LOVE LEAH

C H A P T E R 2| S U M M E R - N I G H T S

"Leah?" My mom's voice reverberated from the bottom of our staircase. "Noah is here."

"Okay, I'm coming," I said as I brushed off the summer dress I had been wearing all day.

As I got closer to the base of the staircase, my mother whispered in my ear. "I'd hurry before your father burns a hole through him."

"Ugh," I sighed at how common my father's interrogations had become. The thing was, my father had this way of interrogating silently. It was more like a scrutinizing glare, and I could only imagine how Noah was handling it. "Okay, I'm ready." I enter the living room with the intent of quickly getting Noah out of there.

Noah anxiously pulled himself out of our sofa at the sound of my voice.

He paused, and his eyes beamed on me like a shaft of light when he finally saw me.

"Wow, you look beautiful," He said as he stared at me like I was the only woman he'd ever seen.

"Oh, I've been wearing this all day," I say as silence filled the intimidating, small gap between him and my father.

The look on Noah's face quickly returned to unrest when he remembered that my father was standing right next to him. "but like in a completely friendly and non-sexual way." He averted his eyes to the floor and scratched the back of his neck.

–Like I said, Noah knew the right things to say most of the time. This time not being one of them–

"Thanks," I playfully rolled my eyes, "That's what every woman wants to hear."

–I could tell that me referencing to myself as a woman made my father uncomfortable–

I grabbed Noah by his t-shirt and started to pull him towards the front door before my father could open his mouth.

"Where are the two of you going?" My father asked.

–We were too slow–

"I don't know. We were thinking of maybe getting a milkshake," I say as I look at Noah, who thought he was helping by incessantly nodding.

"Or we might just go hang out with a few people from our class," Noah finally got the courage to speak, "Nothing too crazy."

"Oh yeah, like who?" my father questioned.

"Dad," I quickly intervened, "I thought we said that if I stood close to home for college, you'd stop policing."

"I said I'd stop policing. I didn't say I'd stop caring," He interrupted with a correction. My eyes rolled, and I felt my patience start to wear thin like a cable cord about to snap. "I trust that you'll have her back at a reasonable time?"

"Yes," Noah's voice broke like a high strung elastic band. "Yes, sir." His nostrils flared as he cleared his throat.

–I pulled Noah out the door and quickly shut it behind us–

"You can breathe now," I said to Noah, who looked like he was holding his breath in there.

"I swear, your father scares the shit out of me." He admitted as we trailed down the stairs.

"Yeah, no kidding. I can see it all over your face." I say.

–My dad's weird that way. He lives with this preconceived notion that men and women can't just be friends–

–Can they?–

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