help.
I grabbed my cell on the way out of my room, then headed down to the barn. I stopped to visit Lily, climbing up into the hayloft afterward. It was always peaceful up here, and this time of year there was a lot of space. I walked as far back as I could, then sat down, leaning back against a hay bale, and inhaled the scents of the barn.
After taking a deep breath, I turned my cell on and began checking my messages. Every one I listened to was from Will. They began with him apologizing and sounding very sorry for jumping to conclusions that had no basis. But the longer I listened, the angrier his messages became â I wasn't calling him back and I was intentionally ignoring him. Then came the messages that varied from suggesting I was breaking up with him to accusing me of sleeping with someone else instead of calling him back.
I was ready to turn my cell back off when I saw a different number in the middle of all the rest. My heart stuttered to a halt and then began a slamming rhythm inside of my chest. It was Noah's number. The number I had waited to see for months that had never shown itself until now.
I didn't know what to do. Should I listen to the message, or just ignore it like I had been ignored for so long? But what if it was something that could help me explain or answer all of the confusion I was feeling? I pushed the button and waited, barely breathing, to see what he had to say.
It turned out not to be much. "Hey, Tori, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. If you need anything or need to talk or something, just give me a call. Okay, um ⦠bye, then."
I played it again just to be sure I wasn't missing something in the tone of his voice. Noah had always hated leaving messages and I guessed that hadn't changed, but I still felt like a lot had.
After deleting the rest of the messages from Will without listening to them, I turned my phone off and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. The thoughts floating through my brain seemed to be fixed on Noah, at least for the moment. It wasn't even anything specific. I was just thinking about him, and got frustrated when something or someone else would pop into those thoughts.
"Hello?"
My mind was even conjuring him up. I couldn't figure out how I was making his voice sound so real. Maybe because I had just listened to his message.
"Tori? Are you in here?"
I sat up straight and my eyes flashed open. I walked to the edge of the loft to see two ice-blue eyes looking up at me from a beautiful face.
"I figured that you would be up here. I tried the cabin first, but no one was there. There was only one other place I knew that you would be," Noah said as he climbed up to the loft.
I stared at him with a mixture of surprise and awe. How could he know me so well when Will barely took an interest in what I cared about and liked? I immediately pushed that traitorous thought to the back of my mind.
As Noah's head cleared the floor of the loft, I slowly made my way back to where I had been sitting. Noah followed me and then sat next to me, stretching his legs out in front of him. We sat in silence, and it was a comfortable one. I was able to relax. I leaned my head back and stared at the underside of the barn roof.
"I'm sorry if I upset you yesterday, and I really did mean to wait for you to call me, but I had to make sure that you were okay," Noah said quietly.
"Why?" I whispered.
"Why what?"
"Why everything? Why apologize? Why did you want me to call? Why make sure that I'm okay? I don't get it," I tried to explain, still staring at the barn ceiling.
"I thought you would have known," he murmured. "I care about you, Tori. I care how you feel, whether you're happy or not. And after what happened yesterday, I just wanted to be sure that you were okay. I know that you were afraid of him, but I'm not sure why, and I got caught up in the moment yesterday and didn't want you to be scared of me, too."
"I would never be scared of you, Noah."
"But you are of
I grabbed my cell on the way out of my room, then headed down to the barn. I stopped to visit Lily, climbing up into the hayloft afterward. It was always peaceful up here, and this time of year there was a lot of space. I walked as far back as I could, then sat down, leaning back against a hay bale, and inhaled the scents of the barn.
After taking a deep breath, I turned my cell on and began checking my messages. Every one I listened to was from Will. They began with him apologizing and sounding very sorry for jumping to conclusions that had no basis. But the longer I listened, the angrier his messages became â I wasn't calling him back and I was intentionally ignoring him. Then came the messages that varied from suggesting I was breaking up with him to accusing me of sleeping with someone else instead of calling him back.
I was ready to turn my cell back off when I saw a different number in the middle of all the rest. My heart stuttered to a halt and then began a slamming rhythm inside of my chest. It was Noah's number. The number I had waited to see for months that had never shown itself until now.
I didn't know what to do. Should I listen to the message, or just ignore it like I had been ignored for so long? But what if it was something that could help me explain or answer all of the confusion I was feeling? I pushed the button and waited, barely breathing, to see what he had to say.
It turned out not to be much. "Hey, Tori, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. If you need anything or need to talk or something, just give me a call. Okay, um ⦠bye, then."
I played it again just to be sure I wasn't missing something in the tone of his voice. Noah had always hated leaving messages and I guessed that hadn't changed, but I still felt like a lot had.
After deleting the rest of the messages from Will without listening to them, I turned my phone off and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. The thoughts floating through my brain seemed to be fixed on Noah, at least for the moment. It wasn't even anything specific. I was just thinking about him, and got frustrated when something or someone else would pop into those thoughts.
"Hello?"
My mind was even conjuring him up. I couldn't figure out how I was making his voice sound so real. Maybe because I had just listened to his message.
"Tori? Are you in here?"
I sat up straight and my eyes flashed open. I walked to the edge of the loft to see two ice-blue eyes looking up at me from a beautiful face.
"I figured that you would be up here. I tried the cabin first, but no one was there. There was only one other place I knew that you would be," Noah said as he climbed up to the loft.
I stared at him with a mixture of surprise and awe. How could he know me so well when Will barely took an interest in what I cared about and liked? I immediately pushed that traitorous thought to the back of my mind.
As Noah's head cleared the floor of the loft, I slowly made my way back to where I had been sitting. Noah followed me and then sat next to me, stretching his legs out in front of him. We sat in silence, and it was a comfortable one. I was able to relax. I leaned my head back and stared at the underside of the barn roof.
"I'm sorry if I upset you yesterday, and I really did mean to wait for you to call me, but I had to make sure that you were okay," Noah said quietly.
"Why?" I whispered.
"Why what?"
"Why everything? Why apologize? Why did you want me to call? Why make sure that I'm okay? I don't get it," I tried to explain, still staring at the barn ceiling.
"I thought you would have known," he murmured. "I care about you, Tori. I care how you feel, whether you're happy or not. And after what happened yesterday, I just wanted to be sure that you were okay. I know that you were afraid of him, but I'm not sure why, and I got caught up in the moment yesterday and didn't want you to be scared of me, too."
"I would never be scared of you, Noah."
"But you are of
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