The Bystander

Chapter Ten

Alyssa

"You know what, I don't know that much about you." Noah spoke next to me, his face scrunched up uncomfortably.

"I don't even know what your favorite color is!" He exclaimed with extreme exaggeration.

I nibbled my sandwich, watching him ramble to himself. It had been a month since we've been acquainted, slowly but surely I've noticed the small changes in myself. For one, I've lost almost ten pounds and regained color in my cheeks. My eating habits have grown immensely over the days, my confidence has grown a tiny bit too.

"-tter? Personally I love Harry Potter!" He said with a goofy grin on his face.

"I haven't seen the Harry Potter films." I said with a shrug, swallowing the last bit of my sandwich. I hadn't noticed that the silence was there until I looked up at him, watching his expression drop as well as his sandwich.

"Oh shit, we need to remedy this right away. I've got the entire set at home, we can get some popcorn and candy and just pig out! Oh god this is nuts, I can't wait to tell my mom!" He rambled once again, bringing a small smile to my face.

Though the very mention of candy and buttery popcorn made my stomach flip, I didn't have the heart to turn him down. What if I gained all my weight back, I would look disgusting. 

"So what kind of movies do you watch?" Noah asked.

It took a moment for me to respond, only due to the embarrassment I feared I would face if I told him. My love for chick flicks would always remain a secret, if not for too long.

"Horror." I blurted out with wide eyes, my sandwich clutched tightly in my hands. "I like old horror, the dramatic music, and the cliche 90's slasher films." I added nervously, wrapping my sandwich back up. 

Noah's brow furrowed curiously, staring at me for a moment. "Really? I've never met a girl who's into horror movies. But I guess if your cool with them, then maybe you wouldn't mind hanging out with me and a couple of friends at the movie theatre tomorrow night? We're planning on seeing that new Alien Covenant movie. You should come too." He smiled almost knowingly.

My eyes widened in surprise, a small squeak escaped my lips before I could stop it. How did one lie spiral into something I'm definitely not ready for? Horror movies had always been my weakness, in a bad way. So why the heck did I say I love them so much? But meeting new people? Sure I've met a few of Noah's friends, but even then I barely spoke. 

My panic attacks had worn down slightly, except when I dream of Calder. The nightly Skype calls are nothing compared to real life, I miss holding him and kissing him and surprisingly the way he slobbers all over my sleeve. Mom has been trying so hard to pretend everything's okay, but its not.

Noah could sense my inner turmoil, a small laugh erupted from his lips - he gently patted my back. "I'm kidding Ally, I know you hate horror movies. I saw the look on your face when you mentioned it."

The color in my cheeks made my embarrassment skyrocket, not only had he caught me out on a harmless lie - but that my face looked like a tomato too.

His hand ran through his short hair, making me swoon to myself. "But you are coming to my house to watch all of the Harry Potter movies. There's no doubt about that." He winked, just as the lunch bell rang.

He stood up quickly, slinging his bag over his shoulder as I did the same. "Looks like we have chemistry now." His tone grew hard at the revelation, I think it had something to do with Simon.

Simon Itle was a perverted boy who loved thick girls, so whenever me and Noah were in class he would make inappropriate comments and try to touch me. A few threats from Noah hadn't done much, in fact it had only made it worse. I didn't want to tell Noah about Simon waiting outside of school for me.