Part of Noah wanted nothing more than to close my bathroom door, lock it, and wait it out. She wasn’t a hero. She had nothing to prove. And, for a moment, she allowed herself to consider it. She craned her neck over her shoulder and eyed the bath tub. It was the perfect place for her to hide out should she need it.
She waited another breath. Then another.
Nothing.
She shook my head. She needed to get a grip on herself.
When Noah finished packing up her bathroom, she stepped into her living room. The furniture was either rented or picked up second-hand for ridiculously cheap. She wouldn’t miss it, but she appreciated having it. It was nice to have an apartment on her own, even if it was only for a couple of months.
The problem now was figuring out where she could go. Riverside County and Orange County were forty minutes from each other on a typical day. All of her family was in Riverside after she graduated from University High School in Irvine. Her mom wanted to make sure she got the best schooling and then decided to move somewhere more affordable. When she saw an opportunity to move in with Aaron, who was able to pay his rent in Irvine with ease and have money left over.
Of course, Aaron had his own demons, demons Noah didn’t recognize until it was too late.
She reached in her back pocket and pulled out a phone. Maybe looking through her short list of contacts would help her figure out where she could turn to.
Mom was a no. She tried that before and the results had been disastrous. She refused to put anyone she cared about in danger again, so she needed it to be someone who Aaron didn’t know.
She flipped through a couple of names – Chelsea, Hunter, Hawthorne. No, nope, and no way. Chelsea was a cousin who moved up to Seattle, and while she didn’t want to put her mother in danger, she didn’t want to leave her either. Hunter was an ex who she went on two dates with freshman year of high school who she deduced she had no chemistry with. And Hawthorne was her physical science partner she texted twice about a project and then stopped talking to once she switched classes.
How have I not removed him from my contacts?
She quickly deleted him and continued to scroll through the names until a familiar one caught her eye.
Lily Sinclair.
Lily was the type of friend she had when she was in class but never actually hung out with outside of school. They didn’t have the same social circles – though, maybe if they had, Noah wouldn’t have made such stupid decisions – and they didn’t participate in the same extracurriculars. And yet, they always managed to have a couple of classes together.
Noah glanced down at her phone, rubbing her lips together. Her thumb hovered over the name, but she hesitated. Would Lily even let her stay over? Was it right to even ask?
Tears blurred her vision and she looked away. It was moments like this one when she hated the situation, she was in. She didn’t like other people knowing her business because she didn’t want the help. She wanted to be able to do these things on her own.
And she had.
Until Aaron had found her.
You don’t have a choice. The worst she could say is no.
Noah knew all of that. What she had to figure out was what did she tell Lily? Did she tell Lily the truth, or did she hide it? She definitely didn’t want the extra sympathy she got on the rare occasions she did tell people what had happened to her. People never knew how to react and Noah never knew how to react to their lack of reaction so the whole situation was awkward. And yet, she thought it was only fair to give Lily a head’s up about what was going on. After what happened to her mother…
Noah closed her eyes, trying to suppress a shudder. And her mother knew the kind of monster Aaron was and still couldn’t fully prepare for what happened.
“Maybe I shouldn’t…” She let her voice trail off. Maybe she shouldn’t ask anyone for help. Maybe she should try to figure something out on her own.
But she knew she couldn’t do that. There was too little time she had. Aaron found her. Aaron threatened her. He would make good on his threats.
Her mother would help, she knew. Even now, she knew her mother well enough to know that she would always protect her babies – Noah and Ellie – no matter what.
Noah knew she was only nineteen. She still felt like a kid, whether she went to Disneyland for her eighteenth birthday or she cosplayed as Sailor Moon that one time she snagged Comic Con tickets. But she still liked to think she was capable of protecting herself into the mess with Aaron. Not her mother. Not Ellie. She needed to be the one to get herself out of it.
She looked down at her phone.
She should call Lily. Lily might help.
But did she really want to burden Lily with this?
Did she really have a choice?
Noah let out a breath. As far as she could see, she had two options: she could figure this out on her own and probably have Aaron catch up with her just as he did before, or she could try something new, something he might not expect.
Nut up, buttercup.
Noah pressed Lily’s name. She held her breath. Maybe she had changed her number since high school. Maybe she wouldn’t remember who Noah was. Maybe she would tell her no.
Whatever would happen, Noah would handle it. She would survive. She always did.
“Hello?”
The familiar warm voice caused Noah’s breath to hitch in her throat.
“Lily?” she breathed out. “It’s Noah, Noah Stone. I need your help.”
3
Alec
The first thing Alec did when he got back to his apartment was grab a
