Page 77 of The Secret Of Us

I still feel frozen, like I’m not inside my body. My breathing calms down with every stroke of Noah’s thumb against my cheek.

“What happened?” I fix my gaze on Luke as he speaks. His eyes dart back and forth between Noah and me, clearly focusing on where his hands rest on my cheeks, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I don’t know,” I say quietly. “I told him to leave me alone, but he wouldn’t, and then he…”

Luke turns around, his hands folded behind his head as he looks up to the ceiling. He curses under his breath before he drops his hands to his hips.

“This ends now,” he says, looking back at us again. “Leave it with me. He’s not getting away with this shit anymore.”

My eyes sting and I blink rapidly to stop myself from crying. I refuse to let any tears fall because of that pathetic excuse for a human.

“Noah, can you get her back to her room?” Luke asks, focusing his attention on the boy who keeps me grounded like no one else has before.

“Of course,” Noah says, dropping his hands from my face. He moves to the side, giving me space to step forward and I do. He rests his hand on my elbow, a gentle reminder that he’s right next to me and not going anywhere.

“I’m going to speak to Mr. Reid about this. He won’t go near you again, Izzy.” Luke fixes me with a gaze that makes me believe him, before turning his attention to Noah. “You too, Noah. I’m sorry I didn’t step in earlier.”

Noah shakes his head, offering Luke a weak smile. His thumb runs across my elbow, like he’s calming himself now by touching me.

“It’s okay,” Noah says. “Are you good to go now, Izzy?”

I look up at him, nodding as I feel tears pooling in my eyes. I blink them away, hoping Noah didn’t see, but of course he did. He gently squeezes my elbow, his thumb running across it again. I take a step forward and both Luke and Noah start walking too.

We split once we’re out of the building, Luke heading back down to the field while Noah and I continue straight on to go back to the dorms. We don’t speak, but he keeps his hand on my arm the whole time until we reach my room. Noah opens the door for me before following me inside. I sit on my bed, and he sits right next to me, his thigh pressed against mine, as he wraps an arm around me.

Noah guides my head until it’s resting on his shoulder, and I feel like I can breathe properly for the first time. I lean into him, and when his free hand reaches over to take mine, I give it to him easily.

The silence is broken when my phone rings, but I don’t let go of Noah or move away from him as I reach into my pocket for it. I pull it out, along with the chocolate bar that started this mess. I throw it on my desk before I answer Luke’s call.

“I spoke to Mr. Reid and we both agreed that we need to take this to Mrs. Fisher now. I’ve got a meeting with her tomorrow afternoon to discuss what happened. You don’t have to do it right now, but it would be good for you and Noah to write down everything he’s done to you.”

I glance up at Noah, his gaze fixed on our joined hands. But the room is quiet enough that he can hear Luke even though he’s not on speaker. I can’t imagine how terrible it will be for him to rehash everything Ryan has put him through these past few months.

I squeeze his hand, silently telling him that I’ll help him with it if he wants me to. I feel Noah nod, but he still doesn’t look at me.

“Thanks, Luke. I’ll text it all to you tomorrow.”

“I love you, okay? I won’t tell Isaac if you don’t want me to.”

“I love you, too.” I tell him, regretting how mean I am to him sometimes. “And I think it’s best if we don’t tell him. It’ll only make him worry.”

“Okay, it’ll be our secret. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says before he hangs up.

I drop my phone onto the bed beside me, exhaling deeply. Noah rests his head on top of mine, and I think the adrenaline rush is finally wearing off for him.

“Noah,” I say, but he shakes his head.

I want to tell him everything, but as soon as Noah pulls me in closer to him, erasing all the empty space between our bodies, I can’t. Instead, I take comfort in being held in his steady arms, and I cry.

26

NOAH

The next fewweeks pass in a blur.

For about a week after the incident with Ryan, Izzy and I were in and out of meetings with Mrs. Fisher. Even though we told Luke about everything that had happened, she still needed to hear it from us.

It was hard to admit to them that Ryan had been bullying me. But after speaking more with Appa about it, I realised that it was something I needed to face before it festered inside me. I called him a lot before those meetings, wanting his advice about how I should handle the situation, and he told me to just tell the truth, so I did.

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