Teagan
I'd been home over five hours, I'd missed my flight, the sun was starting to rise, and I had spent every minute of those five hours waiting for the boys in blue to knock on my door.
I paced my bedroom floor for the millionth time, feeling anxious as hell and the only thing that was keeping me sane was the knowledge that Noah was okay.
He was more than okay…
He was a freaking Carter…
I'd hidden and remained perfectly still in the backseat of Mr. Carter's car earlier and heard the entire conversation between him and Logan. When they went inside, I'd waited another few minutes before creeping out of the car and skulking back to my house.
Noah was in the house next-door.
I knew this because I'd watched Mr. Carter walk him inside over an hour ago. Reese had been with them and that caused my good nerves to unravel. I had hoped she'd be keeping company with a jail cell right about now, but I guess wishes didn’t always come true. I guess there was no law against being a whore…
I'd sent Noah over a dozen text messages, but he hadn’t answered a single one. I was trying not to freak out, but it was virtually impossible considering the night we'd put down.
The sound of a door banging flooded my ears and I lurched towards my bedroom window and watched as Mr. Carter crossed the street to his own house.
Less than fifteen minutes later my phone beeped and I somersaulted onto my bed to grab it.
Noah: *Need 2 show u something. Front door's unlocked. I'm in bed. Come straight up."
Be there in 2, I replied as I threw open my bedroom door and rushed down the stairs.
****
"Noah?"
The house was deathly quiet when I slipped inside. I welcomed the silence. At least we could talk without being disturbed. Climbing Noah's staircase I walked straight to his bedroom door and knocked lightly before twisting the door knob and pushing the door inwards.
My heart dropped the moment I saw him lying there.
My stomach churned and a pained cry tore my throat.
Skin – naked skin –limbs and long red hair invaded my vision…
That's all I could see.
My blood rushed to my brain so fast everything became cloudy and when I was eventually able to focus the image that laid before me caused my stomach to churn.
Noah and Reese fucking like rabbits, right in front of my eyes...
Reese was straddling Noah, screwing him like a fucking Duracell bunny, bouncing up and down, grinding her naked body on top of my naked boyfriend.
"Noah," I cried out as disgust churned inside of me.
He didn’t even incline his face in my direction.
He kept his eyes closed, grunting softly as Reese fucked him.
"I'm leaving," I screamed, frantic. "I can't…I…I… how could you do this to me?"
I was losing control of myself.
Tears were spilling from my eyes. I needed to get a grip, but every time I tried to grab onto the ledge of something rational their sweat-soaked naked bodies fused together impaled me and I felt like bursting into flames.
I could forgive a lot of things, and maybe I had my priorities all wrong, but I couldn’t forgive this.
I could never forgive this.
Noah didn’t respond.
But she did.
Twisting her head to one side Reese glanced at me with a smirk. "Bye now," she sneered before lowering her mouth and claiming Noah's…
And that's when I ran…
"What the hell happened to you?" I demanded when I saw my best friend standing at my front door, drenched from the rain that was hammering down, with mascara running down her cheeks. She was shaking so badly I didn’t think she could answer me.
"Hope?" I asked softly as I wrapped my arm around her waist and led her inside. "Hope, what's wrong?"
"He's gone," she said in a flat tone. Her whole body shook violently. "He…he broke his promise…"
"I…" I paused, unsure of what to say. She looked in shock, like she was in a daze of some sort, and I was terrified because I'd never seen her cry before.
"I'm going too," I told her. "I can't… I can't stay here, Hope. Not now. I'm going home."
****
I bit down hard on my lower lip and forced my hands to stop shaking as I dragged my suitcase onto my uncle's porch and closed the front door out behind me.
The sun was rising and I wanted to be long gone before anyone woke up.
Taking one final glimpse at Noah's house, I inhaled a deep breath and held my head high as I made my way down the steps towards my taxi.
"This all you got, hun?" The taxi driver asked me and I nodded.
I couldn’t speak. I was afraid I would break down and cry if I did.
"You ready?" he asked me and again I responded with a small nod.
"Teagan, wait up." A familiar voice sounded from behind me.
My mouth fell open when I spotted Hope running down her driveway with a suitcase in one hand and a duffel bag in the other.
"I'm coming with you," she puffed as she opened the back door and tossed her luggage in before climbing in.
"What do you mean you're coming with me?" I demanded as I climbed in beside her. "Hope, you can't be serious? What-what about Jordan?"
"Don’t talk to me about him," she hissed before turning her attention to the confused looking taxi-driver. "Seriously, dude, put your foot to the floor before my dad finds out."
He must have heard the warning in Hope's voice because he tore off without another word.
"Have you got somewhere we can stay?" Hope asked.
Her eyes were bloodshot, but not one single tear fell from them
"You can cry, Hope," I said quietly. "It's okay to feel..."
"The only man I'll ever cry over will be the man who is worth my tears," she snarled, chewing on her lower lip. "He's not."
I watched as she played with the ring on her pinky finger before slowly removing it and placing it in her pocket. I was burning to ask her what had happened between her and Jordan but she'd kept her mouth shut about Noah, so I let her be.
"Do your parents know where you're going?"
"My mom knows," she replied. "I guess she'll talk to dad when he's calmed down."
"We're really leaving it all behind?" I sobbed. "You're sure about this – about coming with me?"
"One hundred percent," she choked out. "I am leaving Thirteenth Street and I am never coming back."
****