The New Kid: a Noah Beck Fanfiction *completed*

30

"I just opened the door to these two all over each other. That won't be happening under my roof," he said, maintaining eye contact with Noah.
"You're barely even under your roof. How can you honestly be like this right now?" I asked, throwing my hands up in frustration.
Dad chuckled wryly. "You don't get to say that to me."
"Fine. Let's go, Noah," I said, turning to leave. My dad grabbed my arm, and I felt my voice catch in my throat. "Let me go."

I don't know why, but he didn't fight me on it, and I could feel him watching us as we walked back down the driveway to Noah's car.
"Are you okay?" Noah whispered, maintaining a safe distance away from me.
I nodded. "I'm fine. Can we please just leave?"
We drove in silence to Noah's house. When we pulled into the driveway, I pulled out my phone and called Griffin.

"Hey, Griff."
"Hey, sis. Is everything okay?"
A tear escaped as I answered. "I forgot that Mom and Dad were home."
"What's wrong with that?" he asked, clearly confused.
"Noah and I were headed into the house together."
Griffin put two and two together and sighed. "I see. How did that go?" I recounted the story for him, and he sighed again. "They're only gonna be here for today, Grace. I know that you're not exactly happy with them. Do you want me to call you when they leave tomorrow morning?"
"Where am I supposed to stay until then, Griff? School starts back tomorrow."
Noah interjected. "If we told my mom about what's going on, I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if you stayed here."
I told Griffin what Noah had said, and Griffin pondered it for a moment. "That's not a half-bad idea. Let me know for sure. I can bring you clothes and stuff if she's okay with it."
I thanked him before hanging up.

When we got inside Noah's house, his mom was waiting at the table. It looked as though she hadn't slept, and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw us. "You scared me half to death, Noah Timothy! For all I knew, you were dead in a ditch somewhere."
"Mom, I'm fine. Calm down."
"You told me that you would be home last night, and then you didn't come home, and I didn't even get a call or text."
As Noah wrapped her in a hug, tears spilled onto my cheeks. The greeting that he had received had been so different from the greeting that my own parents had given, and it reminded me just how strained my family's relationships were.
Amy pulled away from Noah and looked at me. "Are you okay, honey?"
I nodded through my tears as Noah explained what had happened at my house, leaving out what we had been doing to lead the conversation in that direction. "Can she stay here tonight? Her parents leave tomorrow morning, and she doesn't want to face them right now."
"Of course. You are always welcome here, Grace. No funny business, though. I'm not old enough to be a grandma," she replied, hugging me.

Noah and I both laughed uncomfortably. "I'll show you to the guest room," he said, clearly desperate to get out of the awkward situation that his mom had unknowingly presented. "Do you want some clothes to change into while you wait for Griffin to bring your stuff? I can only imagine how irritating your outfit is right now.
I nodded. "That would be great. This shirt was definitely not made to wear for more than a few hours. These sequins are digging into my skin."
Noah laughed, and I sat down on the bed as he left the room.

"Hey, she said it was fine. There's a bag on the bed that I had planned to take to Addi's last night, but neither one of us made it out of Bryce's. It's got everything I need. Thanks, Griff. Love you," I said, leaving him a voicemail. Noah walked back in as I hung up.
"Alright. Here are one of my hoodies and a pair of leggings that Tatum left when she moved out. I'll let you get settled."
"Noah?" I said, causing him to stop in the doorway. He turned to look at me, and I crossed the room, wrapping my arms around him in silence. We stood like that for a few moments before I pulled away, looking up at him. "Thank you. I want to make the most of the time that we've got left before we graduate."
Noah chuckled softly. "Are you still going to the University of Portland?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"They offered me a soccer scholarship, and I'm going there, too."

My face lit up. I had forgotten that his mom had mentioned that. He excused himself from the room, closing the door behind him. I changed into the clothes that he had brought me. I looked at the mirror on the back of the door, laughing at my reflection. Noah was easily at least six inches taller than me, and his hoodie hung off of me like a dress.
When I walked back into their kitchen, Griffin was sitting at their table, talking to Amy. "Oh, hey, Grace."
"Hey, Griff." I sat down next to him and listened to him as he explained the situation with our parents.
"They always had busy jobs when we were growing up, but their business trips coincided so that one parent was always home with us. As soon as they decided that we were safe to stay home on our own at thirteen, the trips became more frequent, and they were both gone for weeks at a time."
This was all true.
"They missed volleyball and baseball games, awards ceremonies, parent events. It didn't hit me as hard because I don't think that I was ever really close to our parents. Grace will tell you that even. It hit her really hard, and she has a hard time trusting them."
"You could not talk about me like I'm not here, Griff," I interjected.
"Am I wrong?"
He wasn't, but that didn't mean that I wanted him to tell Noah's mom all of that.