Noelle
"Happy 15-" Ash says, holding a big sparkly bag in my face.
"You shouldn't have." I mutter glumly.
"C'mon...You're my BFF. I had to."
"No, really, you shouldn't have. It'll only make me happy and I want to stay in my pouting state." I hand her back the gift.
"K. What's messing with ya?"
"I've recently realized that, aside, from all of my fictional boyfriends, I have never had a romantic relationship in my whole life and I just turned 15 today and what's up with Noah? I feel like he's avoiding me and I'm very much aware of my impending death and why does the world hate me?"
"Woah. Slow down. First of all, I'm kind of laughing in my mind at how perfectly ironic it is that you are worrying about being single. Secondly-"
"Wait. Why are my rants about dying alone ironic to you? You know something, don't you? Spill it, Ashton."
"Stop calling me that...that horrendous name. Its not mine. I'm just ASH. Also, its not my secret to spill."
"Are you so sure your parents named you Ashley? What if they were lying to you this whole time, Ashton," I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively, "Please tell me you aren't trying to set me up with someone, again."
"Oh, hon, my match-making days are over. It was all his idea." She put her hand over her mouth and widened her eyes as if some confidential information had just leaked.
"Who?" I ask curiously.
"My House. 6:30 sharp. Be. There." She walked away hurriedly and with great purpose.
+++
It was 6:30 when I opened the front door of Ashton's House.
"SURPRISE!" Cried almost all of the students at our school as they jumped out of spots they had been hiding in.
"Is it weird that I kind of expected this?" I ask Noah once I found him. I haven't talked to him in soo long. I NEEDED to talk to him.
"Nah. With Ash its always better to expect the unexpected."
"Yeah, I guess..." I feel so uncomfortable yet happy standing beside him. Maybe people who glance at us think we're a couple.
"..." His silence uneases me. I need to ask him.
"Have you been avoiding me?"
"What? No...Well, maybe. I guess. I've just been nervous."
"What? Why are you nervous?"
"Noelle. Please let me finish. I've been nervous about this...this thing that I've been trying to ask you for ages now." His voice cracks and I can see the humiliation in his eyes.
"What do you want to ask me?" I whisper, hoping about his reply and doubting myself at the same time.
"I've been trying to...Well, the thing that I wanted to know the answer to....What's your favorite animal?....Nope. That's not it. Um...I like you. Like, I REALLY like you. So much that sometimes I feel like my heart could burst. Would you be my girlfriend?"
"Holy shit, really? You aren't kidding me?"
"Um...No." He looked unsure of himself as he dug his hands deep into his pockets and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Yes." I said finally.
"Really?"
"Yeah.. It would be my honor to be your girlfriend."
"Wow. I thought you'd say no."
"Okay. Have you seriously not noticed how obsessed I've been with you for the past five years?"
"..."
"Sorry. That came out wrong."
