Page 34 of When We Crash
I hung up before he could finish his threat and said to Noa, “I guess there’s a party tonight. You were looking for something to do. What do you think?”
“I don’t know. It’s not really my scene...”
“Come on. I’ll bring you home now and grab you later on. It’ll be fun. I’ll stay with you the whole night, Blue,” I promised.
She looked hesitant, but I knew she was going to say yes before she actually did, her dimple showing as she tried not to smile. “You better not leave me on my own, Dexter. I’m not clingy by nature and I know we don’t really know whatthisis, but that is non-negotiable.” She faced me, the smile in her eyes making it hard for me to focus on anything else.
I snapped out of it, put my seatbelt on, and reversed. When I pulled up in front of her apartment, she seemed more herself—excited and just a little wide-eyed.
“It’ll be fun, right?” she asked, grabbing my hand. “And no one will stare at us like we’re the oddest pair there?”
Pair.
Us.
Noa and I.
I gripped her fingers tightly. “No. I’ll be back around ten.”
She opened the door and stepped out. I waited as she entered the apartment building. Only when she turned on a light and her shadow stretched across a window on the uppermost left side of the building did I shift into drive and pull off.
* * *
Hours later—afterconvincing Tracey that I would not partake in any teenage orgies—I parked outside Noa’s place once again.
Noa:I know you’re outside. Restrain yourself. Remain in your car.
I chuckled. The door opened and she stepped out. Despite the fact that she told me to stay in my car, I got out, wanting to see her up close before anyone else did.
I took her steps two at a time and slowed when I was in front of her. She had her hair pulled up. The piercings down her ear gleamed off her porch light and—though I wasn’t an expert on these things—it looked like she had makeup on.
She turned to face me. Shedefinitelyhad makeup on. Her lips were cherry red, and while it might have looked garish on some, she wore it unapologetically. She was beautiful, and I wanted to wear the kisses she might give me. Bright red lips all over me.
I inhaled deeply, telling my hormones to take a backseat. I took her hands and stepped closer, bending to kiss her cheek. When I straightened, she stepped back, keeping her hands in mine.
She was taller than usual. I looked down at her feet and noticed the boots she had on over black stockings.
“I like your…shoes,” I said, trying to act naturally. I knew I was failing when she laughed.
“Dexter, you sure know how to make a lady smile. What guy notices things like that?”
I didn’t bother with embarrassment. There hadn’t been a note of ridicule in her teasing words. We headed to the car quietly, my hand in hers.
Before we got in, I spoke to her over the hood of the car. “Sure you don’t want to walk?”
“Ha ha,” she said with sarcasm.
We both got in, and I turned the car on again. Noa wasn’t as timid as before. She fiddled with the dials of my radio, scoffing at everything that was playing. Before I knew it, she’d found some mysterious cord, hooked up her phone, and had her music coming out of the speakers. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I drove. When I looked over at her, she was mumbling the words and nodding along to the beat.
“You should pay more attention to the road, Dexter,” she said, looking straight ahead.
“I’m not making you nervous, am I? Because I’m looking at you? Or because I have a bad track record with cars?”
She threw her head back in one of her throaty laughs. “You aren’t anything like I thought you were,” she said, her laughter still on her red lips.
I grabbed her hand and drove the rest of the way there without saying anything else.
I parked the car in front of a house swarming with teens. The lawn held stragglers with red plastic cups, and I felt the pulsating beat coming from the house as we headed toward it. “Don’t be nervous,” I said, gripping her hand tighter in mine.