The Next Adventure

ch. 3 | No Excuses.

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The next morning I got a text from Jack asking me to meet him at the Starbucks on campus.

I figured, that since I didn't have class and Noah said it was okay, why not?

I got ready for the day and left my room, heading the to the Starbucks.

How awkward was this gonna be? Probably super awkward. I knew he wanted to apologize but what do I even say to that? It's okay?

I need to firmly establish that I accept his apology but I am very happy with Noah and I was in no way wanting to get back together.
Which was 100% the truth. Noah made me feel things I'd never felt before and made me happier than anyone ever has. I wanted to be with that boy for a long time. I wasn't going to let Jack infiltrate or ruin our relationship.

I opened up the door to Starbucks to see Jack sitting down at a table. He looked up from his phone and walked over to me, in line.

"Hey." I said, awkwardly.
"Hi, Soph. You look good." He said, nervously smiling with his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks, you too." I said, uncomfortably.

It was weird for him to compliment me after all this time of us ignoring each other. Also, in our relationship, he only ever complimented my body. Never what I was wearing or how I looked. Only compliments like "Your butt looks good." Or something along the lines of that.

We stood in line in silence. I leaned back and forth on my heels of my feet.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Oh probably just an iced coffee." I said, smiling.

He smacked his forehead. "Oh my God, how could I forget? You'd get those every morning before school when we went to Dunkin Donuts together." He laughed. "You remember that?" He asked with a smile.

I shifted my weight, uncomfortably. "Yeah." I have him a tight lipped smile. I hated how he kept bringing up our past. I hated reliving the memories. One of the mornings before going to Dunkin Donuts, Jack got a call from an unknown number and answered it like it was his best friend. When I asked who it was, he said 'no one' who I later found out what Katie, the girl he was cheating on me with. He was reminiscing on the few good moments we shared together while the other portion kf the two years was awful.

Jack and I ordered our drinks and grabbed them off the counter. We found our way back to the table he was orginally sitting.

"So, I never really said sorry." He said, scratching at the label attached to his cup.

"Mhm." I responded.

"And I really do feel awful for it all." He said, extending his hand ontop of mine.

As an instinct, I pulled it back. His face showed hurt as he retracted his hand.

"I just wanted to say that I feel like shit every day because I let the best thing to ever happen to me go." He said. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked pained.

"And I know you're 'happy' with Noah now, but I do really miss you." He said, looking into my eyes. "And I hope you can forgive me enough to be friends." He smiled smally.

" Acquaintances." I corrected, after thinking.

He laughed. "Hell, I'll take it." He smiled.

After some silence, Jack's face curled up into a smile. "Well, I'd love to meet the guy." He said, leaning back in his chair.

"Noah?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah." He said, like it was no big deal. "I mean friends meet their friends boyfriends, right?"

"Acquaintances." I corrected, again.

"Yes, right," He said. "Acquaintances." He said, sarcastically.

"Um, I dont really know-" I started.

"Listen, theres this big frat party this weekend and you both should come." He insisted.

"Jack-" I started. "No excuses." He said, wiggling his finger.

I laughed, dryly. Jack started to stand up. "Well I gotta run to class but I'll text you the deets." He said. "It felt really good to get that off my chest." He said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"I hope we're cool now." He said, inching closer to me.

I nodded and smiled at him. "Cool, see ya later Soph." He said, patting my shoulder as he left.

Now, how in the hell was I going to convince Noah Centineo to go to a frat party that my ex invited me to?

After my class later in the day, I went back to my dorm room and laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling.

There was absolutely no way that Noah would ever agree to going to this party. Even if he did go, it would be so incredibly awkward.

Bella was sitting at her desk, finishing homework. I sat up and looked at her.

"Do you wanna go to a party?" I asked.

Bella turned around with wide eyes. "Yes, when?" She asked, excitedly.

"This weekend at some frat house, I think." I responded.

"Ooh, Who invited you?" She asked.

"... My ex." I winced. Her expression went from excited to confused. "What?"

After telling her the story of Jack and I and fast forward to mine and Noah's story, she was baffled.

"Oh good God, if you put those two together, they will kill each other." She laughed.

"I know, thats my problem. Thats why you need to be there to ease the tension." I said.

"Wow," She put her hand over her heart. "I'm so honored." She giggled.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "This is serious! I don't know what to do." I groaned.

"I say, do it." She shrugged. "The worst that could happen is that Noah gets jealous." She said. "And boy, I would love to see that boy get jealous, if I were you." She laughed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I just mean that, and don't take this in the wrong way, but Noah's hot, tall, and kind of scary. It'd be fun to watch him beat someone up." She clapped, excitedly.

I rolled my eyes. "Not when that person is my ex."

"I think that'd be even more fun."

"I still care about Jack, I don't want Noah to assault him." I laughed.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "Your call, but I think it'd be fun. Also, it seems like Noah has a good head on his shoulders. I doubt he'd actually stoop low enough to fight at a frat party."

Bella was right. Noah wasn't the type to fight someone just for the hell of it. He wouldn't make a scene like that for no reason.

"Okay, you're right. Lets all go." I decided.

Bella grinned ear to ear. "Yay, I'm so excited. We need to go shopping for party clothes."

"Oh, God." I said, plopping on my bed.

thank you guys for reading!!! hope u like the ~drama~ that ensues ;)))

sorry there wasn't much of noah in this chapter! he'll be in it ALL next chapter :))