Chapter 16 is dedicated to

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"Hey, are you okay?"

I glanced up to see Noah giving me a confused look. I nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?" he frowned.

He put down the sodium hydroxide solution he was mixing and sat down beside me. "Did something happen?"

"Well, kinda... But it's really not that big of a deal."

"I'll be the judge of that," he said, taking the lab manual I was holding. "You've been reading the same page for ten minutes. What's wrong?"

"I have?" I sighed. "The pool party didn't end so good."

"I meant to ask about that. What happened?"

"I almost drowned."

He stared at me and I shrugged.

"What? And you came here today? You should have taken the day off."

"I didn't want to stay at home."

He narrowed his eyes. "Did you go to the hospital at least?"

"Yep," I said, popping the p. "I really am fine now."

"You should have called me," he frowned.

"And wake you up in the middle of the night? It's my fault for not knowing how to swim. Don't worry about it."

"I can't help but worry," he sighed. "I couldn't do anything for you for the last six years. Now that I'm here, I should be able to protect you."

"You still think I need to be protected?"

A smile tugged at my lips and the tips of his ears turned pink.

"You don't have to protect me anymore, Noe," I joked, lightly punching his arm.

"What if I want to?" His emerald eyes softened as he looked at me.

I laughed. "If you insist."

"So how did that happen?" he asked. "You almost... drowning." He forced the last part out.

"A guy pushed me into the pool." I frowned.

"Why the hell would he do that?" Noah growled. "Who is he?"

"Calm down," I said as he drummed his fingers quickly on the table. A sign that he was angry.

"I am calm."

"No you're not," I said as I smoothed his fingers down.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because I hit him."

He cocked his head at that. "Good job."

I bit back a laugh. "I just told you that I hit someone and that's your reply?"

"I know you. You wouldn't hurt a fly," he smiled. "He must have done something to deserve it."

"Well, I'm glad you support my aggressive side," I joked.

His expression darkened slightly. "What did he do?"

My face heated up, remembering how he had slapped my butt.

"You don't want to know."

His fingers began their drumming again as he took in my expression. "I should have been there."

"Hey, don't sweat it, Noe," I smiled. "Kevin helped me... and Ashton apparently."

He stopped his drumming at that.

"Who's Ashton?"

"Only the world's most insufferable jerk. But I guess I can't call him that anymore after what he did."

"Ashton, huh. He has the same name as the prince."

"And he acts like one too. High and mighty." I rolled my eyes.

"Something tells me you're not friends."

"He hates me," I groaned.

"No one could hate you. Believe me," he assured me.

"Ashton definitely does, though."

"Well, he must be absolutely stupid not to see how great you are."

"At least you do," I grinned. "We should get back to work."

He nodded hesitantly, still keeping an eye on me as we worked.

I tried to push Friday's incidents to the back of my mind and focus on the work in front of me, but the thoughts of being under the water came flooding back to me.

"Elizabeth!"

I was jolted out of my thoughts by Noah's loud shout. In a moment he was over to me, panic written all over his face.

On the counter, lay a spilt beaker of sulfuric acid. He gently took my wrist, turning my hand over and over in his.

He heaved a sigh of relief. "You didn't get burned."

"No," I muttered, washing my hand under the water. "It was diluted."

I went back to my station. "Pass me the hydroxide. I'm almost finished with this reaction."

"No, you don't," he said coming over to me. He led me to a chair. "I'll finish the experiment. "You just sit there and rest."

"But-"

"No buts," he sighed, pressing a hand to his chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

He finished up the experiments quickly while I tried to gather my thoughts together. Maybe I should have stayed home after all. I was still in shock after what had happened at the party.

Noah threw me some cautious glances and I smiled to let him know that I was feeling a bit better.

"And done," he said as the beaker fizzed. He turned to me with a grin. "You got to see the master at work."

"I thought you hated Chemistry."

"I do," he smiled. "But doing it with you makes it fun."

"Fun enough to make it your major?"

"That's pushing it a little too far," he grinned and ran a hand through his hair.

"But you're so good at it," I insisted.

He paused as he folded his lab coat. "Yeah, but I'm not passionate about it."

He picked up his camera and adjusted the lens as we walked out. He snapped a few pictures and sighed. "Is it so bad if I don't want to do something I'm good at?"

"Not bad. Just surprising," I murmured. "But if your heart isn't in it, then I get it. Do whatever makes you happy."

He smiled. "You make it sound so easy."

I pointed at the camera. "Take my picture."

"Wow, Queen E is volunteering to be photographed," he laughed, feigning shock.

"Just take the picture," I huffed.

He smiled and raised the camera, adjusting it to find the best angle and lighting.

As soon as I heard the click of the camera, I unfroze from my awkward pose. He inspected the picture and nodded in approval.

"Vogue called. They want their model back."

I smacked his arm playfully.

"You don't want to see it?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Then why did you ask me to take it?"

"Because it makes you happy," I stated.

"Happy?"

"Yeah."

A grin formed on his lips as he studied me. "You still understand me the best."

"It's what you want to do, isn't it? Photography?" I asked as we walked to his car.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Maybe."

I nudged his shoulder. "Come on, tell me."

He sighed. "Well, yeah, I do. But my family doesn't agree. Rather, they want me to do something more traditional."

I frowned. "But that's not what you want."

"That's why I'm taking a gap year to figure out what I want to do. Be a rocket scientist and please my mom, or become a CEO and please my dad..."

"Or," I added. "Just do what you want to. I'm not telling you to go against your parents, but I know that this makes you happy. You've been taking pictures for as long as I've known you, Noah. Whether it's a toy camera or a DSLR, you've always enjoyed it."

He smiled at the ground. "I'll think about it."

He glanced at me uncertainly. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Like right now?"

"Not right now," he scratched his head and the tips of his ears turned to pink. "Just to hang out sometime... you know, since we haven't really hung out in a while."

"I'd love that," I smiled.

He let out a sigh of relief and grinned at me. "It's a date. Now let's get you home, Queen E."

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