The Middle - Volume Two ✔️

Chapter 57 (Noah)

Noah

As soon as Zach, Kim and I are on the road, I breath a sigh of relief. I am actually really looking forward to going home now. The thought of going to Macy's with my mom even sounds good right about now. Anything to get some time away from North Bridge.

"You gonna miss Jamie?" Kim turns around in the passenger seat to face me. Zach's driving, and I'm sitting in the back.

"We'll be back on the Fourth." I reply dismissively, before fixing my gaze on the window. Kim exhales sharply and turns back around so that she's facing ahead.

"Just ignore him." Zach says to Kim. "He has issues."

"You think?" Kim replies sarcastically, and they both laugh at my expense.

"Being deaf isn't one of those issues." I mutter.

"Did you guys exchange gifts this morning at least?" Zach asks.

"We aren't doing gifts. Why would we?" I say sharply. Why would he even ask me that? He knows me.

"Um, because you guys are dating maybe?" Kim says condescendingly. I choose to ignore her.

"Don't say the D word in front of him." Zach whispers to his girlfriend.

"Still not deaf." I mumble.

"Zach and I got together the night of the Snow Ball." Kim points out, like I didn't know that already. "And so did you and Jamie. We're doing gifts. Why aren't you?"

Again, I ignore her. I'm not comparing me and Jamie to her and Zach. She shouldn't either.

"Just leave it, Kim. He's a weirdo. You know that already." Zach says.

"I know, it's just... Poor Jamie. She was probably expecting something from you, Noah. Even if she said she didn't want anything. Girls are confusing like that."

She keeps talking about this, I'll just keep ignoring her.

"Zach asked me to come to New York with him, but you didn't ask Jamie. Why didn't you invite Jamie?"

"Kim, seriously. Don't make comparisons. He might implode." Zach says quietly.

I roll my eyes and rest my head back against the car seat. They need to stop talking about this, or I really will implode.

"You need to consider her feelings, Noah." Kim goes on. "Good boyfriends buy Christmas presents for their girlfriends. You should have done that, at the very least."

"She's not my girlfriend." I snap.

"Shit. Kim, undo it. Undo it." Zach says quickly.

"She isn't?" Kim turns to face me again. She looks horrified. "So, what are you guys, then?"

"None of your business."

"Dude, not cool. Don't be rude." Zach calls over his shoulder.

"Keep your eyes on the road." I reply.

"Well keep your rude comments to yourself." Zach scolds me. Whatever, he was a rude asshole too barely three months ago. I have no problem reminding him of that in front of his girlfriend if he keeps up this shit with me.

"Seriously, Noah." Kim says, looking at me in interest. "What is the deal with you and Jamie? You're not a couple, fine. Are you gonna ask her to be your girlfriend?"

"No." I say automatically. I don't want a girlfriend. I never have. Just because I'm fucking a girl I like, doesn't mean I need to be her boyfriend.

"Why not?!" Kim can't believe her ears.

"Just because, Kim." I say with a sigh, I'm not getting into this. "Now talk to your boyfriend, I'm going to sleep."

"Didn't get much sleep last night, huh?" Zach says lightly, trying to get rid of the tension in the car.

"No, actually. I didn't. Night, night."

I lay my head back and look up at the roof of the car. Kim turns around again, finally giving up on this annoying conversation. It was bad enough last night, when Jamie brought up this shit herself. I really wasn't expecting it. I thought she was cool with things between us as they are, but apparently not. I don't get it, though. She knows I don't wanna be anyone's boyfriend, we've talked about it at length plenty of times before. Just because I've accepted the fact that I have feelings for her, and I wanna be with her as much as I can, doesn't mean that's changed now. We're in a good place, and I have never so much as suggested that I want her to be my girlfriend. So where is this shit coming from now? Why can girls never just be happy with a casual thing? Why do they always need more? Things are fine between me and Jamie the way they are. She wants to do stuff other than fuck, and I've taken that on board. One of the first things I wanna do with her after the holidays is take her to the movies. I think she'll like that. It's a normal type of date situation, right? I can do that. I wanna make her happy, I just need her to know that this is probably as good as it's gonna get. And I need to try and lighten up when we're around other people together. I guess I could go over to her place when her dad's home. That would make her happy too. But I'm not her boyfriend. What reason would I have for spending time with her dad? I really don't understand what she expects from me. But I shook off that weird talk we had last night, and I'm putting it behind me. I think she was satisfied with everything I said. And as for the exclusive thing, fuck me. Way to put me on the spot. I don't wanna go chasing after other girls, she knows that. But still, I don't like the label. It makes it all feel so serious.

You know what? I'm not thinking about this anymore. I'm leaving North Bridge, and I'm leaving all of these shitty thoughts behind too. I'm glad I'm going home for a while, I need the space right now. As much as I've enjoyed hanging out with Jamie and fucking her on an almost daily basis over the past two weeks, I'm glad I'm getting some distance. This will do me good. It'll do her good too. We aren't a couple, we don't need to spend the holidays together or exchange gifts or see each other all the time. She knows that as well as I do. She'll enjoy the holidays without me, and I'll enjoy the holidays without her. Good. This is good.