Page 64 of The Kissing Booth
Noah just shrugged.
‘I hate you sometimes – you know that, right?’
‘Yeah, I know,’ he said casually, his eyes twinkling at me – with something else that made my heart somersault.
No! Don’t let him do this to you! Stay mad at him. You’re mad at him, Rochelle, remember? He hurt someone for no good reason. Don’t just stop being mad at him because he’s giving you that look and you want to kiss him.
Before I gave in and did something stupid, I grabbed Lee and stormed off. I didn’t even need to barge through people. They parted for me, before coming together again to share the gossip.
‘I thought you were going to kill him,’ Lee told me, failing to hide the laughter in his voice.
‘Not quite,’ I muttered. ‘Ugh, he just makes me somadsometimes! I mean, seriously, there was no need for him to break Patrick’s rib!’
‘Look, I know it’s what everyone’s saying, but you of all people should know there’s a chance they’re blowing it out of proportion. It might not be that bad. And it’s Noah – you know what he’s like. I don’t know why you got so mad about it.’
‘I can’t do anything without him looking over my shoulder! And don’t you start on about me being too nice or any of that crap. I’m getting a little sick of everyone looking out for me.’
So maybe I’d needed Noah’s help at his party a while back. And I was grateful he’d been there to stop Patrick. But it was the way he acted – like he just assumed I’d do as he said.
Lee sighed in defeat but smiled at me when he threw up his hands in surrender. ‘Look, I know you’re mad at him, but don’t take it out on me. And I see what you’re saying. I’ll try and talk to him, how about that? Ask him to lay off a little?’
I don’t know why I’d overreacted so much to Noah like that. I think it was because I was so on edge that Lee might find out what I’d done after the party.
So I said, ‘I doubt it’d have any effect.’
‘I know it wouldn’t.’
‘But thanks for offering.’
‘No problem. So have you done the English homework, or not? Because I didn’t get a chance to do the conclusion and I’m stuck.’
I smiled. Lee always made me feel better. I loved my best friend, I really did. And his optimism was too infectious for me to stay mad about anything for very long.
The total opposite to his brother, of course. His stupid, sexy brother.
Call me a coward, but I hid out in the library over lunch. I couldn’t bear to face any more questions about why I’d been so mad at Flynn, how I could even speak to him like that... I was half considering going home and skipping school for the afternoon, I was so sick of everyone, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually walk out.
Lee kept me company of course, but eventually we had to leave.
I was half expecting to bump into Noah – or, worse, one of the girls – on my way to classes. I didn’t. My karma must have done a sudden one-eighty since that morning.
When the last bell finally rang – I’d been watching the snail-like second hand move around the clock in chemistry – I couldn’t have been happier. I just wanted to get out of there.
Lee had biology though, so I had to wait for him at the front of the school, lounging on his car.
‘Hey, Elle.’
I turned around, looking up from playing solitaire on my cell phone. I smiled, but it felt a little forced. ‘Patrick. Hey. How’s, um... How’s your rib?’
He gave a half-smile. ‘Well, it’s not as bad as everyone’s been saying. It’s just some bruising, but my mom made me go get it checked out because she got all paranoid I’d broken something, is all.’ He said it quite light-heartedly, and I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.
‘Oh, that’s great! Well, no, it’s not – but, I mean, everyone was saying it was broken so... I’m so sorry, Patrick, honestly. This is all my fault – I didn’t mean for you to get hurt or—’
‘No, it’smyfault,’ he said quickly. ‘I came over to apologize. I didn’t see you at lunch.’
‘You don’t need to apologize,’ I insisted.
‘No, I do, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried anything like that with you, and all the beer was no excuse.’
