Page 13 of Your Fault

“Christ, Noah, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

She smirked. “So you have thought about it,” she replied.

“I don’t think any guy with a pair of eyes who’s had you in front of him could fail to think about that, my love. Of course, I’ve thought about it, but we don’t need to do it unless you want to.”

Noah bit her lip. “It’s not that. It’s more…like it’s not fair. I mean, you had to do it with me and I…”

I burst out laughing. “Had to do it? You say that like it was torture. Noah, I did that because I wanted to. I enjoyed it, a lot, and I plan on doing it again whenever I get the chance.”

She opened her eyes wide, surprised but also excited. Sometimes I forgot how innocent she was.

“Then I’m gonna do it, too,” she affirmed, with some hesitation in her voice.

“No,” I said. “That’s not how it works. The things I do to you and the things you do to me are independent. This isn’t tit for tat. When you feel like it, just do it, and if that moment never comes, don’t worry…I’ll find someone who’s more willing.”

Hearing my joke, she slapped me on the shoulder. “I’m being serious!”

“I know,” I said earnestly, “but I don’t want you doing things you don’t want to do, okay?” I kissed her on the nose. She blinked a few times, then continued:

“So you don’t mind? I’m not saying I don’t want to. It’s just maybe…I don’t know if I’m ready yet.”

And that was why I had fallen in love with her. Any other girl without a backbone would have just given in to keep me happy. Noah wasn’t like that; if she wasn’t sure of something, it didn’t matter what you did to try and convince her—she was going to go on being true to herself.

“Come here,” I said, pulling her close and kissing her as if I would never kiss her again. “Having you by my side is enough, babe.”

Noah smiled, and a few seconds later, we were in the middle of an epic make-out session.

5

Noah

I was graduating. I don’t know if you’ve ever been through something like that, but it’s amazing. I knew the hard stuff was still ahead of me—I still had to go to college, not to mention any number of other, worse things—but still, you just can’t compare graduating from high school to anything else. It’s a step toward maturity, a step toward independence, a feeling so gratifying that I could barely contain myself as I waited in line next to my classmates and listened to our names being called.

We walked out in alphabetical order, which meant Jenna was several places in line behind me. The ceremony was organized to a T, very fancy, out in the school’s gardens, with huge panels readingCLASS OF 2016. I still remembered the celebrations at my old school, in the gym, with a balloon or two and not much more. Here they had even decorated the trees on the edge of the green. The chairs where friends and family sat were lined with costly green and white fabrics—the school colors—and our gowns were green, too, and were the work of a famous designer. It was an insane waste of money, but by now nothing scandalized me anymore. I was surrounded by multimillionaires, and this was just how they lived.

“Noah Morgan!” was the next name uttered into the microphone. I jolted, climbed the stairs nervously to collect my diploma, and looked with a huge smile on my face at the rows of families. I saw Nick and my mother standing and clapping, and they were as excited as I was. My mother was even jumping up and down. I shook the principal’s hand and joined the rest of the graduates.

The valedictorian—her GPA was .2 points higher than mine—mounted the stage once everyone had received their diplomas to give her graduation speech. It was sweet, funny, entertaining, and tender, and I doubt anyone could have done better. A few tears slid down Jenna’s face, and I laughed to keep from doing the same. I’d only been there a year, but it had been one of the best in my life. Once I’d put my prejudices aside, I’d not only prepared myself for college magnificently, I’d also made a lot of good friends.

“Congratulations, class of 2016. We’re free!” she shouted into the microphone, elated.

We threw our mortarboards into the air. Jenna hugged me so tight, I could barely breathe.

“And now it’s party time!” she shouted, applauding and jumping all around. I giggled, and all at once, we found ourselves surrounded by hundreds of people trying to reach their children to congratulate them. We said a quick goodbye to one another and went off to look for our parents.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around me from behind and picked me up off the ground.

“Good job, brainiac!” Nick said, setting me down and kissing me loudly on the cheek. I turned around and hugged him.

“Thanks! I still can’t believe it!”

I wanted to kiss him, but my mother appeared, pushed him aside, and embraced me.

“Noah, you graduated!” she shouted like another one of the schoolgirls. Her enthusiasm was contagious. I shrieked andlaughed and watched Nick shake his head, amused at my mother and me. William walked up beside her and gave me a hug of his own once my mother had let me go.

“We’ve got a surprise for you,” he announced.

I looked at the three of them with suspicion.

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