The New Kid: a Noah Beck Fanfiction *completed*

20

"Alright," he whispered to me. "Let me ask Dixie if she wants to leave, too, or if she wants me to come back after I take you home."
I let out a sigh of relief. I was so grateful that he was always there for me, especially since our parents were distanced. I stood there, waiting patiently for Griffin to return. When he came back, he had Dixie in tow. "Let's get you home, sweetie," she said, rubbing my back as the three of us headed out of the ballroom.

We walked to the car in silence, and Dixie grabbed my hand about halfway there. It was comforting, but it reminded me of everything that had just been destroyed, so it quickly grew painful, and I pulled my hand away.
The three of us sat down in the car, and I watched as Griffin took Dixie's hand in his. I had never had anything like they had, and at this point, I was convinced that I never would.
"Do you want to talk about what happened, Gracie?" Griffin asked, looking up at me in the rearview mirror.
A tear escaped my eyes as I answered. "Not really, but you probably want to, don't you?"
"I would like to, but if you're not ready to, then I won't make you."

I didn't speak again until we got home. "Thank you both for cutting your night short because I can't make good decisions for myself. I appreciate it."
I got out of the car before they could react. I was upstairs and climbing out of my dress before I even heard the front door reopen. My phone was blowing up, but I turned it off, getting into bed and covering my head with the blankets before I drifted off to sleep.

"Gracie, there's someone here to see you," Griffin said, knocking on the door.
I groaned. "Who?"
"It's me," Addison said from the other side of the door. "Can I come in, please?"
I crossed the room, opening the door and turning around to throw myself back onto the bed. "What do you need, Addi?"
She sighed, sitting down on the bed next to me. "You left quickly yesterday, and I wanted to make sure that you were okay. I know that you talked to Noah before you left last night, and I know that it really upset you. I thought maybe you'd like to talk about it."
I turned to look at her with tears already streaming down my face.

"Oh, honey, come here," she murmured, opening her arms to me. I practically jumped into her arms, sobbing into her chest.
"I really ruined it, Addi. We could have had something really, really special, and I couldn't even manage to keep that together. I broke my own heart this time."
She stroked my hair as she spoke. "You did not ruin it, my love. You made a mistake. Noah was hurt, and he reacted how anyone would have expected him to, but that hurt will not be there forever. Everything will fall back into place eventually."
"But what if they don't? What if he hates me forever? I know that it's not the end of the world, but right now, it feels like it."
"I know. Have you tried to talk to him?"
I shook my head. "Based on how he left last night, he obviously doesn't want to hear from me. He probably wouldn't even answer if I called."
"Try anyway. I'm gonna go downstairs and get you something to eat, and I'll be back with it in a second, okay?" she replied, standing up and handing me my hone off of the nightstand.

What was the worst that could happen? I clicked his contact and waited anxiously as it rang.
"Hey, you've reached Noah. Leave a message after the beep, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
Well, I couldn't say that I didn't call that one. I hung up without leaving a message and went downstairs to the kitchen. "I was right, Addi," I said, sitting down at the kitchen table.
"That's okay. Give it time. You have two classes together, right? Try to talk to him tomorrow," she replied, setting a plate of pancakes down in front of me. "Eat up, sweetie. Let's do something fun today."
I groaned as I cut into a pancake. "Something fun? After what happened last night? I'm gonna pass, Addi."

Griffin entered the kitchen at that moment. "I think you should. You don't even have to go anywhere. Have a movie day or something."
"You have impeccable timing, Griff. What if I want to lay in bed and cry all day? Am I not allowed to do that?"
"We aren't gonna let you sit around and mope all day," Dixie said as she plopped down into the chair next to Griffin. "You shouldn't spend any part of your senior year feeling sorry for yourself."
"Oh my, God! I don't feel sorry for myself. I feel like I made a horrible mistake, and I'm dealing with the consequences of that, but I'm hurt right now, and I want to live with that for just a little while longer."
"Absolutely not. Griff is right. We're having a movie day. Griff, Dix, do you guys want to join us?" Addison asked, setting two plates of pancakes in front of them.

It was obvious that I didn't have a choice in the matter as they led me to the living room after we had all finished eating.
Griffin grabbed the remote, turning on some stupid Netflix original. I tried to turn my attention to it, but I couldn't keep my mind off of the disaster that I had created.
"Hey, where are you at right now?" Dixie whispered to me.
"I'm on the couch. Where else would I be?" I replied, her voice bringing me back to reality.
She chuckled softly. "I mean mentally. You don't look like you're here with us right now."
"Okay, you caught me," I answered as my phone rang with a text. I was shocked when I read the message that crossed the screen.