Heartstrings

Chapter Four

| Chapter Three |

I'd found that if you pushed people away hard enough, they tended to go.

- Morgan Matson

After I apparently left Noah stunned, we walked in silence towards the bus stop. It wasn't as uncomfortable as before and I could take my time to think about things. Noah seemed silent and from the glances that I stole, he too looked like he was thinking.

Why was the most popular guy walking with a nobody like me?

And why did I care?

I had one more year left until I was leaving and I didn't really need Noah Hudson to be messing up my thoughts. I needed to focus. If what happened in the music room happened on stage, I may never get that scholarship and I may never get out of here.

That's not happening. Definitely not because of some guy. History cannot repeat itself. I had a chance before, and it was ruined before. There only seemed one way to do things.

Be careful.

I nodded my head to myself. I got to admit, other Chloe has all the ideas.

Damn straight I do.

Yeah, but when you get cocky, it's weird. I mean, I'm sure I could've come up with that one.

Um actually, cockiness can lead to a boost in self-esteem, thus allowing me to feel more confident in saying and inputting ideas. Unless you want to stammer awkwardly, let me be cocky.

Jeez, what a-

Shush idiot.

I reached the bus stop and sat down on the edge of the bench. Noah stayed up, leaning against the map until he blinked and came out of his day dreaming.

"What are you doing?" he looked down at me with his eyebrows furrowed. Maybe he didn't know what the purpose of a bus stop was.

"Waiting for the bus." I said without emotion. He popped an eyebrow up but I turned away before I could read the rest of the face. I stared onto the road, watching literally no cars pass by.

"Come on," he touched my arm. I instinctively gave a quick glare at him as I pulled away. I return to watch the beautiful cars pass by. Yay. Note the sarcasm.

"Listen, Chloe-"

"How do you know my name?" I say, without looking at him.

"We have English together. And Chemistry actually. Last year, we had Algebra as well."

"Oh," was my only response.

"Chloe," he sat down next to me. I still fixated on the empty road. I found a little crack in the paint separating the two lanes and trained my eyes on it. "there's probably not another bus for a long time. You'll be cold waiting out here. My house is a couple blocks away, I can drive you home."

I pressed my lips and gave the impression of thinking and then plainly said, "I think I'll wait for the bus."

I hear him sigh and can see him look upwards from the corner of my eye.

Focus on the crack, Chloe.

He closes his eyes - the crack, Chloe - and slightly shakes his head - The. Crack. Chloe. - He takes a breath and stands up and walks right in front of him. I couldn't help but glance up at his face. He was looking right at me. His eyes were pine green again, hardened over like ice. He leaned over, with his lips so close to my ears and whispered:

"Please."

My heart skipped a beat and I held my breath for longer than normal. Without leaving his gaze, I slightly nodded. He took a step back and offered his hand. I took it and realized how warm it was. I remembered that he kept his hands in his pockets while I had one carrying my violin and the other fumbling with my skirt.

"Your hands are cold."

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock." I accidentally blurted out. He raised an eyebrow and I turned away, rolling my eyes. He gave a small chuckle, but it still made me bring soft pink to my cheeks.

We were about to start walking until he grabbed my violin case from its handle. I stared at him and he looked down at me and smiled softly.

"You need to warm up your hands. I can carry it."

'f you break it, you pay for it jerk, I thought.

"Of course. But what do you expect me to do to it? Throw it across into my house? I may look stupid, but I'm not an idiot." he said, with his smile slowly growing. "And plus, I'm your jerk so

I roll my eyes but let him carry it. I stuff my hands into my pockets and let them be absorbed by the warm air. Somehow, no matter how warm they got, I couldn't forget how Noah's hand felt on mine. 

HELLO! Thank you so much for reading this chapter! If you liked it, vote and comment what your favorite part was. If you have any advice or anything, just comment or dm me and I'd be glad to talk :)

- L