Not Edited*

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▲ Noah Callaway’s Point of View▲

I’d be the worst liar in the world if I said I wasn’t worried about Emma.

It was pretty freaking obvious by the way I pathetically paced back and forth like my mother did when she was apprehensive. I even loosened my tie constantly and dragged my hands through my hair over and over again.

“Emma, ¿dónde coño estás” Paige yelled into her phone. “Answer your phone, Emma! We’re worried sick about you. Please just come back.”

It has been three hours since Emma has gone missing and no one has any idea where the blonde went. Callum and I scouted the fair and the parking lot, but there was no sight of her and her car was gone. Paige and Leon possibly left a million voicemails on Emma’s phone. However, there was no sign of her anywhere.

And it was fucking nerve-racking.

I knew there was something wrong once her perfect vocals trembled during her performance. The way her eyes displayed so many emotions as she stared at the crowd of fathers and daughters dancing. Believe it or not, I even felt her pain as she sang every lyric with ache.

“I managed to persuade Evan to go home,” Leon informed, coming up from behind us. “Told him that he should wait there in case Emma showed up.”

Paige nodded and sat down on the bench with her head in her hands. “Where the hell could she be?”

“I’m sure she’d call soon,” Callum reassured, plopping down next to her and rubbing her back soothingly.

It was still pretty weird to see Callum and Paige together. The last time I talked to Callum about the petite Mexican, who was intimidating to the male population of East Carteret High, he claimed that she was the last person he’d want to be with.

Leon, who was still clueless about the two although it was really obvious, looked confused. “Campbell, keep your hands to yourself.”

“Why? Are you her boyfriend?” Callum snapped, cocking his head to the side in frustration.

“You aren’t her boyfriend either, so I suggest you – “

“Oh, will you two shut up?” Paige blew up, shaking her head in disbelief. “We’re trying to look for Emma, not start a Soap Opera.”

The whole time the three conversed about the stupid idea of calling her back again in five minutes, I thought of a place where she’d be. However, all I could think about was her house, my house, and the street. It was a brilliant idea to check the street, but even if I found her there, it didn’t mean she would leave with me or listen to me.

Why would she?

My phone rang, causing everyone’s conversations to come to an abrupt end. I stopped pacing to fish my phone out of my pocket. Although it was the last person I’d expect to call me, I was nothing but relieved.

I quickly answered the phone and with genuine concern, I asked, “Emma, where the hell are you?”

“Emma?” Paige gasped. She and the two boys surrounded me, listening intently.

“Noah, you’re incredibly hot,” Emma slurred from the other end and giggled. “But you have the worst attitude. I’m not sure if that’s a turn on or a turn off.”

My eyebrows drew together in confusion, ignoring what she just said to me. “Are you drunk?”

“Eh, I just had a couple of drinks.” When Emma burped, she giggled like it was the funniest thing in the entire world. “Can you tell me why you’re still so handsome even with a black eye? You’d look good even with a paper bag over your head.”

“Emma, where are you?” I asked, shaking my head.

“I don’t know,” she continued to slur. “I’m at some playground. I’m not happy with the swings. They’re too small for me. Can you build me a swing, Noah?”

“Emma, just stay there, okay? Don’t drive. Don’t move. I’ll be there,” I sighed. “Okay?”

“Sure, Noah!” She agreed. Shortly after hiccupping, she cheered. “We’re going to have a party!”

I wasn’t exactly sure why I was worried sick over Emma Atwood out of all people. It had to do something with the aggravating way she didn’t see me the way others saw me and the way she was completely devoted to Maia. Maybe I felt this way because I felt that I owed it to her.

“She’s at Willowy Park,” I announced after hanging up. I felt weak when I always had to ask Callum for a ride, but I was carless and this was an emergency. I punched Callum’s arm. “C’mon man, we have to move quickly. She’s drunk and I don’t want her to do anything stupid.”

Callum nodded and fished his keys out of his pocket. He looked at Paige. “We’ll call you when we get to her.”

“What? No. Paige and I are going to look for her,” Leon declared, glaring at Callum and I. “You two are idiots if you think she’d go with you.”

 “I don’t fucking care what you have to say, Palmer,” I spat. “I don’t have time for this.”

“You guys don’t give a crap about her! So you better back off because there is no fucking way I trust you with her.”

I stepped closer to him and looked at him threateningly with fisted hands. “You’re not my mom, Palmer. Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Dude, deal with him later. We have to go,” Callum said.

“Just because you have this pathetic crush on her doesn’t mean you own her. So back off, Palmer,” I threatened, trying to stay calm.

However, my calm was thrown out the window when the idiot clocked me in the face. I regained from the blow immediately and trudged towards Leon with rage. But before I could even pick up my fist, Callum held me back.

“Fucking let go of me, Cale! I’m going to beat the shit out of him,” I shouted, struggling in Callum’s hold.

“I back off? Why the fuck won’t you back off? We’re her friends. We should get Emma,” Leon fought as Paige pushed him back.

“Is that why she called me instead of your ass?”

“She’s drunk. She doesn’t – “

“Leon, let it go!” Paige scolded with a frustrated groan. “There was a reason she called him instead of us. Just let Noah deal with her.”

“Calm the hell down, Noah. Don’t stoop down to his level. We really need to get going,” Callum shouted as I continued to struggle in his hold.

“You trust them to take care of her?” Leon asked incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Paige.”

Paige shook her head. “We’ll never know until we let them try. I’m not letting you go. Emma might freak out again. Remember the last time we showed up without her knowing?”

Callum continued to yell. “Dude, calm down! Are we going to fucking leave or are you going to waste your time on him?”

“This is ridiculous,” Leon commented. “Paige, do you even know what you’re saying right now?”

“Yeah, I do! If you were really Emma’s friend, you’d let Noah and Callum go.”

“I can’t believe you’re on their side.”

“I am not! Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Paige, you either go with me or I’ll go alone.”

“I swear, Leon, if you go, I will not talk to you ever again. I’m serious about this,” Paige warned with finality. She looked back at us when Callum finally let go of me. “Will you two just leave already?”

“You know what? This is such bull shit,” Leon muttered before walking off in the other direction.

▼▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

It was quiet in Callum’s Tacoma as we drove past streets and houses towards Willowy Park. Paige decided to watch out for the asshole in case he did anything rash. However, I wasn’t angry anymore.

A certain blonde was all I could think about.

“You like her,” Callum implied, cutting the tense silence with a knife.

Although he didn’t intend for it to be funny, I laughed. “No, I don’t.”

Callum shook his head. “I could see it all over your face. Are you really going to lie to me, man?”

I wasn’t lying.

Or was I?

Sure, she was beautiful with the prettiest hazel eyes that I unintentionally found myself lost in. Even her body was smoking. However, I had to admit that my favorite part about her was her attitude.

I treated her like shit at first, but she still stuck around. She didn’t judge me like all the other idiots who accused me of killing my brother. She wasn’t scared of me. In fact, I admired how she stood up to me at times. An added bonus would be that Maia absolutely adores her. Not to mention the way she blushed so easily, the way she played with her hands when she was nervous, angry, or sad, and the clumsy way she did things. I was confused as to why I thought all her flaws were what made her perfect.

Fuck, I was being a wimp again.

The bottom line was I was never going to be good enough for her. I don’t like her. It’ll definitely be easier that way. It’ll be easier for the both of us.

“I don’t like her,” I grumbled.

I didn’t have to look at Callum to know there was a full on smirk on his face. “I think you’re in denial.”

“Think whatever you want, man, but I’m telling you the truth. I don’t like her,” I claimed, jumping out of his truck when he pulled up behind Emma’s car.

“Is that why you’re so worried about her?”

“Thanks for dropping me off. You better go check up on Paige,” I digressed, shutting the door in his face while he started to laugh.

I found Emma drinking a bottle of vodka inside one of the playground’s forts. Due to my natural height, I had to crouch down to stand inside. My frown deepened – if that were even possible – when Emma took another swig from the bottle.

“Noah,” she slurred. She hopped off the ground and wrapped my hands around my neck. Although her hands felt good on me like it always did, I cringed from the smell of alcohol on her breath. “You came! You want some? I stole it from my dad’s old alcohol cabinet.”

Even if I gave off a bad boy persona, I haven’t drunk an ounce of alcohol since Nick died. I slightly pushed Emma off of me by her hips and plucked the vodka bottle out of her hands.

“Why don’t we have the party at my house?” I lied, plastering a fake smile on my face.

“That sounds cool! Can we invite the whole school like those cliché high school parties? Oh! I have a great idea! We should invite Principal Leroy too! He needs to chill out.”

I nodded my head, knowing she won’t remember any of this once I dropped her home. “Of course.”

“Let’s get the show on the road,” she cheered. I caught her as she stumbled forward. “Thanks, Noah! You saved my life! Wow, your muscles are like rocks.”

As she continued to poke my forearm while I guided her to the car, I purposely dropped the vodka bottle on the pavement. It cracked into a thousand tiny pieces, glistening under the moonlight.

“Oops. I guess we can’t have the party anymore, Emmy. I’m sorry. Why don’t I just take you home?”

Emma pouted at the broken vodka bottle and hiccupped. “I can’t go home! Evan’s going to kill me for drinking.”

“Okay, looks like you’ll be staying at my place tonight. Where are your keys?”

“Don’t worry about it! I can drive,” Emma slurred, fishing her keys out of her clutch.

“You’re drunk,” I deadpanned, grabbing the keys from her. “You can’t drive.”

Emma placed her hands on her hips. “I can drive!”

After arguing about her state for approximately fifteen minutes, Emma finally gave in and crawled into the passenger seat of her car. If I thought Emma was insanely annoying, drunken Emma was the bane of my existence. The whole car ride to my house, she slurred lyrics to Taylor Swift and shrieked every single word.

I wasn’t usually a patient person. Many people could attest to that. It was a challenge for me to remain calm when Emma kept moving around in the passenger seat, shrieking the wrong lyrics to every song she sang, poking me in the cheek repeatedly, and saying the most idiotic things an idiot wouldn’t even speak.

I managed to sneak her up to my room without disturbing Maia or my parents. If my parents woke up to the horrifying sight of their daughter’s drunk babysitter, Emma could lose her job. I wasn’t completely clueless. I knew for a fact she really needed the job and Maia would be devastated if the one babysitter she actually liked was fired.

Although I was a little skeptical about handing Emma one of my shirts and sweats – something I didn’t do for any girl, I knew there were no other choices. Her dress was dirty. Mud, dirt, and alcohol stained the cloth. To help her out with the alcohol on her breath, I handed her a brand new toothbrush. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t stand the stench on her breath as she talked to me.

“Emmy, are you all right?” I called out as I set up a place on the ground for me to sleep in. I sat on the bed with knitted eyebrows. Did it really take her twenty minutes to brush her teeth? “You’ve been in there for - for – for – shit.”

Emma stood before me in my shirt, her long and toned legs bare due to the fact that my shirt only reached up to her mid thigh. Her hair was in waves around her face. She held up my sweats in her hand and slightly frowned.

All I did was pathetically stare with my eyes locked on her. I tried to say something, but my mouth kept opening and closing like a freaking idiot. It was really difficult not to be turned on by just the mere sight of her and I was having a hard time … keeping it down.

“I was trying to figure out why these kept falling down,” Emma slurred and laughed. “But then I remembered it wasn’t mine. I’m so stupid.”

“It’s okay,” I finally said, rubbing the back of my neck. I realized I was doing an action I only did when I was nervous and quickly returned my hand to my side. “Just cover yourself with the blanket if you feel self conscious. I promise I won’t look.”

I meant what I said when I promised her I wouldn’t look. Yeah, she was freaking gorgeous, but I wasn’t about to take advantage of her. I had to respect her. I wasn’t about to perv on her just because my hormones were raging.

I turned my head to set a pillow on the bed. “You could take the bed tonight. I’ll just –“

“You really smell good. You’re like one of my favorite things to smell,” she hiccupped, straddling me.

My heart beat rapidly in my chest and my eyes widened in shock at the current situation. I shivered as her hands rested on my shoulders, gripping them slightly. I embarrassingly groaned in pleasure as her lips pressed against my neck.

Admittedly, I’d been with a few girls prior to the event that had everyone turn their backs on me. It just didn’t feel this good because I knew those girls didn’t mean anything to me.

My hands clenched the bed sheets as she continued to trail kisses along my neck, nipping and licking here and there. It’d be the ultimate lie if I said I wasn’t enjoying myself.

However, the reality that she wasn’t in her right state of mind came crashing down. Although this felt so right, it was also completely wrong. I grabbed her by the waist and tucked her in bed, trying to think clearly.

I sighed and tiredly ran a hand through my hair. “You should go to sleep.”

Emma pouted, her bottom lip trembling. “You don’t want me either? Nobody wants me!”

With knitted eyebrows and the utmost confusion, I watched as Emma thrashed her fists against the bed. Tears furiously rolled down her cheeks as she screamed through clenched teeth.

“First, my dad left us because he had a gay romance with the teacher I introduced him to at the grocery store. All he does is give us one hundred bucks every month because his boyfriend hates us. Second, my mommy physically hurt me because she blamed me for my dad being homo. I don’t know where the hell she is because she hates my guts and hates Evan for choosing to watch over me. Oh, but I’m not allowed to call her mommy anymore because she disowned me,” Emma slurred in between sobs. “And now you! Everything’s my fault.”

“What?” I asked in surprise, my eyebrows drawn together.

Never have I ever thought that perfect Emma Atwood had so much shit on her plate.

But that was the funny thing about people. You’d never expect their stories. Every single person you meet has a story that you’d least expect to hear from them.

Emma continued to sob. I wish I could have the right words to say to her and the ability to make her forget about everything at this precise moment, but I was a teenage boy who didn’t even know how to deal with his own life.

So I did the only thing that came to mind. I wrapped her up in my arms and let her sob into my shirt until the both of us drifted off to sleep.