Chapter Text
C L I P O N E - Saturday, September 26th, 11:45pm
The house was alive on the fairly cold Saturday night in October, the music from the main level seeping upwards into the floors, vibrating the tiles of the bathroom. Whatever popular song that was playing through the speakers downstairs was barely recognizable where Noah was sitting, slouched in a bathtub between two of his three friends. Benjamin was on his left, his elbow practically jabbed into his best friend's side, as Noah’s right was squished up against Thomas. Logan was nowhere to be seen, having left ten minutes ago to find them beers in the kitchen.
“Do you think he got lost?” Thomas offers lightly, reaching in front of Noah to grab the blunt from Ben. The latter snorts, shifting uncomfortably in the cramped space.
“Wouldn’t put it past him,” he answers. Noah joins the guys in a laugh as the bathroom door swings open and Logan stumbles in.
“Look who made it back,” Noah muses, a smile pulling on his lips.
“Did you forget how to climb stairs?” Thomas teases, taking the beer that Logan held out.
“Have you guys seen Mackenzie?” Logan replies instead, handing the two other’s their drinks, before sitting onto the ground in a dream-like state.
“The question is who hasn’t ,” Ben joins in, cracking the can open. “She’s so fucking hot.” Over Noah’s head, Thomas extends his fist and Ben bumps it.
“Smoking,” Thomas agreeds with a smirk.
“I mean,” Noah feels the urge to add, with a clearing of his throat. “She’s not that hot.” Logan gives a dramatic gasp as they all narrow their eyes at him as if he’s gone crazy. “What?”
“‘Not that hot’? Dude, come on, she has a modeling agency,” Logan reminds him. She did-- or at least that’s what everyone said.
“Alright, if Mackenzie isn’t your type, who is?” Ben questions curiously, taking a sip of beer.
“I don’t know.”
“Bro,” Thomas passes the weed to Logan who happily accepts it. “Seriously? Name one girl here tonight who you like.” Noah feels his mouth go dry as he tries to think of someone to name.
“Emma,” Noah chooses, thinking about the cute girl with blonde hair who he’d seen when they’d walked into the party a few hours earlier. “Emma Richi.”
“Oh, thank god,” Ben sighs, happily. “There you go.”
“Which Emma?” Logan asks, letting smoke tumble out of his mouth as he spoke.
“The brunette who’s always hanging out Riley Rosen,” Thomas supplies, incorrectly.
“No, no-- that’s Emma Cartland. Emma Richi is the small blonde who’s in grade eleven.” At Ben’s description the other two all made faces of recognition.
“She’s cute,” Thomas nodes. “But good luck-- heard she’s turned down Charlie.”
Logan whistles, “Shit, man. No one turns down Charlie.”
“Accept anyone who’s smart,” Noah corrects with emphasis. “Charlie’s been everywhere. Who knows what he’s been doing.”
“ Who he’s been doing," Ben corrects.
“Alright which of you pretty boys is taking the shit tonight,” Thomas starts, holding up the small bag of weed.
“My mom almost found it last time,” Logan sighs. “No go.”
“Ben?”
“Nah, man. Close call for me too.”
“I’ll take it,” Noah offers, taking the bag from Thomas’ hands.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, no parents to snoop through my room.” Noah stuffs it into his jean pocket and as he does, it’s as if the universe is trying to either help, or fuck over, his life. The door to the bathroom swings open and Emma Richi, in her full glory, walks in. She freezes, her foot just barely past the threshold.
“Oh,” she says surprised. “Are you guys done in here? I need to pee.” Noah can feel Ben slapping his leg, and from the corner of his eye, he can feel his best friend’s encouraging look. Now’s your chance.
“We waited an hour to get this spot. Use the one downstairs,” Thomas answers. Emma shoots him a pointed look.
“I would, but someone’s having sex in it. So either you four beat it, or I’m pissing with all of you in here.”
“Wow,” Logan says. “Rude much.”
“Sorry, but seriously, you guys couldn’t have picked a shittier place to hide out and smoke in.”
“I don’t think we actually could have found a shittier place,” Noah interjects, with a smile. Emma gives a reluctant laugh, before sighing.
“Funny, but--” she motions for them to leave, but no one gets up. “Suit yourselves.” Emma walks over to the toilet, adjusting her black dress as she does to cover herself as much as she can. The boys all look away.
“Dude,” Ben whispers in his ear. “This is your chance.” Noah took a drag of the blunt that had been passed to him from Logan.
“Do you know who you remind me of, Emma?” Noah begins, his eyes still averted. The toilet flushes and Emma walks past them to the sink.
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” He hands the weed to Ben.
“That chick from the Disney channel,” Noah speaks with amusement. Emma mets his eye in the mirror, she raises her brow.
“Specific.”
“What’s her name…” he thinks aloud. “Sabrina Carpenter!”
“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a compliment or not,” Emma hums, turning to face him, her hands resting behind her on the edge of the sink.
“She’s pretty cute,” Ben tries to help out.
“Oh, yeah, real pretty,” Thomas says.
“There you go,” Noah shrugs. “Audience says it was a compliment.” Emma looks at him carefully, raking her teeth over her bottom lip. She takes a step closer to the tub, casting her eyes down at him.
“And what do you have to say about it?” Noah stands up, stepping out onto the floor. He wasn’t necessarily tall for his age, but he did beat her by a few feet.
“Definitely a compliment.”
“I don’t see how it’s fair,” Emma began after a pause, her brown eyes watching him closely. She took another step closer. “That you know my name, but I don’t know yours.”
“Noah,” he answers. She took the final step, the toes of their shoes matching. The boys clear their throats, murmuring excuses as they start hurrying out of the washroom to give them space. Noah catches Ben’s encouraging nod, before he closes the door.
“Hello, Noah ,” she whispers as their lips meet. He curls his arm around her waist, closing his eyes as she runs her fingers through his hair. Something twists in his stomach, as he tries to bury the feeling deep down. Her lips break away from his as she begins to leave kisses along his jaw, her hands sliding down from his hair, over his chest, until they’re resting on his belt buckle. He opens his eyes, his breaths becoming ridged as his brain attempts to come up with an escape route. Can I jump out the window?
“Emma!” some drunk girl, busts through the door, much to Noah’s relief. Emma doesn’t look embarrassed as her friend stumbles in. “Girl! Where did you go? The police are here!”
Cursing under his breath, Noah pushes away from Emma, giving her an apologetic look before rushing out of the washroom. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Noah!” Sophia calls his name as he comes down the stairs. Her blonde hair is braided down her back, her plaid dress and black tights making her look like a girl scout. “Have you seen Ella? The cops are here,” she hisses the last part.
“No, maybe she’s with Christopher--” She disappears before he could finish his sentence, on the hunt to find the host of the party who seems to have vanished into thin air. Noah catches the sight of the police through the gathered crowd, and his heart is in his throat. Looking around he finds himself back up towards the back door, trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible. He can feel the weed burning a hole through his pocket as he catches the sight of a decorative vase on the windowsill. Making a split second decision, Noah stuffs it inside and moves for the door. Running into the chilly night, he regrets having not brought a jacket, but that’s the least of his worries.
C L I P T W O - Sunday, September 27th, 10:20am
Noah wakes up with a headache, his entire body aching from the previous night… or was it early morning? He couldn’t remember what time he had crawled into bed after Ella’s party. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he manages to pry open his eyes as he reaches for his phone that he’d managed to pull in overnight.
MOM
God will help us through this hard time, dear. He will not let us suffer for much longer. Your father will be punished for the sins he has committed against us. The lord only forgives us for our mistakes if we pray and repent. Let us pray and repent and beg him for his blessings.
Sighing, Noah presses the heel of his palm between his eyebrows in an attempt to alleviate the painful hangover.
“Wakey wakey!” Elijah shouts bursting into his room, Lynn in toe as he does. He’s holding out his phone, it’s screen facing himself as he points the camera at Noah. Adjusting the blanket around himself, the young boy groans.
“Do you two not know how to knock?” Noah snaps, as his roommates brush off his comment and move further into his bedroom. Lynn jumps onto the bed next to him, a smile fully taking over her usually sunken and stoic features. Elijah rolls his eyes.
“Say hi to Isla!” He shoves the phone into Noah’s face, and on the screen, in the middle of a FaceTime call is Isla.
“Hi, Isla,” he yawns, not entirely as overjoyed as the other two. Elijah clicks his tongue with a disapproving humph.
“Ignore the demon,” he mutters to Isla, as he goes to draw back Noah’s curtains. The younger boy winces at the stream of sunlight that comes in as he does, the apartment window overlooking a beautiful day in Toronto. “He’s living in a devil’s pit in here. Honestly, boys suck.”
“You’re a boy,” Isla chuckles through the phone.
“Yes well, pubescent, high school boys suck,” he corrects, sitting next to Noah, who is now stuck between his roommates. Isla shakes her head in a motherly tisk, her red hair curling around her face like a frame.
“I’m sure, Noah is fitting in just well.”
“Oh but the horror, Isla!” Elijah cries. “He smells! He’s moody! Girl-obsessed! It’s horrific!”
“A complete horror,” she laughs. “So what are you all going to do today?”
“Relax probably,” Lynn says, speaking her first words since entering. “Maybe go shopping.”
“Maybe Noah'll pay rent," Elijah throws in there, his eyes resting on the youngest flatmate. Noah curses under his breath.
"I promise, I'll pay soon."
"Mmh hmm," Elijah hums before returning to the question at hand. "Maybe take the subway to the Eaton Centre,” he shrugs. “H&M is having a sale.”
“Oh, Lynn, see if they have those black tank tops and grab me a few,” Isla asks her cousin who nods along with the request.
“What’ll you do?” Elijah continues. Isla thinks about it, shrugging slightly.
“William is busy today, so I’ll probably stay in… maybe hit up a museum or something.” Elijah looks probably appalled by her suggestion.
“Isla, babe, you’re in London, England . We’ve got a museum here, go out! Go to a club!”
“Go shopping!” Lynn tosses in, to the delight of Elijah.
“Yes! Shopping!” Noah sits unable to move between them, quietly observing the hesitant pull in Isla’s shoulders as her friends keep peppering her with recommendations.
“Maybe,” she nods. “Maybe. Hey, Noah?”
“Huh?” he blinks at the sound of his name. “Yeah?”
“Any suggestions?” He found it sweet that she tried to include him, even if it seemed forced.
“Big Ben?”
Isla smiles. “Big Ben it is then.”
C L I P T H R E E - Monday, September 28th, 8:00 am
The rumors were buzzing when he got to school at eight the next day, the whispers in the hallway about Ella’s party catching his ear as he walked the hall. Already at his locker, were the guys waiting for him.
“Hey,” he greeted them with a nod, slipping his backpack off his shoulder and into his hand. “What’s up?”
“You got the weed, man?” Thomas asks, his voice low.
“I had to ditch it at Ella’s,” Noah tells him, twisting the cobo to unlock his locker. “The cops showed up. What was I supposed to do? Have them search me and find it?” They’ll all murmur. “Look I’ll go over to Ella’s and get it tonight, cool?”
“Yeah,” Ben says. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah, don’t sweat it, Noah,” Logan pats his shoulder. “Bros before… weed?”
“Bros before the devil’s lettuce?” Thomas supplies.
“The devil’s lettuce?” Noah repeats, a laugh on the tip of his tongue.
“Hey, boys!” A voice calls out to them. Noah turns around to find Sophia and Arwa standing in the hall with smiles on their faces. “So, as you know semi-formal is coming up at the beginning of December, and the student council has delegated me to form a committee to help prep for it!”
“Congrats, Soph,” Noah congratulates her grabbing his text book from his locker. His friends all throw in their own words of congrats.
“Thank you, thank you,” she blushes. “So anyway, I’m recruiting the best of the best--”
“And those spots are full,” Arwa adds. “But we need guys to join.”
“Very… bluntly put Arwa,” Sophia forces a smile. “But yes. We need some boys to join us because right now it’s just us girls.”
“You’re not putting up any flyers or making an announcement about the positions?” Noah asks.
“I’d be nice to have people we can count on,” Sophia clarifies. “We trust you, so? What do you say?”
“Sorry, Soph, but I’ll have to pass.”
“Yup hard pass from me,” Thomas agrees.
“Same,” Ben and Logan reply simultaneously. Sophia nods slowly.
“Well just so you know, if you don’t start getting involved in school extracurriculars no university or college is going to want you, and you’ll never meet any other people and you’ll remain unknown, unpopular grade twelves for the rest of the year. Is that what you want?” The boys all shrug and with a huff Sophia leave with Arwa chasing after her, but not before she shoot Noah a disappointed look.
“Dudes,” Logan starts. “Is it me… or is Sophia hot?” The boys blink at him and then proceed to ignore him. Noah rolls his eyes, shutting the locker door just as his phone buzzes in his pocket.
DAD
Do you want to have dinner with me and Tami for Thanksgiving?
ME
I need the money for rent.
C L I P F O U R - Monday, September 28th, 1:45 pm
The first warning bell of the new period rings but Noah is already in his seat waiting for the last class of the day to start. As much as he loves science, he also hates this class with a burning passion. The teacher couldn’t give less of a shit and the projects she kept piling up for them was beginning to feel spiteful.
“So,” Arwa says, dropping into her seat next to him. “I have your drugs. Can I borrow a pencil?” Noah blinks at her, processing what she said.
“What?”
“A pencil? Or a pen? Ella borrowed mine last period and took off with it. This is why you should never give away your last--”
“No before that.”
“Oh, I have your weed that you stashed at Ella’s,” she smiles, her lips pressed in a thin wicked line.
“Here?”
“Yeah, I just keep it in my hijab,” she replies sarcastically, reaching into her bag and retrieving her notebook. “Of course not, I’m not an idiot.”
Noah stares at her, his mouth slightly agape. “But you have it?”
“Am I not speaking English?” she says, her voice lower. “Yeah, I have it. Real nice hiding place you found yourself, Noah. The police would have never found it.”
“Are you done?” he asks her dryly.
“Nope. You fucked over Ella by hiding it in her place. Do you know what would have happened if the police found it? For someone who seems so smart, you can be a total dumbass.”
“Hey!” he protested.
“Look, I’m more than willing to give it back to you…” she pauses. “For a price of course.”
“Come on, Arwa. It’s not even mine.”
“You and your friend are going to come to the semi-formal meeting after school Friday, and you’re going to join the committee.”
“Girl,” he begs. “You know I can’t force them to come. That’s impossible.”
“Nothing’s impossible, Noah,” she pats his hand which lays on their shared desk. “Control your bitches.”
“Then you’ll give it back?”
“Ninety percent of it,” she tells him.
“What? Why only ninety?”
“Consider ten percent of it a finder’s fee.”
“You smoke?” Noah says in disbelief. Arwa gives him a pointed look as she opens her text book.
“No, but it’s good to have.” Before he could say anything else, their teacher walked in, and the final bell rang.
“Fine,” Noah gives him. “We’ll be there.”
C L I P F I V E - Friday, October 1st, 3:15 pm
Noah was the only one there. Ben, Thomas, and Logan all practically ghosted him after he messaged them about coming to the meeting. No matter how much he begged, they wouldn’t agree to it, all claiming they’d already made plans. Plans his ass.
“I only count one Beatles member here today,” Arwa muses as she stands at the front of the room. Noah crosses his arms and sinks further into his seat as she smiles at him. Sophia walks in next, a clipboard in hand, followed by Ella and Christina soon enough. The four girls huddle by the chalkboard, discussing something amongst themselves, their voices low.
The room slowly but surely begins to fill up with students, many of which were girls unsurprisingly, but there were a few guys who came. His eye meets Emma’s as she walks in, her blonde hair smiling blowing behind her as she moves. She gives him a wink, reaching up to push a loose strand of her behind her ear as she takes a seat a few rows behind him.
“Come in, come in!” Sophia motions for everyone to come further inside the classroom, gesturing to the seats she had laid out for the committee. “Take a seat! I’m so glad all of you could make it!”
Noah presses his lips together, figuring this was going to be his last chance to escape. Standing up, he ducks his head as he tries to make his way out.
“Sorry,” Noah says, looking up to find himself having bumped into someone walking in. In doing so, he comes face to face with the most beautiful pair of green eyes.
“No problem,” the boy replied. His green irises are a contrast against his warm beige skin that glows with his smile. His lips curls up sweetly, his eyes crinkling at the edges. He stepped out of Noah’s way, allowing him room to leave.
“Um…” he faltered, unsure of where his voice went. “Actually, I’m staying.” Turning around, Noah walks back to his seat, wincing at the abrupt awkwardness. Catching a glimpse at the boy, he didn’t seem to have minded or noticed the awkwardness. His smile hadn’t wavered as he sat a few seats away, his attention fully on the girls up at the front (or at least that’s what Noah thought).
“Weclome!” Sophia continues once everyone takes their seat. “Thank you for coming! My name is Sophia, this is Ella, Chris, and Arwa. We’re running the semi-formal committee! So semi is on December 11th this year which gives us about two full months to arrange everything. The hall’s been booked, so has the DJ. We need to pick a theme and get on decorations, centerpieces, ticket sales, etcetera. So if you’re here to sign up, I’ll pass this clipboard around. Just put down your name and student number and then you’re a part of the team!” Noah should have been listening to Sophia, especially since Arwa was glaring at him for the majority of her introduction speech, but he couldn’t help sneaking glances at the boy.
Arwa walks up to Noah, the clipboard extended in her hands.
“Here you go,” she spoke with a narrowed eye. “Pass it around when you’re done filling it out.”
About fifteen minutes into the meeting, a theme had already been picked and Noah couldn’t sit still anymore. So when Ella asked someone to go down to the student council storage to get a box of old fairy lights, Noah’s hand shot up.
Catching the key that Chris threw him, Noah began to make his way to the basement level.
“Why don’t you go with Noah?” he hears Arwa suggest to someone behind him. “Make sure he doesn’t run off.” Her watchful eye was starting to piss him off. Turning on his heel, he was about to flip her off for saying he needed to be babysat but then he notices who she had sent after him.
“Hey again,” the cute boy says, joining him in the doorway. Noah swallows, biting down on his tongue, as they leave for the storage room.
“Hi.”
“So Midsummer's Night’s Dream ,” the boy repeats the theme, the farther they draw from the room. “Shakespeare.”
“Never really been an English kind of kid,” Noah admits, swinging open the door to the stairwell. The boy walks through with the whisper of a thank you.
“More literature for me then,” he chuckles. Noah let’s his lips twitch into a smile.
“Are you new? I haven’t seen you around before.” The boy looks at him from the corner of his eye as they walk down the steps.
“Yeah, new transfer. I’m James,” James introduces.
“Noah.”
“So, Noah,” James begins, stuffing his hands into his pockets, his open jean jacket moves with the movement, revealing the grey shirt underneath: a Queen band shirt. “Semi formal committee? Doesn’t seem like your style.”
“My style?” James’ eyes flicker over to Noah, taking him in. “And what style is that?”
“Skater boy?” he observes. “You probably have a beanie right?” Noah kisses his teeth.
“Lucky guess.” James shrugs.
“Jeans, oversized plaid shirt…” he trails off a bit. “I’d say it was more of a calculated estimation.”
“Is that right?” Noah huffs a laugh, as they reach the strange room, reaching out to unlock it. The room is dark and smells of mold-- and is most probably not up to safety standards.
“Horror movie vibes,” James notes when they walk in. “Definitely the perfect place to hide a body.”
“It’s probably haunted by the ghost of the girl that died in the closed off stairwell,” Noah shrugs. James stops walking behind him.
“The who in the what now?” Noah turns around, walking backwards now. He extends his arms out slightly.
“You’ve never heard of the ghost in the abandoned stairwell?” James shakes his head. “Well the story goes, that this girl-- Charlotte-- she and her friends would sneak to the roof to eat lunch, but one day while they were up there, Charlotte got into a fight with her friends and she ran down the steps. But she was crying so her foot missed a step and she fell down the rest, smashing her head on the landing. There was blood everywhere-- so much that it seeped through the door and into the hall. They closed off the stairwell to the roof after that, and now the only way up is through a janitor's door on the third floor.” James looks slightly pale as Noah comes to the end of his story, having found the fairy lights in the midst of the tale. Clutching the cardboard box against his chest, his serious expression morphed into one of amusement.
“Do you believe in ghosts, James?” Noah teases lightheartedly, laughing. James lets out an exhale.
“No! Absolutely not,” he huffs thought Noah can see the shadow of a smile. It’s a really beautiful smile.
“Good, because there's no such thing.”
“No such thing as what?” a voice creeps up behind them. Both James and Noah scream, the box falling from the latter’s hands in the process. Emma pops into view from the door, looking extremely pleased with herself. “They wanted to see if there were any vases down here, so they sent me.”
“Oh,” Noah says catching his breath. Emma walks inside and over to him.
“Did I really scare you that bad?” She mocks, placing her hand on Noah’s chest.
“No,” he denies, although she did manage to freak him out a bit in the moment. She smiles at him, before walking off to a set of boxes. He notices how her touch lingers, her hand dragging up his chest, to his shoulder, until it falls back to her side. Noah looks over at James, who seems to have found himself more interested in an old plastic christmas tree.
“Found the vases!” Emma breaks the awkward silence. “There are… twenty of them. Great, let's get those lights upstairs then.” She picks up the dropped box, stopping only when she reaches James. "I'm Emma, by the way."
"James," he says, although there was something different about his tone-- it seems withdrawn. "Nice to meet you."