Love at Last Sight

Chapter Nine

A thousand thoughts coursed through my mind. Noah kept talking, but I couldn’t focus on his words. Chace attempted suicide? That was nonsense! There was no way Chace would lie about that… would he? If he lied about his mom, why wouldn’t he lie about attempting to commit suicide? Maybe he didn’t trust me as much as I liked to think he did. The thought made my heart hurt.

            “Rose?”

            “Sorry,” I apologized quickly, pulling myself from my thoughts. “What did you say?”

            “I asked you if Chace told you about the time he tried to commit suicide.”

            I shook my head. “No, he told me one of his California friends was the one who tried. He lied about that.”

            Noah frowned. “That’s not good. I thought maybe you’d be the person he’d trust to tell this to.”

            “I…” I trailed off, my heart sinking. Apparently I wasn’t that trust-worthy.

             “Don’t fret about it,” Noah insisted. “It’s probably just a hard topic for him to talk about.”

            Nodding, I decided to go with that. Attempting suicide wasn’t something I’d throw at someone I’d only known for a month. It was for the reason I kept my disease to myself: as to not scare him away. Maybe he didn’t want to scare me away. That was a perfectly acceptable reason. However, it was a little unsettling he could lie so easily.

            “I wouldn’t treat him any differently know that you know,” Noah advised me with a grimace. “That’s why we stopped being friends.”

            “I’d never treat him differently,” I said confidently. “All that happened in the past. We’re living in the present and the present it what matters.”

            Noah smiled. “Mind if I use that line?”

            “Go right ahead.”

            “I just don’t understand it,” he sighed, slumping onto one of the disgusting plastic booths. “Chace is so happy all the time. My mind can’t wrap around the fact he tried to end his life.”

            Opting to stand, I bit my lip, staring down at Noah. “They say the people who look the happiest are the saddest.”

            “Yeah, but how often is that phrase true?” he responded, rolling his eyes. “It’s a stupid saying.”

            The corners of my lips twitched up. “Yeah.”

            “Still though, I was really freaked out when it happened.”

            “How did he…”

            “Try to kill himself?” Noah guessed.

            I nodded. It was hard to say out loud. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to hear from Noah. This was something that would be better to hear directly from Chace, but I didn’t know what my reaction was going to be. It was safer to hear it from Noah first. Just in case.

            “I’m not sure what he was aiming for, but do you know that rive by the eye doctor’s?”

            My face paled. “Yes.”

            “Well there’s a waterfall at the end of it…”

            I suddenly felt sick. I didn’t want to hear it.