Perfect for You(42)

True. We talk about tennis for the entire period. Noah doesn’t try to hold my hand or kiss me. He’s letting me ease into this, and I’m thankful for that. After school he says a quick, “See you at the match,” before heading to his locker. I feel alone. Ash and I were always together. I know Noah’s giving me time and space, but I miss the closeness.

Coach Moyers reams me out for missing days of practice. He even threatens to bench me since the team we’re playing isn’t very good. But I convince him that if I break the school record for wins it will reflect well on him, so he gives in and lets me play. As I take the court, Noah comes walking over. He waves and sits down even with the net, like last time. I can’t get over how much has happened in a week.

The girl I’m playing is worse than I remember, but somehow she’s beating me. Coach calls me to the fence to “conference,” which is his polite term for ripping me a new one.

“What the hell, Flannigan? You should have this in the bag. She has no backhand at all.”

Not true. She has a backhand, a really bad one that makes the ball die once it gets to my side of the court. It’s so bad it’s effective.

“If you don’t get your head in this match, I’m benching you next week. You can kiss that school record goodbye.” He storms off, leaving me with my mouth hanging somewhere near my ankles.

“Avoid it,” Noah says to me. Spectators aren’t allowed to coach, so he’s trying to mask his advice. “Avoid what’s messing you up.”

Her backhand. Don’t hit to her backhand side. Duh, why didn’t I think of that? I smile and nod, taking my place on the court again. I keep my shots on her forehand side for the rest of the set and win easily. Only one more set to go. Thanks to my less than stellar performance in the first set, everyone else is finished with their matches by now. My teammates are screaming at me to finish this already. Noah smiles. “You’ve got this, Meg.” Grayson glares at Noah and shakes her head. What’s her problem? Noah’s done nothing but help me.

I pour all my anger at Grayson, Ash, Liz, and Coach Moyers into the game, and in no time I win the match. After shaking the girl’s hand, I exit the court. Coach is waiting for me by the water cooler.

“That took three hours, Flannigan.” He lowers his voice, making sure the other team can’t hear him. “Three hours for a match you should have won in about forty minutes.”

“I’m sorry, Coach. I haven’t been feeling well. I’ll do better next time.”

“You better, Meg. I will bench you if I have to.”

I have no doubt. I nod and walk up the small hill to meet Noah. My teammates are gone. None of them congratulates me. I throw my arms around Noah’s neck and cry. I’m a mess. A complete and utter mess.

***

I finish out the rest of the regular season matches with Noah by my side. We don’t hide our relationship anymore. We hold hands, carpool to school, and even kiss between classes. He’s amazing—sweet, supportive, and above all, faithful. I’m even hanging out with the popular crowd at school. I have no complaints where Noah is concerned. But something is missing. He’s not Ash.

It’s been a month since Ash and I broke up. One month exactly. It would’ve been our six-month anniversary. I don’t mention it to Noah, but I think he knows. Ash and Liz show up at school, arms linked and laughing. Liz is wearing a shirt from the minor league baseball game I gave Ash tickets to. Ash took her in my place. That thought burns my throat, tears my heart to shreds, and makes my stomach do flips.

Noah brushes my hair behind my ear and kisses my cheek. “Come with me to a party tonight. It’s at Nathan’s house. I invited Grayson, too. You guys need to reconnect.”

I sigh. Why does he have to be so great? I never would’ve guessed Noah Turner could be this sweet. It actually makes me ache more. He really cares about me, but I’m still hung up on Ash. I hate that feeling. I’ve tried to lose myself in Noah. I’ve tried to tell myself this is how it’s supposed to be. Noah is wonderful. He’s right for me. But my thoughts always return to Ash.

“You invited Gray?” I’m holding back tears, but they’re still welling up in my eyes.

“Hey.” His voice is soft, and he pulls me into the janitor’s closet. I hear Tyler say, “Nice, man!” He must think we’re sneaking in here to make out. Really, Noah’s shielding me and my pathetic-ness from the rest of the student population. “I thought you’d be happy I invited her. I can uninvite her if you want. Tell her the party is cancelled.”

“No.” I touch his cheek. Why can’t I love him the way I loved Ash? The way I still love Ash. Things would be so much easier. “I’m glad you invited her. I want to make up and put all this behind us.”

He lowers his face, meeting mine, but he hesitates for a moment, making sure I’m okay with kissing him right now. I smile to show him I’m all right. He lightly presses his lips to mine, and before I know it, we are making out in the janitor’s closet like Tyler thought. Noah tickles my sides, making me laugh and fall into him. It’s exactly what I need. If only I can spend the day in this closet instead of facing Ash and Liz. Part of me still can’t believe they’re together. I didn’t want to believe Ash could be like Derrick. If anyone was going to be like Derrick, I thought it would be Noah. I was wrong.