Anonymous

Chapter One

Noah didn’t hear them get it, but she knew they were there. She could hear their hushed voices reverberating from the kitchen while dishes clanked quietly as they ate. They talked about the weather, his plane flight, how Captain John Flynn was, almost everything. The two voices intertwined and danced around each other, interrupting with excited voices then dipping low in dramatic tones. It was the sound of two best friends finally reuniting after years of short phone calls and late Christmas cards. Noah hoped for a moment like that of her own years down the road. The idea was beautifully simple, but brought a smile to her face nevertheless as she drifted back into a light slumber.

As the time slowly passed, the boisterous laughter died down and an unsettling silence echoed down the small hallway. Noah shifted in her bed, her eyes still closed but her ears missing the drone of voices that had become the background to a dream. On the her bedside table, her phone lit up and began to play the beginning notes to her favorite song, Advice by Christina Grimmie, as a text came in. She groaned as she reached blindly for the old LG, only opening her eyes when she heard the small crash as it fell to the ground.

“Damn it,” she mumbled, kicking her purple and blue blanket to the foot of the bed before mentally scolding herself for cussing. She’d been doing that more than normal lately and hated every time a foul four lettered-word crossed her lips. Noah moved onto her stomach, inching off the bed as she ran her hands along the floor beneath her bed, trying to follow the sound of the lyrics that had the power to keep her sane. Don’t be afraid, ‘cause the chances are there for the take, but treasure the choices you make and know when you must take it slower. The song faded out as she wrapped her hands around the rectangular object. She lifted herself back up onto her bed and opened the text message, barely having enough time to read through the short “The Press at 1:30?” from Clara before Keith knocked on her door. Noah sat up, folding her legs underneath her before giving Keith the okay to come in. He walked in, closing the door behind him.

“Sean’s here,” he said, but he didn’t smile like she had expected. Instead, his mouth was in a tight line, his brows knit together in a slight frown. Noah gave him a small smile.

“What’s the frown for? He’s your best friend. You haven’t seen him for what, five years? And that was only for a day, before that it’d been a good twelve…” she trailed off as Keith’s frown intensified.

“We both know this time is different.” Noah opened her mouth and then closed it. She couldn’t deny the validity of his statement; she just wished it didn’t have to be true. She’d heard the story a million times, so much so that it had just become a fact of life that the man fell in love with the lady but neither of them planned on a pregnancy. Sean had wanted to make a career out of the Marines with his wife right beside him, but while the never planned on having children, they were going to make it work. Keith had helped Vanessa through the final stages of her pregnancy while Sean finished the last six months of his contract with the Marines. But before Sean could finally meet his daughter, Vanessa was taken from him, and, grief stricken, Sean re-enlisted in the armed forces. It wasn’t until a year later that Keith had formally adopted Noah, but she had been with him ever since. That’s what made this time different; Sean had never set eyes on Noah. They both knew the other existed, but they had never had contact with each other. When Keith visited Sean five years ago, Noah stayed behind; a request of Sean’s that Noah couldn’t have been more thrilled about. Now, however, Sean needed a place to stay for an extended amount of time, and there was no avoiding each other in the small three bedroom apartment.

“I ordered some Chinese food for lunch, it should be here any minute now,” Keith said, his hand on the doorknob. Noah’s stomach growled at the thought of lunch; it was already almost noon, but then she thought of Clara’s invitation.