Chapter 77: Chapter 77

After multiple stories from Sasha, Noah interrupts her.

"Sorry to interrupt Sash, but can I borrow Ava?"

"Fine, but bring her back, please?" He laughs and takes me by the hand.

I follow him out of the house and into the back. His backyard is huge. He leads to me a garden walkway. It's a path lit by lights and surrounded by roses and white orchards. It's pretty but not as beautiful as the park he took me to.

"So my sister really took a liking to you, huh?" He says.

"I guess she did." I laugh. "She's very nice and honest. I like her."

"And you made quite an impression on my dad,"

"But not your mom," I say quietly.

"Yeah, there's that. She's a tough person, she'll come around... Eventually. She's been wanting me to get married to Devlin for forever.."

"Yeah, Sasha told me."

"Of course she did, one conversation with her and I bet you know my whole family history," he jokes.

"Maybe a bit," I admit.

He laughs.

His face gets serious. "I never knew that about your dad, I'm sorry. I wanted to say all that at dinner but I couldn't really get a word in."

"Yeah. I was only six years old, but I remember it so vividly."

"What happened?" he asked.

"It was a car crash. I remember I had this pink teddy bear that I never let go of. I remember falling asleep in the back with my brother Daniel." Tears start falling down my eyes. "I heard a big banging noise. I got up. I remember smoke coming from the car and half the car was dented in. There was blood coming from my brother's head. I shook him but he didn't move. My dad looked like he was asleep. I think he passed out. I was able to crawl out the car. I stood near it calling my dad's name, hoping he'd get up. But he didn't. A stranger picked me up and put me down near the end of the highway. I walked forward. I wanted to tell him to save my dad and my brother, but the car started to smoke even more and then It blew up. Right in front of me. Metal pieces flying everywhere. Then I heard the ambulance sirens."

I don't realize until he hugs me that I'm shaking.

"And now all I have is my grandma, but most of the time she doesn't even remember me."

He hugs me tightly and for a long time. I love this feeling. I love being in his arms. He smells like the sweater I borrowed from him.

He lets go of me and his hands are on my shoulders now. He moves down my shoulders and is now holding my hands. "You're very brave, you know that?"

I look down. "I'm not," I say.

He lifts my face up by my chin. "You are." We lock eyes. He stares at me for a while. His stare runs shivers down my body. My heart beats fast. I just want to kiss him. He lets go and looks away. He gets a text.

"I have to talk to my dad real quick." He says. "I'll take you home after okay?" I nod and follow him.

We walk back into the house and he leaves me in the living room. I spot a piano. I look around and no one is there. I sit down and play. I quietly sing a song that I wrote.

"You're really good," Noah says walking towards me.

I quickly take my hands off the piano. I don't usually play in front of anyone.

"I should probably drive you home," he says.

Noah announces that I'm leaving. Sasha runs down the stairs and hugs me. "It was so nice meeting you. We should go out sometime. Maybe when you find out the gender we'll go shopping?" I agree.

His dad comes from his office and he hugs me. "Thanks for coming Ava, hope to see you soon," he says.

Noah asks where his mom is and his dad tells him she went out.

He drives me and when we get there, he stops in front of my house. He leans in. This is it, I think, he finally going to kiss me. But he just goes for the forehead. Ugh.

"Goodnight," he says.

"Goodnight," I reply back. I get out of the car and go into my house.

Does he not feel the way I do? Does he not feel what I feel when I'm around him? Every time I'm with him, I want him more.

"So what do you wanna do for your birthday tomorrow?" Dayna asks me.

"Well Sasha was going to take me out to dinner, I was going to ask if you wanted to come."

"Just to dinner? No party? No clubbing? Come on Ava, that's so boring."

"Dayna, I'm pregnant. What do you think I can really do? I can't drink, my back is always hurting and I can barely go places without throwing up."

She rolls her eyes. "Fine dinner it is, but after, I'm going out clubbing, with or without you. Hell, I'll party for the both of us."

She picks up her phone. "I gotta get to work, I'll see you tomorrow. What time is the dinner again?"

"Five, don't be late!"

"I won't," she says before she leaves the home.

It's late so I decide to go to bed.

*

When I wake up, Dayna isn't home.

Hours later and she still isn't home. I try to call her cell phone and there was no answer.

It's four o'clock and she's still not home. She was my ride there. I call Sasha and in thirty minutes she's at my house.

"Sorry about this, I know it was out of the way, my ride didn't show up."

"Ava, it's really no problem."

"I should really get a car."

She pulls off and we head to dinner. I'm not surprised when Dayna doesn't show up. At the end of the dinner, Sasha tells me she wants to take me to one last stop. She drives me to a place I've never been before. She stops in front of what looks like an abandoned restaurant.

"Sasha, where are we?" I ask her.

"You'll see."

I get worried when I get out the car and she doesn't follow.

"Go inside, there's a surprise for you," she says.

"Sasha, this isn't funny," I say.

"Don't worry, just trust me. Go"

I take a deep breath and head inside the restaurant. When I get there, a group of people pops up beside me and yells "SURPRISE!"

I scream. They all start to laugh. Standing in front of me is Noah, his father, Eric, Dayna, Amos and other friends from school. Dayna runs to me and hugs me.

"I hope you're not mad that I skip dinner." I laugh and hug her back. I was but I now understand why she wasn't there.

"This was all Noah's idea," she whispers in my ear.

Noah approaches me. He gives me a hug. Sasha pops up behind him. I hug her tightly. "That was good," I say to her. She smiles.

We party for hours before everyone leaves. It was a great night.

When everyone leaves, I find Noah sitting in a booth alone. We're the last ones here.

"Thank you," I say to him.

He pulls out a mini cake from behind his back. "I wanted to keep this just for you. Sasha told me how much you loved cheesecake."

"It's my favourite dessert."

"And there's strawberries." He says

I grab it from him. "Awe, you're just the sweetest."

He smiles. We eat the cake together.

"That Amos guy really likes you huh?" He asks.

I shrug.

"The way he looks at you, there's no hiding that." For a moment, I think he looks kind of jealous.

I avoid this topic, however. I don't want to get into the story of Amos and me.

We talk for hours before I get a phone call.

"Avana Stephenson?"

"Yes?"

"This is June Beth, calling from the Lakeridge Facility. I am very sorry to tell you that your grandma passed away this afternoon. We assumed she was sleeping, but when she didn't show up for dinner, we decided to check on her. I'm sorry."

I hang up the phone without saying bye and I break down in tears.

"What's wrong?" Noah asks me.

"My grandma died," I say. "She was the only relative I had left."

He holds me in his arms. This guy who I just met has been here for me time and time again. I'm starting to fall in love with him. He grabs a napkin and wipes my tears. There he goes looking in my eyes again. He looks like he's about to kiss me when his phone rings.

"Hello?" He answers. I hate whoever decided to call.

"Noah?" I can hear someone on the other line.

"What's up, Devlin?" What do you know, I actually really do hate the person on the line. I stand up.

"I just wanted to know where you were, it's one o'clock."

"I'm coming home now, I'll see you soon." He hangs up.

He takes out his keys. "Uh, I uh, should probably bring you home," he says. I nod and follow him to the car. The whole ride to my house is quiet. We exchange goodnights and I enter my home.

If it wasn't for that phone call who knows what would have happened? I really hate Devlin.