Trials {Editing}

Chapter 9

Noah's POV

Harper: I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now. On a so-called 'double date'. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

I reread the text over and over again. I couldn't untangle myself from all the different ways it made me feel: angry, rejected, jealous, nervous, but most of all... hurt.

I looked back at the past week and wondered if my feelings for Harper could have been misinterpreted. I guess our near-kiss could have come off as just hormones. Since I never confessed anything to her at that dinner, she could have looked at it from a million different perspectives. I groaned and buried my face in my pillow. What am I going to do now?

I heard a knock on my door as it creaked open. I didn't bother looking up, because I already knew who it was.

"Dude, what's up with you? I've been waiting outside for five minutes." I sat up on my bed and faced Ross. He was annoyed, but trying not to show it on his face. I unlocked my phone and tossed it to him, allowing him to read Harper's text.

"Ouch; that's a punch in the gut," Ross commented, sitting down at my desk.

"Yeah, tell me about it," I said, rubbing my neck. "I just don't get it, man. Is she blind to how I feel about her? Am I not being clear enough? Or is she just not interested in me the same way?"

"Oh, come on, man," Ross said, annoyed. "You friendzoned her all those years back, so what do you expect? The female species is fragile and, to our dismay, NEVER forgets. Even if she did pick up on the signs, she's definitely not going to trust herself to believe that it's true."

I sighed and shook my head. "Ross, I got this close to kissing her!" I illustrated with my thumb and index finger. "Wouldn't that be obvious enough?"

"Noah, you're forgetting one important thing," Ross explained. "We're teenage boys. We have a reputation for being hormonal and practically emotionless. She could have easily told herself that the kiss was raging hormones. So no, it's nowhere near obvious enough."

I contemplated this, knowing that Ross was right. Us guys have the worst reputation, and for valid reasons. A near kiss wouldn't be enough to convince Harper, especially after what I did to her. I shook my head and sighed. "Okay, how do I make myself more clear then?"

"Well, you could just tell her," Ross said pointedly. "However, knowing you, you're too much of a wuss to do that. So your only option is an obvious one. You've got to take the initiative. For most girls like Harper, they're not ever going to make the first move. They will always, without fail, wait for you to make the first move, and give up before ever deciding to make the first move themselves. And Harper is a special circumstance in that category because making the first move has a tragic past for her. So you have to do it."

I nodded my head, knowing he was right. I'm the one who's made it hard for Harper to ever believe me, so I have no reason to get upset with her. I just need to stop waiting for her and just get moving, before someone else takes her away from me.

"Also," Ross continued. "You need to cut back a little bit from her. I know you always want to be there for her or something like that, but you become like a big brother. So make her come back for more. Don't be the first one to text everyday. Wait for her to text you first."

I looked at Ross unsurely. "Does that really work?" I asked.

"Yeah, quite a bit. So now you know what you did wrong, what to expect, and how to start your tragic love life. Now that it's all out of the way, can we go now? I'm starving." Ross whined. I chuckled and nodded my head before we headed downstairs.