The New Kid: a Noah Beck Fanfiction *completed*

12

The rest of the table was still engaged in their conversations, and I looked at my hands in my lap. "Noah, I want to tell you something. I don't know if it's super important, but these next few weeks bring up some memories for me, and I think that it's only fair that I share those with you."
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Noah murmured, rubbing my back gently.
"No," I shook my head, "I want to. Last year, Ryland and I went to homecoming together. Everything was fine, but about halfway through the dance, he decided that he wanted to leave."

The bell rang, and Noah and I got up and began walking to calculus. "He wanted to try some new fast food restaurant an hour away, and he gave me his phone to look up the directions. We got about thirty minutes away, and he got a notification."
I could tell that, by the look on Noah's face, he knew where the story was going.
"There's a girl that graduated last year, and her name was Kelianne. she texted him, asking when he was going to ditch me and come over to finish what they had started on a previous day. I didn't even ask about it. I just told him that I wasn't feeling well, and I wanted to go home. When we pulled into my driveway, I told him that I had seen the text, and I told him that we were done. He didn't fight it. He asked if we could still be friends, and I agreed, but after that night, I never spoke to him again."

We made it to our seats in the calculus classroom, and Noah put an arm over my shoulder. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to have gone through that."
I shrugged and turned my mind to the derivatives that the teacher was explaining. If I thought too hard about it, I would start crying.

The rest of the day flew by, and Nessa and I left our last class to meet Addison at her locker. When we got there, Addison, Dixie, and Mads were already waiting. "Cynthia, Avani, and Amelie are gonna meet us at my house. We'll have to leave a little bit earlier for the game. The cheer coach wants me to give advice to the freshmen or something. I'm not really sure," she said, laughing.
We piled into Addison's car, and she immediately started blaring music. It was good to have our Friday night rituals back.
When we walked into Addison's house, Sheri was waiting. "Oh, I've missed pre-game nights! Are you girls hungry? I just cut up some fruit."
We thanked her, taking the fruit tray and heading up to Addison's room. We all watched as she curled her hair and put it into her signature game day high pony.

"Mads, do you remember how we're supposed to do our hair tonight?" Cynthia asked, pulling a brush through her hair.
"Double French braids," Mads replied, already sectioning her own hair.
It was just like old times, and I was beyond excited for tonight's game. Blake, Jaden, and Quinton were all varsity starters this year, and I couldn't wait to watch my best friends do what they do best.

"Are y'all ready?" Addison asked, turning to adjust her cheerleading uniform in the mirror.
We all nodded and piled into Addison and Amelie's cars. The drive to the game was almost silent. When we got to the football field, Griffin, Noah, Josh, Anthony, and Bryce were waiting for us. Addison, Cynthia, and Mads headed into the stadium to get ready for their performances, and the rest of us climbed up the bleachers, shoving ourselves into the front of the student section.

Noah and I stood close to one another, and his arm rested around my waist. I let out a sigh of contentment. "You okay?" Noah asked, pulling me a little bit closer to him.
"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "This is my favorite time of the year. The air is crisp, and football is my favorite sport to watch. Everything just feels right."
Noah kissed the top of my head, and we watched as Addison set the cheerleaders up for the team's entrance.
We cheered loudly as we watched Blake and Jaden, this year's team captains, lead the team onto the field. Their energy and excitement were contagious, and the crowd was going wild before the game even had a chance to begin.

At half time, the dance team displayed themselves in the center of the field, and my friends and I cheered again as we watched Cynthia and Mads kill their routine.
"Noah," I whispered to him when the routine was over. "You like it here more than at your old school?"
He looked down at me. "Well, my old school didn't have one of you, so yes, very much so."
I giggled at how cheesy his response was as I wrapped my arms around his neck. Normally, I wouldn't have been so eager to get publicly cozy with someone, especially this early, but something about Noah was different. I couldn't place it, but it made me feel like everything was going to be okay, no matter what happened.

As Jaden scored the game-winning touchdown, we all started packing up our belongings. All the girls waited at the gates for Addison, Cynthia, and Mads, and the boys headed back to Bryce's house.
"I cannot wait to let loose at this party," Addison sighed as she plopped down into the driver's seat. "The first game is always exhausting."
"I bet that it's even worse when you're the head cheerleader," I added, rubbing her shoulder.
Dixie laughed. "You did great, Addi. Don't stress about it."

When we got to Addison's house, Sheri had already set out all of Addison's makeup in the living room. She was no stranger to our Friday night rituals, and she knew that the next stop would be a party somewhere. She didn't care what we did, as long as we were safe and called if we needed a ride.