I didn't see Noah that day until lunch.
"Hey Addison." he says setting his tray down and sitting down next to me.
"I think I might try out for the volleyball team." I say picking at my food.
"Addison that's great. What position do you play?" he asks.
"Setter." I say looking down at the food on my plate.
"Oh, Ashley is our setter right now." he says.
"Yeah I know, we met and let's just say we did not hit it off."
"Why?" he asks.
"She got kind of bitchy with me so my old competitiveness came to the surface so I possibly might have pulled the 54 scholarships card" I say.
"54?" he says almost choking on his food.
"I'm better than I look." I say smiling a little.
"Damn, I can't even get a coach to shoot an email my way." he admits with a sad smile.
"Well you just have to put yourself out there. They don't come to you unless you go to them. Make them see you. Don't let them pick someone else." I say tapping my fork on my tray.
"Why did you stop playing Addison?" Noah asks leaning in close to me.
"It was the state title game last year. I went up for a block. As soon as I landed I knew that something was wrong. I had stress fractures in my leg that I didn't know about and the landing finished me off. I broke my leg , tore my ACL, and ruptured my Achilles tendon." I say.
Noah's eyes widen "Addison, how are you going to play? How are you even walking?"
"My family's got money, remember?" I say with a dry smile.
"You never did half ass anything, did you?" he says chuckling slightly.
"No, I never really figured out quite how to do that." I say a grin spreading across my face.
It's quiet for a couple minutes until Noah mutters,
"Your dad told us you are off limits."
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"That's why I didn't call you. We went to practice the morning after I went to see you in the hospital and he said you were off limits because you are doing stats. He said that we can't have the distraction on the sideline."
"Who the hell does he think he is." I yell heads turning to face me.
"Addison, calm down, okay?" Noah says grasping my hand in his.
"No, he always does this. He always meddles. He tries to control every aspect of my life and I'm tired of it. I'm 18 years old. I'm an adult." my voice continues to rise. I feel my throat begin to tighten. My vision becomes blurry and my breathing becomes erratic.
"Addison, lets go outside. Come on." Noah urges, taking my arm and practically dragging me out of the cafeteria.
He gets me outside and grabs my shoulder to keep me still.
"Addison, you're having an anxiety attack. You need to calm down." he commands.
It doesn't help and I continue to fade in and out.
Noah then takes my face in his hands and looks into my eyes "Come on Addison. Take a deep breath. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
I look into his bright green eyes and feel tears make their way into my blue ones.
Then Noah does something that I will never forget.
He presses his lips to mine.
My arms wrap around his neck and his hands tangle themselves into my hair. His tongue swirls around mine in perfect rhythm.
He breaks the kiss and pulls away slightly, our noses touching.
"You know, you don't have to use me being on the verge of death as an excuse to kiss me." I whisper, cracking a grin.
He smiles "It was my pleasure, Addison Daniels."
