Page 88 of The One Night Dash
Nalani’s
Welp. Lauren who? His whole face is screaming NOELLE.
Sofie
Somebody zoom in on those eyes. Tell me that’s not devotion.
Claudia
Imagine being in the room and not realizing you’re the only one he sees.
Another picture pops up. Lauren’s across from Dash, his “partner” for the game, both holding cups. But the camera caught him between tosses, and he’s not watching the ball, or Lauren’s smirk, or anything else. His eyes are off to the side, locked on me again. I’m blurred in the background, cheering someone else’s shot. His grin again is softer than it should be for a game.
Nalani
Bro was playing a different game entirely.
Sofie
Not beer pong. Heart pong. And girl, you won ages ago.
Claudia
Lauren could’ve been on fire, and he still would’ve been looking at you.
And another, a bonfire in their backyard.Lauren’s curled into Dash’s side under a blanket, head tipped toward him. From a distance, it looks picture-perfect. But zoom in, and his head isn’t angled toward her. It’s tilted just slightly, eyes fixed across the firepit where I’m roasting a marshmallow, my face glowing in the flames. Dash Sterling was looking at me.
Nalani
That’s not a bonfire glow. That’s a Noelle glow.
Sofie
Even when she was right there, he couldn’t stop looking at you.
Claudia
Girl. He’s been yours since Hayward. Lauren was just noise.
Seeing those photos now makes my stomach flip.
I drop my phone on my bed and cry because while I was fighting to survive, so was he, but just like tonight, he didn’t want sympathy or me to make him “feel better,” he was fighting for me.
Me
Please don’t respond to this message with anything Dash-like.
Dash
Okay.
Me:
I should have asked you if you were okay. I should have wiped your tears dry. I should have never said you were like him. You are the anti him. I shouldn’t have told you to leave because I was mortified you knew my biggest secret. Embarrassed that you would see me differently. Because I really like the way you see me. And when you said I love you, even if it didn’t mean that big kind of love, I should have told you I love you, too.
I hitsendso fast, before I have time to delete it or overthink it.
I see his dots popping on then stopping and starting over, and over again, for at least … a solid two minutes, until one comes through.
