"Why is Damien looking at you?" I asked Emily who was busy searching through her locker and she turned around to check the said person. The guy immediately looked away and started talking with his friends though I didn't miss the way he looked flustered when she looked at him.

Damien is the lead singer of our school band, I knew him because I had auditioned for the guitarist too. He is both funny and handsome, a combination that was getting extinct in the male species.

"I don't know." she shrugged. "He tried to flirt with me at your birthday party too."

"He is cute." I teased and she nodded in return. I raised my eyebrows suggestively and she reddened in return. "I didn't mean like that. I am not interested in him."

"Well, I think you should give him a chance if he talk to you again. He seems like a nice guy." I suggested, observing him as his eyes once again diverted to Emily.

After the bell rang, we both ran towards our respective classes. It was the last class, Calculus, which I dreaded the most. Adam and Noah were not a good combination and after what happened yesterday, I didn't want to create a scene.

Just what I was afraid of, only two seats were available. One in front of Adam and the other one beside Noah. My eyes shifted between both seats, the accusations of Adam whirled through my mind. Maintaining a blank face, I trudged towards the seat beside Noah and sat down.

I didn't care if my friendship with Noah bothered him. He himself admitted that I was just a naive, immature girl. What else can you expect from a girl like me?

"Hello princess." Noah turned his attention to me as soon as I sat down and showed me his toothy grin.

"Hi." I answered, opening my notebook and writing down the problem the teacher had written on the board.

"I have two tickets to The Kissing Booth." he said when Mrs. Dale was not looking. "Wanna join?"

"Well, take one of your admirers with you." I answered and his smirk deepened.

"I take my admirers to my bedroom, not to movies." he retorted, making me frown. I ignored him blatantly and started solving the problem. He didn't disturb me further because Mrs. Dale had now turned her attention back to us.

After the class ended, I slung my bag across my shoulder and got ready to leave.

"The offer still stands Miss. King." Noah asked again, wearing a beanie on his head that made him look like a cute bunny.

I wanted to decline his offer but when I felt a particular set of eyes on my back, I decided to change my answer. "Fine. Call me before picking me up." I said, smiling.

Adam walked past us just then, his fists tightened and his posture was abnormally stiffened. Ignoring him, Noah and I exchanged few words before we both made our way towards our respective destination.

...

I chose a cute blue and white striped frock and denim jacket for the movie, nothing too dull but nothing too fancy. For my hair, I let them loose on my shoulders.

The door knocked exactly at 5pm. After checking through my bedroom window, I hopped downstairs and unlocked the door. Noah was standing against his car, clad in a black T-shirt and blue jeans, just as casual as mine.

"Ready?" he asked, opening the door to passenger seat.

"Yep." I said and slid inside, checking my face in the front mirror. Thankfully, my liner was even which only happened once in a blue moon.

"You clean up nice King." He commented as he settled on the driver's seat.

"Pity I can't say the same about you Brown." I teased, relishing in the feeling of the comfortable seat.

We reached the theatre in time and chose one of the back seats. The movie was good but what made it more entertaining was Noah's sarcastic commentary on every scene. Whenever a romantic scene appeared on screen, he would joke about the hero and how he looked a little constipated. On every funny scene, he would comment how lame the scene was. Overall, he was a pain in the ass, a cute pain in the ass.

After the movie, we went to a small burger point to feed our hungry stomach. Noah ate like a pig, he had ordered a beef burger, almost ten nuggets, a big bucket of fries, one piece of fried chicken and coke. When he found me staring at him with baffled face, he just shrugged saying, "A boy gotta eat."

"So tell me about you!" I asked, wanting to know some other aspects of his life than the playboy he was.

"What? My junk size?" he said and I gagged.

"Ewww." I made a contorted face. Laughter boomed out of his mouth on watching my expressions, his hands messy with ketchup and mayonnaise.

"You are impossible Noah." I rolled my eyes and focused my attention on my burger.

When we set back inside the car, I watched my wrist watch which showed 8:15. Dad must be back by now and although I have already texted him about my outing with Noah, I was still afraid what he would be thinking about us.

It wasn't a date, was it?

No. Of course not.

"I like Me before you." he said while driving the car and I uttered, "Huh?"

"You asked me about myself. So, I like me before you. My favorite actor is Morgan Freeman. I love to play basketball and football. You know my father, and my mother is a housewife. I don't have any siblings. I watch Got whenever I am bored. I am a foodie, as you have already figured out." he told me, he was different than my expectations, not as shallow as I thought.

"Nobody knows this but I read novels. Teen fictions mostly, Young Adults sometimes. I even tried to write a teenfic one when I was sixteen. Just five chapters, not much." he told me and I couldn't help but laugh. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect Noah Brown as someone who reads romance novels.

After he had stopped talking, I figured that to was now my turn to tell. "I like Harry Potter. And sitcoms.... Hmm.. And novels. Lots and lots of novels. My favorite one is The Fault in Our Stars. I am a couch potato so I don't play anything. I love cooking though. And baking... And eating." I informed him, excitement rushing through my veins because I got to tell about my likes and dislikes.

"Tell me more." he said and I obliged immediately.

"My Dad is a businessman, I love him more than anything in this world. I don't have any sibling. My mom died when I was twelve, she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She would have liked you. Hell, she liked everyone. My parents made me fall in love with the concept of love. I want that... What they had. The kind of love that won't let you look towards another person even after your partner died years ago." I whispered, my voice getting lower as the car moved forwards.

"You are a good person Ali. Your Dad must be very proud of you." Noah added, his voice deviod of his usual immaturity.

"Yeah, he is." I smiled. "You aren't that bad either."

"Thank you milady." he said in fake British accent and I giggled.

When his car stopped in front of my house, I walked out of it and after saying goodbye, turned towards our gate but his voice stopped me. I watched as he left the car and stood towards me, stopping right in front of me.

"It was fun." he muttered, looking down at me from his height.

"I hate to agree but you are right. I really enjoyed." I agreed, letting his ego flourish a little. But contrary to my expectations, he didn't smirk or made fun of me. Instead, his face me turned all serious as his eyes bore into mine. I gulped when his eyes flicked to my lips, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

Abort. Abort. Abort.

He leaned towards me and I stood there static, too confused to do anything. When I felt his breath on my lips, my brain cells activated a little and I ducked my head back, creating some distance between us.

"Umm." I swallowed, not knowing what to say. Noah's face looked flushed, his pupil almost darkened.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I.. I shouldn't have.." he stuttered, looking around and rubbing his cheeks in embarrassment.

"Umm.. It's ok." I said, ignoring my heated cheeks. Thankfully, he decided to lessen the embarassment and ran out of my sight as soon as possible.

But while I was going back inside the house, I watched Adam's reflection through the glass door. Saying that he looked pissed would be an understatement, he looked murderous.

Well, suck it now.

_____________________