He punched my arm and I laughed. I felt eyes on me in that moment, and my gut told me they were the colour of emerald and jade. I turned my gaze towards Noah, and when our eyes locked I saw that she visibly flinched, but she didn’t look away from me. I realised that this was my moment to speak to her and tell her how I felt. I lifted my hand and crooked my finger at her. Her eyes widened ever so slightly and I felt my lips twitch, and I nodded when she pointed to her chest and mouthed the word “Me?”
“Good luck, bud,” AJ murmured as he got to his feet and jogged around to the seat on the log that Noah had vacated. He got stuck into chatting up some girls from our year and forgot all about me. I forgot about him too when my eyes moved back to Noah as she came over and sat in the spot AJ had just left.
“Heya, Elliot.”
She didn’t look at me as she spoke; she busied herself with adjusting her jumper and clasping her hands together and resting them on her knees, before changing her mind and folding her arms across her chest. I blinked when I realised that she was nervous. This knowledge calmed me immensely.
“Heya,” I replied with a chuckle. “Ye looked a little lost over there.”
She tucked tendrils of stray hair behind her ear. “I know. I’m friends with a lot of the girls, we just never hang out outside of school. I feel a little awkward being here.”
I had noticed that about her. At first, I thought she was being made an outcast by our classmates, but I quickly learned Noah was the one who decided to keep to herself. I only worked my way into her tiny circle because she was table-partnered with AJ in almost every class.
“I’m glad ye came,” I told her. “I’d have been sad if ye didn’t show up.”
The glow of the fire illuminated Noah’s cheeks as they flushed a soft red. I felt my pulse increase at the sight. Her blush-stained cheeks only elevated her beauty in my eyes. I wanted to kiss her so badly that it made my throat run dry.
“I’m sure you’ve said that to all the girls.”
She chuckled and still wouldn’t make eye contact with me, so before I could stop myself, I reached out and tipped her chin up with my fingers until her eyes snapped to mine.
“Why won’t ye look at me?”
She swallowed and parted her lips in a sensual little O.
“I am looking at you,” she blurted. “This is me looking at you.”
Her entire face was crimson now and it made me smile, which seemed to fluster Noah altogether. That was the moment I began to believe what AJ had been telling me all this time. Noah liked me . . . she liked me like I liked her.
“I have to tell ye somethin’, Noah.”
Her eyes widened, and before I could say anything else, she exclaimed, “This is for you!”
I dropped my hand to my thigh and blinked as she reached into her hoodie pocket, pulled out a small box and thrust it in my direction. I stared down at it for a moment before I cleared my throat and took the box.
“For me?”
“Of course,” Noah said, her voice a little breathless. “You are the birthday boy.”
“Thank you.” I looked up at her. “I love it.”
“You . . . you haven’t even opened the box, Elliot.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “I still love it.”
I looked down at the box again to give her a moment to herself, because her skin was still flushed and she looked completely out of sorts from sitting in front of me. I wanted to calm her like she calmed me.
I lifted the lid of the box and stared down at a little silver flower.
“It’s a calla lily, otherwise known as the Easter lily in your country,” Noah explained. “I didn’t know what you’d like so I got something I liked and put it on a necklace. I love flowers, and I didn’t want to get you something as common as a shamrock or a four-leaf clover, so instead I picked a calla lily. I read it’s used in Ireland as a symbol of remembrance for those who died in the 1916 Risings.”
I brushed my finger over the small pendant.
“You hate it,” Noah murmured. “I’m sorry, it was stupid—”