This is War

Chapter 29

Chapter 29 

"Footloose!" 

"The Vow!" 

"Bring it On!" 

Olivia groaned in frustration, "Natalie, please tell these two imbeciles that we should watch Footloose." 

"No, we should watch The Vow!" Kate exclaimed, jumping up from the ottoman she was sitting on. 

"Bring it on is obviously the better movie out of all three!" Margo huffed, folding her arms and glaring at the other two girls who just glared right back at her. 

You see, this was a girl's night ritual, World War III over which movie we would watch. 

Honestly, out of all three I'd probably pick Bring it On, but I picked Margo's movie last time, so instead I got up, walked over to Kate's movie shelf and pulled out my favorite movie, "How about She's the Man?" 

"Yeah!" They all chorused together, the huge argument already forgotten at the idea of watching this movie. It's amazing, really, how weird my group of friends and I are. 

Kate snatched the DVD from my hand and got to work with setting it up on the large flatscreen TV in her living room. Olivia plopped down across from me on the giant jigsaw puzzle of blankets and pillows on the floor, "So?" 

I furrowed my eyebrows and Margo joined her, "So what?" 

Kate dropped down next to me, "We want to know what's going on between you and Noah!" 

"Seriously," Margo agreed, nodding excitedly. 

"N-nothing's 'going on'," I answered, stammering and my cheeks betrayed me as a blush rose up on my cheeks. 

"Spill!" Olivia squealed and slapped my arm. 

I scrunched my nose, rubbing my arm, "Ow. But there's nothing to spill, trust me! Nothing's happened between Noah and I!" 

"Well is there something that is going to happen between you two?" Kate questioned, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

Rolling my eyes, I shoved her over, but before I could answer, my phone started ringing. 

"Gee, I'd love to stay and chat, but that's my phone!" I jumped up and crossed the living room, glaring and throwing it back when Olivia threw a pillow at me. 

Picking up my phone, I answered, "Hello?" 

"Hey, Natalie, it's Noah," The voice on the other end introduced itself and I furrowed my eyebrows. 

"Uh, hey?" I questioned his calling me. 

He gave off a slight chuckle, "Ah, yeah, uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to come over and we could hang out or something?" 

I bit my lip, contemplating the situation, "Is this some type of prank, Noah? Like you tricked me into the truce and then you're going to pull some big  huge prank on me?" 

"No, no, no!" He answers in a rushed voice. "It's not like that, I promise." 

Pursing my lips, I sighed, "Well I'm at Girl's Night right now." 

"Oh, yeah, no I get it, it's fine," He trails off. 

"But," I interjected, "I suppose I could try and get out of it." 

"Oh, cool!" He answers, excitedly before clearing his throat. "I mean, uh, yeah sounds cool." 

I smiled, "I'll be there in about 20." 

"See ya," He dismisses and the line clicks dead. 

The girls are babbling animatedly, discussing the rumor that Queen B (Beyonce) was pregnant again. Margo was saying she is, Olivia was saying she isn't and Kate kept repeating that she was Switzerland. 

 Plopping down next to them, I leaned my head on Olivia's shoulder, "Olivia is definitely right." 

"What?!" Screeched Margo. 

But Olivia knew better, "What's your excuse to ditch us on girl's night this time?" 

Sighing, I shrugged, "I don't know. Just an invite to go somewhere." 

"A party?" 

"A game?" 

"A study club?" 

"No, no and no," I answered, giving Margo a weird look for that last suggestion. 

Before I knew what was happening, Kate snatched my phone and unlocked it, immediately seeing my recent calls. Her jaw dropped, "You're going to hang out with Noah!" 

"What?!" The other two chorused with the same amount of surprise. 

I sighed, "He called me and asked if I wanted to hang out and I was kind of curious because obviously that's never happened before so I said yes." 

"Yeah, sure that's the only reason," Kate said, a smirk on her face. 

Olivia and Margo giggled. 

Rolling my eyes, I stood up, "Bye! I'll see you guys at school tomorrow on Monday and I promise I won't bail next girl's night!" 

"Yeah, yeah!" Olivia waved me off before diving right back into their argument of is Beyonce pregnant or not. The last thing I heard before walking out the door was Margo exclaiming, "But, wait, what movie are we going to watch now?!" 

Quickly ducking out, I slipped into the frigid car, slipping on my gloves before handling the icy cold steering wheel. The November air was already cold and bitter, threatening frostbite. It was actually kind of surprising, how cold it was this early on into the winter. 

 Starting the car, I immediately turned on the heat and pulled my jacket around me a little tighter before backing carefully out of Olivia's driveway and driving down to the end of her road. 

The directions to Noah's house were simple from here, and thank god I had remembered from that god awful dinner party I had to go to. 

Turning left, I made my way down the main road until I had to take a right onto the street that led to the rich development, where all the big houses were and where Noah lived. 

Nervousness began to bubble up inside of me like a boiling pot of water. I bit my lip, second-guessing my decision to agree and hang out with Noah alone. I should've said no. God, why was I always so stupid? Sighing as I pulled into his driveway, I turned off the car but kept my hands on the steering wheel. 

Too late to change my mind now. 

Pulling out the keys, I grabbed them and my bag and walked up to the front porch, taking in a deep breath and exhaling, the vapor of the heat from my mouth swirling in a white, frosty cloud in front of my face. 

With one last mental pep talk, I knocked on the door three times. 

∞

a/n: and that's all you get for chapter 29!! I'm so evil lol. okay well as usual sorry for all of the delayed updates. In about four weeks I should be back on schedule though because that's when I'll be done babysitting this boy after school during my normal "writing time". Anyways, thanks for your patience and you all really mean a lot to me. ♥

SPOILER: not really a spoiler but Nat and Noah hang out and two surprises at the end so yeah :)