The Shy Girl and the Class Clown

Chapter 21

Noelle's P.O.V  

"Sorry mom." Chip says, pulling away from me and grabbing my hand to pull me up. 

"Chip, may I speak to you privately?" She asks, sneaking a glance at me. He nods and then gives me a kiss on the cheek. He gets up, following the path his mom took and then disappears from sight. I see more of the pictures on the walls and I get up to look at the one closest to me. There's three guys, who i'm gonna assume are Trent, Nick, and Chip and they look to be about 8 or 9 years old. 

"Aww, you kids look adorable." I chuckle and the two guys look really embarrassed, but also have a smile on their face. I move over to the next picture and the boys are older, 8th grade I persume, but I notice something different. I gently take the frame off the wall to look closer at it. It was taken in the school cafeteria and everyone was being silly. Chip was arm- wrestling Trent, both with smiles on their faces, laughing, but I noticed something in Chip's eyes. It was almost like sadness or anger. I look closer and I see me and Scott sitting next to each other in the background, while Noah, Brooklyn, and Caden were around us. 

"You have no idea how much anger I felt that day." A voice behind me says, causing me to jump and almost dropped the frame onto the ground. I turn around and sure enough, it was Chip. "When I saw you, you were the happiest, smiling and laughing with your friends, acting like there's not a care in the world." His eyes become sad, followed by his change in voice. "When Scott asked you out, I knew beforehand that he coordinated it with Emily in order to get you to feel special. You didn't see a problem and he made you smile, but it wretched my gut at how much I disgusted him because he had your attention." I hang the frame back up and then turn back to face him. 

"What do you mean 'had my attention'?" I say, but then it completely dawns on me.

'He's had a crush on you since 8th grade'

"I was worried that you would get your heart broken and that I would lose the smiling happy woman that I fell in love with." I grab his arms after shedding some tears and look directly into his eyes. Then grabbed the collar of his button up shirt and gently pulled him down to kiss him on the lips. He returns it and we break apart after a few moments, touching foreheads.

"After what happened with Scott, I was afraid I wouldn't find someone who would love me as me." He wraps his arms around me, pulling me to his chest.

"I'm here, plus i'll fight for you if needed." My heart swells in my chest and I snuggle my head into his chest.

'Got your number, got your number. Finally awaking from the spell I was under ' 

I track down my bag and hear my phone going off. It was Brooklyn. I look to the three guys and they nod, Chip standing close by in case.

"Hey."

"Noelle, where the hell have you been?" She says, frantically.

"What do you mean?"

"Caden declared you missing and Danny couldn't say anything. Caden also says that Chip and his two pals kidnapped you." I hold the phone away from my face in shock.

"Caden is not happy because he's not getting what he wants. Go tell him to date Emily." I sneer. I'm just royally fed up with this issue.

"Here he is." Oh crap, Caden's on the phone. I look to Chip and mouth Caden's name. He stiffens and looks at his two friends and they automatically know what to do. Chip walks towards me and wraps an arm around my waist, close enough to hear the conversation. 

"Hello Noelle." 

"Caden."

"Say, why don't you come back home and away from Chip and his pals."

"No, i'm not stupid. Your verbal abuse is insane and not working. You need to get it through your head that Chip makes me feel like a person for once and that he isn't possessive over me."  The arm around my waist tightens and then a light kiss on my neck. 

"You'll differently be regretting that shortly." The venom drips from Caden's voice and shivers crawl down my spine. I quickly hang up the phone and then my body goes limp, followed by blackness.

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"Oh shit, what the hell?" Nick says. I open my eyes and see the three guys staring out the front window. I'm laying on the couch and I move myself into a sitting position. 

"Guys?"I whisper. The guys turn around and Chip comes over and sits down next to me, wrapping his arms around me. "Oh crap, what happened?"

"So basically, after you got off the phone with Caden, you passed out." I snuggle into his embrace.

"Then why the heck are you guys looking out the window." I ask and Chip stiffens. 

"Guys, we have company."