He knows more than he lets on, but what? She thought they could trust each other, that’s why she asked him for help. Maybe she had made a mistake trusting him.
Chapter 17
After her second day of school, Nora noticed someone waiting outside the school gate. There was no way she could miss Michael’s silhouette basking in the winter sun. “I thought you weren’t allowed on school grounds?”
“I’m not on school grounds, so I’m not breaking any rules. This was the only place I knew I could catch you,” he said. “Can we talk? Please?” His usually groomed hair hung messily around his face and there were dark circles around his eyes. School wasn’t the only one who punished him. Michael wouldn’t say it, but there was a pain in his eyes. She felt guilty since she was the reason he got punished.
“I guess we have to. I’m sorry for not calling you, but my mind was… messed up.”
Michael nodded, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he started walking. They walked to a nearby park and sat down on one of the benches surrounding the children’s playground. Nora waited for Michael to talk.
“How was your break?” Michael asked.
“Horrible,” Nora said. She didn’t want to say more than necessary, but she missed a friend to talk to. “I made a lot of progress on school work though. I should be ready for the exams next week.”
“Y’know, I went by your place every day, hoping you’d talk to me, but your mother told me you didn’t want to see me.” Michael leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked smaller than she remembered.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t ready. If we had talked, my anger would’ve blocked out anything you said. And even though I’m mad at you, you’re still my friend. This is better.” She wasn’t sure how biased her mind was and if she would hear his words. She pulled her scarf over her nose so it wouldn’t get cold. Her curls kept her head and ears warm.
“Then I’m grateful that you sent me away. I hope you’ll listen to me now.” He turned his head slightly so he could see her face. Their eyes met for a second. Nora felt warm inside. Those hazelnut eyes meant comfort. Michael wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, would he? What if she was wrong and her anger was misplaced?
“Listening is the least I can do, right?” Her voice was soft.
“I’ll tell you how it looked to me, my perspective. So humour me, okay? Listen to the whole story before you pass judgment.” Michael looked at her with sad eyes.
Nora nodded.
“Ever since Felicia shut you out, your mood has been terrible. After weeks of trying to get you to do something fun again, I see you with the one person you had been avoiding for two months. And I’m not only seeing you together, but you’re in his arms. Kissing. To me it looked like he was forcing himself on you. Only later did I hear you initiated the kiss.” He frowned when he said the last sentence. The speech sounded rehearsed. He probably spent two weeks finding the perfect words.
“Wait. About that kiss,” Nora interjected.
“No, you don’t have to explain. If you want to kiss him, you should. It’s none of my business.” Michael waved away her remark, but Nora didn’t care. Just like how she needed to hear his side, he needed to hear her side.
“No, I didn’t want to kiss him,” she blurted out.
“So he did force a kiss on you?” Michael clenched his fist.
“I don’t think he forced it.” That moment was still as dark as ever. She still couldn’t remember what exactly happened.
“I don’t understand. You didn’t want to kiss him, but he didn’t force it. Did you like the kiss?” He looked at her confused.
“The kiss shouldn’t have happened and if it was up to me, it didn’t. I just want to forget about it.” She shook her head, hoping the memory would fly away.
“How did it happen? I’m confused.” He leaned against the back of the bench, eyes open wide.
“His eyes drew me in and it was dark. I must’ve moved closer, but I never intended for us to kiss.” That was all she remembered.
“His eyes drew you in? That sounds like a lame excuse.” His eyes were filled with concern.
“Have you ever looked at his eyes. They’re so blue it’s almost unnatural. I noticed it the first day we met, and at the party. The light was just right and it seemed like they were glowing. I wanted to know what made them glow.” She couldn’t control the word flow when she was nervous. Even her hands wanted to make it clear that she was saying the truth.
Michael often called it ‘the Italian Truth’. Nora only started talking with her hands when she was passionate about what she said and it often was the truth. It was a subconscious thing she copied from her father.
Other students passed by the park and noticed them together. Some shouted, the rest whispered visibly. Nora felt uncomfortable in such an open place. Not to mention cold.
“Okay,” Michael thought about it for a while. “Then I have a question. Was it okay for me to punch him?”
“No, of course not! It’s never okay to punch someone. Just a shove would’ve been enough.” Nora fidgeted with her fingers.
Michael grinned. “I’m sorry I hurt your friend, but I honestly only wanted to protect you from the bad wolf.” Michael wrapped his arms around Nora and started to rub her warm. “I’d never let anyone hurt you.”
“And I thank you for that, but I’m a big girl. I can protect myself. If I truly hated him, he would’ve known. I would’ve slapped him myself. I think this all was just a misunderstanding.” Nora moved away with a smile, breaking the embrace.
“I’m glad. I’m sorry for underestimating you. It’s still a bit weird for me that you’re not still that eight-year-old girl who was afraid of a dog.”
“It was a very large dog, especially since I was the smallest in our class,” Nora defended herself.
“I know. I’m just teasing you,” Michael laughed. “Are we good?” He looked hopefully at her.
“Yeah, we’re good.” Nora smiled. At least she had one friend back. “I’m sorry about your suspension.”
“It was worth it. I didn’t have to punch him, but I must admit, it felt good.” A large grin appeared on his face.
“How so?”
“I know that I would protect my girlfriend when I find one. Let’s just say that my masculinity has been affirmed.” He laughed.
“Ben said your punch was weak.” Nora teased him.
“Well, I hit him hard enough to get him bleeding on the floor. I count it as a win.” Michael looked proud.
Nora didn’t know how to reply and just laughed.
“You should talk to Ben. He needs it.” Michael turned towards her with a serious look on his face. It wasn’t like him to speak for others. Especially since they weren’t friends.
“How do you know?” His remark surprised her.
“You’re not the only one I’ve been trying to visit over the holidays.” He grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket.
“You’ve seen Ben?” Her eyes widened.
“And Danny, but he’s a little weird—he sounds old. I actually think Ben is the nice guy of the two.”
“Why did you go?”
“My parents wanted me to apologise to both of you. It’s part of my punishment. And I wanted to apologise when I heard you kissed him. He wouldn’t let me in at first, but his guardian told him to sit down and listen. ‘Because that’s the decent thing to do.’ I’m glad there’s at least one adult living there.”
“I didn’t know they live with a guardian. I thought he was an uncle or something.” She thought Matthew and Danny looked alike, but they never mentioned if they were related.
“Apparently, the three aren’t related. Maybe he’s a family friend? I don’t know. Both guys seem to respect him though. That’s hard enough as it is. Especially with teenage guys.” Michael referred to his own difficult relationship with his father.
“Maybe he can teach both of them a little more about how to treat others.”
“I mean it,
though. Go talk to Ben. I think you need it too.”
“Felicia’s ban is still in place. She’ll ruin my life when she finds out I’ve gone to their place.” The gossip this morning was probably the beginning of Felicia’s revenge.
“Here’s his phone number.” Michael gave her a small piece of paper. “Call him, but talk face-to-face. It works better. Maybe you’ll have another ally in him.”
“Seems like you two are friendly now.”
“Friendly is a big word, but we both want to help you get your life back.”
“Thank you. I have to go now, but I’ll text you soon.”
“Sure, whenever.”
Nora waved and hurried back to her bike, the paper with Ben’s number crumpled in her pocket.
***
Nora pretended to study hard the next few days to keep people from bothering her. Luckily, exams were coming up and it didn’t look out of place. She wasn’t working on schoolwork; she was writing. She wrote down all she could remember from the start of the school year and how Felicia changed. She put her conversations with Ben and Danny on a time line. It was possible that Felicia told the truth. It matched with their actions, and the things they said. The biggest difference was that Danny had not tried to date her. Asking them outright would make her seem too obsessed. Maybe even a little crazy,
She didn’t want to see any of the guys. Not Michael, not Danny, and definitely not Ben. Danny and Ben were hard to avoid since they were in her class, but she was glad that the seats were set and there was no changing them. Nora sat either next to Josy or alone.
Nora had noticed that both Ben and Danny were being ignored by the Fab Four. Felicia was ice cold, even towards Emily and Josy. Teachers had began to notice there was something going on as well, but did nothing about it as long as it didn’t actively disrupt class.
Ben’s kiss still lingered in her mind and she heard Felicia’s voice over and over. Ben had kissed her to make her fall in love with him. Well, she needed more than a kiss to fall in love.
Every time she saw him or heard his voice she felt warm, but the source was anger and not love. He made up a whole story about losing his first kiss and then set it up so it really happened that way. What if both of them thought Michael was her boyfriend? They never asked if she was seeing anyone. Ben could’ve staged it to get Michael out of the way.
On the other side there was his story, the story that she kissed him first. That part of her memory was still rusty. She knew she had no intention to kiss him. She was sure of that. Hypnotism was still an option; the trick he did with his eyes. She couldn’t explain it, but Ben didn’t seem to hate the idea of kissing her, he had welcomed it. His smug face in the hallway said it all.
Even when she didn’t have a boyfriend, boys were messing up her life. Was it to be this way forever? People interfering with other people’s life. Changing relationships whenever they could. Either positively or negatively? Maybe becoming a nun wasn’t such a bad idea. At least it would be simpler, with only one man to confuse you.
First things first. Did she like Ben? He looked good, but she wasn’t attracted to him. She felt nervous thinking about him. It might be the start of something, but she couldn’t say for sure what it was she was feeling.
Second, did she want a boyfriend? No, definitely not. She had seen how bad boys treated their girlfriends during her years at school. Girls could be bad too, but she knew she wouldn’t treat another person as bad as those girls did. She didn’t have the time or the mental space to deal with such people.
Then what were the odds of Ben becoming her boyfriend? Zero. She wrote circles all over the blank page in her notebook. She didn’t like Ben, and she didn’t want a boyfriend. If Ben was someone she could fall in love with, he could’ve at least had the decency to ask her, instead of assuming.
Her mind wandered off to the dozens of romantic interests from her books. All of them gave her different feelings, none of them warm. Except Michael. Seeing him again had made her feel good, and he always asked her how she thought about things. Was her father be right about him?
It didn’t matter, because there would still be the ‘no boyfriend’-thing.
Maybe the person who would make her question that self-imposed rule, would be the one to break the rule for. That thought gave Nora some peace in her mind. If that was the rule then she wouldn’t have to think about it.
***
Nora sat in her room, the latest pop songs playing on the radio. It was almost dark, but she was too lazy to turn on the light. She felt the crumpled paper in her pocket. It still wasn’t very clear to her why she should call him. She said all she needed to say that night, and she wanted to forget about it as soon as possible. Talking to him would only bring back feelings she had finally given a place. Feelings of loathing, betrayal, and intimacy. It was a weird mixture of positive and negative feelings and it had taken her the full two weeks to give it a place, and feel like her normal self again.
She took the note out of her pocket and tried to straighten it. The light from the streetlights was just enough for Nora to read the number. She didn’t recognise the handwriting, it must be Ben’s. It looked neat and feminine with bold curves and straight lines. Hers was messy and quick. She had never seen such beautiful handwriting from a man before.
Three songs finished before she grabbed her phone. She entered the phone number and saved it as a new contact.
Her finger hovered above the ‘Call’ button. Extending the inevitable would only make it harder for her. Her finger touched the screen and the phone started to call. She immediately felt the nerves in her stomach.
“Hello?”
“Eh, hi. This is Eleonora.” She recognised Ben’s voice.
“Wow. I did not expect you to call. You didn’t press this number by accident, right?” Ben sounded more enthusiastic than she had expected.
“No,” Nora said, before pausing for a second to gather her thoughts. “Michael gave me your number.”
“I had given up on that. It’s been nearly two weeks since he visited our place.”
“Did he really come to apologise?” She wanted to know if he told the truth, but it was really just to extend the awkward topic.
“It was one of the things. He also wanted to know my side of the story, without knuckles involved. It was a nice talk. He’s a good guy.”
“What did you tell him?” She steadied her voice and switched holding the phone to her other hand. Her right hand had become sweaty.
“The truth. I wanted to talk to you about how you were doing, ask you out, and how you kissed me.” His tone sounded like it normally did—upbeat, without a care in the world. It somehow annoyed her.
“We have to talk about that, but doing it in person is probably better.”
“So you’re taking on my offer of going on a date?”
“I said we needed to talk, not go on a date.”
“Isn’t talking one of the things you do on a date?” He teased her.
“I guess, but it’s not a date. It’s just two people meeting to discuss something.” She wanted to make it clear that there was no chance that they would start dating. He didn’t seem to keen on that idea though.
“Ouch. I’m not even a friend and our kiss is ‘just a thing’. I had no idea you cared so little for me.” Ben teased her.
“Oh, ha, ha. You have a weird sense of humour.”
“It’s just my way of dealing with things.”
“I can get that. I’ll take on your offer for a non-date date.” She sighed. Meeting in private was better than being seen with him in public. Especially with the rumour about losing her virginity to him going around.
“Really? Awesome.” Ben sounded genuinely excited.
“Maybe it’s a good idea to get to know each other a little better, right? I hope we can be friends.” Nora admitted.
“Me too. Maybe one day I can be promoted to ‘more than a friend’. Let’s go to the afternoon showing. You can pick the movie.” Ben wa
s stubborn.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You might mess up the friend thing. When are we going?” Nora didn’t know what was true anymore, who lied, and what Ben’s intentions were, but she wanted to give him another chance. Having another friend on her side would make her feel better.
“Tuesday after school? We can meet at the theatre if you don’t want people to see us leave together.”
“Sounds good.” She hung up feeling better, lighter. Maybe things were indeed going to be better this year.
Chapter 18
Nora hadn’t seen Ben all week; not even in the classes they shared. The rumours might have been a reason. There was no way he couldn’t have heard them.
Ben gave Nora the time she needed. He had always been considerate of her situation. The day of the non-date date, Ben was nowhere to be seen. Nerves hit her, not knowing what would happen today.
She barely touched her breakfast.
“What’s wrong?” Her mother worked at home and typed away on her laptop while Nora sat across from her with a peanut butter sandwich.
Nora let out a big sigh. “I don’t know. I’m not really hungry, I guess.”
“That’s not like you. Want me to make something else?” Her mother looked up from her work.
“Nah, I have to leave soon, anyway. I might be late today.”
“Are you going shopping with Felicia and the others?” Her mother’s face lit up. She hoped Nora allowed herself to do something fun after the miserable weeks during the winter break.
“No, I’m going to the movies. With Ben.” Nora wasn’t sure why she mentioned his name.
Her mother took off her computer glasses and grinned.
“No, he’s not my boyfriend. We’re just friends, hanging out.”
“But he’s the one Michael hit, right? He likes you, and now you’re going on a date.”
“It’s not a date. He knows. Michael already apologised to him, so I hope we can all be friends again.”
“Okay. You know the rules, right?”
“Yes, mom. No drugs, no alcohol, no smoking, and no sex. Don’t worry, you raised me. I’ll be home for dinner.” Nora took one bite of her sandwich and grabbed her bag. She heard her mother’s lectures before and she wasn’t in the mood for one now.
Devil's Deal (Infernal Contracts Book 1) Page 12
