Just Friends: A Noah Beck Story

6- Field Trip

20 minutes into the tour, we were allowed to wander off with our assigned buddy and Dixie hadn't even waited for the speech to finish before dragging Griff off.

Noah: *looking over at you*
"I guess that makes us temporary lab partners"

You: "You don't have to do that"

Noah: *laughing and pointing at the tank of sharks in front of you*
"Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't guard you against shark attack"

It felt almost like you'd never stopped being friends, things were going so smoothly. He talked to you about his favorite cookies still being the ones your mom makes and you don't hesitate to bring up the last time you visited the aquarium:

Noah: "Oh my God I did NOT pee my pants"

You: *laughing hysterically*
"You really did. You were trying to tell your mom you had to go to the bathroom but she wouldn't listen so we disappeared to find one ourselves and a security guard saw us wandering and when you saw him you thought you were under arrest and peed your pants right there"

Noah: "Holy crap. I totally remember that. You never told anyone at school about that, did you?"

You: "Nah... you were my best fri-" ....You can't bring yourself to finish that statement

Noah: *puts his arm around you and squeezes your shoulder*
"Y/N, always coming in clutch"

You load back onto the bus and find Dixie and Griff already cuddled up in a seat together. Noah slides in his seat and pulls you down next to him. You have no idea why you're suddenly so nervous touching him, you used to have sleepovers with this kid. You'd lay next to him in bed giggling under the covers with a flashlight as you snuck to read creepy stories past your bedtime. Sitting next to him now felt so confusing. 

Every inch of the your body felt pulled to him like a magnet and you would have given anything to have his arm around you again. He has to be feeling something too because he threw his bag next to him instead of between you ensuring you were crammed together

Noah: *offering up his 2nd earbud again*
"We have a while left, wanna watch a movie on my phone?"

You take it and when you sit back against the seat you feel his arm behind you letting you slip into place nuzzled at his side. You can't even hear the movie over the sound of your own heart beat pounding out of your chest. You prayed only you could hear it. When the bus pulls back up to the school you and Noah are completely invested in the ending of the movie you had spent the last two hours huddled up watching

You don't notice when Griffin stands over you trying to get Noah's attention, but as soon as Noah notices he jumps up and pulls his arm away.

Griffin: *shaking his head and laughing*
"I was just letting you know I don't need a ride home. I'm gonna go to Dixie's"

You felt your cheeks get warm and flush knowing what Griffin must be thinking about how cuddled you and Noah had been. Over the course of the busride you'd managed to end up with your head against his chest and your legs resting across his lap. After unloading, your mom still isn't answering while you nervously pace because school has been out long enough that Indiana is long gone. After hanging up again you close your eyes and tilt your head back sighing

Noah: *calling out from his car*
"Do you need a ride?"

You climb in and can't bring yourself to even look him in the face. All of the feelings and thoughts coming to the surface make you terrified that he might notice something has changed. He barely spoke to you the entire drive, was he feeling uneasy?

When you pulled up at home, you tried to stall by pretending to check your bag for the house key you knew was in your pocket but he said nothing so you hopped out and turned to say thank you as he waved goodbye. Your stomach dropped in disappointment hoping that the ride home would have been more eventful.