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❝ a little nervous breakdown can really work wonders for a girl ❞

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4th of april, 2018

4:21pm

"Hey," Noah answers his phone. He sat across from Jackson, who was eating a salty pretzel. The two best friends regularly went to "Peggy's Pretzels" after school.

Noah flinched as Jack took another bite of the pretzel; he much preferred sugary foods. Being a sweet tooth, he ordered ice cream and a chocolate milkshake.

"Hey," Lani smiled, recognising the voice with a southern twang, that once comforted her.

Noah instantly sat up in his seat, "What's up?" he asked, wondering why Lani called him.

"Nothing, I'm just bored," she laughed, exposing her pearly teeth. Contently, she smoothed her creased skirt out, waiting for a reply from Noah.

"Oh," he grinned, "are you still at the hospital?" his voice became soft, laced with sympathy.

"Yep," Lani glanced up, allowing her thick eyelashes to brush her brow bone. She scanned her mama, who was fast asleep on a hospital bed. The woman, around forty three, was pasty and seemed weak just from her appearance.

But Lani knew she was the strongest person in the world.

Noah swallowed his ice cream, "What happened to all that school work?" he questioned.

"I may of also rang you to avoid that," Lani rolled her eyes and pulled a smirk.

Her face fell when her dad entered the room.

"Is that the city boy?" he asked, taking a seat on the unoccupied chair opposite Lani.

She nodded at her father as he raised an eyebrow at her. He had been skeptical of the whole situation when Lani's best friend, Mika, accidentally told him about Noah a few days prior.

Later that day, her father gave her a lengthy speech about stranger danger and threatened to confiscate her phone.

Lani's father had always been a laid back dad; but also a protective one. He didn't like the idea of this "city boy" contacting his daughter. He didn't like the idea of boys in general. Still, he never took her phone away.

"Who's that?" Noah's eyebrows raised at the unfamiliar voice; his heart rate increased when he heard the deep, stern voice.

Lani's eyebrows also knitted together in response to Noah's question, but she then quickly recognised what he was talking about, "Oh, it's just my dad."

Noah's mouth went dry and an awful feeling erupted in his stomach, causing him to feel slightly nauseous.

Her dad doesn't like me.

Was his immediate thought.

"He knows about me?" Noah's nerves kicked in; he hadn't said a word to Lani's father, and he already hated him.

Contrary to other fears like heights or snakes, Noah's fear was having someone dislike him just from an initial meeting.

Maybe a he would say something stupid or uncalled for. Maybe his body language would seem unapproachable. Maybe he would just look plain unfriendly.

This was like an impending doom for him. His parents didn't like him, so why should anyone else?

"Mika kind of blurted it out the other day," Lani stifled a laugh.

"Oh," Noah scratched the back of his head, "why the nickname?" he questioned hesitantly.

While "City Boy" wasn't really an unsuitable nickname, Noah admired the ones Lani gave him more. At first he despised being called honey, but after a while, he longed for her to say it.

"He doesn't like you because you're from the city," Lani flat out admitted.

I knew it.

Noah sighed, "Okay, I've been insulted a lot, but I've never been attacked for where I come from," he explained halfheartedly, with a slight giggle to not feel as offended.

Atlanta wasn't exactly the first place Noah would choose to live, but he didn't hate the city; unlike Lani's father.

"Just brush it off, he will warm to you eventually," she retorted nonchalantly as her fingers ran through her hair.

"So your implying this will be a normal thing?" Noah suddenly became confident and smirked to himself.

Jackson sent him a funny look, so Noah's face immediately dropped. Noah remembered that he was in a public area, so he refrained from doing the smirk again.

"What? Calling you?" Lani shook her head acting as though Noah could see her.

"Noah, I already told you," she begins, "I only rang you because I don't want to do my english essay about blood symbolism in Macbeth," Lani huffed and rolled her eyes; as if that was the reason.

"Or maybe you called me because you miss my sexy, husky voice," a smirk appeared on Noah's face again.

Jackson sent him wide eyes, "Dude, stop. It's creepy," he scolded Noah, whilst taking another bite of his pretzel.

"Definitely not," Lani pulled a disgusted face.

Her dad's face creased with laughter at this. As much as he didn't like the idea of Noah, he knew that he was making his daughter happy.

Even if she didn't always show it.

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