Noah seemed determined to keep his word the rest of the week. He didn’t bother me once. He didn’t so much as look my way. He acted as though I didn’t exist at all, and as much as that hurt, it was also somewhat of a relief not having to deal with him constantly staring at me. I was still looking forward to the escape I hoped our field trip would offer though.
“What’s this I hear about you girls staying in New York for the weekend after the English trip ends?” Sawyer asked as he and Wes joined us at breakfast on Thursday morning.
The bus was leaving after breakfast, so we were eating quickly to make sure we didn’t miss it. The twins were in Anna’s English class, so they were coming to watch the play too. We’d been keeping our weekend plans quiet from the boys because Anna was convinced they would try to gate-crash. I had no idea how they’d found out.
“We’re having a girls’ weekend,” Anna replied. “You’re not invited.”
Sawyer placed a hand against his chest. “Not invited?”
“Here we go,” Cress muttered.
“Not invited?” Sawyer’s voice had taken on an overly dramatic tone. “How could you girls hurt me so? I happen to be a great addition to girls’ trips.”
Anna folded her arms. “No, you’re a boy. You’re not welcome on girls’ trips.”
“But I love to do all the fluff you girls do.”
She shook her head. “The fact you call it fluff shows exactly why you shouldn’t come.”
Sawyer sank into his chair, a despondent look in his eyes. “I just thought we were all friends,” he said. “I thought you’d seen how tough Wes has taken his breakup with Sarah.”
“Don’t bring me into this,” Wes said.
Sawyer wasn’t listening though. “I thought you could see how much my poor brother needs cheering up. A weekend in New York would have done wonders for him. Instead, you’ve all broken his heart even further.”
Wes rolled his eyes. “You really haven’t.”
Sawyer looked at him with pity in his eyes. “See? Poor guy can’t even admit when he’s in pain.”
Anna huffed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you, Sawyer?”
He gave her a sly grin. “No, I’ll be milking this one for a while.”
Anna groaned and then glanced in my direction. “I’ll let you decide, Isobel. This is your weekend. We can either invite the twins or listen to Sawyer grumble about it until Christmas. Either way, he’ll probably just stay in the city and end up bothering us anyway…”
“Looks like we don’t have much choice then.” I laughed at Sawyer who was now batting his eyelids at me. “Okay, fine, you guys can come. But no calling girl stuff fluff.”
“And you’re going to have to stay at your own place,” Cress added. “I don’t want to get stuck explaining to my parents why their front window is broken again.”
“That was an accident,” Sawyer grumbled. “I blame your window for not being strong enough to withstand a gentle hit with a soccer ball.”
“I’m not willing to take that chance.”
“But we wanted to be part of the slumber party…”
“Too bad,” Anna said. “Oh, and under absolutely no circumstances are you allowed to moan about the things we have planned. This is a girls’ weekend, and you’re gate-crashing, so we’re in charge.”
Sawyer looked between the three of us before he finally grinned and slapped Wes on the back. “Dude, we’re going to have the best weekend in New York.”
Wes laughed and shook his head at his brother. As annoying as Sawyer was, it was hard not to get caught up in his exuberance sometimes.
The others started chatting about their plans for the weekend, but Wes turned his attention to me. “You really didn’t have to let us impose on your plans,” he said. “I was going to stay the weekend anyway to spend time with my parents, but I understand if you only want to hang out with Cress and Anna.”
“Don’t be silly, it will be even better with you guys there too.” I shared a smile with him. “I can’t wait. I haven’t been to New York before.”
“You’ll love it,” Wes said. “What are you looking forward to the most?”
I paused before I answered. Although I was excited about my first trip to New York and all the sights and sounds it had to offer, there was one part of the trip I had been thinking about all week. The way Noah had spoken about my father the last time we talked had left me desperate to speak to Matthew, to question him about everything. He was too busy to see me while I was in New York, so I was considering taking matters into my own hands.
Wes was still waiting for my answer. I hadn’t told the girls about my plans, and I didn’t want to dampen their excitement for our trip, so I kept my voice low as I spoke to Wes.
“Well, it’s not exactly sightseeing,” I whispered.
“It’s not?” Wes looked intrigued.
“My dad’s staying in New York,” I explained. “I’m not sure if he’s been avoiding me or if he’s just too busy with work, but I’m sick of waiting around for him. I have so many questions for him about Noah, the Hastings family, my mother—all of it.”
“I can imagine.”
“So, I’m planning to track him down and finally get some answers out of him. I just don’t know where he lives, and apparently, he’s too busy with work to see me.”
“Why don’t you just go to his office instead?” Wes asked. “He’ll surely be there at some point, and The LaFleur Corp’s offices are right in the center of town. I could take you there, if you like?”
“Really?”
He smiled. “Yeah, it wouldn’t be any problem.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Wes.”
I felt calmer about the prospect of seeing my father. It felt like I could have the answers I’d been waiting for before the weekend was through.
“Like I said, not a problem,” Wes continued. “So, once you’ve finished tracking down your father and interrogating him, what’s next on your list of New York attractions?”
I rolled my eyes as he smirked at me.
“Well, the girls are keen to do some shopping.” I sighed. “Lots and lots of shopping actually.”
“You don’t sound that excited.”
“I am. I kind of want to see at least one of the sights while I’m there though.”
“I guess we’ll have to make that happen then. Anything in particular?”
My cheeks turned red. “You’re going to think it’s silly.”
He leaned in close across the table, and the corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk. “Well, if it’s anything like our mission to infiltrate The LaFleur Corp, I’m in.”
“See, you’re already making fun of me.” I pouted at him
“Okay, sorry,” he laughed. “Seriously, I’m sure it’s not silly. I’m intrigued…”
He looked so curious, but I knew he wouldn’t push me for an answer if I didn’t want to give one. He was the least likely of my friends to think I was a loser though. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but no laughing and no making fun of me.”
“I promise.”
I let out a breath. “Okay, well, I googled things to do in New York, and everything looked incredible, but I saw there’s this gorgeous library in the city, and I’ve started to develop a bit of a thing for beautiful libraries…”
“You must be talking about the New York Public Library,” Wes said with a glint in his eye.
“Is it sad that of all the things I want to see in New York a library is the top of my list?”
“It’s not even close to sad. It’s cute,” he said.
I rolled my eyes again. “I said you couldn’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not, I swear. I mean, I am a little surprised. Most people want to go to the top of the Empire State Building or see the Statue of Liberty…”
“I do want to see those things. It’s just, the library looks kind of magical.”
“Like I said, it’s cute,” he replied.
I shook my head and turned to look at the others. They were chatting excitedly and didn’t seem the least bit interested in listening to what Wes and I had been discussing. Sawyer was in the middle of an animated argument with Anna about where we should party on Saturday night. There was a buzz in the air, and I was looking forward to the weekend more than ever. This trip was exactly what I needed, and hopefully by the time I returned, I’d have both the space and answers I needed to finally put Noah behind me.
THE ONE THING I hadn’t really considered about going to New York was that Noah was also going to be on the English trip. He might not be staying for the weekend, but he was going to be there for the rest of it. It was just my luck too that we both sat in an aisle seat on the bus, and he somehow ended up sitting diagonally in front of me. I was going to have to look at him the whole way to New York.
He was sitting next to Kaden, who had his head buried in a book. Noah remained focused on his phone and thankfully didn’t seem interested in looking my way. A part of me hoped he hadn’t realized I was sitting so close, but I knew he must have spotted me when he got on the bus. Besides, if he was anything like me, he had a radar that went off whenever I was near. I knew my senses certainly alerted me to his presence whenever he was around.
“Sawyer knows a guy who can get us into this new nightclub on Saturday night,” Anna said. She was sitting next to me while Cress was hanging over the seat in front of us to listen in. “It’s supposed to be amazing.”
I swore Noah’s head tilted in our direction, like he was trying to overhear our conversation.
“Can we get into a club?” I asked. “We’re not even close to twenty-one.”
Anna shrugged. “Sawyer seems confident. So, what do you guys think?”
Cress had a big grin on her face as she nodded. “You know me. Any excuse to go dancing.”
I had to withhold a shudder at the thought. If they wanted to entice me into a club, then telling me it would involve dancing was not the right approach. Anna seemed to realize this and quickly continued.
“Sawyer says there’s a great VIP section too. We can just chill on couches, listen to music, and flirt with cute boys.”
A loud cough spluttered from farther up the aisle, and I glanced up to see Noah clearing his throat. He was still facing the front of the bus, but he was definitely listening in.
“That sounds great,” I replied, shooting a glare at the side of his head—not that he noticed. “Count me in.” I said it more for Noah’s benefit than my own. I didn’t really want to go to a club, but if Noah thought I was taking steps to move on, then hopefully he would too.
New York was several hours away by bus, but the trip went relatively quickly. Anna and Cress chatted constantly, so it was easy to lose myself in conversation with them. I never quite managed to forget Noah was sitting so close to me. He was like a mosquito bite, a dull itch on my skin that wouldn’t go away no matter how much I tried to ignore it.
As we drew closer to the city, Anna swapped seats with me so I could stare out the window. I’d never visited a big city before, and I knew I was really exposing my small-town upbringing as I gaped and gasped at the bustling streets and towering skyscrapers that flashed past.
“You’re so funny.” Anna chuckled, when I started bouncing up and down on my seat. I’d just spotted the Empire State Building for the first time.
“I can’t help it. I’m excited!”
The girls laughed. “We know,” they said in unison.
“I don’t think we’ve got much choice but to ditch some of the shopping for sightseeing,” Cress added. “Seeing you experience New York for the first time is like watching a small kid open presents at Christmas. It’s adorable.”
I scowled in her direction. “I’m not like a small kid.”
“You totally are,” Anna agreed with a smile.
“I’d probably be offended if I wasn’t so excited by the idea of sightseeing.”
The girls laughed again.
Eventually, the bus pulled up outside our hotel. It was an impressive and imposing stately building right across from Central Park. Tall columns flanked the gorgeous stone entrance, and a plush carpet ran down the marble steps leading up to the front doors. Just one look at the hotel made me realize this little excursion must have been costing my father a fortune. There was no way my mom and I could have ever afforded such luxury, and I knew the type of place in our budget would have looked very different.
When we entered the hotel, I was shocked by the grand foyer. A beautiful fountain trickled in the middle of the space, and it was surrounded by large leafy trees that looked like they’d been plucked straight from the park across the street. The soft smell of roses floated across from the floral arrangements that lined the walls, and above it all was a high ceiling with an elaborate golden design. I couldn’t help but imagine the many floors that were stacked on top of it, reaching up toward the sky. We were all crowded to one side of the entrance hall as one of the teachers arranged the keys and began calling out our room arrangements. They assigned the girls to share rooms alphabetically, and by some miracle, that meant I’d be sharing with Anna.
“Yes!” she squealed as our names were announced. She darted forward to grab the room key from the teacher and grinned brightly as she came back to me. “This is going to be the best trip ever,” she gushed. Cress didn’t seem to agree. Her roommate had been revealed just before our names were called. She was rooming with one of Veronica’s cronies for the night. Cress was normally able to see the positive side of most things in life, but even she appeared pretty bummed about it.
The teacher finished assigning our rooms before he explained our itinerary for the rest of the day. We were going to spend the rest of the afternoon on a literary walking tour of Central Park. Dinner was going to be at a restaurant close to the theater, and then we’d finish the day by seeing the play.
I was excited about catching a play on Broadway, but I also loved the idea of wandering away the afternoon in Central Park. My friends didn’t seem anywhere near as excited as me, but it was a bright and sunny day, so there were no complaints.
The others kept chatting about the day ahead, but I wasn’t listening too closely as Noah caught my eye. He was looking at me through the crowd of other students milling around the foyer, but he glanced away the moment our eyes met. I blew out a breath and forced my focus away from him and back on my friends.
This trip to New York was all about getting the closure I needed and the space I wanted so I could finally get over Noah. So far, I hadn’t been doing too well with the space part, but now the bus ride was over, I was hoping we could keep our distance for the rest of the trip. I just had to hope fate didn’t have other plans for us because it was about time it started working in my favor.
