The Wallflower of Parkview High

Chapter Thirty Eight

"Noah, can you stop doing that?"

I glanced up from where I was fiddling with the frayed ends of one of the couch cushions and turned to give Dad a sheepish look.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous..." I murmured, setting the cushion aside and proceeding to look down at the light wooden floor. As I did, my eyes wandered to the socks that I was wearing - brown fluffy ones with teddy bear faces on them. I knew that they were a little childish (seriously, what 15 ½ year old boy would wear fluffy teddy bear socks so casually) but what mattered was that they were comfortable and I liked them enough to wear them in front of Zander without worrying to much if he would tease me or not. They also complimented the floor, which was an added plus.

Oh and speaking of Zander...

"Are you sure that this friend of yours is coming today?" Dad asked, squinting in the direction of the front door as if it was at fault for Zander being late. I just shrugged and nervously averted my eyes from him.

"I texted him and he said that he would come over here by 10 o'clock. Maybe he's just late or something." I said.

"Well it's already 10:15 and I wouldn't want to have made all that food only for him to not show up." Dad huffed and I groaned.

"Dad, I'm sure he'll-"

My sentence was cut off, however, by the doorbell ringing. I couldn't help but yelp in surprise and stand up quickly

"Do I look okay?" I asked, turning to look at Dad and Charlotte.

"You look fine." Dad answered, looking over my outfit.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I knew I had tried my best to find something in my closet to wear that was nice looking but still comfortable for me. I didn't know if a maroon shirt, black pants and teddy bear socks were good enough for him though.

"You look fine, Noah. It's not like you're going to prom or anything." Charlotte said, half looking at me and half looking at the TV screen where she was busy flipping through some shows on Netflix.

Easy for her to say since she isn't the one who's friend/crush is coming over to meet her family. I thought to myself as I patted down my hair and made my way towards the door.

"Hey, Noah, I think you have a spider in your hair." Charlotte called just as I was about to put my hand on the doorknob. As soon as those words escaped her mouth, I froze, processing what she had just said. I then screeched and turned around to look at her.

"W-Where is it?" I gasped, ignoring Charlotte's laughs and desperately trying to stay calm about the fact that I had almost opened the door to see Zander with a spider in my hair.

"I was joking."

"What?!" I spluttered.

"I said I was joking. You don't have a spider in your hair." Charlotte said, trying to hold back more of her laughter. I bit my lip and turned to look at Dad.

"Are you sure I don't have a spider in my hair?" I asked.

"I can guarantee that you don't have a spider in your hair, Noah." Dad said and I gave him a small smile, patted down my hair one last time, took a deep breath and opened the door.

As soon as I opened the door, I almost had a heart attack. Standing there on the porch of my house - yes, my own house - was Zander, looking as beautiful as ever, wearing a black long sleeve sweater (that was quite similar to my own sweaters except that it wasn't pastel), a black parka and some jeans, which made me think that I was a little overdressed. I noticed he has a rather confused look on his face.