14| A Strawberry Cheesecake Shake For The Button

    IT felt like I'd been driving forever, but as I checked the clock reading 10:35, I realized it had only been 20 minutes. But still, it was late, and I had no idea how Logan managed to get so far so fast. She must have been a quick runner.

    I was starting to get worried, like genuinely worried. There were woods surrounding the road I drove on, meaning she could literally be anywhere. And she didn't have her phone since none of us did, as there was no reception in Fort Yaron, to begin with. If I didn't find her, I wouldn't know what to do.

    Suddenly, I saw a silhouette in the bright lights beaming from the truck. It had to be Logan. It just had to be. I pulled up next to the walking figure and rolled down my window.

    "Logan," I said, but she kept walking. She didn't even glance at me for a moment. "Hey. Get in. We have to go back."

    "No," Logan said, still looking forward. I couldn't see her face, but from the sniffling noises she made and her hoarse voice, it didn't take a genius to determine that she had been crying. And a lot.

    "We have to," I told her. "We signed a form and everything. We can't really just disappear off into the night."

    "You're right. We can't. So we won't. I will," Logan replied.

    I sighed. "Look, I'm not leaving here without you. So either you get in the car or I'll get out and walk with you."

    She finally looked over at me, narrowing her eyes at me. "Yeah, right," she said, turning her focus back to the road in front of her.

    Clearly, she wasn't going to get in the car with me. So in one quick motion, I shut the car off, put it in park, and got out of the car. I hurried to catch up with Logan, walking beside her. She looked over at me, a mix of anger and confusion all over her face.

    "Seriously?" She asked.

    I shrugged. "I told you I wasn't leaving."

    Logan shook her head and looked away from me. For minutes we walked in complete silence, not a word was spoken. The air was brisk, but not intolerable. It was actually pretty nice. And despite it being incredibly dark outside, walking on the side of the street near the forest didn't feel eerie or uncomfortable. I felt fine walking beside Logan, but I knew it couldn't last forever. I would have to find some way to get Logan to come back to camp with me.

    "Why are you here, Noah?" Logan asked, breaking the silence.

    "Because," I started, "you ran off and Coach made me come find you."

    "Great," she muttered.

    "And— I wanted to make sure you were okay," I told her, and it was the truth. Logan looked over at me, her face was soaked in sadness.

    "Don't do that," Logan said. "Don't act like you actually care when we both know that we hate each other."

    I sighed but decided against responding. She was upset and mad, and me being here wasn't exactly helping, which I understood. Out of all the people in the world, I was probably the last person she would want to be walking with right now. I would feel the same way if the roles were reversed.

    But I couldn't help but think about the fact that I did actually care about her right now. Of course, she wouldn't believe me if I tried to convince her.

    "We can't just keep walking nowhere," I said to her. "I came out here to get you, so if I come back without you, or if we don't come back at all, that means I failed."

    Logan scoffed. "And let me guess? The quintessential Noah Locke can't fail! Of course, that's so typical of you."

    My fist tensed into a ball, and I quickly stepped in front of Logan, facing towards her. She stopped walking. "I get it," I said. "We aren't friends, we don't like each other. But even you know that we're getting somewhere with each other, it's not all a facade."

    She remained quiet, although I expected her to get mad and fire back. I expected her to brush my comment off as complete bullshit, and tell me that I was wrong. But she didn't, which gave me the opportunity to continue.

    "I'm not just here because Coach made me or because I need to bring you back so I don't fail," I told her. "I'm here because I'd like to think I'm not a complete dick. Just a mild dick. Clearly, you are upset because of what happened back there, but I'm not leaving without you. So what do I have to do to get you to come back to camp with me?"

    Logan looked deep in thought, which mildly terrified me. Her thinking for so long couldn't be good, but at this point, I would do about anything to get her to come back to camp.

    "There's a diner 20 minutes down the road," Logan said, grinning. "If you take me to get a milkshake, then I'll come back to camp. Promise."

    Logan held up her pinky finger towards me, and I rolled my eyes. "A pinky promise? Seriously?"

    "Has anyone ever lied on a pinky promise?" She asked.

    I groaned before entwining my pinky with hers. "You've got a deal," I said. "Let's get back to the car."

✯ ✯ ✯

    After a completely silent 20 minute drive outside of the camp at Fort Yaron, we came across a cute little diner. The sign was glowing bright yellow, signaling that it was still open. When we entered the diner, it was practically empty besides the 2 people sitting at the bar area. We decided to take a seat in a booth, allowing Logan to sit with her back against the wall and her legs to lay straight on the rest of the seat. I just sat normally, you know? Like any normal, civilized human would.

    An older woman made her way over to us to take our order. She looked around 60 years old, with shiny, grey hair. As she walked up to our booth, she smiled widely. "Howdy," she greeted. "Well aren't you just cute as a button?" The woman said, directed towards Logan.

    I caught a glimpse of something never-before-seen: Logan Pierce blushed.

    "What can I get you kids tonight?" She asked.

    "Uh, I'm gonna do a vanilla milkshake. And a strawberry cheesecake shake for the button," I said, smirking as I made eye contact with Logan. She glared at me before turning to the woman and giving an innocent smile.

    The waitress nodded and walked away. I felt a foot kick me in the leg from under the table. "Hey!" I exclaimed.

    "The button? That is so gross," Logan said, shaking her head. She then eyed me suspiciously. "How did you know what I was going to order?"

    "Come on, Logan. Everyone in Columbus hangs out at Wallflower, including me and the guys. I've seen you there, and not to mention, I kind of dumped a strawberry cheesecake shake on your head a few weeks ago," I told her.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Right. You did do that. Dick move, by the way."

    "It was revenge for the pool," I reminded her. "Not to mention, you poured blazing hot coffee all over me."

    She snickered. "Yeah, whatever."

    The woman came back, delivering our milkshakes, and leaving us be. I couldn't wait to dig in. Vanilla was perfect, and the whipped cream swirl on top completed with a cherry made it even more perfect. I popped the cherry into my mouth. Most people didn't actually eat it, but I did. Don't judge.

    After minutes of silence, I looked at Logan across from me. She was holding her shake, still sitting with her back against the wall. She was staring at the wall blankly, probably deep in thought. For a moment, I could see a small tear about to escape from her eye, but before it could, she reached up, violently wiping it away.

    "What are you looking at, Locke?" She snapped, not even looking at me.

    "I don't know what happened back there," I started, taking a moment to formulate what I was going to say. I didn't want to piss her off or make her run away again, so I wanted to be cautious with my words. "But you're clearly upset. And if you need to vent or whatever, I am sitting right here."

    "Yeah, but you're you," she said, shaking her head. "You're Noah Locke, I'm supposed to hate you, not open up to you."

    I shrugged. "It's up to you," was all I said.

    I returned focus to my milkshake, enjoying the delicious vanilla bean flavor hitting my taste buds. I finished my shake in silence over the next 5 minutes, and sighed. Logan clearly wasn't going to say anything. I stood up to go pay for the meal when a hand jolted over my arm, and I turned to face her.

    "I— I don't want to talk about it here," she practically whispered, her voice was shaky. As I looked into her eyes, I noticed just how bright and crystallized they were. She was close to crying, it was obvious. She just didn't want me to see it. "Out there?"

    Logan pointed to the truck, and I nodded. She quickly let go of my arm as I turned to pay for the milkshakes. If you're asking how I got the money, no, I didn't just have my wallet on me at all times. But thankfully, there had been a crumpled 20 dollar bill in Coach's truck. I guess I'd have to pay him back for that one.

    Once I paid, Logan and I made our way out to the truck, getting in. It was completely silent as I turned the car on and started to drive away.

    "Where—" Logan started to talk, but I interrupted her.

    "We're gonna drive up towards the camp a little," I informed her. "And then we can sit in the trunk in the pitch black and talk. I feel like you'd prefer it that way."

    Logan nodded. "Yeah, okay."

    So I drove for about 15 minutes until I noticed a little pull-off area in the forest. I parked the truck, turned it off, and got out. Logan and I both jumped over into the bed of the truck, and I laid down, relaxing my body into the hard exterior. Yeah, it wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was somehow serene.

    The sound of crickets was overwhelming, but not annoying. The only sound besides that was the sound of the light wind blowing against the trees, shaking the leaves. As I looked up towards the sky, it really was pitch black, with only the moon and a few stars serving as natural light. But it wasn't bright enough to allow me to really see anything.

    "My sister ran away 4 years ago," Logan spoke, interrupting the silence. Suddenly, my attention turned towards her, and i felt my face move to look at hers. Although, I couldn't quite make out her appearance. I could just barely see the silhouette of her face as she looked up towards the sky. "I haven't heard from her since then."

    "Billie?" I asked.

    "Yeah."

    I knew Billie. When I first moved to Georgia for my freshman year, she was a senior. She was about as competitive as Logan from what I remembered from practices when we scrimmaged them. But she was more friendly than Logan. At least she was to me. I didn't know her well, but it did confuse me why she would run away.

    "She sent a text to me and my parents, explaining why she was taking a break from everything. Why she dropped out of college, quit volleyball, and was running to Europe with her boyfriend," Logan said, and I heard her sniff. She was crying.

    God, don't cry. I barely knew how to act around her opening up to me right now, I surely wouldn't know how to act around her as she was crying.

    "My parents put a lot of pressure on her to get into Stanford, to keep playing volleyball, and to be the top of her class," she told me. "She was tired of it all, and so she just left. She didn't even choose to keep in contact with me. She just disappeared like it meant nothing to her, like I meant nothing to her."

    "I'm sorry," I breathed. "That fucking sucks."

    "I told Savannah about it. I mean, I told the whole team about it because, well— we had this bonding sleepover junior year. We were playing this dumb game and somehow it turned into a full-on vent session. I made the dumb decision to actually confide in her and the rest of the team," Logan said, and then sighed deeply. "I always get fucked over. Because I'm the bitch of the school, and no one can stand me."

    "That's not true."

She scoffed. "Seriously?" She asked. "Says you. You're the one who calls me a bitch every chance you get."

    "Well, yeah.Only cause you call me a dick," I joked. "But I think maybe we've been attacking each other for no reason. We don't even really know each other. So maybe we should stop judging each other."

    Her face finally turned over to look at mine, and although I couldn't see her eyes, I knew she was looking straight into mine. "Well then tell me something about you, and I'll decide whether I'm gonna stop judging you or not."

    I chuckled. "Okay," I agreed. "The thing you call me the most, besides dick— a player."

    "Yeah, and deservedly so—"

    "But I'm not a player," I interrupted. "Everyone thinks I am. But I'm not. Not even close."

    "But you sleep with—"

    I, again, interrupted. "No one," I said, finishing her sentence. "I sleep with absolutely no one. I've only had one girlfriend."

    "But, what about Heather?" She asked.

    "It was a rumor," I told her. "Heather spread the rumor, but I didn't do anything for her. I actually rejected her."

    Logan laughed. "You rejected Heather? Holy shit, that is too good!" Her laugh faded, but I couldn't help but smile at the fact that she wasn't crying anymore. Which was also easier on me, since I wasn't the best with feelings.

    "So after she made that rumor, a bunch of other rumors would start after every party," I said. "But nothing ever happened. I'm not a player, I'm just—"

    "A guy who secretly can't get laid?" She asked, finishing my sentence. I rolled my eyes even though I knew she couldn't see. "You are full of surprises, Locke."

    I took a deep breath. "Yeah, you kind of are, too."

    And in the moment, everything was peaceful. It was nice just laying there beside Logan, not saying a word after our little vent session. Usually when I was next to her, I felt nothing but pure anger and hatred, but tonight was different. Tonight, laying next to her, I felt at ease.

    We were getting somewhere. Actually getting somewhere. And we were both trying.

✯ ✯ ✯

Yes, you are bonding. AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

Happy happy Sunday folks! I am in a really good mood today, and I'm about to go take some pics of this arsenal thing in Colorado. Gonna be pretty sick today.

How cute are Logan and Noah though, am I right? God I don't even know what to say. I just love Noah sometimes, cause he is too nice. I mean he's also an asshole... but like he has his moments and when he does I LOVE HIM.

Okay. Stay tuned for what happens next. It's going to be mildly infuriating. Sorryyy...

BYE BYE....

BABY J💛