Noah Albright had been my enemy from day one, though I didn't realize it at first. The third day of kindergarten, he told me I was going to be his wife someday and that he would kiss me as soon as we were 10. That seemed a very appropriate age to kiss, but I, being the good Daddy's girl that I was, did exactly what my father TOLD me to do if a boy came sniffing around and told him to fuck off.
My teachers, my principal, the school, they all seemed to think that was the worst word in the entire world.
I got a three day suspension and my mother yelled at my father for telling me to say that for over a week, until he finally moved out.
Noah Albright had split up my parents and I hated him for that.
In second grade, he sent me a Valentine with a real silver locket necklace in it and told me he loved me and wanted to marry me. I put it in the garbage disposal.
In fourth grade, when I won the spelling bee, beating him out, he told me that nothing in the world was more amazing than a smart woman. I shoved my finger down my throat and forced myself to vomit all over him, then told him that was exactly how he made me feel every time I looked at him.
In fifth grade he asked me to be his girlfriend and I got suspended again for punching him in the face.
In ninth grade, he sent me roses for Valentine's day and between classes in the hall, I beat him with them and told him if he ever looked at me again, I would rip his eyes out and shove them so far down his throat he'd be able to see out his ass.
I got suspended for that too.
That was when Noah finally started hating me as much as I hated him. Later that same year, I won the top chair on the Quiz Bowl team after he and I had gone head to head for two and a half hours of Trivia.
He quit the team when I won and I would have done the same if he had won. I wanted nothing to do with him at all.
In tenth grade, we were beyond enemies, him moving on to playing cruel pranks on me. He'd gotten taller, broader and over the prior summer had shot up to an ungainly 6'7". The basketball team demanded him. He wasn't great at first, but the coach had taken him under his wing and now he was a varsity starter as a sophomore and for once our school had a winning season.
He was still pushing as hard as he could to overtake my GPA, but I refused to let him, always pushing harder and harder.
Our junior year was downright hostile, even our friends hated each other.
It was close to the end of the year when I did something I actually regretted.
Noah was bent over the water fountain and his friend Clay was standing behind him, talking to his girlfriend. Pretending to trip, I fell into Clay as hard as I could, shoving him into Noah and shoving Noah's face into the water fountain.
Roaring with pain, he came up holding his face, blood pouring everywhere.
I was terrified and immediately unlaced my shoe while everyone was looking at him.
Six front teeth.
I had taken out six of his front teeth and he couldn't play basketball for two months while he had reconstructive surgery.
I felt awful, but I got away with it. People saw me trip, people saw my shoe was untied, I wasn't even facing in his direction. It was just a sad accident.
Noah knew better.
Late that year, Noah tried to catfish me, pretending to be Josiah Hildebrandt. Josiah was on the swim team and he was smart, but aloof. He ONLY liked a certain type of girl and everyone knew it, and ¾ of the girls in school had a huge thing for Josiah.
I did not. What Noah didn't know was that Josiah and I had been friends since preschool, our moms being best friends until we were almost teenagers. We weren't friends at school, we only ever talked anymore at all via text and sometimes hanging out at each other's houses to watch movies. He was like a big brother to me, even though we were only 11 months apart. He hated Noah for my sake, but never spoke a word to him.
It would ruin both of our reputations if it was known we were friends. Me, the academic who was known to be a prude. (I was fine with people thinking that, though I wasn't) and him the bad boy jock who went through women like candy. We had no friends in the same circles, we weren't in the same grade, him a year ahead of me and we had nothing at all in common. All we had was spending almost ALL of our childhood in each other's company if we weren't at school. After our moms had fallen out, we stayed friends and hung out.
So when Noah tried to catfish me and pretend he was Josiah, the joke was on him.
It was Josiah's plan to get even with him, the whole school knowing now that Noah was trying to bait me and I was playing along. Acting unsure and shy and saying things like I had plans for my future that I didn't want to spoil getting involved with a boy.
Finally, Noah planned the setup.
'Hey you, I've been thinking about you!' -Joswimmer
I rolled my eyes, the screen name so cheesy, like an idiot couldn't guess who that was supposed to be. The not-so-secret admirer. Idiot.
I made myself smile, knowing Noah was watching, or had a friend watching. 'Hey. Thinking what?' I texted back.
'Valentine's day is tomorrow.' -Joswimmer
'My calendar says the same thing!'
'U R so funny!' -Joswimmer
'I was thinking we could finally meet in person, I had something to ask you that I can only ask while holding your hands and looking into your eyes.' -Joswimmer
'Sounds cheesy as hell. Not sure that's a good idea, plus I have tutoring after school.'
'During school. At lunch. Meet me in front of your locker at lunch, I have something for you.' -Joswimmer
'I don't know...'
'Please say yes? Just meet me? You'll be glad you did!'
'I'll be there,' I responded, then put my phone away before I got caught texting.
I knew the convo would be up on Noah's tik tok story in half an hour. He had me and my friends blocked, but he was an idiot if he thought that stopped me from knowing everything he posted.
The next day went perfectly, everyone over the top about Valentines and so many people giving me secretive looks and smirks, like I was about to be the butt of a huge joke.
I wondered how he planned on doing it. Sending someone gross to meet me, or filming me all sad and lonely while I waited. Popping out and laughing at me.
Lunch came and I hovered at my locker, not looking around as everyone watched me and got their books put away slowly before heading to lunch.
They ALL wanted to see, it was a big thing now. Even people who knew nothing about how much Noah and I hated each other.
I pretended not to see people in dark classrooms, watching through the small windows and phones pointed at me.
After waiting ten minutes all alone, Noah stepped into the hall, leaning against the door and grinning at me.
And there was the cue.
Josiah came running up the hall, two dozen roses and a gift bag. "Sut! Sutton, so sorry I'm late, coach wanted to talk to me! Hey!" he smiled, finally skidding to a stop in front of me.
Noah stood off the wall, gobsmacked.
"Hey," I smiled at Josiah, trying hard not to laugh.
"So... it's me."
"No kidding? Like 'Joswimmer' didn't give you away a mile away."
"Yeah, didn't think that through. Never was as smart as you though, Sutton. You look beautiful today."
"Thanks. Umm... these are nice," I offered as he tried to hand me the flowers and gift bag. "But no thanks. I only agreed to meet you so I could tell you in person that I'm not interested. You're nice, but I'm not in the market."
"Sutton," he called sadly, laying it on thick. "I've had a crush on you for so long! Remember when we first met and I asked you to be my wife? And the silver locket I gave you? I told you, I LOVE smart girls! And..."
Noah spun, throwing his elbow into a locker in rage, then fled back into the cafeteria.
I couldn't help it then, I broke down laughing and Josiah joined me, both of us hugging each other as everyone looked so confused.
After that day, Josiah joined my friends and I as people who openly hated Noah Albright and once his 'online bullying' was exposed to the faculty, he got a 3 day suspension for it.
Noah became the butt of the jokes and after that day, he despised me.
The summer between junior and senior year, I got sick. It started small, I had to quit summer tutoring, then got worse and worse. Then the diagnosis came. Cancer. With it, radiation and chemo and a lot of staying in bed feeling like death must be better.
I missed my senior year, forgot about Noah Albright.
When I went into remission, I started my senior year a grade behind, no longer the youngest in my class. I was different in other ways too. Still the top of my class, but my hair was coming back in pure white and straight as opposed to the curly auburn it used to be. I was weak, frail now. I got tired easily. I felt like an old woman and from behind, I looked it with my short white pixie hair.
People suggested I dye it, but all of my real friends were gone. In college now. I felt alone in the world.
Still, I made it through taking valedictorian with ease. No one was even pushing me for it now.
Starting college seemed awkward to me. All of my friends had done this and they were busy now. I was still alone.
One happy note, I didn't have to worry about pledging my sorority. I was a legacy. I was already in.
Still, I had to go through the motions and show up pledge night and at least pretend to participate in rush week. It was an academic sorority, so it wouldn't be anything too drastic, but I was still annoyed. I didn't have the energy for much and socializing seemed to drain me as fast as physical activity did. It was getting better, but I still got tired easily and quickly.
Looking around at the other pledges, I was a little put off. This wasn't one of the 'pretty' sororities, yet all of them seemed to be trying for that angle. Perfect hair make-up, clothes.
The sisters all came in, some of them with boyfriends. It was a casual night, so I knew that wasn't a no-no. It wasn't exactly normal though. A sorority function was usually all girls?
The sisters were also very... on point. Nice clothes, hair like they'd just stepped out of a salon, perfect make-up, all of them stunning. Their boyfriends were all just as hot.
I was feeling like I was in the wrong place, shuffling in my jeans and chemistry pun t-shirt.
To my absolute horror, the last woman in, a tall, stunning blonde, was on Noah Albrights arm. He was smiling down at her like she'd been saying something amusing. When he looked up, his smile sweeping the room, the smile dropped when his eyes landed on me.
He'd filled out even more and was somehow even taller. I would guess him at 6'9" now. I knew he'd gotten a basketball scholarship on top of his academic scholarship, but I hadn't asked where.
I guess now I knew.
Leaning down to the tall blonde, his eyes never left mine as he whispered in her ear. Her eyes cut to me and she looked me over with a distasteful sneer.
