes and everything and now all my hard work is undermined.

He rolled his eyes after he spotted the color-coded notebook page I was attempting to discreetly slide away. "What does it say."

"Nothing, never mind. You're right," I said, picking up the paper, until he took it out of my hand. I immediately reached for it but he turned slightly away from me, just out of my reach. "Carter, seriously. It's nothing," I said after giving up on trying to take it.

"You don't want to tell anyone?" He asked while still reading.

"Yeah, I just thought it was best if, you know, no one knows. No loose ends."

He looked at me for a second, "No, yeah I agree. You want to sit next to each other in biology? I suck at science, I'll make you fail," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

I cringed at the word "fail."

"No, you won't. Consider that another benefit for you," I said, "but, that's our only class together so I think we should."

"Okay. I only have one question," he said as he slid the paper back to me, I folded it and tucked it away. "How are you going to go to these parties? Haven't you only been to like one?"

I rolled my eyes, "I've been to more than one," I scoffed.

"Two?"

"Whatever, I just think that that would be most effective. I mean, parties are probably the only time you see Meredith, right? And Ben goes to just about all of them. That's the moneymaker move.

He made a judgmental face at that last phrase. "Okay. Fine. Are we done?" He sighed.

"No, let's review," he rolled his eyes at me again, "We sit sit next to each other in bio, we try to go to most parties, and we don't tell anyone. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he said before starting to leave.

"Wait- there's, um, another thing," I started as he looked at me annoyed, "I don't want to, like, kiss or anything... unless it's really important."

He just stared at me and then started laughing, "Believe me, Miller, I doubt there will ever come a situation where we need to do that. Plus, you aren't my type, but thanks for considering," he smirked and then continued leaving.

What a jerk. I wasn't even thinking about it that way!

Not his type?

I'm starting to question whether this is a good idea or not anymore.

—

Author's Note:
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