"I'm never playing beer pong again. And no more parties" I tell my friends after they've given me the 4-1-1 of what happened last night.
"Come on, you were having fun" Eli tells me. "It wasn't that bad, much better than those other parties you dragged us too"
"I told you it would be" Avery replies. Last night was a lot of fun, until Gabriel ruined it, twice.
"Still, I'm never going again" I tell them
"What happened to you? When I woke up Gabriel said you'd left" she asks. Obviously hurt that I'd left her there, even though I didn't, but I can't tell her that.
"I don't really know, beer-pong was the last thing I remember" I lie. I can't lose one of the only friends I've ever had, all over some jerk who messed me around. "I woke up in some random room. I looked for you but I assumed Eli took you home already" I know I shouldn't be lying to my friends, and it's killing me to do it.
"I tried to bring you both home, but Avery kept insisting on staying and you were preoccupied" he gives me a look. He knows, he must know.
"I feel so bad. I think I might die. Why aren't you more hungover Norah, it's so annoying" Avery moans her head hovering over a bowl. Maybe the constant arguing with Gabriel sobered me up. .
"I feel better than I deserve" I wish I had a bad hangover, it would make me feel better for betraying and lying.
"Gabriel was in a right mood last night" Eli says.
"Tell me about it" I mutter to myself quietly.
"Avery was telling me all the things he was saying to you. He can be a right asshole sometimes"
"Yeah, I'm sorry Norah, I don't know what's up with him lately. He's usually really nice" Avery tells me. Great so he's only horrible to me.
"I know he's your friend, and that you like him and all. But I am staying as far, far away from him" And I mean it.
"Don't blame you" Eli says.
"I don't know why he hates you so much. It's weird" Avery says, and moans back onto her bed. "All I know is that I'm never drinking again" We all know that's not true. I spend the next couple hours trying to calm my anger towards Gabriel and forget all about the last few days.
"WE'RE GOING order a Chinese and watch a movie if your game?" Avery asks peering into my room while I'm sketching. She's obviously feeling better after her two-day hangover.
"We?" Wondering if Gabriel will be there. If he is then I already know my answer.
"Just Eli and I" Avery comes over to my desk, looking at all the sketches I've laid out. She starts peering through them all, gazing intently at each picture.
"Gabriel said you could draw, but I didn't know you were this good," she says in amazement with her mouth open in shock. So he's been talking to her about me.
"You do know I'm an art major right?" I joke with her.
"I know, but now I can see why you're in third-year classes" she gazes, studying my work. I always feel uncomfortable whenever someone compliments me.
"Who are all these people?" she asks looking through more papers.
"Some are people I know from back home, some are strangers I've seen around" I tell her.
"Have you ever drawn me?" she asks. I nod a little embarrassed. Last time someone found out they screamed in my face.
"Really? Can I see?" she asks with excitement and wonder.
"Of course" I tell her. I have at least a couple hundred sketches somewhere around my room, unsure of where her drawings are. I remove the sketch of her and Eli from my wall and I pass it to her.
"When was this?" she asks me.
"That was from the first night we all hung out together" I tell her.
"And you remember it? Where we're sat, what we dressed like, our expressions" she asks in amazement.
"Yeah I guess I do. I've always been pretty good at remembering things and then putting them on paper" I tell her as I dig into my deep pile of drawings on my desk, looking for ones of her. I pull a few more out and she continues praising them until she stops and suddenly her perky attitude has softened down.
"What?" I ask her.
"I look so sad" she whispers, and I start to apologise but she says, "No. I like it. It's different"
I know what she means, she's always so perky and upbeat, and rarely shows off her vulnerable side. I used to think she didn't have one, but with an ex-boyfriend like Wyatt, there must be some baggage there.
"Can I have this?" she asks me, talking about the sad photo of her.
"Really? Course you can" I tell her. She keeps looking at it until she jumps up off the bed,
"Come on then, let's go order our food before Eli starts winging at us" regaining her bubbly voice. Once we get into Eli's room we all order a Chinese, and Avery's flicking through Netflix trying to find something for us all to watch. I brought my sketchbook and pencils along, just in case they end up picking a chick flick again.
"So 10 things I Hate About You or He's Just Not That Into You" Avery suggests. Like I suspected, chick flicks.
"Wow, someone's in a bad mood tonight" I joke.
"Why?" Avery replies confused by my words.
"You've picked two movies that are all about people disliking each other"
"Should be perfect for you then Norah" Eli makes fun of me.
"Ha-ha you're hilarious" I grab my pillow and I throw it at him. Avery starts 10 Things, and I'm quite surprised to find that it only marginally sucks. I end up putting my sketchbook down, getting into the movie a bit more than expected. Even if it is too lovey-dovey romance for me. My phone buzzes and I hope it's Meg finally calling me back. It's a text but I don't recognise the number.
- Hey, are you home?
N - Who is this?
- Gabriel. I'm outside your bedroom.
What in the world is he doing here? He can't just show up at the dorm whenever he wants. I need to get him out of here before he tells Avery everything that transpired between us.
"I'll be right back" I mutter to my friends and head out, straight towards my room where Gabriel is waiting.
"What are you doing here?" I ask as I open my door forcing him inside. Instead of answering me, he kisses me. His hands lace around my back and pull me into him, and for some reason I let him. I move my hands under his shirt so I can feel his tight muscular body. His kisses trail down against my body, his lips moving softly on me.
"Why are you here Gabriel?" I ask because it certainly wasn't so he could kiss me?
"I wanted to talk to you?" he tells me as he pulls back from me.
My guard goes back up again, "I'm busy spending time with my friends. And I need some space from you"
"You can't avoid me forever Norah. We have classes together and the same group of friends"
"Fine, but I really can't talk about this now. They're waiting for me" I go to move.
"Can't I stay? I promise I'll behave around Avery" he asks me hopefully.
"No, I haven't spent any time with them lately and I want to enjoy my night without you around. We'll talk tomorrow"
"Come on" he urges.
"You're lucky I'm even agreeing to see you again" I remind him, cause he's pushing his luck here.
"You're right. Let's meet at my place, say noon?" he suggests.
"I don't think that's a good idea"
"Why you're not sure you can control yourself if you're alone with me?" he laughs and trails his index finger down the skin of my arm slowly.
I shrug him off, "No, I don't want any of your friends to see me there"
"We're friends. We can hang out you know" he huffs at me. He can't seriously think we're friends. Friends don't do what we do to each other.
"I'll meet you at the coffee house"
"The one you stalk me at?" Why is he being so witty and charming with me? Can't he see that I'm upset with him? Still, it does make me smile... but only a little bit.
Just as I'm about to reply Avery's voice appears from outside my room, telling me that our foods here before she disappears.
"I have to go now" I open the door to check she's really gone, and I signal for Gabriel to leave.
"So tomorrow? Please come" he implores me as he brushes past.
"I already told you I would" I say a little less sternly to him, compared to how I've been before.
"Okay. Goodnight Norah" he says softly and walks off, taking one last glance at me before he vanishes. Why can I never say no to him? I swore to myself that I'd ignore him, but here we are kissing and agreeing to meet tomorrow. There already tucking into the food when I get back inside, so I start digging into my own noodles.
"Where did you go?" Eli asks and I start panicking over what excuse to give.
"My mum rang me" It's the first excuse that came to my head, so I said it.
"You're Mom" Avery asks surprised. I've never spoken about my family.
"Yeah" I stuff my face with more noodles, hoping they will drop it.
"I thought you didn't speak to your family" Eli's confused as he knows we don't get along.
"You don't talk to your own family?" she asks waylaid.
"Not really, no" I avoid answering the question, and hoping to avoid the whole conversation in general. But hope is a futile thing.
"Why?"
"Avery leave it" Eli warns her, knowing it's a sore subject for me But Avery ignores him and asks me again. It's not that I want to hide it from her, I just know that she won't understand. Her relationship with her family is the complete opposite of me and mine.
"You can't just ignore them. They're your parents" Disappointed in me, which is nothing new as most people are.
"I don't ignore them"
"Seems like it. I'd never treat my parents like that" she says.
"You don't even know them" I snap aggressively at her. Why is she getting so annoyed at me, it's none of her business. And why is she defending them?
"cause you never talk about them" she shouts at me.
"Stop it now!" Eli shouts at Avery. "If she wanted to talk about it she would, so drop it"
"She doesn't tell us anything" Avery says confused as to why he's not more upset with me. But it's true, I don't
"I don't get along with my family okay. There's really nothing more to tell you" I'm being evasive as I don't want them to know all of my family drama.
"Fine don't tell me. But how come you told Eli?" she's getting more hostile.
"She's not told me anything" Eli defends me. I know she's not going to be happy with anything but the truth.
"My family aren't like yours. I don't really speak to them cause we don't get along. I don't go out of my way to speak to people who have no interest in my life. I've heard from my parents once since I moved, and that over two months ago. They're busy thinking about themselves to give a shit about me" I say hoping that will be enough for her.
Avery just looks at me completely shocked by what I've told her, "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have assumed"
"My family is a touchy subject for me, so can we please just drop it" That was the last thing she expects me to say and now she feels guilty for pushing me to tell her. I try to change the subject, "Let's get back to the movie, yeah?" "I knew you were getting into this movie" Eli cheers, trying to break the tension. I poke my tongue out and him and roll my eyes. When I go to sleep that night, I end up dreaming of him and his blue eyes. The blue eyes that have haunted all my dreams as of late.
YOU ARE READING
Until Her...
RomanceNorah carries her bad attitude, troubled past and secrets along with her when she leaves her small town in England, in order to attend college in New York City. Norah's life becomes a tangled mess of lies, secrets and fearful love as she tries to na...
