Close Behind || Aaron Minyard

24

Naomi doesn't sleep when they get back to the dorms at around eleven because she figures it's a waste of her time, she can sleep the entire bus ride to Raleigh. She spent the rest of her evening bouncing between the two dorms, but ended up staying mostly with the cousins the sloppier the upperclassmen got.

She was sitting on the couch in the cousins dorm with their tv on mute and reading another of Andrew's books, this time he'd let her have free reign to pick, when Aaron and Nicky come stumbling out and grumbling about something.

"Coffee," Nicky says with a yawn.

"Already made it," Naomi mutters in his direction without looking up from the book. She only has thirty pages left after all.

They don't even thank her as they go into the kitchen, she looks at Kevin beside her where he's starting to drift to sleep so she kicks him in the gut. He glares. "Fuck off."

"Sleep when you're dead," Naomi snaps back at him. "Go change and get Andrew."

Aaron comes back into the living room area and passes her a mug of coffee with a scowl etched on his face, she accepts it with a chuckle.

He falls onto the couch next to her and takes all the space Kevin leaves when he goes to get Andrew. She sips the coffee, black because Aaron didn't know how she'd like it apparently, and keeps reading her book as fast as she can.

"Do you need anything from your dorm?" Aaron asks her, his voice is rough with sleep.

Naomi shakes her head and lets her feet up to rest across him, he scoffs but doesn't push them away. She gets through seven more pages in silence before Andrew comes stumbling out of his room with a leftover smile already in place.

"You two look like cosy little kittens," he mocks them.

"I'll pour this coffee all over your book," Naomi vaguely threatens him. She doesn't move.

Eventually she does; Wymack slams against their door and yells at them to 'hurry their lazy asses up'. So Naomi skips across the last two pages of her book and calls it good enough before moving her feet and letting Aaron get up.

They're all about to be out of the door, or Nicky and Andrew are, when someone throws something at the back of her head. She spins on her heels, ready to cuss someone out, when she looks down at what's been thrown.

Without saying a word, just scowling, Naomi picks up the jacket Aaron had thrown at her. She throws him the finger before jogging to catch up with the others in the hallway.

They are the very last ones to show up outside by the bus. Neil and the upperclassmen are already there with Coach and Abby. Everyone looks varying degrees of tired which she can't blame them for.

Wymack points at Kevin. "How did they wake you up?"

"They didn't let me sleep," Kevin says. He throws a glare between Naomi and Andrew, they both ignore him easily.

"Smart," Wymack nods at them. Naomi grins like she's won a prize. "Let's go."

They march to the bus like a tiny army. Which Naomi thinks is a funny thought because the Foxes really are like a tiny army is so many ways.

Everyone fills onto the bus. Andrew heads to the back and his group follows dutifully, like they're made to follow after him. Naomi grins at Andrew when he looks at her expectantly, she falls into a seat a few rows in front of him.

The adults take up the very front, or Abby does because Wymack is driving. Dan and Matt get a row together towards the front, Renee sits behind them.

Naomi is putting on the jacket Aaron gave her, because apparently the bus is cold, when Neil falls into the seat beside her. She looks over at him and tilts her head, he sighs.