Twisted Moon - Book 3 of the Black Moon series - Chapter 27: Back To School

(Noah's POV - Mon. 23 March 2015)

Argh, shut up!!!! The shrilling noise that is hitting my ears is just unbearable!

I briefly peek at the alarm clock on my bedside table and groan at the digits displaying on its screen. Far too early!! Who the hell gets up at 6:30 in the morning? I snooze it and flip to my other side, sinking into the comforter to get back to sleep. Well, that was without counting on Camden.

"Noah, get up! It's time!" he calls out from the other side of the door, giving it a few loud knocks to which Jess replies with a yelp.

I hear the man walk back to his bedroom so I just ignore him and close my eyes again. Can't he just go to work as usual without waking me up? Just as I am about to fall back asleep a few minutes later, I hear my door open and before I know it, the comforter is roughly dragged off my body and a stream of cold water lands on my head, making me jump to a sitting position and gasp in surprise. There he is, sexy as hell even in his pajama pants and tee-shirt, arms folded across his chest and wearing a smug expression. Well, right now I wish he didn't look so attractive because it doesn't match my murderous emotions.

"Why the heck did you do that!?" I exclaim in anger.

"Next time you'll remember to wake up when your alarm goes off!" he smirks. "Now hurry up because you need to shower, get dressed, have breakfast and walk your dog before I drive you to school!" he adds, his voice back to seriousness, before he walks out of my room.

Crap!! School!!! How could I forget!? I have been waiting for that day so eagerly that it completely changes my mood to a very enthusiastic one all of a sudden. Don't get me wrong here; it is not so much the idea of going back to school that enthralls me. I have never been a great fan of classes and I would certainly prefer to stay at home or find a job. No, my ultimate goal is to please Camden. I want to show him that I can succeed because I have a feeling that it will make him proud of me. And if he gets proud of me, maybe he will like me more... if you see what I mean.

Yesterday we spent almost seven hours revising together the most important things with regards to the tests I am taking today and tomorrow. I can't believe that he spent so much time explaining me things and questioning me to try my knowledge, as if he had nothing better to do; I am so grateful for his help!  The first hours were a bit painful because Camden takes things very seriously as usual, but by the end of the day, I saw how he was relaxing and smiling more after every good answer I was providing to his questions.

"Noah!!! Do you need another glass of water!?" I hear him call from afar, making me realize that I have been zoning out on my bed. I hop off my bed and head out of my room, followed by a sleepy Jess.

"No thanks! Coming now!!" I shout back as I walk into the guest bathroom. He is still in his room and I hear him grumble something that I can't decipher, but I ignore it and shut the door. Jess patiently waits for me by the tub while I shower quickly and then by the door while I try to do my hair decently. Pointless! I like them in a natural mess! With a towel wrapped around my waist, I walk back to my room, but this time the puppy heads downstairs when he realizes that Camden is now in the kitchen. Greedy one... he prefers his dog food to my company! Ten minutes later, I join them, carrying my new backpack that I drop against one of the counters. Jess is finishing his plate and Camden is sipping on his coffee, holding a toast in one hand and typing on his phone with the other.

"Morning!" I chant as I prepare myself a couple of toasts too and pour some coffee in a mug.

"Good morning, you're finally ready?" Camden asks, putting his phone back on the counter.

"Yep..."

"So...? Are you all set for the tests?" he asks once I have joined him at the island counter.

"I think so... There's not much more I could have done anyway..." I reply shrugging my shoulders.

"I'm sure you'll pass, Noah. Just don't stress..." he encourages me kindly. "I'll go and walk Jess out while you have breakfast," he then offers.

"I can do it!"

"Starting tomorrow, I'll trust you to wake up on time and do it indeed, but since you're a bit late this morning, I'll take care of him," he insists, getting down from his stool.

While Camden is out, I try to remember all the important points of my lessons but my thoughts stray back to his friend's visit yesterday morning. I remember how I had been impressed by the tall guy the first time I saw him about a week ago. Aaron is one of those guys you wouldn't mess with... well, a bit like Camden. Though... No, Camden is even worse. Whatever!

Camden was taking care of the cleaning upstairs when the door bell rang and since he didn't seem to hear it, I went to open. I hesitated for a few seconds when I recognized the guy in the peephole; I wasn't sure Camden would like to see him after what had happened last weekend, but at the same time, there was an opportunity to meet the guy again. After all, I had been trying to convince Camden to invite his friends over, so I let him in. His expression was a bit severe when he saw me, and I almost regretted having opened the door, but it didn't last for long. His voice was really soft when he asked me if Camden was around.

I told him that I was going to get his friend for him but the guy silently followed me upstairs, which only added to the awkwardness of the situation and to my embarrassment when he showed up in Camden's bedroom. Tension was more than clear between the two of them and I didn't linger around! I think they tried to remain discreet about their fight but I still had to put my earplugs on with music to tune them out.

However, after a while, they came back downstairs, much more relaxed than when I left them. I felt really relieved that they seemed to have managed to solve their problems, whatever they were about, and the atmosphere considerably lightened after that. In the end, Aaron is definitely not the cold guy I had met the first time; actually pretty funny to be honest, and he also looks less serious and rigid than Camden.

I can't believe Aaron called him a party-pooper, which he really is by the way... at least sometimes. Now I seriously regret that I didn't listen to their conversation in the end. I should have eavesdropped on them because what Aaron said about that Shannon guy kind of triggered my curiosity and I wonder if I would have gotten more information from their argument.

If I understood well, this Shannon is one of Mark's boyfriends - yeah... that's something weird too... Camden told me later that day that there is a third man in their relationship! - but why the hell would he get in troubles for getting a piercing? I mean... That guy seems to be old enough to do whatever he wants, right? The most confusing part is that somehow, Aaron and Camden both seemed to agree with their friend Mark... Honestly, I can't wait to meet all these people at some point, because I smell something fishy and I am under the impression that I'm in for some surprises.

Something suddenly catches my attention in my peripheral vision. Camden left his mobile phone on the counter and the device just lit up from an incoming text. I know that I shouldn't do that but I just can't help my curiosity and look at the message before it disappears.

Joshua: Hey bro! Spoke with Aaron... Sorry for our mistake. Hope to see you on Tuesday. Miss you! Come back soon my favorite Sad...  J.

Well maybe I shouldn't have looked because now I am even more confused than I was before. Joshua is the one friend I haven't met yet but I remember his face from the picture... another beautiful dark haired male who was possessively holding a not less beautiful blond haired young man that must be Liam. What mistake is he talking about? Is Camden planning to see them on Tuesday? At lunch time maybe... And worst question of all, why does he call him sad? Does it mean that Camden is a somber person and that he always looks cheerless, even around his friends? Okay, I have to admit that he is not the most joyful person I have ever met, but when you scratch a little, you sure see the gentle and sometimes funny man beneath that bear fur!

Still staring at the phone screen which has gotten dark again, I snap out of my thoughtful state when I suddenly hear Camden's whistle as he must be calling for Jess to get back in. I hurry to the sink to rinse my mug and put it in the dish washer. Camden and a happy Jess walk back in through the kitchen windows. I watch him go to pick his phone and lightly smile at it as he is reading, shaking his head. He then quickly types an answer before he tells me to get ready.

Camden insisted on driving me to the private school on this first day, but in the future, I will have to walk there. It is not that far, a barely twenty-minute walk, so the ride there is pretty quick.

"So... You'll remember? Concentration, f..." he starts saying as he pulls to a stop nearby the school.

"Focus, relax, no stress, I can do it... yeah, I remember..." I interrupt him.

"Good. Send me a text over lunch if you can... and when you get back home too, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy!" I tease him.

"Stop that," he chuckles, ruffling my hair.

"Hey!!! Don't mess with my hair!!" I exclaim. I pull away from him and get ready to step out of the car.

"Noah! Wait a second! I almost forgot..." he says, searching his jeans pocket. "For your lunch!" he explains, handing me a twenty-dollar bill.

"That's too much..."

"Then you keep the rest and use it tomorrow!"

"Okay, thanks... See you tonight?"

"Yep, I'll try to come back early enough." I nod and get out of the car, turning back to wave at him as I slowly head toward the school. "Noah!" he suddenly calls out after he has rolled down the electric window. I walk back and lean down to listen to him. "Good luck... I'm sure you'll rock," he tells me with one of those too rare genuine and warm smiles and a wink of the eye.

"Thanks!"

Once he has left, I slowly walk to the school entrance where the Dean is already welcoming the numerous students who are coming to take the tests. There must be about thirty of us actually. Young teenagers like me and older people. As the Dean explained to us, the accelerated program is intended not only to teenagers like me who missed school or who are late in their education, but also to adults who never graduated before and want to get their diploma. After the tests, only those who get the best grades will stay and attend the course. I well intend to be one of them!

Most of the people don't seem to know each other but a few have formed groups already, mostly according to their age. I notice three girls babbling together, eyeing another young guy who is standing on his own. Dark haired, about my size and as slender as I am, his beautiful angel features and his general stance also give off bad-boy vibes, the kind that says don't mess up with me, but he looks damn handsome! Weirdly enough, a strong shyness also emanates from him. The Dean calls for silence and leads us to a large room with several lines of tables and chairs where he places us; when my turn comes, I happily find out that I am sitting next to the shy guy and we both exchange a small smile.

I guess no one would want a detailed summary of how my day went, so to make it short, I spent four times two hours sitting at a table and answering dozens of questions, writing an essay and solving some math exercises, the most important outcome being that I believe I did quite well. I actually think I did super well but I'd rather not be too presumptuous and bring myself bad luck. I spent my hour lunch with Sean, the guy I thought was shy and who is not that reserved in the end since he was the one to come to me. The restaurant of the school being closed this week due to the spring break, we went to a deli to buy some sandwiches and had lunch on the lawns of the school. We mostly talked about the tests but I have a feeling that we should get along quite well in the future.

As soon as I set a foot inside the house, I am welcome by an overexcited Jess who yelps and tries to scratch my legs. I take him in my arms and this crazy little thing tries to reach for my face but he only gets to lick my neck and ears.

"Hey... Someone's happy to see me!" I tell him.

Poor baby spent the whole day alone, but he will have to get used to it from now on. Before he gets too excited and relieves his bladder on me, I put my backpack by the staircase, grab his leash and take him out for a walk. While he relieves himself, I send a quick text to Camden to let him know that I am home and that the tests went pretty well. When we get back to the house, after a short half-hour walk, Jess goes straight to his little bed and I set to do a little more revisions. Camden said he wouldn't be back before 8:00pm so I review some of my arts textbooks and prepare all the material that I will need for tomorrow and then set to prepare our dinner.

Looking into the fridge for some inspiration, I try to think of something easy to do; and something that doesn't require a knife of course, I sarcastically think to myself. Damn! I wish Camden would release the cutlery. It is not as if I was in a mood to hurt myself at the moment! The lack of a knife really makes my life harder right now. I know that he loves soup in the evening but how am I supposed to chop vegetables without a knife?

For the slightest second, I am tempted to go and ask the neighbors if I can borrow one, but what reason would I give them? The dog has eaten all the knives... huh! I could try to go and buy one, but Camden lives in a residential area with no store whatsoever within an at-least-twenty-minute walking distance. Well, well... there's some bacon here, cream and there is one box of pasta left, so I could go for another carbonara. Again. Except that I don't have a knife to slice the smoked bacon! This is so damn frustrating! However, there's ham and I can cut that with my fingers, so that will do.

When Camden arrives just after eight, the table is set, Jess has already had his food and I am just about to mix the creamed ham with the warm pasta.

"Good evening, Noah," Camden says, ruffling my hair. "Mmm... Carbonara? Well... at least it looks like carbonara..." he adds with a smug tone.

"You'd better not complain because that's the only thing I could do without knives!" I reply a bit bitterly, turning around to face him and folding my arms across my chest.

"I'm not complaining. I love ham-carbonara!" he chuckles.

"Please Camden... Can you put the knives back into the drawer?" I beg him.

"Nope!" he simply says, winking at me.

"Come on!!! I swear I'll behave! I am truly feeling good right now!" I insist, trying to be as persuasive as I can.

"Noah... You were feeling good just the day before you did it last time," he says softly.

"But that was differ..."

"It wasn't different, Noah. Your moods shift too easily." With that, he briefly hugs me then carries the dish of pasta to the table.

During our dinner, he asks me tons of questions about the tests and I tell him again that I am feeling pretty confident about my work. Tomorrow will be even easier since there is a two-hour essay in arts and then another one-hour test during which I will need to draw. Camden then tells me about his day and informs me that tomorrow will be a very long day for him.

"I thought your Tuesdays were shorter?" I ask dubiously. His face displays the briefest expression of hesitation but he composes himself very quickly.

"I'll leave early in the morning because I have an appointment at eight with my colleagues. We are meeting some guy because we'd like to move our practice to another building in the near future. And then I have many additional appointments with patients, plus the ones who might call throughout the day for urgent treatment, so I'm not sure what time I'll get back home. Just don't wait for me and go to bed early. If everything goes well - and I'm sure it will - on Wednesday, you should be starting the intensive classes," he explains in a rush.

"Yes Daddy..." I sigh.

"Noah..." he growls.

"Daddy...?" I growl back, mocking his tone, but my voice is certainly not as impressive as his.

"Stop that before I kick your butt!" he warns me.

"Oooouh... I'm scared..." I tease him as I stand up and start clearing the table.

"Jesus Christ..." he sighs. "Did you meet nice people by the way?" he then asks, joining me in the kitchen.

"Yep! Well for now, I don't know who is going to stay in the end or not, but there were a majority of young adults, I believe; three or four older persons over thirty as well; and not that many my age... only five of us, I think. Three of the girls seemed to know each other already so I hung out with the other one. I think we'll get along very well!" I cheer.

"Cool... What's her name?" he asks nonchalantly.

"Her name...?" I chuckle. "His name is Sean. He's a guy!" I see him tense a little right then. Now that's interesting...

"Oh... nice... so you two... had lunch together?" he asks awkwardly. Has Mister Self-Confidence just stuttered? Oh Gosh! I feel something fishy here again!

"Yes... We went to a deli to buy sandwiches and had lunch on the lawns of the school..." I say, discreetly walking away from him and going to stand on the other side of the counter that opens on the dining room. Camden is now putting the dirty dishes in the washer.

"Cool..." he replies absentmindedly. He seems to be losing himself in his thoughts so I decide to try a theory that just formed inside my head.

"And since we were done within only half an hour, we spent the other half hour kissing and making out in the grass and damn! That was so good we almost had sex there, but that was until the Dean..." I stop myself when a plate drops to the floor and breaks into a loud cracking noise. It is not Camden-like to let a plate slip from his hands.

"Shit..." he groans. I stifle a satisfaction smile when I see his suddenly cold expression. His lips have stretched into a thin line, his eyes are darker than dark and I can tell that his jaw is clenched from the muscles straining on the lower part of his face. And I am not mentioning his tall body which is pretty tense right now. However, he soon recovers a calmer expression and sets to clean the mess on the floor, but I had more than enough time to realize that I touched a sensitive cord here.

"Sorry... Do you want some help?" I squeal. He peeks up at me, anger clear on his face again.

"No, you stay where you are!" he growls. I don't know if it is because he is scared that I might hurt myself with the scattered pieces of the plate or if it is because he is too angry, but I do as I am told and stay behind the counter until he has finished picking up the pieces. "That wasn't even funny, Noah. Had that really happened, you can easily imagine that you would have been dismissed from the school before you even got accepted there," he scolds me.

"I know... I was just kidding," I sigh.

"Get a better sense of humor then," he grumbles.

Maybe he should get a better sense of humor! Of course I wouldn't do anything as stupid as that, ruining my chances to enter this program! Not willing to worsen his mood, I just escape the situation by calling out Jess and taking him outside for his evening walk while Camden finishes cleaning up the kitchen. That should give him enough time to relax a bit. This first day of tests has definitely tired me and considering that I will have to wake up even earlier tomorrow morning to walk to school, I decide that I will call it a night when I get back. If I show him how serious I can be, it might help his spirits.

Anyway, I don't really mind, because the one thing I am sure of is that I have found a sweet spot there... a bittersweet spot to be more precise, and I do intend to tease it further in the future.

Published on 13 May 2017

Things are moving on! So you have just met a new character with Sean and you'll see more of him in the future. And since several of you have been asking, Noah will discover the truth about Camden's lifestyle in his next POV ;) For next chapter, get ready for a reunion of the Doms and there'll be a little of Shannon too. We are now in the period between Shan's piercing and the moment Alex ran away.

Just a note on that "program" Noah is going to follow. After hours of research on the American education system, which is totally different from the French one (and also way too complex), I decided that I would make up something instead. After all, this is a fiction and I can allow myself a little bit of unrealism... So, I don't know if that kind of thing exists in the US, probably not, but this accelerated program comes straight out of my head and just matches what I needed for the story. You'll get more details in further chapters ;)

The drawing in the header was made by @wesmey. In the next chapter, I will put the one she made of Camden. They're really beautiful, so thank you!!

Enjoy the weekend and see you at the next update on Tuesday morning!