Amanda

"Girls, may I have your attention, please?" Coach asked politely and waited for everyone to calm down, "This week has been amazing, you trained very hard, and even though only three of the ten of you got onto the podium, I wanted to say I'm enormously proud of every one of you." We all clapped and cheered. We were having a final lunch before going back to Miami to celebrate.

"Three cheers for Coach!" Hailey shouted. We all cheered and laughed. It had been a perfect night, and I couldn't wait to see my family again. Hailey, Riley, and I sat next to each other on the plane, though none of us slept in the short flight.

"I can't believe we're already going back to Miami," I said.

"Oh, shush," Riley said, "We all know you are secretly glad you are."

"Ooh yeah," Hailey chimed in, "A boy is waiting for you there."

"What happened after the call?" Riley asked, "I missed that part because I was fighting a huge hangover."

"He said it didn't matter," I replied, and Riley's jaw fell open, "I told him he could be mad at me, but he didn't care in the least. It makes me wonder if he did something while I was gone, maybe that's why he reacted like that."

"Boys will be boys," Hailey stated as she looked at her perfect nails, "Trust me."

"What about you, Riley?" I asked my friend, "I know you hit it off with Hunter after he carried you to our room."

"Yeah," she said, "But we had met before that."

"You had?" Hailey exclaimed, "When? Where? How did I not know about this?"

"A few days ago," she explained, "He helped me find the indoor pool and told me he knew you, Amanda." She paused and looked at me. "He's a nice guy, I guess."

"Ooh, Riley is in looove." Riley swatted Hailey's arm.

"I'm not in love I just happen to think he's good-looking and nice." Hailey laughed at her. "We exchanged numbers just before we left."

"Oh my god, that's it," Hailey said, "Let's talk about something that doesn't involve love because I'm still here, single as fuck."

"Fine by me," Riley replied, "What do you think about going to the NLC?" She turned to me. I smiled.

I still couldn't believe I was going to be part of the Nastia Liukin Cup. It felt like a dream, one in which I was scared to pinch myself and wake up. If I ended up in the top three, I would have a secured entrance to UCLA, but it was going to be hard. I was going to compete against the best senior gymnasts across the country, and I was terrified. I knew it was going to be impossible to end up first, but I couldn't help having a little bit of hope and faith in myself.

"I can't put it into words," I said, "I can't wait to compete, but I need to train as hard as I can." I sighed. "What do you guys think?"

"I think you are ready," Hailey said, "There's never enough practice, but your routines are amazing, and you execute them perfectly."

"Same." Riley then looked out the window, where white clouds prevented us from seeing what was below us. A clearing then appeared, and I gasped. Miami was just below us, the sun bouncing off the glass buildings and the ocean gleaming in the distance. It was a beautiful sight as the sun turned orange, lighting the sky with pink shades and colors.

"We're almost there," Hailey observed, "Probably a few minutes before landing." I nodded, totally mesmerized by the view.

In just a few minutes, I would be back home, back with my family, and back with Noah. I never realized how much I had missed him until now, moments before seeing him again. My mind still wondered about the phone call we had shared yesterday, how he had acted calm and untroubled. I had thought he would be angry, just a tiny bit, but he was indifferent about the whole thing.

I also thought he was hiding something for me. I had the feeling he had done something and hadn't told me, I could tell by the way he spoke to me. It didn't bother me since I had secrets too, but he already knew most of them.

After a message from the captain, we landed safely in Miami's airport. We grabbed our handbags, crossed through migration, claimed our suitcases, and passed all of the bags through the x-ray. I had my headphones on when I walked through the doors leading to the actual airport.

Hundreds of unknown faces greeted me as soon as the sliding doors opened, their glances skipping over me as soon as they didn't recognize me. I walked past them and craned my head upwards to try and search for my family through the thick crowd, but it was useless, I was too short. I tightened my grip on my suitcase and started walking towards the exit, where I finally saw them.

Tyler's blue-green eyes lit up as soon as he spotted me, his mouth was in a smile as he started walking towards me, making my mother follow him. I left my suitcase behind, ripped my headphones off, and ran. I threw myself against him and hugged him tightly.

Even though it had only been a week, I was afraid he would leave. He had left me before, and I was scared it would happen again. That's why I hugged him so hard, relief washing over me as we separated.

"I missed you," I said, grinning like an idiot.

"I missed you too, sis," he replied, "It was weird having no one to criticize around." I rolled my eyes and proceeded to hug my mom.

"Oh, Amanda!" she exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you!" She hugged me tightly and then smiled. "I knew you would make it."

"Thanks, mom." I smiled back at my family. I told Coach I was leaving, she checked me off on her list and waved goodbye.

Tyler drove us back home as I told them all about the trip, leaving the incident at the party out of it. It was a sunny but windy day in Miami. I opened the car's window, and let my hair fly with the wind. I had missed home even if it had only been a week, but I missed Atlanta as well. I made my head go over the past week's events a few times carefully before allowing the harsh breeze to clear my mind.

*&*

I smoothed down the creases in my jeans before taking a deep breath. I wrapped my black jacket around me and started towards the school's entrance. I was nervous to see everyone again, especially Noah, after Georgia. We hadn't talked at all after our call two days ago.

I went inside the building and headed towards my locker in silence. I could feel eyes on my every movement, probably because of my win in the meet. I closed my locker and headed to my first class of the day. Today's Tuesday, meaning I don't have any lessons with Noah. It eased me a little, but my stomach was still a nervous wreck.

The day had passed quickly, and before I knew it, I was walking out the doors on my way home. Tyler, being the nice brother he is, let me take his car to school because I won. The parking lot was almost empty as I walked back to his vintage Ford Mustang. Suddenly, I heard somebody call my name, but not my real name, a nickname. I recognized the voice even before turning around.

His hair was messy as usual, his lips in the form of a smile, not a smirk, a smile. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, his usual attire, and waved. I ran again, this time even faster than before, and jumped when I approached him. He caught me in mid-air as I was about to crash against him, making me tangle my legs around him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder, his arms around my waist. I felt him chuckle, his breath stirring my hair.

"I missed you, Brown," I stated against his T-shirt.

"I missed you too."

After a few more moments of hugging in silence, I let him go, but he didn't. I unclasped my legs from around him, and his hands still didn't move from around my waist. He looked down at me, his smirk back on his face.

"What?" I asked, starting to grin with him.

"Nothing." I squinted my eyes at him but shrugged. I moved my hands to his chest and smiled at him with a spirited smile.

"I said it already, and I'm going to say it once more," I declared, "I'm sorry." His expression changed into a frown.

"Stop apologizing," he said, "I have something to tell you too." I shut my eyes for a brief moment.

"I knew it!" I exclaimed, "You sounded so suspicious over the phone." He smirked. "What is it?"

"The thing is, a few days ago I-" He sighed. "It's better to just show you." He let go of my waist and moved his right hand to his left shoulder, lifting his black T-shirt. I brought a hand to my mouth as I gasped.

There, just below his shoulder, black ink tainted his skin. It was like a band that went around his arm, swirls of drawings and lines joined together. I grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to me. I saw little designs and initials in between the two lines that made the band.

"Oh my-" I said, "It's incredible." I ran my fingers over the dried ink lightly. "A Z for Zoey." I felt his eyes on my head as I continued to trace his tattoo. A few moments later, I tilted my head back in confusion to look into his dazzling blue eyes. "And a W?" He smiled down at me.

"For white." He winked.

"White?" I asked, then something clicked inside my head. "White because of m-" I couldn't finish the sentence because Noah had ducked his head and pressed his mouth to mine. I gasped into the kiss and stumbled back in surprise, but he caught me and wrapped his arms around me once more. I winded my hands into his hair and let him take control over the kiss.

Even though we had only kissed once, it had been something I wanted, I needed. Our surroundings disappeared as the kiss deepened, my skin burning under Noah's touch.

I heard his heartbeat's steady rhythm when I pressed my ear to his chest. A heart I thought I would never want, but here I am. Wanting his heart, and needing him, Noah fucking Brown.