The New Kid: a Noah Beck Fanfiction *completed*

26

"That's a great question, Noah. What about Dixie?" she asked from the doorway. "I know that we were just hanging out, but I thought that we both had the same idea of where this was going."
Noah turned away from me. "Dixie, I'm sorry."
"That's it? That's all that you have to say?"
I stood in awe as they argued. Dixie's voice was rising, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before everyone else would want to know what was going on. "Let me apologize, Dixie. It kind of just happened," I said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Maybe this is my fault. I shouldn't have tried anything with Noah when I knew that he would always go back to you," she said softly, turning to leave the kitchen.
I looked at Noah, and I left the kitchen quickly, making my way over to Griffin. "I think that it's time for us to go, Griff," I whispered.
He gave me a quizzical look, but he didn't question it as he stood up. "Grace isn't feeling well, you guys, so we're gonna go ahead and go."
Dixie chuckled from her spot on the couch. "That's comical."
"Why is that comical?" Griffin asked, speaking directly to her for the first time since we had arrived.
"Well," she began, standing up, "I just walked in on her and Noah attached at the lips."
"Can we go?" I practically yelled, pulling on Griffin's arm.

Griffin shrugged it off as he continued to talk to Dixie. "Listen, I get that you're mad, but who are you to spill all of that in front of everyone?"
"Griffin, who was I to kiss him? Can we please just leave?" I interjected.
He held his hand up to silence me. "You can be mad at me all you want, but don't take this out on my sister, Dixie."
"Listen, Griffin. You hurt me, and there was no way for me to hurt you directly, so I went for what I knew was your weak spot: your sister. Did it work?" Dixie asked, chuckling.
Noah stood. "You used me to get back at Griffin?"

Dixie's face fell. "Kind of, Noah. I liked you. A lot."
"But you just needed someone to help you hurt Griffin, and who better than the guy who left his sister?" Noah asked, interrupting her. "I'm gonna take some cues from Grace and leave, too."
Noah didn't wait as he headed out of the front door. Everyone looked between the door, Dixie, Griffin, and me.
"What the hell just happened?" Bryce asked.
"Did you even listen to any of that?" Addison asked, turning to look at him.
"Can we go?" I asked Griffin again. He turned, and I followed him outside to the car. Noah was sitting in the driveway in his own car, and I told Griffin to give me just a second.

I knocked on his window, and he rolled it down slowly. "You okay?" I asked.
"Kinda mad, but I'll be okay," he answered. "Are you okay?"
"Well, there's been some closure with you, but I think I just lost a friend. I haven't decided if I'm upset about it or not yet."
"I get that," he nodded. "I'll call you later, okay? Griff looks pretty annoyed."

I got in the car, and Griffin sighed. "Finally. You wanted to leave so bad, and then you took forever."
I apologized, and we rode home in silence. When we pulled into the driveway, I could tell by the look on Griffin's face that he wanted to speak.
"I'm sorry, Gracie."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "I hurt her, and she used you to get back at me. I didn't mean to put you in that position."
"Griff, she wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't made my own mistakes. This isn't your fault, and you have no reason to need to apologize to me."

We headed inside and sat on the couch, staring at the turned-off television. "Christmas is in four days. What do you want to do?" I asked.
"I don't know. Mom and Dad didn't offer to let us come spend time with them in New York, and Grandma and Grandpa are in Florida. We could just chill here. Order some Chinese food and watch Christmas movies all day?"
"Okay," I agreed. We had always done that as kids when our parents were busy. "I'm gonna head upstairs. I'm sorry that I made today weird."

I went upstairs, flopping down onto my bed. I was really making a mess of my life lately. My phone rang, and I answered it quickly. "Hello?"
"Hey, Grace. It's Dixie. Can we talk real quick?"
I groaned internally. "Sure."
"I want to apologize."
"Yeah? For?"
"I shouldn't have used you to get back at Griffin."
"No shit, Dixie. I shouldn't have let Noah kiss me. I think we're pretty much even," I replied, sighing.
"I'm sorry, Grace. I hope that this doesn't affect our friendship. I know that you're going to the University of Portland, and I'm going to the University of Alabama, but we still have six months before we even graduate. I don't want to spend that time being mad at each other. I mean, come on, we were just like sisters," she said, a pleading tone in her voice.
I assured her that I wasn't mad at her and that our friendship would be just fine before hanging up.

No sooner had I set my phone down, it rang again. "Hello?" I sighed.
"Don't sound so happy to hear from me," Noah joked.
"Sorry, I just got off the phone with Dixie."
Noah took in a sharp breath. "How did that go?"
"She apologized. I think she feels guilty. I don't know. I'm not dwelling on it. Six months left, and I will likely never see any of you guys again, so I need to not hold grudges. Life's too short, you know?"
"I know, Gracie. That's why I apologized today. Anyway, that's not why I called. Griffin mentioned that your parents are out of town, and when I mentioned it to my mom, she suggested that I invite you guys over on Christmas Eve. No one should spend Christmas alone."