Summer

Chapter 27

I run to my closet to change out of my silk pajamas and into black leggings and an oversized George Washington University sweatshirt that I got from orientation. I hate myself for putting my night on hold to attend to Noah after he treated me the way that he did, but Justin made it sound like this was urgent.

I slip into my low-top, white converses and lightly make my way downstairs because the last thing I want to do is wake Liam, even though he has a tendency to sleep through anything. And by anything, I mean anything.

I grab the keys to the silver metallic Mercedes G-Class SUV that Liam rented us. Technically, he prefers us asking Howard for rides, but, considering it's almost 2 am, that's not really an option right now.

Once I deactivate the house alarm, I proceed for the garage and hop into the car, putting it in reverse before backing out carefully. The streets are pretty deserted, so I'm able to make it to Justin's house in under 10 minutes.

When I pull up, I'm glad to find that the party is over. However, the black pickup truck in the driveway is a sign that Noah's still here.

I use the brass door knocker to let Justin know that I'm outside, and it takes him about a minute to answer.

"Sorry for making you wait," he greets me. "We have a little bit of a situation."

Justin leads me into his house, and I'm stunned to find his luxurious living room completely destroyed. To my right, there's a bunch of broken glass, and, to my left, there's some sort of liquid covering the marbled floors and suede sofa. There's also a huge hole in the wall by the piano.

"What happened?" I'm trying not to sound worried, but this looks bad, and despite the fact that Justin appears pretty calm right now, I'm sure he's freaking out inside.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" he says, implying the obvious.

"Don't tell me Noah did this." I place my hands on my hips, still stunned by the mess before me. All Justin does is nod. "Why?"

"To be honest with you, I don't really know the whole story. Apparently, he was hanging outside with some girl — Anna? Hannah? — but when he came back inside, he seemed pissed, and proceeded to make his way to the kitchen where he poured himself several drinks. I didn't think much of it until Anna slash Hannah followed him into the kitchen and brought up your name. That's when it got bad."

"My name?"

"Well, technically, she referred to you as Cassie's prude cousin, but she kept asking Noah why a guy like him would give two shits about a girl like you. He lost his shit and basically told her to get the fuck out. I don't think it helped that Noah was drunk, either. Anyways, things escalated when Cecilia decided to involve herself. I swear that girl has no sense of reality. She started talking shit about you out loud to everyone. I'm not going to repeat what she said because that girl has a foul fucking mouth, but that's when Noah went apeshit and started kicking everyone out. Only a few people listened, and when the rest didn't, like Cecilia and her posse of whores, he started to break things to get them to leave. Hence the shattered glass and alcohol all over my mom's new rug — which, by the way, she's going to kill me for."

"Then, Greg — you know Greg, right? — tried to calm Noah down, which probably wasn't the smartest move. It just triggered him to get physical. Long story, short, he sent Greg into that wall over there," Justin says as he points to the damaged drywall. "Listen, I know Noah. He didn't mean to hurt anyone, but he lets his anger get the best of him sometimes, especially when the 'sometimes' involve you."

I stand there blankly, attempting to process everything Justin's telling me, but nothing's adding up. Who am I kidding, does it ever with Noah?

The only way I can get answers is if I tell Justin what happened tonight, which is what I do. I tell him everything from me catching Noah outside with that girl to him chasing after me and telling me that he's not right for me.

"I don't understand," I tell him. "Why would Noah act like this when he doesn't even care about me?"

"Doesn't even ca-," Justin cuts his response off with a chuckle. "That's where you're wrong, Sophia. That's where you're very wrong." I skew my lips and give him a confused look. "I think it's best if you talk to Noah. He's in my room."

"Hell no, I'm not going up there. If he wants to talk to me, he can come down here."

"That might be a tad bit hard for him to do. You see, if he moves from my bed, I can assure you he will not make it down here in one piece."

Lovely.

"Fine," I fake a smile and gesture to the stairs. "Lead the way."

Justin waits by the bottom of the staircase, and just as my feet are about to hit the second step, he stops me. "Oh, and before I forget. Thanks for doing this, Fee."

I smile. "You're welcome."

Do you think Sophia made the right move in going back to Justin's house or should she have stayed home? Comment with your thoughts!