AllFreeNovel
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“Why?” she demands. “Why did you street race?”
Noah finally looks away. “Because I told him I was moving into the dorms. ”
“Noah!” Beth grabs hold of the arm of his jacket. “What the hell? You promised both of us a year ago that you would never leave us behind. ”
“Why are you here?” Noah asks Beth. “You promised you’d stay away from Louisville. ”
Beth’s head tilts in her familiar pissed-off way. “Logan’s my friend. So is Isaiah. Explain why you’re bailing on us? You break a promise to him, you break it to me. ”
“I kept my promise to you,” says Noah. “Who do you think told Shirley to call your uncle when you got arrested last fall? Do you think the lush figured it out on her own? I reminded her that your Uncle Scott had money and would be able to help with bail. As for Isaiah, I can’t help him if he owes people like Eric. ”
Beth pales. “You. . . you did that to me?”
Noah lowers himself to stare into her eyes. “Don’t stand there acting like I ratted you out. You’re better off and you know it. You’re happy. You’ve told me that yourself. ”
Beth clenches her hands together. “But it should have been my choice. ”
“Beth. . . you never saw your choices. ” And his eyes flash to me. “And neither do you. ”
I gesture with palms open. “Show me my rich uncle, Noah, and I’m game. Wait. . . my bad. . . out of the three of us, I’m the only trash here. ”
Noah shoves a finger into my chest, daring me into a physical confrontation. “You’re so bent on believing what you want people to see that you forget that you’re more. Keep saying it. Keep saying you’re trash and take the fucking swing at me, but if you do, know I’m hitting back. ”
My head is so close to Noah’s that I feel the heat of his anger, or maybe it’s mine.
“You want to fight, man?” I ask. “Is that what you want?”
“No, bro. But I do want to kick some sense into your head. ”
Around us, several guys leap to their feet, calling at us to back down. Most of them wear jock jackets like Logan’s. One has the balls to touch me. Ryan, Beth’s guy, has the balls to touch Noah. “Bring it down a notch. ”
Beth smacks Ryan’s arm. “Let him go, Ryan. ” She turns to the one with his arm on me. “You, too, Chris. This is how the two of them communicate. ”
Ryan yanks on the bill of his baseball cap. “This is a fight, Beth. ”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s a family reunion. A fucked-up one, but how else would we do it. ”
Noah cracks his crazy-ass grin with her words and chuckles. I pop the tension out of my neck, and Noah flexes his shoulders to relax. “You should have told me you had problems. ”
I shrug. “I got problems. ”
Noah pats my back. “Then we’ll figure it out. ”
For the first time in a while, the pressure inside of me dips. “Thanks, man. ”
The door to the emergency room opens. On crutches, Logan hobbles out of the E. R. with a man who must be his dad by his side. Some of the guys near us clap or yell out Logan’s name.
For the first time since waking up from the crash, I feel like I can take a lungful of air. Logan acknowledges his friends as he and his two poles maneuver through the mass of people. There’s no mistake that he’s making his way to me, Beth, Chris and Ryan.
Chris is the first to speak. “You’re a moron, Junior. ”
Logan pops that insane grin. “But it was a hell of a rush. ” He nods at me. “You okay?”
“Stitches. ”
“Same with me. ” He kicks out his right leg. “Twenty-four stitches on my thigh. Nothing broken. ” Logan loses the spark. “I’m out for a bit. ” He’s referring to helping with the money.
“It’s good,” I say. “Thanks, man. ”
