Marked. Part II: Becoming Noah Baxter (4 page)

Chapter 7

Sunday, February 16

3:36pm

Noami and Stevie have been bickering all day. This isn't normal for them. They always have fun together, but Nina is causing a rift in their friendship. And if Noami mentions one more time about me going on a date with Nate (her brother's friend) I'm going to sock her. Silly me had thought it would be fun if we spent the day together shopping, but what we should have done is go to the movies, where you have to be quiet. 

My phone rings in my purse on our way to their apartment, where we're going to make dinner together and hang out some more. I'm crossing my fingers we don't end up strangling one another.

“
Can you get that for me?” I ask Naomi, pulling into their parking lot.

She grabs the purse handle down by her feet and places it on her lap, unzipping the top, and rummaging around until she finds the still ringing phone.

“Hello,” she answers.

“
Hello?” She tries again, giving Naomi's signature “don't waste my time” expression and tone.

“
Helllooo
,” she repeats, her tone showing how irritated she is that the person hasn't responded.

I park the car in a visitor's space and extract the phone from Naomi before she has the chance to give whosoever is still there a piece of her mind. Naomi's fuse is even shorter than Jay's.

“Hello?” I ask like a broken record.

I hear a sharp intake of breath that causes me to do the same.

I exhale slowly to try and steady my nerves, but it's pretty hard to do when my heart has just started galloping around inside my body.

What do I say? Is it even him? Do I say his name? Why doesn't he answer? I pull the phone away from my ear and see that it's a number I don't recognize and have missed twice before.

What if it
is
him?

How many questions can I ask myself before actually opening my mouth and letting sound come out?

Why am I nervous?

Say something, Lily!
I scream at myself. But what if it's not him?

Grr, I'm annoying myself with all this internal dialogue.

Okay, be cool. Don't start professing your undying love for him. Remain calm, you're not even sure if it's him. 

“
Hey,” is my ever cool response.

“
Hey,” comes the familiar, deep, warm voice I'd know anywhere, sounding just as nervous.

The biggest smile I think the world has ever seen plants itself on my face.

“Who is it?” Noami questions, getting closer to hear while Stevie pokes her head between the seats to see me better.

“
Damn, I bet the glow from Lily's smile can be seen by the sun,” Stevie teases, poking my arm. “Who is that?”

“
I would pay good money to see that smile,” Jay speaks, causing a dip in my stomach and making me forget how to breathe.

“
Lily, you there?” Jay wonders after a few seconds of silence.

“
It'ssogoodtohearyourvoiceI'vebeensoworrieddoesthismeanyou'recominghomeisitoverareyoucomingbacktome,” I blurt out in one big whoosh, completely forgetting the need for coherency and oxygen.

Smooth. Way to play it cool.

I slap my shaking head to my palm. I'm such a dork.

“
Uh, what?” I hear Jay swiping his head. I thought if only I could hear his voice it would ease some of my misery, but I'm finding that it's only making my heart hurt more and the longing I've been experiencing intensifying.

Naomi and Stevie's faces are in my personal space, trying to hear who's on the other end. I get out and walk away from the car, hoping for some privacy. I hear car doors slam behind me, followed by Stevie's heels and Naomi's boots trying to catch up with me.

“Jay?” I whisper, my feet picking up their pace, trying to escape my nosy friends.

“
Yeah?” He breathes out in a mixture of trepidation and relief.

“
Is it over?”

“
No.”

“
Bummer.”

“
Yeah.” Is his throaty response, and I get the feeling he's experiencing all the same emotions I am right now.

“
I needed to hear your voice,” he reveals, making my huge smile return.

“
But you can't call me back,” he quickly adds.

“
Okay.” Besides my embarrassing ramble, I still can't form words.

“
I'm serious, Lily,” his demanding, rough voice almost has me laughing.

“
Got it, no calling,” I reciprocate, biting into another humongous smile.

“
Do you?” Jay implores, probably remembering the times I've ignored him.

I let out an over-dramatic sigh, “Yes, dear.”

He lets out a low, rumble of a laugh and I have to place a hand over my heart, thinking it might help steady it. It's feels
so
incredibly good to hear his voice.

There's some clattering in the background and a woman's shrill screech.

“I have to go,” he rushes.

My heart deflates, “Okay.”

“I'll call you tomorrow.”

He hangs up at the exact time my friends catch up to me. I extend the phone out and stare at it as though I'm ninety and still trying to figure out how these darn things work.

Stevie runs her hand down my hair, “Everything okay?”

Naomi crosses her arms in frustration, “Are you ever going to tell us who that was?”

“No,” I answer them both, shoving the phone in my pocket. “Let's get dinner started. I'm starving!” I hurry to their apartment, trying to push back my heartache and tears.

I avoid answering questions all night, pretending like I had never gotten a phone call. Tomorrow I'll have to ask Jay how much I can reveal to my friends. I don't like keeping things from them and it's all I seem to do since I met him.

Chapter 8

Thursday, February 20

7:49pm

“
You totally cheated!” Seth accuses, throwing his cards down in a huff.

“
How? How did I cheat?” I inquire after winning a round of Kings Corner. I'm at home hanging out with my younger brothers. I try to spend time with them at least once a week, not only because I want the memories, but also because they are a blast to be around. It's a guarantee you'll be laughing the whole time, which is exactly what I need right now.

“
I don't know,” Seth mumbles, never taking defeat well. “You just did.”

“
Oh, well thanks for the concrete evidence.”

My phone starts ringing from the kitchen counter but I make no move to answer it.

Cody gathers up the cards to shuffle, “That's getting really annoying. Are you ever going to answer it?”

I briefly let myself acknowledge it's presence, “I'm letting him sweat a little.”

Cody starts dealing the cards, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

I twist the ring around on my middle finger under the table, not sure what the best response is.

The phone stops ringing, only to start again right after.

Seth peers at the seven cards in his hand, “Geez, Lily. What'd the guy do to deserve you ignoring his calls all night?”

“He took four days to call me back,” I grumble. The calls started at four this afternoon and have come every half hour after that. For the past hour it's been every fifteen minutes, but I keep ignoring them. The first two calls I missed because I was at work. When I realized I'd missed Jay's call I was in tears, rejoicing that he was okay, but then I got pissed. I don't like that he promised to call and didn't, causing me to be worried for four straight days. He's not another average guy, he's Jay, and a man that wants to kill him is planning to attack at any time. Him not calling possibly means he's not around to call anymore. Therefore, I'm letting him experience how much it sucks to not talk to the person and hear that they're all right.

We start our game and my brothers have decided this round we can only speak with British accents. The previous round could only be done in pirate slang. Seth tries to impersonate Sean Connery, and when I inform him he's Scottish, he gives me an exasperated sigh and a glare that lets me know I'm turning too much into an adult and to just go with it. So I do.

I've decided to go with Cockney, sounding like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. This earns their respect back and they laugh every time I speak. I'm considering
only
talking this way around them if it gets them laughing this hard. Cody's decided to be Austin Powers. That's what I love about being around those a decade younger, adults would try and be serious about getting it right. Well, scratch that. Adults wouldn't even do that, but non-adults don't care about being silly and goofy, the more so the better. It's refreshing to be around.

Cody wins this round and Seth starts accusing him of also cheating, and that maybe we're conspiring against him. I start to defend myself when the doorbell rings.

“I'll get it!” Seth yells, jumping up and causing his chair to tip back as he dashes to the door.

I try and make out what is being said, but am only getting muffled voices.

Shortly after, Seth comes back, “The neighbor's having Internet trouble and was wondering if we are too?”

“
The Kincaid's?”

He shakes his head, “No, the guy who's renting the place scarface stayed at.”

“Don't call him that!” I snap louder than I should, making both my brothers jump. “Go tell him I'm checking to find out. Don't let him in,” I tack on, having learned that one the hard way. Won't make that stupid-ass mistake again.

It doesn't take long for me to see that it's working just fine, maybe even a little faster than usual.

I go to the front door, not liking the tension my body is experiencing at the idea of being up close to him.

I open the door to find him talking on his cell, his side leaning against the house. He looks up when he sees me, but doesn't say anything.

I don't know if it's my imagination or not but he looks annoyed with me, like
I'm
the one wasting
his
time.

“
Ours isn't working either,” I shrug, hoping I'm coming across as baffled. I'm worried if I tell him it's fine that he'll ask to use ours.

He scans me from top to bottom; not suggestively, it's almost like he's doing it to reassure himself I'm in one piece, “Okay, thanks.” Then he leaves back across the street, continuing his phone conversation and lighting up a cigarette.

Is that house a magnet for strange, standoffish men or something?

I come back to the kitchen and the boys have decided it's time for a snack. They pull out everything that sounds appetizing and try to figure out what kind of crazy concoctions they can create. I fear for the day they discover pot.

My phone rings again. I decide to finally answer, more because I want to hear his voice than thinking I've made him suffer long enough.

I grab my phone and one brother mutters a “thank god,” while the other states, “It's about time.”

I roll my eyes at them and head down the hall to my room, tapping the answer button as I do.

I don't speak, waiting for Jay to go first.

He doesn't and we're both silent for an agonizing few seconds.

We both start talking at the same time.

I say, “When you say you're going to call, call!”

While Jay says, “Why aren't you answering your phone?!”

I close my bedroom door a bit to forcefully while we go back to our silent tiff.

I hear him let out a long sigh at the same time I do.

“I'm sorry, Lily. I meant to call. I
wanted
to call, but there was never a good time and I didn't think you'd appreciate me waking you up at three in the morning.”

“
You scared me when you didn't call,” I crawl onto my bed and lay down on my back. “I didn't know if it meant something bad had happened.”

“
Shit, I didn't even think of that.”

“
I almost called you a hundred times. I don't understand why I can't call.”

“
Just don't.”

“
Your vague answers are so frustrating!”

“
I'm
frustrating!” Jay roars back, “What about you ignoring my calls? That's not cool, Lily!”

“
I wanted you to know what it felt like to worry.”

“
I worry about you every goddamn second of my fucking day!”

That shuts me up and turns off my anger. I open my mouth to apologize for my catty behavior but he speaks up first,
“I have to go.”

“
Already?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Are you going to call me again?” I ask, but he's already hung up.

Well, shit.

I want to beat the crap out of myself right now. I'd start with my throat and force it to stop constricting.

I wish I could call him back and apologize. I don't want to fail so I decide to call for back up. Just as I'm about to call Stevie it rings. I see Jay's number, making my heart jump into my throat.

“Hi,” I answer warily.

“
Hi,” he responds with the same amount of caution.

“
Can I apologize and you'll forgive me and we'll pretend the last phone call never happened?” I plead.

“
I'd like that.” I can hear the smile in his voice.

“
I'm sorry for being a child. This whole situation's been really stressful.”

He grunts, “That's a huge understatement. I'm sorry too. I should have called sooner. I wanted to, Lily. You have to believe me when I tell you that you're on my mind all the time. It's just...sometimes it gets crazy around here, and I didn't want to call and wake you in the middle of the night.”

“I don't mind, it's worth it to hear your voice.”

“
Okay. Every chance I can I'll call, no matter the time.”

I sigh out my relief, “Thank you.”

Jay also lets out a long, heavy exhale, “God, baby, it's so fucking good to hear your voice.”

I almost lose it and start crying, but I don't want to waste this call by him comforting me and my silly tears.

“Yours too,” my voice cracks and I take a sip of my bedside water to take some of the edge off. “Did you find her?” I have to ask. Not knowing if Arianna is all right is just one more thing to keep me awake at night.

“
Yeah, she's here.”

My muscles release some of the tension they've been carrying.

“She has some issues to work out, but I think she'll be okay. I know you want to know what happened and I promise to tell you, but it's been a long day and I'd rather not talk about that shit right now.”

Okay, I can respect that. “
Hey, you remembered Valentine's Day.”

I can hear him scratching his scruff, “Yeah, well...” He clears his throat and his awkward, shy vibe can be felt through the phone.
I wish I could see how cute he must look right now.

“
Thank you, it meant a lot to me. I took my time eating it, savoring every bite.”

Jay groans, “Don't say things like that. I can only imagine how fucking sexy it would have been to watch you.
” 

There's a long pause on the phone and I'm not really sure why I'm feeling so shy myself.

“I wish I had a picture of you,” I confess, needing something to say even if I'm embarrassing myself.

Jay laughs.

“What? Too cheesy?”

“
Yes, but that wasn't why I was laughing.”

“
Okay?” I coax.

“
You know those pictures Quake had of us?”

“
Yes.”

“
I look at them a hundred times a day.”

“
You kept those?”

“
Why do you think I put them in the back pocket of my pants at the diner? I never wanted to forget what you looked like.”

I smile, letting the warmth of his voice and words travel through me, “Y
ou're really just one big softie, you know that?”

He lets out a grunt, making me laugh.

Someone's voice calls out his name from the distance.

“
Gotta go.”

Then he hangs up. No I love you, no talk to you later. He has the worst phone manners. Who am I kidding, he has no manners.