The First Boy

Noah and I waited in the waiting room for almost one and a half hours before I was called in to get my ankle looked at. Noah waited with me the whole time and even missed his football practice to make sure I was okay. I definitely wasn’t expecting him to stay with me and keep me company, but I definitely wasn’t upset by it.

I was in excruciating pain and couldn’t even move my ankle if I wanted to. The nurse finally called me in and took x-rays to make sure all my bones were okay, and nothing was broken. The doctor confirmed that I had a severe twist in my ankle and won’t be able to walk or cheer for at least two weeks. He wrapped it in a gauze and gave me crutches since I wouldn’t be able to pressure on my foot.

After the doctor gave me a prescription for the pain in my ankle, we left the medical center and made our way home. Before we got to my house, Noah stop at CVS, and bought all my favorite candies: Hersey bars, Sour Patch Kids, and Swedish Fish. I wasn’t going to be able to cheer, and I was going to get plumper. Great.

As we pulled up to my house, Noah got out of the car and walked around to open the door for me. He grabbed my crutches from the backseat but was holding onto them. He wouldn’t let me grab them, and I couldn’t reach for them.

“Can I have those, please?” I say trying to swat for the crutches. Noah is too quick and tall for me to grab them.

“Kiss me,” he says nonchalantly.

“What? Noah, come on.” I say feeling limp.

I felt drowsy and defeated. I have been up since 6AM and have had a hell of a day. From everything with school, Noah, and now a twisted ankle, I was exhausted. I told my mom about my ankle and she freaked out on the phone. She was taking Giovanna back to school, and my dad was taking Gino back a day early so they wouldn’t have to move in tomorrow. Marco was the only one home, and I knew he would have something to say about Noah Carlo taking me home.

“Kiss me, and you get the crutches,” he says with his sexy smirk.

“My brother is inside probably watching us,” I say in a whisper, even though Marco can’t hear me.

“Are you nervous, Belly?” He says inching closer to me.

His face is inches near mine now. His breath smells like fresh mint and I’ve never wanted to kiss Noah so much like I do right now. A flood of thoughts rush through my head. Noah and Lina have been going out for years, and they only just broke up this summer. I know he wasn’t over her and I didn’t want to be his second choice, I wanted to be his only choice.

“No,” I say crossing my arms on my chest,” I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

He backs away feeling a little hurt by my words, but I am telling him the truth. This is how I truly feel. It is not a good idea to rush into anything with Noah Carlo, even if this means I ruin my chances with him. I should be jumping with joy that Noah wants to be with me, but it somehow feels wrong.

Noah is used to being with girls and having them want him back. I am not used to being with boys and I’m definitely not used to having boys give me attention. It gives me anxiety to think that Noah wants me, and I want him, but what if it’s not the time for us to be together.

“I have to say Belly,” he says finally handing me the crutches, “I’m not used to women telling me no.”

I swiftly put my backpack on my shoulders and take the crutches from Noah. I run as fast as I can with these crutches, but the task is hard since I’ve never used them before. I can’t even look in his eyes because I can tell he is hurt. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, that’s the last thing I wanted to do. I know what it felt like to be hurt by someone you liked, and I never wanted to be that woman to do that to someone. I also had to realize I had to protect myself from Lina. I also had to protect myself from getting a broken heart.

“Belly! Wait,” he says catching up to me.

I’ve made it to my candy apple red door, and I am about to open it. I turn around when I hear Noah call me Belly. My heart sinks because I only like it when he calls me that. His face is right there, and he grabs my two cheeks and pulls me close. I close my eyes and that’s when he kisses me, again. His long fingers are intertwined in my long auburn hair. I can’t my hand and put it in his hair to pull him closer to me. Our lips are in perfect rhythm, and our bodies are close together. I want to stay like this with him forever.

My front door fly’s open and I see my dad at the door. He wasn’t supposed to be home yet, and it was just supposed to be Marco. I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and I know my cheeks are bright red, Noah’s are too.

“Glad to see you are feeling better,” dad says looking at my ankle.

He doesn’t look mad, but he definitely doesn’t look happy to see his youngest daughter, at his front footsteps, making out with the hottest guy in her school. My dad liked Noah as a person but didn’t like him for me. My dad never wanted his daughters to have a high school boyfriend, and he wanted us to have fun but definitely be careful too.

“Hi daddy,” I say looking down at my feet. I am so embarrassed.

“Hi, Mr. Marino,” Noah says as confident as he can, “just dropping Belly off.”

I cringe.

“She lets you call her Belly?” He says surprised. “She hates being called that. I guess not by you though.”

Noah panics “no sir,” he says mumbling his words “she doesn’t like it at all. I just like the nickname.”

“I’m kidding Noah,” my dad says even though I know he’s not kidding. “Come on in and stay for dinner. I’m making chicken cutlets.”

“Noah has to go home daddy, but maybe another night,” I say trying to divert the situation from me and Noah.

“Actually,” Noah says looking at the time on his phone, “I’d love to stay for dinner.”