Breaking Free

Chapter 13

Emily's pov

I wake up in the morning with Asher's arms around me. I gently slide out from underneath them then out of the bed. I make my way to the bathroom quietly then turn on the tap and splash my face with the cold water. I turn off the water after I grab a towel and walk back into the bedroom area, I look over at Raven's bed and find it empty.

"Morning." Asher says sleepily.

"Hey, did you ever hear Raven come back in last night?" I ask.

"I don't think so." He says as he throws my comforter to the end of the bed.

"I'll text a couple people and see if she stayed with them last night. I mean she doesn't know too many people here so it shouldn't be that hard to find her." I say then reach for my phone quickly. I text a couple people and receive a couple of responses.

Austin: nope

Chelsea: do I even know this girl?

I tried to text Noah but no response, so I texted Jason instead.

Jason: yeah, she was at the room last night watchin cartoons with Noah on the couch. She seemed really nice, hope we can get together sometime to just hang or whatever.

"Noah's?" I say to myself.

"What?" Asher questions.

"She stayed at Noah's last night." I explain.

"Oh, that can't be good." Asher says then climbs out of the bed.

"Should we-" I begin to say until the door to our dorm opens slowly. I turn around and see Raven walking in to the room.

"Hey." She says.

"Where were you?" I question.

"Noah's place." She says with a slight smile.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom." Asher says awkwardly.

"So what did you guys do last night?" I ask Raven.

"Mostly just watched cartoons." She says. "Talked a little bit too."

"You could've just told Asher and I to shut up." I laugh lightly then set my towel down.

"I didn't want to interrupt you guys, plus I was getting a little stir crazy." She says then plugs her phone in.

"Anyways, do you want to grab lunch today?" I ask.

"I'm actually meeting Noah at noon." She says then grabs a pair of clean shorts from her drawer.

"Oh, it's cool." I say.

"Tomorrow? We could celebrate our last day of summer." She suggests.

"Actually there's an end of the summer bash that Connor throws every year. But if you want to join our group you can." I say with a smile.

"Jeez, you guys sure do have a lot of parties." She says.

"I know right, it's a little ridiculous."

Raven's pov

I quickly pull on a pair of sneakers as I hear a knock at the door. "Coming!" I shout then run towards the door.

"Hey." Noah says with a smile.

"Just a second." I say then run back into the room for my phone.

"Is Em here?" He asks.

"Nah, she and Asher went out." I say as I pull the phone off of the charger. "She said they'd be back around three."

"Okay." He says as I walk back towards him.

"So where are we going?" I question as I grab my wallet.

"The campus track." He says with a large grin.

"What?" I question.

"You don't have to run if you don't want to." He laughs then starts walking out of the dorm building.

-------

"So what exactly are we doing here?" I ask as Noah pushes buttons on a keypad.

"You're going to help me train." He says as a gate begins to open.

"I know close to nothing about training someone." I laugh as I follow him into the track complex.

"All you have to do is man the stopwatch." He says as he pulls a black stopwatch out of his pocket. "And if I finish my four-hundred meter in less than an hour I get to kiss you."

"Okay, I'm not stupid. You could most likely run that in less than a minute." I say then grab the stopwatch.

"But under an hour is a guarantee that I'll make it." He says then starts running. I push the button on top of the stopwatch then watch him run around the track. As he runs past me I push the button again.

"Definitely under a minute." I say then toss him the stopwatch.

"That's my baby!" A voice says from behind us. I turn around and find Chelsea making a B-line towards us. "You're so fast. Like my eyes could barely keep up with you."

"Yeah?" Noah says then takes a drink of water.

"Why didn't you call me instead of this obviously incompetent dweeb." She says then snatches the stopwatch from my hand.

"Hey!" I say angrily.

"Watch it." Chelsea snaps. "You may be a hood rat but my daddy saw to it that I earned a black belt."

"What did you just say?" I say defensively.

"Keep your trashy hands off of my mans." She says then wraps her arms around Noah.

"I think that's up to him." I say then lock eyes with Noah. Before I know it Chelsea reaches up and pulls Noah's face down to hers.

"Like he would choose you over me." She says then presses her lips to his. Noah pulls away from her then walks to the bench. "I mean it, stay away."

"I think he'd rather have you stay away." I say then walk over to Noah.

"Sorry about that." Noah says then looks over to Chelsea. I turn around and see her walking towards the exit.

"So you guys are still together?" I ask.

"Fuck no. Chelsea is a mistake I'll never make again." He says. "I find it easier to just stay out of whatever drama she's in."

"I get it." I say then pull out my phone. "I'm going to get going. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at Connor's?"

"You're going?" Noah questions.

"Yeah, Emily invited me today."

"See you there." He says then waves goodbye.

"See you there." I say then start walking towards the exit.