Ten of Me ✓

Twenty-Four

LINDSAY

Dad was still staring at me, half-questioning and half-accusing, and Noah was looking back and forth between the two of us. He looked like he hadn't even heard what Dad said, because he just appeared guilty and extremely concerned with coming up with some plausible excuse for his actions.

None of us said anything for a few more seconds, but the looks in all of our eyes was enough. Dad looked positively deadly as his gaze switched to Noah, and I half expected him to grab my boyfriend my the collar of his polo and drag him out of the coffee shop.

Instead, my father, who seemed to have recovered significantly from thinking that I was his daughter, said coldly to him, "When my daughter hears about this--"

"It's not what you think!" Noah's eyes were wild. "It's not, it's really not. I'm waiting for her right now. We were going to go on a date, but she's late. Really late, actually. I think she might have forgotten. Anyway, this girl. She's my cousin, and I just ran into her and she sat down for a few minutes..."

"You sick liar," I spat out before I could stop myself. I was so angry my voice didn't even come out like my own, which was good because otherwise Dad would certainly have recognized me. Instead, my tone was low and brutal. "How could you say that? You know I'm not your cousin. Be a man and face it."

Noah's eyes were still widened and afraid, and that was when I knew he had absolutely no backbone. He was just some weak, desperate guy who wasn't even willing to take responsibility for his own actions.

Much as I wanted to storm out of the shop right then and never look at Noah in the face again, I also wanted to see what happened between him and my father, so I forced myself to stay glued to my seat, even though the tension in the room was slowly killing me. The cheerful hubbub in the shop seemed to be strangely muted so that all I heard besides a rushing in my ears was Dad's voice as he said dangerously, "I hope you have an explanation that actually makes sense."

Even Noah knew he couldn't get out of this one. I slowly brought the straw of my iced coffee up to my lips and took a sip, desperate for something to ease the silence, but the drink slurped unnecessarily loudly. I had never truly believed the cliché about a deer caught in headlights could actually happen until I looked into my boyfriend's eyes.

"Mr. Thorn--" he started, his voice hoarse and grating. "I--"

"You what?" Dad thundered, actually attracting the attention of a few strangers who were trying to enjoy their coffee in peace. I unsnapped and reattached the lid of my coffee onto its cup over and over again, my breath hitching in my throat every time I tried to calm myself down.

I wondered if I'd ever actually sit inside Aroma Mocha again without having some kind of face-off that ended in random strangers' looks of disapproval. Now, mothers were staring at my white and purple hair paired with my excessive makeup and cutoff jeans shorts as they scoffed at me, pulling their children away in opposite directions as they judged me nonverbally. I quietly finished off the rest of my coffee, switching my wide eyes back to Noah, as I waited for his reply.

I had no idea how he'd get out of this discussion with my father, and it would actually be amusing to see how much he would try just to save his pride before he gave up, surrendered, and threw it all away.

Dad's eyes flicked towards me once again and I stared down at the floor again so that he wouldn't recognize me, my heart hammering in my chest. Finally, Noah cleared his throat, causing me to look up at him again.

"I'm sorry, sir," he said, his tone switching from defensive to calm in a millisecond. I actually had to blink at the sudden shift in mood, and I could feel my shoulders releasing hidden tension as I watched him. He just seemed completely in control of the situation, and I found myself relaxing without even realizing it.