The Secrets We Share

NINETEEN

Dawn

It was only when I was lying in bed later that night still hyped from the kiss that I realised he'd said 'screw this'. 

Screw what? Screw the fact that he'd waited too long for this? Or was there some inner voice inside him saying 'don'tkissherdon'tkissherdon'tkissher' and he'd kissed me anyway?

I contemplated this for about five seconds, then went back to bouncing on my bed and unable to get the smile off my face and go to sleep. 

Of course, I eventually drifted off.

*

The sun was high in the sky by the time I reached school. I hoped I would be able to spot Noah soon- we'd set the big tree near the hall as our meeting place.

I wove my way through a group of people chatting while eating food that made my mouth water, was bumped by an old lady's shopping bag, and eventually was rammed into a pole by a string of loud girls, one of which was gesturing wildly and smacked my head into the aforementioned pole.

Sighing loudly, I rubbed my forehead and walked towards the tree, which was now in view, as well as Noah, who was leaning against the tree and looking over the crowd for me. When our eyes met, his eyes seemed to light up and he pushed off the tree trunk and hurried forwards, dodging people. 

"Hey," he finally said as soon as he passed the last couple of people that had separated us. 

"Hi," I returned, feeling a tinge of red creeping up my neck as I remembered last night. He seemed to realize this too, so he looked around a touch nervously and said, "D'you want to check out the Trash & Treasure stall... or some food stalls?"

"I don't mind," I replied, glancing over to the cupcake stall, which had a long line of people- which put me off. It was also the only one I was thinking to waste my money on.  But with the amount of people hanging around it, I wanted to wait a little while first.

He agreed silently, taking my hand and leading me through throngs of loud people as we reached the Trash & Treasure stall, which was set up in the gym. "So," he said quietly as we walked through the doors, "Is there anything in particular that you want to look at?"

"Books," I replied instantly, laughing. "You?"

"Um, I don't know. There normally isn't much to look at, really."

Nudging his shoulder jokingly and feeling a thrill travelling up my spine, I felt a shiver of excitement go through me. 

"Are you cold?" Noah asked instantly, already taking off his jacket. 

"Oh no, I'm, uh, good," I said, feeling a surge of gratitude that he noticed and cared.

We walked towards the book section, past the jewellery, which looked like it needed some investigating, and I jumped when I recognized some famous books. 

"I might be a while," I told Noah, my eye on those books and the people also looking through them. "Just wait a little bit; is that okay?"

"Yeah, go ahead." He smirked at my passion for books so I smacked his arm.

I turned excitedly to the books and told my arms to be ready for the heavy weight. 

For ten minutes, while I looked through the books for damage, heaved them into my arms, and brought them to the desk for payment, I didn't quite know what Noah was doing- I just knew that he was hanging around the back where the jewellery was at. He was probably waiting for me to come check it out.

"Hey,"I said breathlessly when I reached his side. "I might be a little slow today because I've got all these books to carry now," I added, smiling ruefully. "What are you looking at here?"