Seeking Noah

Chapter Ten

"Hop in" Noah declared as he switched his black audi open. Namine was in awe seeing such car and it's not like she had never seen an audi before, Knoxe people mostly owned trucks. Middle class or rich. They don't have such thing as poor because everyone owns a land.

Namine sat on the passenger's seat. She can't believe she's sitting inside Noah's car. It feels surreal. "Thank You" she uttered and Noah looked at her as he puts his seatbelts on. "Why?" he asked.

"Just...want to thank you in...in advance" she blushed and Noah smiled lightly. It made her heart skip a beat. He is so mesmerizing when he smile.

"I knew you lied" he said then he switched on the engine and they drove silently all the way to Penny's. If Yorke has Carl's, Winchester has Penny's and she figured out Noah must've liked this kind of stuff.

"You like this kind of places don't you?" asked Namine while Noah's parking the car.

He didn't answer. After parking, Namine took off her seatbelts but Noah reminded her it'll be a take out and asked her to stay in the car. After about thirty minutes Noah went back with paper bags on his hands.

"Here" Noah said as he hands over a giant burger to Namine after he took the first bite. "It's delicious" he added.

Namine looked at the burger, the part where Noah took the first bite. She blushed, it feels like kissing him. She bit a small portion, it tastes good. It was excellent. She was in brief pleasure until she realized she finished everything and Noah was staring at her.

"S...Sorry" she uttered, very embarrassed about herself as she wipes the mustard off the side of her lips.

Noah just chuckled then he starts the engine once again and they drove to Wrecshire's park. Noah carried the bags while Namine followed him all the way to a giant square pond and in front is Wrecshire's capitol building.

They both sat at one of the bench then she helped Noah open each boxes. He bought a lot of food for just the two of them and he never bothered asking but it's all her favorite food. She almost wanted to cry on the inside, she can't understand Noah but she's happy he was being kind. Too kind to buy a lot for her and only a salad for himself. 

"Thank you" she said again. For the delicious cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza. For the double patty. For the milkshake and for the potato fries. She said in her mind.

"Why do you keep thanking me?" Noah asked. He's looking at the capitol building.

"Nothing" Namine smiled and Noah looked at her. The way his eyes stares at her feels like he's always looking deeper. Like he's looking at her soul. To her, Noah's stares can be intimidating. "Did you play earlier?" he asked.

Namine shook her head. "I'd be moving apartments soon" he said, "one with its own bathroom" he added.

"So you're moving outside the school" she asked.

"Yeah" Noah answered.

"I won't have you anymore for a neighbor then" Namine said, that's rather good. But truly, a part of her would like to beg him to stay.

"Yeah" Noah uttered.

Don't be the one to break the ties. Namine recalls Maureen's voice. It will not be good for you. It disturbs her.

Did she say that to me because I can actually break it? She thought. Was that it?

She gathered her thoughts and redeemed herself. Finally, she thought that when she starts digging, it'd be hard to stop. "Can we friends Noah?" she asked and it surprised him.

"What?" He uttered confused then Namine stood up and sat right next to him, "We can be friends right?" she asked, it brought his heart beat into full speed.

"Yeah. Of... of course" he agreed, unsure.

The stars are shining brightly up in the sky, even the moon is at its fullest. Namine breathed deeply as she closes her eyes then she remembers the St. Jo's Forest at the back of their church in Knoxe. Her father built her a treehouse and it had always been the place where she dreamed to take Noah.

"Noah, when you are inside St. Jo's forest at night, you'll see stars two times the number of what we see right now and there's pink and purple lights that crossed the sky" she said excitedly, "St. Jo's at Knoxe. It's...it's actually one of my favorite places" she added.

"Why would you wander inside a forest at night?" Noah asked.

"I had a treehouse inside. My dad built it for me. At first I was afraid but when I was undergoing depression, I stayed there with my mom every night. Unlike the city, crimes rarely happens at Knoxe. So I rarely care when city people calls me a country girl. The city is noisy" she said.

"But...why are you here if Knoxe is peaceful?" He asked.

"I was under scholarship at Yorke from my dad's company. It was a lot of pressure, I had to maintain straight As which also helped me get a good spot for scholarship at Hayne" she replied, "I'll have to admit the best schools will always stand within a city" she added.

"What about you Noah? Why Hayne?" she asked and Noah felt too hesitant to answer. He wasn't responding until Namine remembered he doesn't like questions so she just let it go by putting the trash inside the bags.

"I'm just going to throw this right there. I'll be back" Namine said, pointing to a trashcan a little bit farther across the bench.

After throwing the trash, Namine runs back to the bench. She doesn't know when is Noah planning to go back to the dorms but she feels happy sitting next to him.

"Yorke is chaotic" he said and it made Namine look at him, a little bit surprised he suddenly opened up. "I chose Hayne because Yorke is chaotic" he repeated and she smiled.

"Why...why?" He asked, confused at why she smiled.

"It's not like you to suddenly say things like that" Namine said, "I guess you changed" she added.

Noah scratched the back of his head, "You too" he uttered. "You changed" he declared.

"I don't think I did" she argued.

"You did" Noah announced, "You looked at me with warmth now. I thought you totally lost the brightness in your eyes" he said, "I'm just glad they made it back"