Niall's Point of View
I watched Noelle as she listened to her younger brother talk about something that had happened at recess today, and I couldn't help but study the dark circles around her eyes. They were dark and covered practically her entire face. I was a loss at words. This girl was more than I had come to know. Before she'd gotten home, her brother had said something that struck me.
"Nellie should be home any minute." Eli says, tossing his book bag on the floor near the door. I nod, following Miranda and Eli to what I assume is the living room.
I can't help but let my eyes wander around their house, it was much cozier than I'd assumed it would be. It felt like a home. I assume my barely furnished apartment had something to do with the sudden feeling of emptiness that settled in me.
"Where's your parents?" I hear Miranda ask Eli and I look at her, raising a brow. Eli shrugs, turning the TV on and taking a seat on the floor, Miranda follows him.
"I don't have a mom." He says and Miranda makes a face, I can't help but say that I did too. I wondered what happened to their mom.
"And my dad is on a business trip." He says, turning back to the TV.
"Why does your sister have those bruises?" Miranda asks and I sit behind them on the couch, before Eli answers, I cut in, unintentionally.
"She boxes." I reply casually and Eli turns to me, an eyebrow raised.
"Nellie boxes? Since when?" Eli asks and it's my turn to furrow my eyebrows. Was that something she didn't let her brother know about?
"I don't know.. but she told me she does, I feel like I wasn't suppose to tell you that." I chuckle, shaking my head slightly.
Eli nods, turning back to the TV. "She doesn't box." He says mostly to myself. Now I'm extremely confused. If she doesn't box how else would she come back beaten up?
"Well how would she get the bruises? Don't you ask her that?" I chuckle, tilting my head at the younger boy who has his back towards me.
"She always tells me to not worry about it." He says without turning around. Before I can respond, I hear the door unlock.
I still don't completely understand either of them, Eli or Noelle. Eli is just as discrete and secretive as his sister and it's driving me crazy not knowing, especially since there's a possibility that I know nothing about them, that I've been fed the wrong information.
I continue to watch as Noelle smiles at whatever her brother says, her swollen eyes crinkling, the bruising around her nose goes down to her lips and when my eyes reach her chin I notice the red marks against her neck.
How could she get those type of marks while boxing? I try and think of some way that a plastic glove could create such a prominent red mark like the ones on her neck but I end up with nothing. Maybe it's just a really bad rash.
"Your ice cream is melting." Noelle says and I bring my eyes back up to her face, looking down at the melted ice cream in my cup. I let out a little chuckle, pushing it away from me.
"I was practically finished." I tell her and she nods at me, her lips pulled together in a tight line.
"So, how was work?" I ask her and she shrugs, the little plastic spoon in her hand is suddenly super interesting to her as she locks eyes with it when she answers.
"It was work, nothing special. You?" She asks and I lower my head slightly just to catch a glimpse of her eyes under her hat, she looks at me and smiles.
"Eh, pretty dirty. Had to change two tires and someones a/c." I tell her and she nods at my words.
I wonder if she could hear my curiosity rising with every breathing second.
"Are you allergic to anything?" I find myself asking and I bite my lip, crossing my arms to try and contain all the anxious thoughts running through my head right now.
She furrows her brows at me and shakes her head. "No, why do you ask?" She chuckles confusedly and I clear my throat.
"Because that rash, how'd you get it?" I ask her, nodding my head towards hers slightly.
Her eyes widen slightly, her hand instinctively touching the base of her neck.
"I bought a new lotion and it was like super cheap, I think like $3 and I woke up the next morning with the rash.." She responds quickly, her eyes suddenly wild. As if I called her out on something, or caught her red handed.
"That's a pretty bad rash, does it hurt." I believe her when she says it's a rash from a cheap drugstore lotion, she's never given me a reason not to, right? Besides, I have to start learning to mind my own business.
"A little, the skin is kind of raw since I let the lotion stay on overnight." She says and I nod, noticing Eli look between us. Noelle looks at him and clears her throat.
Is there something I'm missing?
"Your doing it again." Eli mutters under his breath and Noelle rolls her eyes, I notice her gulp.
"Oh please, don't think your off the hook from earlier." She says but I can hear the slight difference in her voice, it's anxious.. shaky, what are they hiding that I couldn't know about?
-
"Come on you love birds, you'll see each other tomorrow." Noelle says from beside me. We were both standing outside of her house, watching the most awkward and cutest goodbye two 8 year olds could possibly share.
"They are the ultimate goals." I comment jokingly turning to Noelle and she chuckles, her arms crossed against her chest.
"Yeah, for sure." She adds and I smile at her.
"So, when do you think we can go out again... just us?" I can't help but ask. Despite her and her brother being very confusing and secretive, I did really like her.
She shrugs, her eyes staring softly at me. I don't know what exactly makes her stare soft, maybe the dimly lit streetlight and porch light that is behind her or the fact that her eyes are dark and her skin is so pale despite the dark discoloration scattered across her face.
"Samantha invited me to another party this weekend, you know Samantha right?" She asks and I nod.
"I know of her, yeah. Are you saying we can meet up at the party?" I ask her, a smile on my lips.
She nods, her shoulders shrugging in just the slightest way.
"Yeah, if you want to, anyways. The last party was pretty chill." She says and I nod. I remember that night, remembering her face go pale and her hands shake as she grabbed her keys and left. I wanted to ask her where she was going but I couldn't bring myself to it. She looked too distressed.
"It was." I tell her. Maybe this time she won't leave like Cinderella, and leave me more confused than she already has me.
