Chapter Fifteen

Noel awakes the next morning with a headache like no other, experiencing her first hangover ever and not liking it in the least.

Why the hell do people drink if this is what they feel like after? Is it because I'm a lightweight?

Thinking back to the events of last night, everything after arriving at the bonfire is a complete haze. She remembers seeing Harken and the blonde, getting upset and wandering to sit down at the fire then...she met someone.

"What was it? Kyle?" she tries to remember, only briefly grasping his name but not much of their conversation. Looking around at herself and the bed, it doesn't seem anything bad happened, but she notices it looks like the covers were tossed off next to her.

Putting her hand on the sheets, she is confused to feel that they're still warm as if there was someone next to her the entire night and they left just recently.

Someone slept here, but I'm still completely clothed? She stops and sniffs her hair a little.

"Oh god, what is that smell?" She reels back,

Her bedroom door suddenly opens and Harken walks in, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans carrying two full plates of what looks like bacon, eggs, and home fries.

"What happened last night? Why does my bed feel warm and why do I smell so bad?" she bombards him the moment he walks in.

Harken stands there with a blank look on his face.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" she asks.

"Because I'm not sure how you'll react if I tell you. Can you eat something first, then I'll tell you?" he asks and holds a plate out in front of him.

She gives him a confused look. "Why would that make a difference?"

"I heard that girls tend to be less angry when they aren't hungry, and I'm assuming you're hungry after how much you drank last night and how little you ate." He holds out the plate again, acting like it's a peace offering between them.

The memories of what happened before the bonfire started creeps back to her, and she expects the feel the anger from before wash over her, but it doesn't. She feels rather numb to the situation, unsure if that's a good thing or not.

"Fine, give me the plate."

Harken rushes over and hands it to her, along with a fork and knife, then sits down on the bed in front of her. She reaches up to scratch her head and feels how disoriented she looks, suddenly horrified to think of her appearance right now.

She peeks at Harken to see his reaction, but he doesn't seem bothered or phased by it. She quickly combs through her hair with her fingers to try and flatten it.

"You look fine, Little Red, just eat something and stop worrying."

She rolls her eyes but stops and picks up her plate.

"Easy for you to say, it's effortless for you to look good."

Harken stops eating and a slow smirk slides across his face.

"So, you're saying you think I'm good-looking?" he teases.

"Do I really need to say that out loud? You're well aware of it, now you're just fishing for compliments." She laughs and kicks his foot lightly. "So, are you going to tell me what happened last night now?"

"Why do you assume I would know?" he asks.

He has a point. She doesn't remember interacting with him after the beach. Then again, she doesn't remember much of what happened after she saw him sucking her face.

"True, you seemed pretty occupied last night," she says, hoping to entice him.

He frowns. "You already gave me shit for that."

She shoves her fork at him. "I knew it! We were together at some point last night, you're lying. Why? What happened, Harken?"

"Jesus, you're persistent, Little Red. Alright, it's really nothing special. Yeah, I made a stupid decision and got drunk, made out with some girl and no, I don't know her name. You were with Priscilla talking to some guy, nothing bad happened."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Then why does my hair smell bad, and my bed looks like someone else slept here? And what do you mean I already gave you shit for the random girl?"

"Because I went to the kitchen to grab another drink and take a break, and you came in. You started going at me for what I said at the beach and for my worse behaviour afterwards, but before anything else could really happen, you started feeling sick, so I took you to the bathroom. When I brought you here, you asked me to stay in case you felt sick again, that's it, I swear." He holds his hands up and leans away from her a little.

"Did I say anything really mean?" she asks quietly, looking down at her plate as she pushed her food around.

He remembers the way her words from last night pierced him, but he deserved everything.

"No, you didn't, you were pretty drunk and weren't making that much sense, but you got your point across. I'm sorry for what I said, I know that doesn't mean much without a reason, but I didn't mean it, I was just angry."

Noel feels there is much more to the story from last night than Harken is leading onto, and suspects she wasn't all that nice to him. But he feels he deserves it for what he said because he has no other way to show his sincerity, other than saying he didn't mean it.

Maybe that's why she doesn't feel as angry as she did before. She had the chance to vent her anger about everything last night in her drunk-induced state. After that, she probably started to feel sick, and their conversation came to an end.

"So, are you still angry for no reason?" she asks.

Harken shakes his head before hanging it, looking similar to a scolded puppy.

"Are you going to keep messing this week up for me?"

"That was never my intention, to begin with, I said I would help and I'm going to try to from now on. I can't say I won't get overprotective if I think the guy isn't good for you unless I'm being unreasonable you can't get mad at me for that," he says.

She takes a bite of her bacon strip. "Why not?"

"Because as much as you might hate to say it, I have a bit more experience when it comes to this. I'm a guy, Little Red, I have a better idea of what runs through another guy's head than you might if you catch my drift."

He has a slight point. Other than the harmless guys at her school like Nolan, Noel has never met or hung out with any other group of people. They're in a completely different city, let alone state right now, it's not stupid to be a little more careful.

"Alright, I get your point. Well, then you can be the judge of the guy from last night, Kyle," she says, digging back into her food.

"What do you mean? Are you going to see him again?"

She shrugs and continues eating.

"To be honest, I don't know much of what I said or did last night, but I don't remember it being all that bad. If he doesn't come to find me again then that means it was bad."

Harken pauses. "What if he does?"

"Then that means it was a good night, I'm not sure what I'll do. I'll probably just see where it goes from there. That's where you come in, if he seems like an okay guy and asks me out, I'll say yes. Mission accomplished, and it's only the second day of the trip, technically the first morning," she says.

Putting her empty plate down she throws the covers off of her and claps her hands.

"Alright, I need to shower and change, so you need to leave. Thank you for breakfast also, that was delicious."

Harken just shrugs with a small smile. "Wasn't me who made it, I think Karl has some chef that works here sometimes."

He turns and practically slumps his way out the door and closes it behind him, the entire room now filled with frigid air even after he leaves. Noel tries to brush it off and gets out of bed, kicking her duffle bag on the floor.

Looking inside, she notices her sketchbook is sticking out more than she remembers.

Am I overthinking it? I'm pretty sure I tucked it deep down into the side.

It looks like someone lazily shoved it back into the side of her bag, the book slightly crooked. Remembering that Harken admitted to spending the night in her room, he did also get up earlier than she did.

It's extremely possible that he would look at it if he noticed it lying out. But it wasn't.

He went through my bag...Why?

That doesn't seem like something Harken would do, he has always been pretty respectful of her artwork when it comes to touching or moving it, knowing how valuable it is to her out of everything else she owns.

A curt knock comes at the door, and she forces it back into her bag before the door opens, Priscilla walks through already dressed and ready for the day.

"So, it seems we have a lot to talk about. Quite a few things happened last night after I left you apparently," she says with a huge grin on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Noel asks and walks over to her dresser to grab a set of jean shorts and a white tank top, pairing it with a blue and black checkered flannel shirt.

"I left you last night to talk with that guy Kyle, hoping something might happen between the two of you. Instead, I find Harken walking out of your room early this morning, looking like complete hell and like he barely slept a wink."

Noel covers her face and hangs her head; thankful it is only Priscilla who witnessed that.

"Trust me, nothing happened, I woke up fully clothed. Apparently, I confronted Harken last night about what happened on the beach and made some comments about him and the girl he was with but ended the night with my head in the toilet," she explains, though the more she talks the more ridiculous it sounds.

She left a good conversation with what seemed like a good guy, to go and fight with Harken while she was drunk. Who does that?

"Then why was he leaving your room this morning?" Priscilla points out.

Noel shakes her head. "For that, I only have the word of Harken. Apparently, he brought me to the bathroom and then back here, but I asked him to stay in case I felt sick again, so he did."

Priscilla lifts a brow. "And nothing happened between you two?"

"No, nothing happened. I told you; Harken has no interest in sleeping with me, he's made it clear before and he made it perfectly clear last night. Can we drop that subject now?" Noel asks, feeling herself becoming slightly defensive and irritated.

Priscilla holds up her hands slightly. "Alright, we won't say anything."

She walks into the room and sits down on the bed.

"Glad you seem over whatever feelings you had for Harken because there is a guest waiting for you downstairs. You might want to get to him before Harken does first," she says.

"Who are you talking about?" Noel asks.

"Who else? Kyle from last night came over and is asking to see you. Now go shower! Stop keeping him waiting," she says and pushes Noel towards the bathroom.

She has a very good point; Noel has to get to Kyle before Harken does. Who knows what he is going to say or do to him to chase him off if he doesn't like him?

Noel showers and changes as quickly as she can, only applying a bit of mascara to her lashes before rushing out of the room to meet Kyle at the front door. Her heart jumps out of her chest though when he sees he is in the living room.

Talking with Harken.

She gets snippets of their conversation as she walks closer, and they're talking about what he does at CCA, something she isn't expecting.

"There she is," Kyle says, flashing a cute grin at her. He stands up, dropping the conversation between him and Harken to walk over to her. "Sorry for showing up like this, I heard you weren't feeling well last night, we never got to finish our conversation from before."

She gives him a timid smile back, her attention too focused on Harken looming behind them. "It's no problem, I did leave without saying anything, I should be the one apologizing."

"I'm glad to hear that because I was hoping to continue that conversation today and ask you to hang out if you have the time," he says, his smile shining. It's hard to resist a face like that.

"Sure, we can go and grab some coffee, I just ate unfortunately but if you haven't we can still grab something." A smile stretches across her face as his face brightens further. She sees Harken roll his eyes from behind Kyle but surprisingly doesn't say anything.

"Well, we're obviously third wheels here. Come on, Harken, I need a drive to the shopping strip, you can just drop me off," Priscilla says and urges him to move along.

He looks over at Noel with a stern look, clearly not happy, but keeps his mouth shut about it.

"Just...be careful," he grumbles and stalks off with Priscilla, asking her where he's taking her.

"That your brother or something?" Kyle asks and gestures after Harken.

Noel shakes her head with a laugh. "No, but close enough. Don't worry about him, he means well I assure you and I'm sorry if he said anything to make you uncomfortable."

Kyle just shrugs and beams a smile at her. "Not at all, he seems pretty cool. I understand friends looking out for other friends, it's good to have people like that around you."

Noel is relieved Kyle doesn't seem to think the relationship between Harken and her is weird, and that he didn't say anything to ruin her potential relationship with Kyle, even if it is short lived. But there is a chance she might see him again if she has the chance to attend CCA as well, and it's not a bad idea to have at least one person she is familiar with.

Regardless of what comes of their time spent together this week, in the worst case, she can try and become friends with him.

"Since you've come here a lot more than I have, are you familiar with any good places to go?" Noel asks, grabbing her shoes from the front door, having her phone and wallet in her pockets already.

"I know a few cafes and diners, and my parents have a car here we can use, we're pretty far from the main center of town where the food options are."

He leads her outside and she is shocked to see a rather plain Honda sitting against the sidewalk out front, expecting a fancy car of some sort, judging by the grand cottages in the area.

Kyle holds the door open for her with another cute smile, making her stomach flutter a little as she slides into the seat. He rounds the car, and they take off out of the private hidden forest they seem placed in and back into civilization.

He takes her to a rustic-looking diner called Zak's, decorated to make someone feel as if they are dining in the mountain villages of the Netherlands.

"This place looks amazing," Noel says, standing back to take it all in. "I've never been to a place like this, I didn't know a diner like this could exist in America."

Kyle chuckles and silently takes her hand, Noel so taken back by the décor that she barely notices until she feels the cold sweat of his palm touching hers. It feels somewhat awkward to hold his hand, but she waves the feeling off as just being nervous.

This is her first time out with a cute guy, not quite classified as a date but it can be in a way. He asked her to hang out and now he has taken her to a nice diner. If he offers to pay for their meal, that pretty much seals it as a date, right?

It's times like this where she wishes she had Priscilla, or even Harken at this point, to confirm if she is overthinking or not, but doesn't have the time to even contemplate it as Kyle tugs her towards the entrance.

The place is relatively packed when they enter, Miami being a big tourist spot around this time for people trying to wait out the cold winter weather back home, much like herself and her school party. Bisbee barely gets any snow, some winters they go without any, but she has seen pictures and videos of people in other parts of America like New York that can get tons of snow that can cancel an entire workday for the city.

"You look pretty deep in thought. What are you thinking about?" Kyle asks as they grab a table in the back of the dining room.

She takes a seat and arranges her tableware, feeling her nerves starting to get to her and wondering if she might sound stupid. "I was wondering what it would be like to live in a place that gets lots of snow. My town doesn't get very much, barely enough to cry home about."

"Oh, I can tell you a bit about that, I'm originally from Michigan before I move to California for school. We get tons of snow every year. Does that mean you've never been skating?" he asks.

Noel shakes her head. "I've never really done any winter sports like skating or skiing. Our lakes and rivers freeze but not completely or enough to be safe to walk on, and we never get enough snow covering the ground for skiing or snowboarding, though some people still use their ski-dos on the trails."

"Well, if you ever get the chance to join CCA, maybe you can come to visit my hometown with me during the winter and experience some of those things yourself. I mean, if you've ever been interested and don't think that would be weird," he quickly adds.

Noel smiles at him, not feeling like it was said with bad intentions or hidden meaning, but still feeling odd about the offer. "I guess we'll have to see if I get in first, only a few more months to go before I graduate high school," she says instead.

"I can tell you what I put on my application to apply, and the subjects I focused on the most in my high school, if you think that might help reassure you. Since you're still in your last year, you have the chance to add some things to your final application for them to see at the end of the year," Kyle says.

"Why didn't I think of that? Yes, that would be amazing, and really help me."

The waitress comes to take their order and pauses their conversation for a few minutes before Kyle gets into explaining exactly what he did to apply for CCA and all the extracurricular activities he did to help boost his chances.

By the time they are done having their coffee and pastries, it is already the middle of the afternoon. Noel checks her phone and isn't sure whether to be glad or disappointed to see that Harken hasn't messaged her once, even though she has been gone for quite some time. She has one message from Priscilla asking her how everything is going, but she isn't in the mood to respond to her.

"My friend just messaged me that she wants to go shopping with me, I should probably head back," she says, hoping Priscilla won't mind being used as an excuse.

"Yeah, not a problem. Let me just go pay at the counter, I'll be right back," he says and slips out of his seat. He has confirmed that this is a date for them, her first date.

She should feel more excited than she actually does, but she can't bring herself to feel anything really. Kyle returns in a few minutes and walks her back out to the car. She wants to say something so there isn't such an awkward silence between them, but she isn't sure what to say, not having the energy to even think of anything.

Thankfully the drive is short, so she doesn't have to suffer long. Kyle gets out and walks her to the front door, reaching out to give her a hug. She isn't sure if she was expecting him to kiss her and is slightly relieved he doesn't seem like he is going to attempt to.

"Thanks for this morning, I had a lot of fun," she says when they pull apart, giving him a small smile. He gives her one back, but it doesn't reach his eyes like usual, his eyes looking slightly sad as well.

"Do you mind if I grab your number? We might not see each other after this week, but if you ever need any help with your art, or you do get into CCA, I can be the first person you can call," he says with a smile.

She doesn't see the harm in at least exchanging numbers and offers to put her number into his phone, giving him hers to do the same. He gives her one more hug with a slight squeeze before he takes off. Noel waves at the car until it pulls away from the curb, turning to grasp the handle.

The door suddenly gives way when she tries to push it open, causing her to tumble forward and right into Harken's arms. She pushes herself away and glares at him.

"What were you doing behind the door?"

"Nothing, I was just making sure he wasn't being a dick or something, I swear," he says and holds his hands up.

She just rolls her eyes and pushes past him to go upstairs. He quickly trails behind her.

"Did you have a good time?" he asks.

"Yes, I did." She doesn't stop to look at him.

"What did you guys do?"

This makes her stop and turn toward him with a suspicious look.

"Why are you so interested?" she asks.

Harken frowns, almost looking wounded. "I'm just curious. It's your first date, Little Red, I want to know how it went. Is that so bad?"

She narrows her eyes at him before caving. "I guess not. He took me to a diner, and we had coffee and a few dessert things I'm not familiar with, but it was overall a good time. We continued our conversation about college, and he helped tell me what he did to get accepted, and what extra things I can do before graduating to boost my chances."

"You guys talked about school the entire time?" Harken snorts.

Noel groans and pushes open the bedroom door, marching over to her dresser again.

"What's wrong with that? It's the only thing we really have in common at the moment, we're not that familiar with each other yet."

"Does that mean you plan to see him again?" he asks.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, feeling her irritation rising.

"I don't know Harken. We went out and had fun, he got my number so maybe he will, maybe he won't."

Harken shoves his hands in his pockets and frowns at her.

"Why do you sound so upset? Did I say something wrong?" he asks quietly.

Noel takes another breath and calms herself, realizing she is getting upset for no reason. Harken is just trying to show his support, probably still feeling bad about the beach incident. This is also most likely new for him, being friends with a girl, he probably assumes they like talking about things like this.

"No, you didn't. Sorry, I guess it just wasn't what I was expecting so I'm a little disappointed and upset about it," she says and takes a seat on the bed, tossing the sweater she grabbed earlier aside.

Harken comes over and surprises her by lying down next to her and proceeding to lay his head in her lap staring up at her.

"Why wasn't it what you were expecting? I thought you said you had a good time?" he asks. His eyes are completely focused on her as if to say she has his full attention and can tell him anything. She feels a ball of warmth gather in her chest and spread throughout her body, making her feel fuzzy all over.

She isn't sure what urges her to lift her hand and start combing her fingers through his dark brown hair, surprised at how soft and thick his short-cut strands feel. She continues this motion as she details her supposed date with Kyle, telling him though it wasn't bad, it didn't feel like a date to her other than the fact that he took her out somewhere and paid afterwards, your typical dating things.

But when it came to the interaction between them, she felt no supposed connection or spark that some people say they feel when meeting someone they really click with or have potential with. It felt more like two friends chatting over coffee, nothing more than a simple coffee date at most.

"You aren't going to hit it off with every guy you go out with, that's the point of going out with them. You get to know them and see if there is anything between you, and if there isn't, you end it there with no feelings hurt," Harken explains.

Noel sees his point, but that isn't enough to chase away her disappointment over the letdown of her first date.

"Is that why it's so easy for you to move on to many different girls? I remember you crushed Amy Stone's heart pretty bad not too long ago, what about her?" she asks.

Harken groans, not wanting to remember those memories.

"She was a weird case, I only meant to piss off Karl, but she wouldn't leave me alone after that. She didn't seem that bad at first but after she ran into me at the mall and I showed her my bike, she got it into her head that we were a couple or something," he says.

"Wait, you didn't bring her to the mall?"

He shakes his head. "Hell no, I just wanted to hit the arcade for a bit to relieve some stress before heading home. She happened to be there and followed me, I didn't care enough to chase her off and she wasn't bothering me that much."

Noel doesn't ask what he means by needing to relieve stress, remembering they weren't on the best of terms at that time, and it is most likely due to her.

"It's fine, Little Red. We're good friends now, aren't we?" Harken asks, reading the worried look on her face.

She feels her stomach sink at the mention of being 'friends', the same disappointment she felt earlier when she realized he never tried contacting her rising in her chest again.

Do I...like Harken?

It isn't an impossible thought. She has never tried to deny how attractive he is, and the only thing she didn't like at first was his bad personality, but that has since changed a lot and for the better and he's actually been a really good friend to her, other than his moments of anger he has.

"Do you think you'll see Kyle at the BBQ tonight?" Harken asks, interrupting her thought.

"The BBQ?"

He nods his head. "Some group of girls from a few cottages down invited the group to a BBQ they're having. Karl and some other guys apparently met them on the beach the other day and invited them to the bonfire last night, so they invited us to their party."

"Is everyone else going?" she asks, already knowing when Priscilla gets wind of this she will be onboard no questions asked. This week is an excuse to party for as long as she can.

"So far from what I've heard, pretty much yeah. There will probably be other people in the area invited as well, there is a chance other guys will be there since Kyle doesn't seem to be working out," he says.

Noel frowns to herself. Harken is only saying that because he promised to help her on this trip, but her goal for the week has already been completed. She met a guy, and they went out, so he doesn't have anything else to help her with now.

"You don't have to keep helping me after this, you know? I already accomplished what I came out here to do, we can just enjoy the rest of the week however we want now."

Harken sits up from her lap. "I know, that doesn't mean you're going to stop at just that, right? You can go on more than one date with one person, just see how the night goes."

He stands up and walks towards the door. "There's still a few hours before then, I'll let you relax, I'm going to go for a run."

Harken running? That isn't something Noel can really picture, but how else would he explain the rather fit physique he has? He has to be working out in some and since there isn't exactly a gym here, a run or jog is the best way.

She wants to ask him if he looked at her sketchbook earlier, but at the same time, she doesn't want to bring it back up, having to face the fact that she drew him if she does. Instead, she just smiles and nods at him as he walks out the door.

Picking up the book, she opens it and looks at her profile sketch of Harken, admiring how well her first sketch turned out, owing most of it to Harken and how perfect an art subject he is. Taking out her pencils again, she goes for her second attempt, this time trying a profile sketch of Kyle instead, giving herself a challenge from her last sketch with the contrasting features between Kyle and Harken.

She plugs her headphones in and loses herself in her pencil once more, the afternoon passing quickly before she is done with her sketch. When she sees the sun has started to dip below the horizon, she packs up her things and changes out of her clothes into a pair of black leggings and a long-sleeve shirt, grabbing her fluffy, teddy bear-style jacket in case it gets cold later.

Before heading downstairs, she stops by Priscilla's room across from hers and checks if she is in there, finding her in the bathroom finishing up her make-up.

"I'm glad I didn't have to convince you to come tonight but are you feeling better?" she asks Noel.

"What are you talking about? I feel fine."

Priscila scoffs. "I had a feeling he was lying to me," she mutters, pausing to apply her lipstick. "I saw him leaving your room when I came back from the beach and wanted to check and see if you were back, but he said you weren't feeling well and were sleeping."

Noel tries to think of why Harken would lie and keep people away from her door, wondering if he thought she was more upset than she actually was over her date with Kyle, and wanted some time alone.

"I think he might've misunderstood; I was upset over my date with Kyle, and I told him about it, but it's not that big of a deal," she says.

This catches Priscilla's attention, and she drops her blush brush turning to her.

"You have to tell me everything, I don't care if you've already said it to Harken, I am so disappointed that he was the first person you went to and not me," she scolds Noel, returning to applying her make-up.

Noel lets out a sigh. "Priscilla...I think I like Harken."

"Ugh, finally! I thought you'd never admit it," she cries.

Noel picks up a pillow off the bed and throws it towards the bathroom door, missing by a long shot. "Shut up, you had no idea."

"Come on, Nole, it's been pretty obvious you guys have feelings for each other and just aren't admitting it. I was hoping for the fact that you were trying to find someone else meant that you were trying to get over your feelings for him, but when I saw how upset you were watching him make out with another girl, I knew it was too late."

"What do you mean 'too late'?"

Priscilla packs up her make-up and walks up to Noel on the bed, squeezing her cheeks between her palms. "You've never been in love before, so let me give you a hint. You've spent almost every waking hour with him the last few weeks; have you grown tired of him yet?"

Noel thinks about it, and she hasn't really. She shakes her head.

"When you think about him being with other girls, does it make you feel upset or sick?"

Noel nods her head, remembering the way she felt last night.

"Noel, do I have to keep going?"

She shakes her head. "I get it," she mumbles through squished cheeks.

"Alright, good. Now, we have a party to get to. Just see how things go tonight, and how you really feel about Harken before you decide to spring those feelings on him,'" Priscilla says.

Noel nods and follows her out the door, wondering how tonight is going to turn out.