He chuckled before chugging back some Coke, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion. Eden’s chest grew tight watching him, her stomach clenching, her heart racing, her throat growing crisp and hot. She dropped her eyes, willing the hunger away.
Last year, at the beginning of her junior year, Noah arrived. Not only was South Salton High buzzing with the news of his arrival because he was a senior, and wasn’t that weird and cruel of his parents to move him here at the end of his high school career, but Noah was also kind of swoon worthy. Tall. Built. Dark blonde. Amazing violet eyes. And a face that would make angels weep. In fact, he kind of reminded Eden of an angel. A dark angel with a wicked smile and a twisted sense of humor. At first Eden had ignored Noah, like she did every other person. Plus, he was a senior. But a couple of weeks in and everyone was talking about how weird Noah was. He didn’t talk to anyone. He turned down a date with Lucy Stevens, the hottest senior at SSH and head cheerleader! Was he gay? Nah. The girls of SSH refused to believe someone that cute was gay. Instead they’d decided he was just a freak. But a straight freak. For starters, they didn’t know who half the bands were he wore on his t-shirts. Yes, Eden thought wryly, at SSH the level of freakishness is directly related to your sheep factor – super freak being someone who is a billy goat (has their own mind), and popular and normal being a sheep (just another one of the flock).
Today his t-shirt had Biffy Clyro scrawled across it. Eden smiled. Dude had good taste in music.
Still, Eden hadn’t cared. She hadn’t actually given much thought to the guy other than that he must be smart as hell to have turned down Lucy Stevens. And then one day near the end of October, she was sitting in her favorite hangout, The Coffee Shoppe (Saltonians weren’t big on originality), reading Shonen Jump for the latest on Naruto when a voice at her ear made her jump out of her skin.
“Are you reading a kid’s magazine?”
Not only had she been shocked by Noah’s ability to sneak up on her, she just couldn’t believe he was actually talking to her. She’d glared at him as he slid into the seat beside her. “It’s manga.”
“Ah.” He’d nodded. “Never really got into that crap.”
“It’s not crap,” she’d snapped.
Noah had chuckled. “Sorry. No need to be so defensive.”
Eden had harrumphed and returned to the magazine. She’d tried to ignore Noah as he leaned forward in his chair to yank a curled paperback out of the butt pocket of his jeans. He’d slumped back in the chair and began reading. Eden had snuck a peek.
In Cold Blood.
“Capote?” she hadn’t been able to stop herself from asking.
Noah had smirked at her, a wicked angel smile. “Yeah. You read it?”
Eden had held up the manga. “Do I look like I’ve read In Cold Blood?”
Laughing, Noah had leaned over, his startling violet eyes glittering. “Tell you what… we’ll swap.”
“You wanna swap me Capote for Shonen Jump?”
He’d shrugged. “You said it wasn’t crap. And In Cold Blood is definitely not crap.”
Eden had looked at the book doubtfully. She wasn’t really into classic American literature…
“It’s good. Tragic and twisted but good,” he’d tried to persuade her. When she didn’t say anything, Noah had reached across and pried the manga from her hands, his fingers brushing hers. Immediately her stomach had clenched and this fierce ache rippled across her chest and up into her throat. It felt like a rush of lights exploding behind her eyes, and her nerves began jumping like crazy, her muscles twitching and twanging with the sensation. For a minute she thought she was going to pass out from the unbelievable rush. She hadn’t known what it was, but she knew she didn’t want Noah to move away from her. To stop talking to her. Instead, she’d agreed to the swap. They’d sat in silence for an hour reading, peeking out from the corner of their eyes at each other and then smirking when they were caught. Finally, Eden had had to leave for home.
“So… what do you think so far?” Noah had asked quietly as she stood up to leave.
Eden had shrugged. His eyebrow quirked up expectantly. She had smiled back despite herself. “It’s good.”
His own smile had widened into a huge grin. “Told you.”
“You?” She’d nodded at the copy of Shonen Jump in his hand.
“Yeah, actually.” He’d nodded, seeming surprised. “I like this Naruto kid. We have some things in common.”
For some reason she’d felt this warmth rush through her. She smiled wryly just as she’d turned to leave. “Me too.”
That night Eden had told Stellan about the feeling she’d gotten that day, without going into specifics or mentioning Noah. Her suspicions proved correct as Stellan told her excitedly that her hunger had finally awoken.
But, Eden thought, as Noah chattered to her about the latest Arcade Fire album, she would never hurt Noah. For the last six months, Noah had become this really important person to her. For once, someone other than a family member wanted to hang out with her. And with Noah it was easy. She didn’t have to pretend so much to be someone else. He seemed to like her sullen charm just fine. He was her best friend.
“So what do you think?”
OK, she had totally blanked him. “Huh?”
Noah snorted. “Earth to Eden. Come in Eden.”