Chapter 142: A Conversation with an Unexpected Ending.
After escaping that meeting, Noah arrived home and stood in front of the door for several seconds.
’I need to tell them.’
That was the right thing to do, since he couldn’t allow Yume to suddenly appear saying she was his girlfriend.
Well, he could, and in reality Yume would probably do it, but Noah preferred to avoid it, so he went inside.
"I’m home."
Emma’s voice came from the kitchen.
"Welcome back."
Sarah was sitting in the living room checking something on her tablet, while Ava was on the couch using her phone, so Noah set his backpack down.
’Now.’
He walked toward the kitchen and Emma was preparing dinner.
"Mom."
"Yes?"
"I need to tell you something."
Emma stopped cutting vegetables and Noah’s expression immediately made her worry.
"Did something happen?"
"No."
"Did someone do something to you on the street?"
"No, it’s not that."
"Did someone follow you?"
"Not that either."
"Did they harass you?"
"No, none of that."
"Then what?"
Noah took a deep breath.
"It’s about some girls."
Emma stared at him.
"What girls?"
"Some girls who..."
Sarah appeared from the living room.
"What happened with some girls?"
Noah swallowed.
"Well, it turns out some people are going to come over to the house."
Sarah frowned.
"Classmates?"
"Something like that."
Emma looked at him.
"Do they need to study?"
"No, it’s not for that."
"A group project?"
"I already told you no."
"Are they friends?"
Noah hesitated.
"Yes, but..."
Sarah crossed her arms.
"Do they have some kind of problem?"
"No, no problem at all."
Emma asked.
"Then what do they need?"
Noah opened his mouth.
"They want... to introduce themselves."
The two mothers fell silent and Emma was the first to react.
"Introduce themselves for what?"
"Well..."
Sarah’s eyes widened slightly.
"Are they looking for maid work?"
"No, it’s not that."
"Do they want us to recommend them to someone?"
"No, it’s just that..."
Emma suddenly smiled.
"Are they new friends and you want to invite them to dinner?"
"Almost."
"Perfect."
"No, wait."
Emma went back to cutting vegetables.
"Let me know what day they’re coming and I’ll prepare something."
Noah raised his hands.
"It’s not a normal dinner."
Sarah looked at him.
"Is it a celebration for something?"
"Almost, but no."
"A party?"
"No, not that either."
"A high school reunion?"
"I already said it’s not something from high school."
Noah pressed his lips together.
’Why is it so hard to say that I have several girlfriends?’
The answer was obvious.
Because he had several girlfriends and a fiancée, none of which his mothers knew anything about.
Noah tried again.
"Suppose a girl wanted to come to this house to tell you that she has a... relationship with me."
Emma set the knife down again and Sarah lowered the tablet.
Noah prepared himself mentally, but Emma asked first.
"Does a friend need romantic advice?"
Noah froze.
"What?"
Sarah nodded slowly.
"Maybe she wants to talk to us because she doesn’t know how to approach a guy."
"No, but they’re close."
"Then with you."
Noah felt the moment had arrived.
"Yes."
Emma’s eyes went wide and Noah pointed at her.
"That!"
Emma smiled.
"You want to help a friend get a boyfriend?"
Noah brought a hand to his face.
"No!"
From the living room, Ava slowly lifted her gaze from her phone, since she had heard quite a bit.
Girls, several visits, introduce themselves, relationship with Noah, so with all that she didn’t need more information and her eyes narrowed.
’So they’re coming here.’
Noah kept trying to explain himself.
"I’m not trying to get a boyfriend for anyone."
Sarah asked.
"Then, does she already have a boyfriend?"
"Yes."
Emma smiled.
"Ah, then she wants to introduce him to us."
"No, and how did you reach that conclusion?"
"Do you want us to help her get ready?"
"No."
"Do you want us to..."
"I said no."
Noah took a deep breath.
"Mom, she..."
He stopped.
He thought of Yume, then of Luna, then of Iris, and then of Aria and Ren.
’If I say "my girlfriend," afterward I have to explain why five different girls are going to come.’
He couldn’t do it, so Emma looked at him with concern.
"Noah, you’re very nervous."
Sarah approached.
"You can tell us anything."
That made Noah feel worse.
"I know."
"Then talk to us."
Noah looked at both of them and opened his mouth, but nothing came out, so Ava stood up from the couch.
"I got it."
Noah turned quickly, just like Emma and Sarah, while Ava walked toward them with a calm smile.
"Several girls are going to come to the house."
Noah felt a chill.
"Ava."
"And they want to talk to you about their relationship with Noah."
Emma blinked and Sarah looked at Noah.
"Relationship?"
Noah started to sweat while Ava continued.
"That’s what it seems like."
Noah walked toward her.
"We can talk about this later."
Ava kept her smile.
"Sure."
Noah knew that expression far too well.
"Ava."
"What?"
"Don’t do anything."
"I’m not planning to do anything, little brother."
That didn’t help.
"Promise me."
Ava tilted her head slightly.
"I’m just going to welcome your guests, nothing more."
Noah swallowed.
"How?"
"Friendly."
The silence that followed made Noah even more nervous, but Emma smiled.
"That’s fine, since if they’re important friends of Noah’s, we should treat them well."
Sarah nodded.
"Exactly what I was thinking."
Ava looked at Noah.
"See?"
Her smile grew a little.
"I’m going to treat them very well."
Noah felt that something was wrong, very wrong.
’Ava knows perfectly well what all this means.’
Emma returned to the kitchen.
"Then let us know when you know what day they’re coming."
Sarah went back toward the living room.
"And don’t be so nervous that you scare us, since for a moment I thought something serious had happened."
Noah watched as both of them walked away.
’They didn’t understand anything.’
Then he looked at Ava, who was still smiling.
’Except her.’
Ava passed by Noah, but before going up the stairs, she stopped.
"When you have the dates, make sure to tell me."
"Why?"
Ava looked at him from the first step.
"I want to be home."
Noah felt his worry increase.
"You don’t need to be."
"But I want to be present."
"Ava."
"I’m going to welcome them very friendly."
She said it again in exactly the same tone and then continued going up.
Noah remained motionless while from above, Ava closed the door to her room and Noah looked toward the stairs.
’That was definitely a threat.’
He took out his phone, where he had new messages and Yume had created a chat.
[Official introductions.]
Noah opened his eyes and saw that there were already several notifications.
Yume had written.
[First introduction confirmed.]
Luna also wrote.
[Remember the rules.]
Aria replied.
[Ren and I will need to coordinate.]
Ren kept insisting.
[I’m still voting to cancel this.]
Iris asked.
[Can I change my turn if I have a match?]
Noah closed his eyes, but then he received another message that was from Yume.
[Noah, tomorrow we organize my visit.]
Noah looked again toward Ava’s room and then looked at the phone.
Then toward the kitchen, where Emma and Sarah still believed they would simply be receiving some friends.
’This is definitely going to go wrong.’
Noah didn’t know exactly how, but he was completely sure of one thing.
The romantic calendar had only existed for a few hours and it had already created its first family problem.