Chapter 7

"Come." He led me up the driveway, the umbrella still shielding us.

Elise opened the storm door tentatively, careful not to let her feet get wet.

Her eyes were wide, watching him as he made sure not a single droplet fell over my head. "Mr. Wyatt?? What are you doing here??"

I had to glare her down. "He's my ride. He was nice enough to take pity on me and keep me safe from the rain."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Wyatt. I felt horrible not knowing if she had gotten a ride home."

"It's no problem." He smiled.

"Can you get me a towel so I don't drip through the foyer?" I asked Elise, hoping she would step away for a second so I could thank him without being embarrassed.

"Yep! Gimme just sec!" She made her way back through the house.

I looked at Wyatt as he turned to leave. "Thank you again," I said awkwardly as I stepped closer towards the door.

He turned to face me and then glanced up at the storm. "I guess I was lucky to save you twice." he paused, "Try not to forget your umbrella next time."

I bit my tongue to avoid rolling my eyes. "You know, I don't usually need saving."

He smiled. "I believe you." he stopped and looked behind me and at Elise, who approached with towels.

"Need one to take?" She politely asked him.

He waved his hand. "No need. I'm headed straight home."

"Thank you again for bringing her home safely." Elise gave him a playful smile, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you two girls in class on Wednesday." He waved goodbye as he walked away. We watched as he got in his car and drove away.

Elise came up behind me and whispered, "Noelle Rose."

I clenched my teeth at the sound of my full name and tried my best to ignore whatever she would start ranting about. I slammed the door shut behind me and started taking my shoes and socks off, dropping them on one of the towels. I took the larger towel and dried myself off as I walked into our living room.

"Nell! Spill it. Spill. The. Tea."

I shook my head at her outburst and plopped myself down hard on the charcoal-colored leather sofa.

"You should take a seat if you want to hear the story."

She immediately sat down across from me and glared at me like I was prey.

"What?" I asked.

"He is so fucking gorgeous, that's what. Tell me you're not incredibly lucky." Elise got into her comfy position, her legs curled up underneath her, and her robe flowed onto the floor.

"I'm not lucky in the slightest." My face still felt red from the car ride.

She sighed, and it was almost as if I could hear her eyes roll in her voice.

"Dude, he's beautiful. What is wrong with you? He went out of his way to bring you home."

I shrugged at her comment and finally made the eye contact I knew she was dying to get. She wanted me to spill my feelings about how hot he was and admit that I was head over heels for him, when, in fact, I was humiliated more than anything. I couldn't exactly explain to her that there was something strangely off about him, or that there seemed to be some energetic pull to him. I couldn't tell her that I had what I thought was some vision of my hand covered in blood when we touched. I could only tell her so much.

"Why are you making that face?" She crossed her arms.

"Do you really wanna know what's wrong...with all of this?"

Her eyes widened. "Yes!"

"Okay, look," I paused to breathe deeply. "Remember you found me in that booth last night?"

She seemed confused. "At the bar? Yeah, I remember."

I nodded. "I finally remember what happened."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I shook my head. "How wasted was I last night?" I asked.

She let out a deep breath. "You were pretty bad. But there was no alcohol with you when we came back to you. We were only gone for ten or so minutes. I mean, it might have been a little longer. Sammy puked all over our shoes, and we were stuck trying to clean ourselves off."

"Well, while you guys were in the bathroom, two guys approached me at the bar and got pushy with me. I started feeling the alcohol hard, and someone happened to notice and pulled me away from the situation." I sighed.

"Wait, why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I didn't remember until a while ago."

"I am so sorry I left you alone, Nell..." Her voice was soft.

"There's more, Elise." I plopped myself backward on the sofa and spilled the tea.

"The person who pulled me away was Wyatt," I paused, unsure if I wanted to tell her the rest. But I had to. "And that's not all..."

Her mouth dropped wide open, and she brought her hand to her forehead. She made no sound as I recalled my embarrassing and very hands-on encounter with him. Remembering it all just made me feel sick to my stomach from shame.

"Noelle...are you sure? I mean, you were wasted, maybe you don't remember-"

"HE remembers!" I cut her off.

There was a pause.

"Oh no...He brought it up?" she asked softly.

I nodded. "That's what triggered me to remember."

She sighed. "Now it all makes sense. He was messing with you during class, and he knew your name." There was a brief pause before she started to understand my embarrassment. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine. He was cool about it...But I feel so humiliated."

"No, don't feel like that, it wasn't your fault. I have never seen you black out like this. You hold liquor better than anyone I know."

"It doesn't matter, I have him as an instructor for the rest of the semester."

She kept quiet, stood up from her seat, and headed towards the bright white kitchen across from the living room. I could see the outline of a plate on top of the counter and secretly hoped it was for me.

"Let me heat this up for you, and then we can keep talking. For now, relax." It was as if she read my mind. She picked up the plate and placed it in the microwave. After a minute had gone by and the microwave made its delightful ding, she brought me a plate of pasta. It was still steaming hot, so she held the plate far from us as she sat back down beside me.

"It's hot, be careful." She pushed the plate towards me, and I could smell the tomato and garlic sauce. The steam coming off the pasta made my mouth water even more, which was a little upsetting because now I had to wait for it to cool down.

"Noelle," she paused, "it's really no big deal. Mr. Wyatt wouldn't have brought you home if you had really been that inconvenient to him. I think he might even have a soft spot for you."

"Honestly, I don't even care right now. I'm so hungry—that's the least of my worries. This smells delicious."

She tucked her short hair behind her ear and laughed as I took the plate from her, just to place it on the coffee table.

"Of course. Well, eat up and then go shower and relax. Don't worry about this whole ordeal, cause there really isn't anything to worry about."

I nodded, a smile spreading across my lips. I couldn't tell her she was right, though I wanted her to be. Social anxiety used to be something I struggled with, and now, having something so embarrassing happen to me had made me feel so self-conscious.

We spent the rest of the night watching television instead of movies and binge-eating spaghetti. After so many episodes of Charmed, we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. So when the sleepiness set in from how late it was, it hit us hard, and we could not fight it.

"I think I'm going to bed. You should go to bed too. You have class tomorrow morning before mine even starts." I tugged at her robe as I stood up. I had showered and changed, so my body was begging for sleep, but Elise was someone who could pull all-nighters without a problem, which worried me.

"I'll go to bed right now. I'm just going to finish this episode."

I rolled my eyes softly. "Fine...I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Night."

I took the hallway where the bathroom was and walked up the stairs. I had to hold onto the rail. I was so exhausted that I was afraid I would lose my balance and fall. So once I was at the top, I tumbled into my room, nearly falling on the floor. I closed my white bedroom door behind me and turned the light on, to immediately dim it. There was a soft green glow to the walls, with the light dimmed so low. The light itself was a warm white, and my walls, being a mossy green, always gave this beautiful sunset effect. The window opposite my bed and next to my desk was a huge bay window. I had enough natural light during the day, and this beautiful, warm light at night helped keep me calm.

I slid my black bra off from underneath my silk camisole and threw it on the end of my bed. I didn't care where it landed I just wanted to crawl into my bed and smother myself in my pillow, which is exactly what I did. I turned the light off and curled myself up under my sheets while hugging my pillow. I didn't have to wait long for my lids to glue themselves shut. I had drifted off to sleep, unprepared for what awaited me.