The Pickpocket's Angel

7. Slow Dancing

Noah's POV

I knew I had seen her somewhere before. Her blonde hair and her curious forest green eyes. She was familiar to me but I couldn't piece it together. At least I didn't until I found her that night with her cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk. It hit me hard and I felt incredibly stupid for not realizing it before. She's the girl from Fremont Street.

It made me worry. If I could remember her maybe she has remembered me? Would she be suspicious of me if she knew I was there the same night as her? Is she looking for the person who stole her money? Or was she too drunk to remember anything? All of these questions and many more run through my brain. I don't want her to recognize me and to keep her from recognizing me I'll avoid her. Like the plague.

...

It was stupid of me to think I could avoid Lei Ballard because it seems like she is everywhere I go. Not that she pays attention to me, she ignores me like I don't live across the hall from her and like I can't hear her sing in the shower each morning. It has been a week since I was introduced to her. We haven't had a single conversation since then. But every single day I see her and every single day I become more interested in her.

I'm walking to the apartment after work, my hands in my pockets and my eyes on the cement. I'm dazing in my thoughts until I realize that a car has been driving next to me. I tense up and my hands clench into fists and I duck down to look at the driver.

Oh

It's Adrian. He waves at me and he gestures for me to get into the car, I open the door and slide into the passenger seat.

"Hello, roommate!" He grins brightly and playfully punches my shoulder.

"Hey."

He looks at me weirdly, knowing there's something wrong. He waits to see if I'll tell him what's going on and when I don't-

"Is everything alright?" he asks me quizzically.

"Yes, everything is absolutely perfect." I over exaggerate and lean my chair back to enjoy my ride home. I thought this would finish our conversation but no. Because Adrian is Adrian and Adrian is nosy.

"You know, I thought you and Lei would hit it off but I haven't seen you guys have a conversation since you drank her milk," he glances over at me, "Is it because she called you a stalker? You know she probably didn't mean it." He pauses waiting for my answer and when I don't, he continues talking.

"Actually she definitely meant it. You should've told her who you were. Instead of being a dumbass and making me do it." He glares at me.

"Wow, you are really boring today. I don't like it." He hits my head and I glare at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm being a jerk. I couldn't stop thinking about my parents today." The lie came out easy and his face immediately softened.

Adrian has always been there for me, especially when I lost my parents. His family took me in and he helped me out. We became brothers and my life was pretty good for a while. So he knows and understands how I feel and why I'm down sometimes.

"I'm sorry man, I'm the jerk. Sometimes I just need to shut up when you don't want to talk." He says solemnly.

"Yeah, you do." He cracks a smile and I grin.

"What do you want to listen to?" I turn on the radio as we both become more relaxed.

"How about some Dan&Shay?" he suggests.

"You're such a girl."

"Am not."

...

We barely finished listening to "Speechless" which is apparently Adrian's favorite song today and now we have arrived at the apartment. I step out of the car and I turn around to see Adrian is still in the car.