Just great.

I peek at Noah, he seems to be sleeping soundly. My attention shifts to the thin screen separating us from Tanner and Wendy. I wonder if they can see our shadows or anything, but they appear too engrossed in each other to notice. Based on the sounds, they've opted for the table instead of one of the couches.

The room fills with more sounds, and it feels like I'm listening to a porno. My body responds, maybe because it's Tanner, and there's a familiarity to it.

Tanner and I never fucked. Jerking off, a little making-out, since Tanner is not really into it, but he likes to start with it. And that's it. And feeling my half hard-on, I can't imagine myself on Tanner's place or Wendy's place. It's confusing.

"Bend down, baby," Tanner murmurs.

"I want us face-to-face," Wendy whines.

"I want to see your pretty-pretty ass," Tanner responds; the sound of a slap follows. "When are you going to let me in that tight hole?"

"Isn't my pussy tight enough?"

"It is," Tanner's voice softens, followed by grunts and heavy breathing. "Tight and..." another grunt, "wet..." another grunt accompanied by the slapping sound. "And... hah...good... but I want to fuck you there too."

Wendy moans and tries to catch a breath. "We'll see about that," she manages to say, attempting to sound playful. "If you behave..."

Tanner is cutting her off by pounding her real hard, only moans fly out of her throat with every thrust.

"Behave?" he asks in a husky voice. "You want me to behave?"

Apparently, Wendy can't answer him as she's completely undone by Tanner's relentless fucking. She moans and moans along with slaps and thuds. Noah stirs in his sleep and opens his eyes.

Shit.

Swiftly, I change my position, straddling him, hoping the couch won't squeak. I place my palm over Noah's mouth just as he opens it. Leaning close, I lock eyes with him and put a finger to my lips, gesturing him to be silent. He might be disoriented and doesn't understand where he is and what's going on. And on top of that, there are sex sounds around us. I would be pretty disturbed too.

Noah's wide blue eyes stare at me, but he breathes calmly through his nose. Slowly, he reaches up to move my hand away. I let him. He doesn't seem like he wants to draw attention to us. He squints towards the screen, behind which Tanner and Wendy seem to be reaching their climax. Tanner makes his familiar sound that I've heard whenever he comes, signaling it's finally over. They both breathe heavily and fall silent.

I envy them at this moment. That post-sex bliss (or post-nut clarity, in my case, since I don't have sex) is something I've always imagined when people talk about how drugs affect them.

Noah and I wait in silence until Tanner and Wendy leave. When they do, I realize I'm still straddling Noah. He avoids eye contact, looking embarrassed. Maybe he's got a bonker too, I don't know.

My eyes drop to his neck and slide downward. His bare chest peeks out from his undone shirt, a small nipple visible. My mouth suddenly feels dry; I swallow hard and quickly get off him.

"Are you okay?" I ask in a whisper.

Noah turns to me, his face flushed, and nods uncertainly.

"Can you get home by yourself?" I inquire.

His face drops, "I..." He hesitates, but my tongue beats my head to it.

"We can go together. I was heading out anyway," I say nonchalantly.

He responds with a shy smile that transforms his face, "Yeah... Yeah. Let's go."

In the shadowy hallway, I stop Noah just as he's about to head towards the main exit and guide him in the opposite direction. I go back to get his jacket, wary of running into Tanner or Rory. But it seems they left.

When we finally step into the chilly night air, Noah seems completely sober. We silently make our way towards our neighborhood - it's a long walk.

"I probably shouldn't have drunk that punch," Noah breaks the silence. There's a hint of a smile in his voice, but it's tinged with bitterness.

I'm wondering how much of an honest answer I should give him. I grew protective of him for some reason, but I'm still sure it'll wear off and it's not worth it to get on Tanner's bad side because of this.

But I want him to figure out that he should stay away from Tanner. And if he didn't get it yet, he's dumb. And I don't have much liking or pity for dumb people. He came from Detroit not from a fairy-tale, he should've heard about school hierarchy and bullies!

"You probably shouldn't have," I agree finally.

"Thanks for covering for me," he adds sincerely.

If you only knew. "Yeah, no problem," I say as we continue down the street.

"I have my first competition on Friday," Noah says after a long pause. I give him a sidelong glance as he turns to me and smiles. "Any advice?"

I'm caught off guard. What does he expect? Words of encouragement?

"Um... don't lose?" I suggest with a shrug, and Noah chuckles, "Good one."

"What's your event?" I ask, my tongue moving faster than my brain.

"Sprint," Noah replies.

I smirk, but without malice. He did take my spot on the team. "Wanna check if you're ready?" I turn to him, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Noah asks, surprised. "Now?"

I tilt my head. "Why not? How can I give you advice if I've never seen you run?"

"Fair enough," he grins. "Let's do it then!" He sets his shoe on the line dividing two concrete sections of the road. "From this starting line to that lamppost," he points to a lone street lamp ahead.

"On three," I say, standing beside him. A strange excitement rises in my chest. Noah is smiling, his eyes bright. "One, two, three!"

We take off simultaneously. I've never seen Noah run, and based on his build, I figured he couldn't compete with me. But I realize how wrong I was when my eyes focus on the back of his head. And this is despite him running in boots and after drinking punch with drugs.

Excitement isn't a familiar feeling for me, but it's what I feel now. I push myself to catch up with Noah. When it becomes clear I can't overtake him, I finish our race by jumping up, pushing off from the lamppost, and doing a backflip.

"What a show-off," Noah laughs, catching his breath. There's no malice in his words or laughter. It brings something out of me I didn't know was there. Maybe it shouldn't be there. Maybe...

But I smile back at him.