Always a Friend

Chapter 21

Noah pulled into my driveway at seven sharp to pick me up for the party. I took one last look in the mirror hanging over the table by the front door. "What are you doing, Gemma?" I muttered to myself in the mirror. The head flinched to the right from the knock on the door, even though I knew he'd be knocking any minute. I fluffed the curls at the bottom of my hair, then turned and opened the door. 

"Wow...You look great." Noah smiled. He looked great in jeans and a dark button-down shirt with rolled-up cuffs. "You ready to go?" 

"Sure. I've just got to lock the door." I stepped out, turning to lock the front door." Part of me wanted to open the door, run back inside, and hide in my bedroom the rest of the night. I couldn't believe I'd let Noah talk me into going to the party with him. I knew Chloe and Sarah would be there, but they would be busy with their boyfriends, which meant I'd likely be dealing with Claudia and her friends alone. It was a party, and I wasn't going to be with Noah the whole time; he'd want to hang out with his friends some of the time, too. I took a deep breath, turned, and walked down the steps with Noah to his mom's SUV. "No sports car tonight?" I asked, climbing up in the SUV. 

"No, I didn't want some drunk asshole to hit my car leaving the party." Noah closed my door, then walked around to the driver's side. "I thought we could go get something to eat before the party. The party doesn't start until nine. You can invite your friends to come with us." He backed out of my driveway. 

"Are you sure?" I grabbed my phone out of my purse. 

"Yeah, I talk to Ty and Braedon often at school. I already mentioned it to them at the beach earlier today." He peeked over at me. Well...So much for him wanting to spend time with me alone. I felt like an idiot for thinking he could've ever liked someone like me. I glanced over at the side mirror. I called Chloe first because I knew she'd answer me right away. 

"Hey, Gem," Chloe said. "I was just about to call you. Braedon told me we're all meeting to get something to eat before the party." 

"Yeah. What sounds good to you?" I asked. 

"I don't know. But I know we've got to eat something before we go to the party—especially the guys." She sighed into the phone; then I heard her say something to Braedon. "How about burgers? I don't feel like pizza." 

"Let me ask Noah." I turned and asked Noah if burgers were okay with him. He nodded his head. "Burgers are fine with him. Now, where do we want to go?" I laughed. That was the hard part of the decision. I put her on speaker so it would be easier to talk instead of relaying the messages to Braedon and Noah. After a few minutes of naming places and someone saying no, we finally agreed on...George's Steakhouse. Chloe hung up and called to see if we could get a table, being it was Saturday night. Good thing for us; it was Chloe's uncle's restaurant, and she was almost positive we'd be able to get a table for the six of us. The restaurant didn't take reservations on Saturday, but she knew he was there tonight, and knowing her, she probably talked him into reserving us a table since all of us were on the way. She called me back about ten minutes later and told us to be at George's in about thirty minutes. 

"Do you know where George's is at?" I asked Noah, putting my phone back in my purse. 

"It's close to downtown, right?" He made a right at the light toward Third Street. "You're quiet, Gemma?" 

"I am...Sorry." I glanced down at my hands as I fidgeted with the hem of my dress. 

"Nothing to be sorry about. Are you still mad at me over Olivia?" He reached over and placed his hand on top of mine. I had to ask myself the same question. Was I still mad at him? Technically, I had no right to be mad at him for sitting with Olivia because he never asked me to be his girlfriend. Therefore, I had no real claim on him; he could sit with whoever he wanted to when we weren't together. "Gemma?"