Page 78 of The Secret Of Us

A few days after our final meeting with Mrs. Fisher, with Mr. Reid and Luke present, we found out that Ryan had been expelled. He would be allowed to take exams, but in a separate room from everyone else. The relief was obvious on Izzy’s face when she smiled at me in that office, and it set my heart at ease.

We slipped back into our routine easily. Izzy shows up at my practices, no longer on crutches, so I don’t have to worry about her coming down the stairs. It’s like I’m looking at my own personal sun every time I see her on the sidelines, and I don’t hide my smiles anymore. Josh teases me for it sometimes, but I’ve seen the way he acts around his girlfriend.

I don’t know what Izzy and I are doing anymore. Obviously, we both have feelings for each other, but neither of us is taking the risk of saying it. I want to enjoy these moments with her before it all ends though. I want to show her that I don’twantit to end.

That’s how I’ve ended up outside her room on the last day before Christmas break, which also happens to be her birthday. Amelia and Chloe mentioned it at lunch a few weeks ago, and I’ve spent the entire time since then thinking about what I should get her.

Nothing I found online seemed good enough, and I didn’t want to buy something for the sake of it. This might be the only gift I ever give her, and I want it to mean something. The only thing that caught my eye while searching was a website where you can buy a star for someone, but it felt too impersonal. Then I realised I could make one for her.

I still walk with her to and from class every day and usually spend my evenings in her room doing homework. The other girls on her floor have gotten used to seeing me now, and there’s no risk of them telling a teacher I’m here.

However, when I walked her back to her room today, I made up an excuse saying I’d left something in my room, and I’d catch up with her. Really, it was just so I could get her gift. I stayed up late every night for the past week putting it together, and I hope she likes it.

I carry the small dark blue box to her room, lifting the lid slightly to check that everything is still intact before I knock on her door.

“Come in.”

I enter her room, closing the door behind me, before I approach where she’s sitting at her desk, focused on her homework. As soon as she looks up at me, I hold the box out to her. She gives me a puzzled look, putting her pen down as she turns her whole body in her chair to face me.

“What’s this?”

“A present.”

“For me?” she asks, pointing to herself.

I nod, a smile tilting at the corner of my lips from her question. She reaches out to touch the box, her fingers tracing over the corners of it before she takes it from me.

“Can I open it?” Izzy asks, glancing down at the box before looking back up at me.

“Of course,” I tell her, and a second later, she lifts the lid, revealing what I’ve made.

Over a dozen origami stars hang from the lid of the box, surrounding a crescent moon. It took a lot of time to make, a couple of paper cuts too, but it’s worth it for the look on her face right now. Her mouth hangs open slightly, green eyes bright and wide, and the top of her cheeks start turning pink.

“Noah, you made this?” she asks, touching one of the stars and moving her face closer to it. “This is incredible.”

“Happy birthday, Izzy. I wanted to give you something to say thank you for everything you’ve done these past few months.”

She replaces the lid carefully, gently moving the box over to the desk. Then she pushes herself up so she’s standing, and her arms are around my neck, pulling me closer to her. I freeze for barely a second before leaning my head down to make it easier for her, my arms moving to circle her waist as if we’ve done this a million times before.

“Thank you. I love it,” she whispers, and my stupid heart hearsI love youinstead.

I hold Izzy close, not wanting this moment to end a second earlier than it has to. If this is the only time I’ll get to hold her like this, I’ll take as much as I can get.

After twenty-one of the best seconds of my life, Izzy loosens her grip on me. I do the same as much as my head and heart tell me not to. But then the next five seconds overtake those twenty-one, as Izzy moves her hands to my face. She gently pulls my face closer to hers and kisses my cheek, dangerously close to the corner of my mouth. She lets go of me, but I’m frozen, still leaning over her, her green eyes piercing into mine.

If she tried to kiss me now, I wouldn’t stop her.

“Izzy, are you there?”

We step away from each other as whoever’s outside her door starts to knock on it.

“Should I hide?” I whisper, alarm setting in as I look around and try to find the best place to hide.

“No, it’s just Amelia. You can sit there,” she says, pointing at her chair before walking over to the door. I run my hands through my hair, trying to settle my racing heart before we have an audience. I place a palm over my chest, rubbing my sternum as she opens the door.

“Great news. We have New Year's plans,” Amelia says, as she barges into the room with Chloe behind her. “Oh, hey Noah.”

I take my hand away from my chest and raise it in a halfhearted wave, forcing my face to look as friendly as possible. It doesn’t matter though, because they’re barely paying attention to me as they talk to each other.

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