The New Kid: a Noah Beck Fanfiction *completed*

14

"Ugh," I groaned. My head was pounding. When I felt a body next to mine, the events of last night's party came flooding back to me. 
"Hey, are you okay, Gracie?" Noah murmured next to me. 
I groaned in response, rolling out of the bed. I was still in last night's clothes, which was odd to me, but I decided not to address it.

When I headed down the hallway to the bathroom, Griffin was leaving it. "You look like shit," he laughed. 
"Haha. Move," I responded, pushing past him and shutting the door behind me. I looked in the mirror and realized that he wasn't kidding. My makeup was smeared all over my face, and my hair looked like I had gone through a twister. The bags under my eyes were pronounced, and the light made my head hurt. 
I washed my face quickly and opened the medicine cabinet, searching for the Advil.

"Griffin!" I yelled down the hallway. "Did you hide the Advil?"
I could hear Griffin yell back. "You bet I did!"
I ran down the hallway and made it to his doorway just as he slammed it shut. I pounded on the door. "Don't be an asshole! You know that I need it!"
I could hear Griffin and Dixie laughing in his room, and I sank against the door. I contemplated banging on it again, but I got up and went downstairs, grabbing the keys from the table by the door and heading out to the car. If Griffin wasn't going to give me the Advil, I would have to just go buy it myself.

When I got to CVS, I noticed that Blake and Amelie had had the same idea. "Hey, guys," I said, bending down to pluck a bottle off of the shelf.
"Well, if it isn't Grace Johnson," Blake replied. "You left pretty early last night."
"Yeah, you did. Can I ask what happened?" Amelie asked, wrapping her arm around Blake. 
I looked down at my feet. "I, um, I saw Ryland."
"Oh my God! Did you leave with him?" she asked. 
I looked at her like she was crazy. "Not a chance. I wouldn't do that to Noah. I saw him, and it may have caused me to drink a little bit more than I should've."
"So wait. How did you get home?" Blake asked. "We saw you go outside with Noah, but then he came back inside and you didn't."
"I don't remember much after I got in Noah's car, but I do know that he took me home," I explained as we headed up to the checkout lanes together. We both paid and went our separate ways.

When I got home, Griffin and Dixie were in the living room. "I beat you, bitch," I said, shaking the bottle in his direction. 
Griffin laughed. "I would've given it to you, but when I opened the door, you were gone."
"Yeah, okay. I doubt it. Weird question, but is Noah still here? His car wasn't in the driveway when I left, but I know that he was up in my bed when I left."
Dixie laughed as Griffin spoke. "You mean to tell me that there was a boy in your bed. Unbelievable. I am so disappointed in you."
"Whoa. Chill. As you can see, I'm still fully dressed in last night's clothes, so I'm almost positive that nothing happened," I explained, walking up the stairs and opening my bedroom door. 

Noah was sitting up in my bed, scrolling through his phone. 
"Oh, you are still here. Where's your car?" I asked, taking two Advil while I waited for his answer. 
"You told me to park in the garage," he explained, putting his phone down and looking at me. "Can we talk about last night? I know that we just met a few days ago, but I think that we should talk about what happened. Do you normally drink like that?"
I shrugged. "I don't really drink that often at all. It's usually only at Bryce's parties. I was planning on only drinking those two beers."
Noah looked skeptical, but he didn't question the drinking any further. "What about Ryland?"

"Noah," I sighed.
"I'm sorry. I just want to know what I'm getting myself into. I don't want to keep falling for you if you're interested in someone else."
The pained expression on Noah's face broke my heart. "Noah, I know that this is going to feel fast, but I like you a lot. I don't think that last night had anything to do with me having feelings for Ryland. I think that it's just hard for me to see him because I never really got closure. I only want you, Noah."
Noah crossed the room, wrapping me in a hug. "I'm sorry that I doubted you."

I led him downstairs, and we sat in the living room with Griffin and Dixie. "I'm really hungover. Can we go to that diner on Third? I need that breakfast scramble thing that they make," I suggested.
Everyone else looked at each other. "You know that none of the rest of us drank as much as you did right?" Dixie said with a concerned look on her face. 
"How much did you guys drink then?" I asked, looking around the room.
"Well, you drank the other half of my beer," Noah said. 
Dixie looked at me again. "Just the one beer."
"I only had one beer, too, sis," Griffin said, standing up. "I know how much you love the 'hangover cure' though, so let's go. 

We piled into Griffin's car, and he immediately turned the radio on. It was still loud from last night, and I groaned. "Seriously, Griff? I have the hangover of the century back here. Can you turn it down, please?" 
He sighed and turned it down. We drove the rest of the way in silence, and I danced excitedly in my seat as the diner came into view. 
We sat down in a booth and waited patiently for a waiter to be with us. I looked through the menu. 
"Hi, welcome to The Fried Egg. My name's Ryland, and I'll be taking care of you today."