the memories you gave me

NOAH

I shoved my hand through my knotted hair. Going through the same monotonous routine of getting ready for school, I trudged down stairs seeing yet another familiar sight of my very hungover dad passed out on the couch. He wasn’t always like this. I relived the bitter sweet anamnesis, a hand clenching around my heart.

Mum sang a peppy song sweeping around the kitchen half covered in cake flour. I whined at her appalling lack of tune even as I felt the corners of my lips tug upwards.. Dad chuckled at our antics, looking up from the newspaper he had been so intently fixated on.

I shook my head. There was no reason for me to do this to myself. Mom was gone. Shoving down the uncontrolled emotions bubbling in my chest, I headed out the door. The drive to school was a short one. It was rather overcast today. The temperature considerably frostier than what would be called pleasant. I pulled up in the parking lot and flung the door shut heatedly, the gloomy weather not remotely helping my mood.

VALENCIA

My new school appeared quite basic. I wasn’t very skirmish, what the people thought of me didn’t matter. It was my senior year anyway. But it would be preferable not to attract much attention to myself. I glanced around.  Since I was rather early the classroom showed few signs of the bustling student body. My eyes lit up for the seat in the back, pressed against the window. Dropping myself down ungracefully on the chair, I waited patiently for the others to arrive.

Soon enough people trickled in. Hushed whispers passed along with subtle hints in my direction. I had expected that, new student and all. Ignoring everyone was going great till someone tapped the corner of my desk. Lifting my head up I saw a lean guy with his hip propped against my desk. He wore a jersey that read ‘SAINT’ in big bold letters. A deep frown marred his face. “Yes?” I lifted an eyebrow. Pretty sure my body language had made it clear I wasn’t interested in small talk. “This is my seat newbie. Get up,” his jaw ticked in irritation.

Of course my luck would suggest I pissed of the school bully on the first day.

I smiled cheerfully. “I don’t see your name on it. Why don’t you sit somewhere else, your gloomy bad boy act is really killing my vibe”

Irritation flashed in his burnt sienna eyes. He opened his mouth to, undoubtedly, growl some more discourteous words. Just then Mr Quinton chose to enter the class. When I say he came in I meant he shuffled awkwardly, his feet not moving past his sole not moving past his toes. Plopping himself into a chair, he rasped and I wondered if he would drop dead that second.

“Good morning class,” he breathed. It certainly did not look like he was having one. “Please take your seats. And Mr Saint, I would rather you stop harassing Ms Moon.” I blinked. From the corner of my vision I observed the entire class staring quite rudely at us.

Saint or whatever his name was began to protest but Mr Quinton cut him off with a glare quite intimidating for someone who could barely walk without wheezing like a dying walrus.

“Ms Moon, if you’d introduce yourself to your classmates.”

I had hoped he wouldn’t call more attention to me. “Uh, sure. I’m Valenica Moon. You can call me Val.” I’m sure they expected more with the looks I was getting but I didn’t offer anything and so, no one asked. A whisper commenting on my oddly colored eyes was passed around and quickly hushed but I didn’t mind. My one blue and one gray eye couldn’t exactly be called common.

“Okay class. I’m going to get straight to it. You have an assignment you’ll be working on for this semester in pairs. This counts for a quarter of your grade, so needless to say, take it seriously,” he announced. “You do not get to chose your pairs” A chorus of groans swept through the class.

The rest of the class went by smoothly. I walked up to the list of our pairs that had been pinned on the bulletin board after. Scanning for my name, I found it, right next to ‘Noah Saint’.

NOAH

A pointed tap landed on my shoulder. Whirling, I found no other than Valencia Moon standing with her arms folded across her chest and her hip cocked out. Her face was slightly flushed in what looked like exasperation as she glared at me. The sight was amusing, considering her small stature was barely touching 5 feet. Moon’s head was tipped upwards so she could look into my eyes. My lips tugged into a smirk.

“What’s so funny?” She frowned. When I offered no explanation she continued. “Whatever. Quite unfortunately we’ve been paired together.” Then it was my turn to sulk.

Noticing my expression she said sarcastically, “Yes, I’m absolutely ecstatic too. Look, I need good grades on this. Can you stop being a twat to me till this is over, then we can go back to hating each other.”

I suppose that makes sense. “Fine” I sniffed.

“Fine.” She mimicked snootily. “Friday.7. My place. Don’t be late,” A crumpled wad of paper was shoved into my hand and then she was walking away.

I glanced at what I had been handed. It was an address. I assumed hers.  

***

The next few days went by just as they had my entire life. I would bump into Val occasionally in the hallways or classrooms and she’d nod at me. It wasn’t exactly friendly. More like a acknowledgement to my existence.

 I glanced at my watch. Did I have time for a shower before heading to Val’s place?  It read 6:30pm. Coach had run extra drills; I was going to be late. Maybe I didn’t stink too much. I sniffed my jersey, groaned.  Definitely not smelling like a perfume shop. What did you expect Noah? Heading to the locker room, I hastily showered. Val was not going to be happy.

VALENCIA

He was late. I paced my room, slightly annoyed by his lack of punctuality. The bell rang. Before I could reach it my aunt intercepted me, yanking the door open.

 “Hi, you must be Noah,” she grinned.

Martha was the kind of chirpy woman everyone liked to be around. I never found out what it was about her that instantly made people love her. Maybe it was the ‘glass half full’ aura she always excluded.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you Mrs. Moon.” He smiled big, running a hand through his tawny curls.

I pursed my lips. He’d assumed her to be my mom. I knew it wasn’t his fault, yet it upset me a little.

“Oh no sweetie, I’m Val’s aunt. Call me Martha,” she replied, without missing a beat. “Anyway, come on in.”

“Oh, my bad. Thank—“, I grabbed the hood for his sweatshirt, dragging him upstairs impatiently.

“What is it with you woman--“he began.

“You’re late,” I cut him off, my voice sounding amusingly similar to a mother chiding her child.

He opened his mouth to undoubtedly give some excuse I wasn’t interested in listening to so I waved my around in front of his face dismissively.

NOAH

We worked in silence. It wasn’t awkward like I’d assumed. More like a comfortable reticent, the only sound was of Val’s fingers flying across the keyboard.

A framed picture on her desk caught my eye. The girl I assumed was Val, based on her heterochromia, looked about ten. She held the hands of a couple who I supposed were her parents. Her lips were stretched into a toothy grin and her eyes glowed in euphoria.

 I found a small grin tugging at my lips. “Are these your parents?”

She whipped her head up and when she observed the picture I was holding up, she gave me a smile that appeared somewhat sad to me. For a brief second, pain flashed in her eyes before she brought down a blank mask on her face and nodded.

“Uh-, are you okay?” I stammered awkwardly.

“Yeah, yeah I am. They died in a car crash. I miss them sometimes,” Val’s voice cracked. She stared at the mahogany flooring. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to kill the mood. I-“

VALENCIA

 He cut off my frantic mumbling, “Don’t apologize. I get it. My mom passed away some years back too.”

I jerked my head up to catch him staring at me intently. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“I’m sorry too,” he gave me a soft smile. This was the first time I’d seen such a genuine expression on him and it changed his features completely.

Noah had dimples.

 His eyes shone a soft hue around them and I found my lips gently tugging upwards.

***

The rest of the month passed by in a flurry of tests and school work.

The shrill ringing of the bell signified the end of the day. Books were slammed shut, pens capped, bag zips zipped hastily. It was as if they couldn’t spare a single extra ancillary second in the class.

Ms Gregory whacked the table with her duster to get everyone’s attention.

“HOLD ON A SECOND,” she shrieked unnecessarily loud. “The parents-teachers meeting is this Saturday. Since you’ll are in your senior year, the headmaster will be giving a speech about career planning and university applications at 5pm in the auditorium.”

Everyone sang a chorus of ‘yes ma’am’s and moved to exit.

“Attending is mandatory,” she announced, smirking. Collective groans and sighs passed around.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder, heading for my ride. That’s when I noticed the punctured tires. How did this even happen? I groaned.

Turning to leaning against my back against the bumper, I noticed Noah heading in my direction.

“Need a ride Moon?” he smirked cockily.

I huffed. “Not at all. Everything’s good here.”

At that I got a knowing look as he shook his head. “Yes of course. I see your very non-flat tires. Just get in,” he held open the door to his car.                                      

I looked at him. Then I looked at the door he held open. “Ugh, fine whatever,” I mumbled.

He pulled out the parking lot. I stretched, propping my legs on the dash board. He cocked an eyebrow at me. What? I gave him a toothy grin. He narrowed his eyes further. In return I pouted playfully but dropped my legs down. Noah shook his head at me but couldn’t hide the small smile he was sporting.

I rolled down the windows, sticking my head out. My hair whipped around me, I grinned.

“HEY! MOON! You’re going to get yourself killed you crazy woman,” he scolded.

Ignoring his protests, I cranked the radio high, singing along quite inharmoniously. It wasn’t long before we were screaming lyrics, giggling at how terrible our duo sounded.

Noah pulled up outside my house. I hopped out. “Thanks,” I muttered.

“Huh? What was that? Be louder will you?” he teased. Shaking my head, I chuckled at his antics and headed inside.

NOAH

Today was the parent’s meet. Since my dad was too hung-over to come, I asked my uncle to attend as a guardian. Putting on a sweatshirt and some dark-wash jeans, I drove to school. It was just 4:45. The speech if I recalled right, began at 5. The auditorium barely had a handful of people.

I impatiently bounced my leg. The auditorium started filling up and I spotted Val’s burgundy curls entering the hall. She caught my eye, tipping her head in acknowledgement. Principal Whittaker’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Good morning. Thank you for being here. Today we’ll be talking about…...”

About 10 minutes after the speech began, the entry door was slammed open vehemently. His voice reached me before I looked his way.

“Noaaaahhhh dear boy,” he drawled.

I stood up so swiftly, my chair toppled over. My breaths came fast, my insides churning in dread.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a school functionnn? No matter,” my dad waved his hands around hazily. “I’m here now aren’t I? Am I not a great father?”

My nails dug into my palms. I was getting varying looks of judgment, pity and condescendence from the crowd. Right then I did the only thing my senses were hollering at me to do. I ran. Flinging the exit doors open, the whispers and pointed looks making me pump my legs faster.

I was humiliated. I was embarrassed. But most of all, I was tired. Tired of feeling so alone. Tired of having to take responsibility for him. Tired of how miserable he made me.

VALENCIA

I don’t know why the sight of Noah tearing out of the room made me so angry at everyone. Maybe it was because we had become friends, as much as we both would deny it.

So I did what I thought a friend would do in my position. I went after him.

NOAH

My breath came in pants. I stood in the parking lot wondering where I should go. Where they wouldn’t find me. The rumbling of a engine made me whip around. Val pulled up beside me.

She jerked her head towards the passenger seat. “Get in”

I didn’t move.

Her eyes softened as she said more softly this time. “Trust me.”

This time I did as she said. Not only because I realized I did in fact trust her, but because her eyes held no judgment. They looked at me with friendship and concern.

She didn’t tell me where we were going. I didn’t ask. The 20 minutes drive to wherever she was taking me passed by silently, the only sound were the tires rolling down on the unpaved gravel road. I glanced out, it looked like the outskirts of our town. Val was driving us up to a small hill. Once the greenery covered all of my vision she pulled up into a small parking lot.

“Where—,” I began.

She cut me off. “Shut up and follow me”

“Rude,” I retorted but did as she said.

Val headed towards some bushes, roughly shoving aside the branches. She looked back at me.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

“Uh, yea- yeah,” I broke out of my daze, shuffling along behind her. Ducking below the ferns Val held aside for me, I glanced up. My breath left me in a sharp inhale.

It was beautiful. I could see Val grinning at me from the corner of my eyes. “Like it?” she asked. I just nodded, still staring at the sight before me. The entire town was visible from the clearing. Wisps of cloud veiled the blushing rays of the half-light. We sat on the mossed over bench, our shoulders touching.

Gentle gusts of wind rustled the trees, sending soft strands of Val’s hair to caress my face. There was an easy silence in the greenery. The chirping of the crickets was mellifluous, it calmed my nerves.

The bustling traffic wasn’t audible from our height. The red and white headlights resembled a scrambling colony of ants. There was certain tranquility to the place, as if we were looking upon this land from another reality. We sat there long after twilight, long after the luminescence of the moon and stars twinkled in the endless beyond. And as the first beams of dawn blanketed us I whispered, “thank you.”

The wind carried away my words, but the small smile playing on her lips told me she’d heard.