Chapter Forty-SixIt's Their Dying, Not Yours≋Noah"I killed him.""Who?""The guy I was in love with." Tiffany gulped and looked away from me. I stayed silent, letting her talk.She clenched her jaw as she looked back to the water. She took a moment to collect herself before continuing to tell me what happened."When I started high school I was ready for a fresh start - to go back to the happy girl who played soccer and loved spending time with her family." She fiddled with her fingers as she spoke, clearly uneasy as she opened up the memories she had shoved away."It had been two years since my parents divorce, since Charlie and my dad moved away. Those two years were miserable." She chuckled dryly."My mom is a workaholic who spends all of her time at work, worrying about work and nothing else. It's her life, literally," she told me. "It's all she's ever cared about. She was the mother who forget her child's birthdays and wouldn't notice if I had been sleeping at my friend's hous
Chapter Forty-SevenLucky You?≋NoahI took both her hands in mine, my gaze not leaving hers for a second. "I'm in-love with you, Tiffany Vos.""You're what?" Tiffany's eyes widened and face contorted into a look of absolute disbelief.I smiled softly, "I'm in-love with you.""You are?" She muttered quietly, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion and shock. "Are you... sure?"A chuckle escaped my lips as I nodded my head firmly, "Yes, sunshine, I am positive. No doubt in my mind."Tiffany nodded slowly, her eyebrows still furrowed. She seemed to be in thought. "I'm not someone you would want to love, Noah."My smile slowly left my face. I hated that she thought so little of herself. "Yes, you are," I told her confidently. I raised one of my hands to cup her cheek, softly caressing her cheek with my thumb. "You are an amazing person whether you see it or not. You see everything you've been through as bad luck but I see it as struggles that you made it through and became stronger fro
Chapter OneWho Is That?≋Noah"Would you pick one already, Noah? We've been here all day," Luke grumbled impatiently, pinching the bridge of his nose. We had been best friends our whole lives-frankly, he shouldn't have been surprised this was taking so long."Patient," I grumbled back, continuing to skim through the grocery store shelves stacked with cereal boxes."I'm going to go find chips," he said, shaking his head at me. "Since you won't pick up the pace. Knowing you, you'll be standing here until the store is closing."He slapped my back hard before walking off.Eventually, I decided on Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Snatching the family-sized pack, I turned to go find Luke."Woah-"Stumbling backwards after walking right into another body, the box of cereal had slipped out of my hands."Sorry about that." I bent down to grab the two boxes that had fallen.Standing back up, my eyes locked with hazel ones. Grey-green with a lighter brown around the pupil, light like honey. Ashen pale s
Chapter TwoWhile I'm Stuck Here≋NoahCharlie seating himself at our usual lunch table in the cafeteria immediately commenced the outbreak of chatter, everyone speaking over one other and bombarding him with questions."I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal," he mumbled nonchalantly, biting into his apple.Leo's eyebrows raised in disbelief as he scoffed. "Dude, we've known you for years and not once have you mentioned that you have a sister. Hell of a surprise, Charlie."Sighing, Charlie slunk back in his chair. "Not much to say, really," he shrugged faintly. "Our parents got divorced when we were twelve. Tiffany stayed with our mom while I moved out here with our dad. She took my mom's last name-it just made things more simple, less questions and all.""Are you guys close?" Joy asked. "She's never visited here. As far as we know.""We stayed in touch and still talked nearly every day," Charlie answered. "We would see each other over the summer when we went travelled together w
Chapter ThreeThe Devil Smiles≋Noah"Despite popular belief, it actually is not every girl's dream to wake up to a bunch of half-naked guys."The familiar sound of her ever-tired and unamused voice sounded, causing me to look over.Luke and I were at Charlie's house playing basketball where the boy had a small court built. Money really does wonders.A house that was familiar enough to be a second home to me, where I had been spending most of my days after school since I was twelve years old. It would surely take longer to get used to the idea that this was now Tiffany's house too.Tiffany walked in, her nose scrunched in distaste as she glanced from her brother to Luke and I."Asleep at seven in the evening, princess?" Luke asked, watching as she walked to the refrigerator to retrieve a bottle of water."Power nap." She seated herself on the island stool one away from the one I sat on.Charlie excused himself to take a quick shower, leaving Luke and me with the new girl who seemed t
Chapter FourNot A Hugger?≋NoahTiffany leaned against the bleachers outside, watching the soccer practice that was taking place further out on the field. Her eyes followed the balls being kicked around, distant chatter and yells sounding from the team. The way she watched; always a focused look as she observed everything, careful analyzation of that which was in front of her as though she were engraving the picture to memory and ensuring not a detail was missed.I wonder what's going on in that head of hers.It was interesting, picking at my curiosity-that look she'd get in her eyes. Always watching so carefully."Do you play soccer too?"She turned when my voice sounded from behind her. "What?"I nodded out at the field where the boys were running through drills. "Charlie-he's always played. Do you?"She resumed the stance she had before, looking out at the team. "I used to. I stopped playing when I was twelve."Twelve."That's when-when your parents split up. Right?" I was hesita
The book is going to be continued in Tiffany's POV unless written otherwise on the chapter!!!Chapter FiveWhat's New With You?≋With a light rap on the doorframe, my dad leaned against it. His arms crossed over his chest, he smiled his ever-warm smile. "How are you doing, sweetheart?" Faintly sighing, I shut my laptop screen and pushed it aside. "I'm alright, pops." He frowned, very obviously not buying my words. He came further into my room and helped himself to take a seat on the end of the best. "What's wrong?" "Nothing," I shrugged, shaking my head. "Things are just... a lot different here." I paused, staring at the wall ahead as I thought. "I guess I'm just not used to it." "Maybe different is good," he offered, smiling almost sheepishly. "Different doesn't have to mean it's a bad thing and I'm sure you'll get used to Long Grove in no time." I rolled my eyes playfully, smiling nevertheless. "Thanks, dad." He nudged my arm softly in a gesture of reassurance. "Do you miss S
Chapter SixNot My Scene≋We got to the party and all split up within 10 minutes. Charlie and Ezra were on my back so I stuck by Jade's side until they left. Charlie and Leo went to go play beer pong, Ezra went to smoke a cigarette, Luke took Jade and went to dance, Joy and Kai went to get drinks, and the last time I saw Noah he was talking to some pretty brunette girl.I waited until Ezra stopping watching me like a hawk so I could dip out of the party. It wasn't really my scene. I kind of hated parties more than anything really.It wasn't that whole "I don't want to be in a room full of sweaty bodies, a bunch of out of control teenagers who I have to deal with a school everyday" type of thing. It was because I didn't like drugs and alcohol. You can have fun without doing either and frankly, it was dangerous and stupid to put yourself in a situation where you don't have control over your actions.Long story short, this was just really not my scene and I didn't want to be here.The o