Sunday, September 29th
I was in total shock.
9:10am
My mouth drops open.
Again.
For about the tenth time this morning as thoughts race through my mind.
Do I want him?
And he said I would give in?
Does that mean he wants me to?
What is going on?
Noah gives me a half-smile before disconnecting his eyes from mine and putting his toothbrush into his mouth.
I navigate my way around Noah’s towering body, trying to escape the bathroom. I practically fall onto the floor when I get into my room.
Because what was that?
My heart is pounding, and I don’t know what to do. Noah has my head—and my body—completely frazzled.
I search for my phone, immediately hitting Mohammad’s number.
He doesn’t pick up.
Shit.
I try again, hoping he’ll understand that this is urgent and that he needs to answer.
After five calls, I decide he isn’t ignoring me and probably doesn’t have his phone.
Should I call home?
No. My mom would freak out. I can talk to her about almost everything, but she tends to get too invested in the story and wants constant updates.
My dad … well, he would throw an absolute fit. After all, I am sleeping in the room next door to Noah. I suppose I could talk to Helen, but it would be so awkward because, well, Noah’s her son.
Maybe I’ll call Anna. Talk to her about it. But I’m not sure she would understand. She has no context and doesn’t know any of the people I would be talking to her about. Maybe that’s better though? To get an outsider’s perspective.
But what would I even say?
I decide to open up a new text message, hoping writing it out might make it easier to explain.
Me: Hey, Anna. So, I’m kind of dating this guy, Harry. And his best friend is Noah, who happens to be part of my host family. Noah and I get along—for the most part—but we are always arguing about something. And Harry, he’s kind of a dream. Well, when he isn’t letting me down or having an emotional breakdown of his own. But last night, everything was perfect. After a rough couple of days, Harry came to the door after everyone was asleep and told me he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I said no, only because I think we should date first. I don’t want to rush into anything, and that might be because I’m scared. Scared he’s going to hurt me.
But anyway, everything was perfect. We were all getting along. But then, this morning, Noah had to come in and ruin it all.
Because my life can’t just be simple.
I can’t have a boy like me and have friends.
No, that would be asking too much.
Because Noah decided to declare that he thought I wanted him. He put the moves on me, Anna. He told me he thought I liked him, and I’m pretty sure he told me that he liked me too.
I mean, not too.
That would require me liking him. Ugh! Anyway, he didn’t say he liked me, but he said he would give in if I tried something with him. Such a guy thing to say, first off. And secondly, it was hot, Anna.
I was in total shock. He was flirting with me. He had his finger on my lip and … I thought he was going to kiss me. I’m so confused. Because Noah was sweet to me yesterday when I needed him, but Harry, well, I could probably give him my heart.
The idea settles into my stomach.
I erase the message, realizing I was making no sense, when Mohammad’s name pops up on my screen.
“Where the fuck have you been? I’ve called about a million times,” I shout into the phone.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I just saw your calls. What’s up?” he asks, obviously not too concerned.
“I have to talk to you about something,” I say, sucking down a gulp of air.
My chest is pounding from me just thinking about telling Mohammad what happened. And I’m not even sure if it’s right to tell him this. I don’t want to mess with their friendships.
“Mallory, what’s going on?” he asks.
“Wait, is Harry with you?” I suddenly realize they might still be together.
“No. Why? What’s going on?” he asks again.
“You have to promise to keep this a secret.” I drop my voice lower and look over to make sure my bedroom door is tightly shut. I also listen for any noise coming from the hallway.
“All right …” he replies, urging me on.
“There was this moment—this incredibly super-intense moment—with Noah, just now in the bathroom,” I whisper.
“A good or bad moment?” Mohammad asks. “Just tell me what happened.”
“Well, nothing actually happened. But Noah was so intense this morning. Instead of being kind of annoying but cute Noah, I got I’ll leave you in a puddle of hot, melted lava Noah.”
“What?” Mohammad asks, his voice rising.
I can tell he’s as confused as I am.
“Like, this was not the Noah we know, Mohammad. This was the determined, I’m going to stare at you until you crack Noah. He was dirty,” I admit, my eyes going wide at the memory.
“Holy shit. He talked dirty to you?” Mohammad almost shrieks, something finally registering. And he sounds the way I feel.
“Yeah, he did. He said that I wanted him, Mohammad. He said that he was going to have me practically begging for him,” I say a little quieter, “before he gave in to me.”
I pause, my heart feeling like it’s going to rip out of my chest as I wait for Mohammad’s response.
“Oh shit. My man is good,” he says fondly.
“Mohammad!” I reply, annoyed. “I need help here!”
“Relax, Miss America,” he starts. “Look, I have to ask because I think it’s what you want to talk about. Does that change things for you with Harry?”
I think about his question. I don’t know how I’m feeling, but Mohammad is right. I wanted him to ask me that question. I wanted him to be the one to bring it up.
“There’s nothing going on with Noah. And Harry is adorable. And sweet. And after last night, well, I feel a lot closer to him. He wanted to be my boyfriend.”
“But …” Mohammad pushes.
“I’m sorry you have to hear this. But Noah was like melt my panties hot. I mean, my whole body freaked out this morning.”
“Okay, okay. Eww. Too much information.”
“Honestly, I think it just took me by surprise though. I’ve never seen that side of him.”
“The I’m intense and going to get exactly what I want side?” Mohammad asks with a sigh, like he understands.
“Well, when you put it like that …” I say, thinking about Noah’s personality. “I guess he’s just been kind to me lately.”
“Oh, come on. Noah’s one of the best-looking guys in school. He’s never had a problem with getting girls,” Mohammad replies.
“He gets girls?” I ask, my eyes going wide.
Mohammad laughs into the phone, and I instantly want to pull him through from the other end and punch him.
“When you first got here, your head was so far up Harry’s bum that you didn’t even notice you’d ended up being friends with the hottest guys in school.”