SWNOVELS Sweet Ruin: Chapter 22
I’d hoped that after my dramatic weekend life might go back to normal on Monday. I didn’t want the chaotic events Noah and my father had instigated to change anything—especially not my relationship with Wes. It appeared that had been wishful thinking though, and I didn’t even make it past breakfast before I realized things were going to be different now.
Noah and I arrived at the dining hall at the same time. He’d been ignoring me for such a long time that I assumed he would just walk past me without acknowledging my presence. I should have realized those days were over. Not only was he looking into my eyes for once, but he was also smiling.
I didn’t return the look, striding beyond him and into the room. He fell into step beside me though as I approached the buffet. I glanced nervously toward my usual table but relaxed slightly when I saw Wes wasn’t there.
I felt silly for being nervous about getting caught talking to Noah. But after the way Wes had acted yesterday, I didn’t want to take any chances. He was already so on edge about me and Noah, and I didn’t want to give him anything else to worry about.
As it was, Wes would probably still hear about it via the Weybridge Academy gossip grapevine. I’d always known the gossip in this school was rife, but I still couldn’t believe he’d heard about my ride back from New York with Noah from a friend so quickly. I’d jumped out of Noah’s car as soon as I’d arrived at school, but apparently in this place, all you needed was one person to see you at the wrong time.
There were only a few people in the dining hall this morning, but I knew that was more than enough to give rumors wings to fly. I needed to get Noah to leave me alone, and fast.
“How are you?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk to you, Noah.”
He didn’t look the least bit put off by my response. “I know you must still be angry with me,” he said. “But I’m going to make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I replied. “I’d rather you just left me alone.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Crash.”
“Please don’t call me that.” I grabbed a plate and started piling food onto it. I was being as quick as I could and barely looking at the items I was selecting. I just wanted to get to the safety of my table as soon as possible. Noah followed me closely as I walked alongside the buffet counter.
“How was the rest of your weekend?” he asked.
“Not great seeing as, thanks to you, I’ve been doing damage control with my boyfriend.” I kept my voice low and practically hissed the words at him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” he said, the sarcasm clear in his voice.
“You could try to sound a little less pleased.” I turned on him. “You don’t get to break up with me when it suits you and then expect me to want you back as soon as it works for you. I’ve moved on, and I’m happy.”
Noah frowned, and I knew I’d hit a nerve.
“You’re happier with Wesley Montfort than you were with me?”
“Wesley Montfort doesn’t come with drama.”
Noah tilted his head. “Is that the only reason you’re with him? Because he’s safe?”
“Of course, it’s not the only reason.”
Noah shook his head. “I know I hurt you, but I will never do that again. You would be safe with me too. Can’t you understand why I had to do the things I did?”
“Just because I understand them doesn’t mean I forgive you,” I said. “You could have told me what was going on. Instead, you chose to break my heart and keep me in the dark.”
‘To protect you.”
I released a sigh and glanced down at my overflowing plate as I gathered my thoughts. I must have really been distracted because there was a bizarre variety of food in front of me.
“The reason is irrelevant,” I said as I looked up at him once more. “Like I said, we’re over, and I’ve moved on. You need to respect that.”
Noah ground his teeth together as he met my gaze. “I can respect that,” he said. “But I don’t like it.”
“I didn’t say you had to.”
I went to walk away, but Noah reached out and touched my arm, stopping me. “I haven’t given up on us,” he said. “I can step back and let you play house with Wes if that’s what you want. But when you realize he’s not enough. That he doesn’t make your heart race like I do. That you’re done playing it safe. I’ll be here.”
His words rattled me. I shook him off before I turned and marched over to my table. I could feel Noah’s eyes on me as I moved away from him. He had said he’d respect my relationship with Wes, but I got the feeling he wasn’t going to leave me alone. That he was well and truly done keeping his distance.
AS I MADE my way to English after breakfast, Veronica pulled me aside in the hallway. She jerked her head toward the girls’ bathrooms, and I followed her in. I hadn’t spoken to her since she asked me to keep quiet about the fact she’d been caught with a boy in her room. A boy who wasn’t her boyfriend. I now knew that she’d never even been in a relationship with Noah. Maybe she was finally going to explain her side of the story.
She checked the stalls were empty before she turned to me. “You weren’t with Noah at breakfast,” she said. The accusatory tone to her voice made me frown.
“Uh, no. Why would I be?”
“Because he’s in love with you, obviously.” She rolled her eyes. “He told you that me and him were never together, right?”
“He did…” I replied. “So, you really weren’t cheating on Noah then?”
“Clearly.”
“But I thought you were in love with him.”
She laughed. “Why on earth would I love someone who isn’t the least bit interested in me?” Her eyebrows slowly lifted. “You think someone like me would really pine after a guy who was in love with another girl? Please, I’m amazing, and if a guy can’t see that, he’s not the guy for me.”
She pulled a lipstick out of her bag and began to apply it, checking her reflection in the mirror and pursing her lips as she did.
I shifted slightly on my feet, uncomfortable with the way she was so openly talking about Noah’s feelings. How did she even know Noah had confessed his love for me? Was it that obvious?
“But I don’t understand,” I said. “Why would you agree to pretend to date him?”
“He’s not the only one who needed to hide things from his family,” she said. “And pretending we were in a relationship suited my own purposes just as much as it helped him.”
“What were you hiding?”
She let out a laugh and put her lipstick back in her bag. “Like I’d tell you.”
“You told me about getting caught in another boy’s room…”
“Of course, I did. I knew Noah was about to tell you the truth, so I figured I’d do you a favor. I suspected you might not believe him when he told you everything with me was faked, so I decided to give you a hint first.”
I stared at Veronica, the frown becoming more apparent on my face. I was never going to understand this girl. When I’d first gotten to this school, she’d taken it as a personal insult that I got close to Noah. Now she seemed to be pushing us together.
“Not that any of this matters to me anymore,” she continued. “Thanks to your father buying out my father’s investment in Hastings Laboratories, I don’t have to keep pretending I worship the ground Noah walks on.”
‘Your father was the investor Matthew bought out?”
“Yes.” She looked down her nose at me like I was stupid for missing it. “And thank God. That company was a sinking ship.”
I stared at her, still in shock. “That’s why your families were always forcing you together?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’m so glad that’s over. Maybe now my mother will be a little less interested in who I spend my time with.”
I shook my head at her. “You know, I really thought you’d accidently revealed to me that you got caught in that boy’s room.”
“Oh, Isobel.” A deliberate smile curved her lips. “Nothing I do is by accident.”
She flashed me a smile before she strode past me and out into the hallway. It took me a moment to gather my thoughts and trail after her. I couldn’t decide whether Veronica was slightly unhinged or brilliant. It was probably a little of both.
WHEN I GOT to math class, I was greeted by another surprise. Luther was apparently talking to me again. As I entered the classroom, he linked his arm through mine and led me to the back of the room, ushering me toward the seat next to his.
“Oh, so we’re friends again, are we?” I asked.
“Yep.” Luther grinned. “Noah reneged on the whole pick a side thing. Isn’t it great?”
He let go of my arm, but I refused to take the seat he offered me.
“No, it’s not great,” I said. “You really hurt me when you decided to ditch me the way you did.”
Luther’s expression dimmed. “I know,” he said. “But you didn’t see the state Noah was in. He wouldn’t tell me what was going on, and the way he was acting had me really worried. He’s been my best friend for a long time, and I knew he wouldn’t ask me to do something like that unless he had a good reason. I had to trust him.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“I know, newbie. I know.” Luther sighed. “But I’m just hoping you’ll forgive me.”
I folded my arms across my chest as I looked at him. I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew it wasn’t fair Luther had been forced to choose. And I understood now that Noah was just doing everything he could to convince his grandfather he wanted nothing to do with me. Still, watching Luther and Kaden turn their backs on me had been horrible.
“You’re pausing way too long there, newbie…”
“Because I’m thinking.”
“You’re still not convinced.” He nodded and slowly started to smile. “Maybe it’s because I haven’t said sorry yet. Luckily, I’ve prepared a little something to help with that.”
“What are you—”
Luther clapped his hands together to cut me off and then pointed at a kid sitting nearby. The guy pulled an acoustic guitar from beside his desk and started to strum several chords.
“Oh no,” I gasped with horror as Luther jumped up to stand on his seat and put one foot on top of his desk before he reached out his hands toward me. “Luther, don’t…”
But it was too late. He was grinning broadly as he launched into a rendition of “Sorry” by Justin Bieber.
I was mortified, and my cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as Luther serenaded me from his perch on the desk. He wasn’t the best singer, but that didn’t appear to bother him one bit.
Everyone had turned in their seats to watch him, and my embarrassment only multiplied when I saw people gathering by the door and poking their heads in from the corridor. Luther’s voice was probably going to attract the whole school.
“Luther, stop,” I pleaded.
He paused for a moment, but the guitarist continued to play in the background.
“So, you forgive me?”
“Uh…” I hesitated for a second too long, and he jumped right back into the verse.
“Please, Luther,” I begged after he sang two more lines. The crowd at the door was growing larger and people were starting to spill into the classroom, but Luther didn’t take any notice as he kept singing.
“Luther, you don’t have to—”
A huge cheer went up from the class as Luther leaped off his desk and landed in front of me. He dropped to his knees before he belted out the chorus.
“Oh my gosh, okay,” I shouted to be heard over his voice. “I forgive you. I forgive you!” I did not need to hear him go any further.
He grinned as he climbed to his feet and nodded at his guitarist who thankfully stopped playing. Luther then bowed as the students watching us gave him a round of applause.
“I’m glad we could sort that out, newbie,” he said calmly as though nothing unusual had just happened. “Now are you sitting with us?”
“Only because I’m terrified you might sing for me again.”
“Please. You know you loved every moment of it.”
As I settled into my seat, Kaden entered the classroom, squeezing his way through the dispersing crowd by the door. His face lit up with a bright smile as he approached. “You guys made up,” he said, taking his usual seat on the other side of Luther.
“Yes, but I really don’t want to talk about it,” I replied.
“You missed my apology,” Luther said. “It was beautiful.”
“I heard it from halfway down the hallway.” Kaden laughed. “I thought you were joking about the song.”
“Why would I joke about that? Newbie deserved more than just a simple I’m sorry. Didn’t you, newbie.”
Luther winked at me, and I shook my head as I laughed at him. It felt good to be sitting with the boys again. After the weekend’s events, I wasn’t sure what was coming my way next, but this was one change I could get on board with—so long as Luther never sang for me again.