Finding You

Chapter Five- Late Night Visits

"You call that running?" Noah's voice shouts from the bleachers. "My grandma can move faster then you!"

"You just had to bring him, didn't you?" Nash grunts from beside me. We're running laps around the schools outdoor track. As Kayla had suggested yesterday, we are going out to get ice-cream tonight. She had offered to wait until we were done with running laps and then we could all head over together.

"He invited himself," I inform him. Kayla and James are sitting farther down the bleachers with their heads bent together, deep in conversation. We have two laps left to go.

"You could tell him to shut up."

"He won't stop just because I ask him to," I point out and I swear I can feel Nash roll his eyes.

"He'd probably do anything you ask," he mumbles and this time it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"Nash you're slowing down!" Noah shouts just as we start our last lap. "Looking good Chloe!"

I can't help it, a smile spreads across my face. Something about Noah just makes me feel so happy. Although I think Noah has the opposite effect on Nash. I glance over at Nash and he has a frown on his face. We start to near the end of the loop.

"Looser buys ice-cream!" I shout and I start to sprint. Nash matches his pace to mine and I know he's holding back on purpose, he chuckles. Him and his stupid long legs! Right before the end, I reach out and give Nash a little push side ways. It's not forceful enough to knock him over but it does the job in distracting him and it allows me to win our little race.

"That's my girl!" Noah shouts as he races toward us. Once he reaches me, he picks me up and spins me around, causing me to laugh. He sets me back on the ground and I hold on to his arm to steady myself.

We walk back toward the school where we can clean up and get changed. I get ready as quickly as possible and I meet the others up front. Kayla insists that I ride with her to the ice-cream parlour and I know she wants to know about Cade. I sigh and climb into the passenger seat. Right when she puts the car into reverse to back out of the parking spot, the back door opens and Noah slides in.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demand. He shakes the hair out of his eyes and shoots me a grin.

"Oh please, I want the same answers that Kayla does."

"And what answers are those?" I ask, eyeing them both.

"Who's Cade?" Kayla asks, trying very hard not to sound too excited. This was something I never wanted to have to explain to them. He is part of my past and it was a past I wanted to stay hidden. I start to fidget with my fingers. I avoid their stares and turn to look out the window.

"He's my ex-boyfriend, we dated for about three years and then we broke up because I moved," I sigh, I hope by keeping it simple they won't ask too many questions. "Last week we got into a fight, I was ignoring his calls and so he came for a visit."

"So did anything happen last night?" Noah asks, his voice sounds almost unsure, like maybe he's nervous about the answer.

"Not really," I shrug. "We talked and then he went home."

I shrug again and slouch down into my seat. I know they're not doing this to be mean or anything. This is what friends do and maybe if I was more normal, I would be sharing every detail of my night with Kayla. But I'm me and I suck at this. Kayla looks like she's thinking hard and then suddenly she brightens.

"You did more then talk! Spill it Chloe!" She shrieks, clearly excited. I sneak a peak at Noah and I think this is the first time I've seen him look anything but happy.