Noel (completed!)

Chapter 6. The bonfire

When we pulled up to the Brian's house I was very surprised. The 'house' was bigger than our dorm rooms! Brian brushed it off saying it was basically like a dorm room for locals. I rolled my eyes but got out of the truck. We walked around the side of the building and saw the glow of a fire.

Thankfully there were only a few people there, and no Loren! I vaguely recognized all of them from school. The three guys that were sitting by the fire were the ones always around Brian. I'd seen them plenty but didn't even know their names. As we approached everyone stood up.

"Hey everyone! This is my Brie! And her friend Noel." Brian announced much to my horror but I smiled a tiny bit and waved. Brie stayed glued to Brian, making me very much a third wheel. Thankfully Brian at least had the sense to introduce me.

"Noel, Brie, this is Jacob, Zach, and Michael. We've known each other basically since birth. Jacob and Zach are twins." I looked at the two red heads. They looked identical in every way. Same pale blue eyes, same freckles, and both built like star football players. They both smiled mischievously at me. "Michael here, is the headmasters-"

"That's enough." The guy pointed out as Michael quickly interrupted. I looked at him momentarily stunned. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever met. It was dark but from the light of the fire I could tell he had smooth tanned skinned and well defined muscles. His hair was chestnut brown and messy. I could see the reflection of the fire dance in his almost golden eyes. He didn't smile at me but seemed to be asking a thousand questions with his eyes. He kept his arms tightly folded across his chest.

"Nice to meet you Noel, hope you have some fun. But please don't wander into the forest. Would hate to have to go searching for you again." He stated with a little bit of distaste behind his voice. Which Instantly made me angry.

"Look, I'm sorry everyone had to search for me. I didn't mean for that to happen. But sue me. I'm sure I'm not the first it's happened to." I spit out with so much venom is surprised me, I could feel the anger leaking off of me. I'm normally pretty relaxed but apparently not tonight. Maybe that time of the month was approaching.

Suddenly, a head-splitting pain came on me again. I choked back a scream as I fell to my knees with my head in my hands. Again, it felt like my necklace was burning me. This time the head pain wasn't quite as bad but the necklace was getting worse. It felt heavy and very hot. Just as quickly as before, it passed. I was left feeling exhausted. I leaned back sitting my butt on the ground and picked my necklace off my skin. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it did feel warm to the touch.

Brie was next to me. "Are you okay?" She ask, genuinely concerned for me.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I don't know why I keep getting those but it's gone now. I'm just going to sit here a minute and relax by the fire." I replied to put her at ease and shooed her away towards Brian. Everyone was still looking at me with a worried expression. I just shrugged and went back to watching the fire. Ignoring the judgement in their stares.

I was doing a fabulous job of blending in so far I thought while rolling my eyes.

At some point I laid down and fell asleep. I was cozy and warm on the ground when someone nudged me with their foot. I woke up glaring daggers at the foot that dared to wake me up. I followed it up to the man it belonged to. None other than Michael.

"What kind of man, wakes up a lady with his shoe?! Talk about rude!" I spat out while sitting up looking around for Brie. She was no where in sight. In fact there was no one else here. Ugh! The anger from earlier still coursing through me, seeming to gain momentum as it does.

Michael actually chuckled a bit. Doing nothing to calm the anger I felt.

"Your friend fell asleep so Brian took her home. I volunteered to take you." Michael said with a smile which surprised me. He smile was so beautiful it almost completely disarmed me, almost.

"No worries. Wouldn't want to impose. I'll just walk back." I hotly replied, still slightly fuming how I was woken up.

"Now what kind of man would I be if I allowed you to walk home in the dark, alone, so close to the woods?" He ask with his eye brows raised and a smile tugging at his lips. I sighed giving in and reached my hand out for him to help me up.

He looked at my hand with a strange expression then grabbed it to help me up. He had a pained expression on his face.

"Come on I'm not that heavy." I said while rolling my eyes, "or are you as much of a baby as Brian?"

Michael chuckled lightly at that and just shook his head. He led me to his truck, another rusty but sturdy old truck. His was red, but very similar to Brian's.

"What is it with you guys and these beaters?!" I questioned once in the truck.

Michael laughed. And it sounded like music to my ears. My heart fluttered a bit.

"Don't be hatin' on old red. He's gone through Hell and back and still running. Never left me stranded." He replied jokingly with a wink. I liked this side of him. He was loosening up. Suddenly, I remember what Brian was saying before Michael interrupted. Now that Michael was being friendly I was curious.

"So... what was Brian saying about you and the headmaster?" I question leaning towards him. He stared at me and blinked twice before looking at the road and sighing.

"Well... he's my dad." He begrudgingly admitted. He peeked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Mr Lincoln is your dad??" I all but shouted back at him. Just the though of Mr. Lincoln made me feel on edge.

"Yeah... I prefer it if people don't know... when I can help it. People treat me different." He admitted with a shrug. I felt guilt race through me. His secret wasn't equivalent to mine but I felt the need to share since he did.

"I'm an orphan. I grew up in a group home and worked my butt off to get here. I don't really like people to know either." I admitted looking down at my lap.

He, like everyone else, looked at me with sad eyes. Oh how I hate the sad eyes

"Look, I just felt I owed you something in return. Don't go giving me sad eyes. I hate it. That isn't who I am, just happens to be what I've gone through." I threw my words at him. "Stupid sad eyes. I should slap them off your face." I mumbled very low and to myself. But somehow he heard me.

Michael was basically rolling with laughter. He had to pull over so he wouldn't wreck. When he seemed to finally be dying down I finally decided to speak again.

"It's really not that funny." was all I said while crossing my arms in front of my chest and looked out the window. He didn't say anything so I looked over to see him leaning towards me with a tear running down his face. Still a huge stupid happy grin on his face.

"Oh and now look, big baby is crying." I said, still annoyed. He just looked at me and we both started laughing. By the end of it we were both gasping for breath from laughing so hard. I looked at him and smiled, which he returned with his own dazzling smile. Maybe just maybe, Brie won't be the only one to find someone so quickly.

Michael chuckled some more and pulled back on the road. We talked and joked for the rest of the ride home. When we got to the dorm, he put his truck in park then I quickly opened and stepped out the door. I thanked him for the ride and walked up to the door. He waited until I opened the door then took off back down the road. I sighed and went inside.

I quickly went to my room, changed into pajamas and got under my blankets. I replayed my ride with Michael in my head. I was smiling from ear to ear. My heart felt full and happy. I fell asleep with his beautiful laughter ringing in my ears.

Over the next few weeks I really got close to Michael. Brie was always with Brian so it made sense. I was really enjoying spending time with them. But I did notice that whenever the guys were around, which was nearly always, that Amy was not. We were growing apart and that made me sad. I made a mental note to go talk to her.