A Dream In Hiding

Prologue

Noah's POV

Kindergarten

"You're it!" Alex yelled. "Hey, no fair! I was doing the monkey bars!" I answered. "Too bad!" Alex giggled and ran. I ran as fast as I could after her, but she was way too fast. Then I saw her trip on an uneven edge in the sidewalk. Cries that I wish I had never heard came from her. I ran and looked at her. "Are you ok, Alex?" "Y-y-yeah" she stuttered, "I'm ok, Noah." Then I spotted the cut on her leg, starting to bleed. I couldn't help but laugh. "Your cut" I said between giggles. "It's shaped like a smiley face." "Huh?" She looked down, and started laughing, too. With tears of pain dried on her face, ones of laughter stream down her cheeks.

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6th Grade

A note came from behind me. "It's from Alex" the girl behind me whispered. I opened it and saw "Heyyyy Noah
Why can't this stupid class be over already?
I just wanna throw spaghetti at his face"
I started laughing. Alex did, too. "Mr. Anderson, Ms. Johnson, what is the meaning of this?" The teacher boomed. "Um, nothing sir." She answered quickly. "It was me, not Noah." "No, I said something funny, she just laughed at it." I defended. She looked at me in shock. I've never done that before... Mostly because she's never gotten in trouble. "Alright, then. Noah, detention Saturday." Alex stood up "But Mr. Nelson-" "Hush, Alexandra. Don't make me call your parents!" She sat down. "I want to throw giant pasta shells at his face now." She mumbled. I laughed, more quiet this time, again.

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9th Grade

"What ya gonna do bout it, twerp?" I struggled to get out of Tyler's (a senior) grasp. He slammed me against the lockers, and I fell down. The pain was indescribable. Then, I heard "Haha- Woah!" And another slam against the lockers. This time, across from me. I look up to see Tyler against the lockers, and Alex offering me a hand up, breathing heavy. "You ok?" "Yeah... I'm fine, how about you?" I said, spotting the scratches on her arms. "Yeah, he was just a little feisty." She giggled. I laughed in response. "Who would've known that a short, ninth grade girl could beat up the biggest crap-brained person in the school?" I teased. "Watch it" she said, laughing.

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12th Grade

My phone rang. A call from Alex. "Hello?" "Hey Noah. I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner after graduation tonight." "Sorry, I can't tonight, I promised my mom that I'd go out to dinner with my family. I can go tomorrow at 8:00, though. How about that? At Maine's" "Ok, fine " "Ok, bye, Alex." "Bye." She didn't seem so thrilled, but I was. Tomorrow was the night I would ask her to be my girlfriend.

I got in the nicest suit I could find. I picked up the pink rose from my counter. "Alright... Here we go." I whispered to myself. I got into my car and drove off.
I entered Maine's, rose in hand. I looked around. Alex wasn't here. That's really weird. She's never late. I called her, but she wasn't the one who answered. It was her mom. "Yes? What Noah?" She said between sobs. "Mrs. Johnson? What's wrong?" "Alex is gone! We can't find her!" "What?" My heart started to pound. She sobbed. "She was kidnapped!" I hear Alex's father yell. "Dear, we don't know that for sure. Wait a second..." Mrs. Johnson started to laugh. "Of course! She's with you, Noah! Put her on the phone please." "Um, she's not with me." Tears brimmed my eyes. "What?" Mrs. Johnson said breathlessly. Alex... My best friend since kindergarten... Was gone.