Chapter 145: Noah cannot delay the announcement.
Noah had been nervous since he woke up, and the reason was simple, because Yume had sent him a message the night before.
[Your mom invited me to your house.]
After that she had sent another.
[So I’ll be going soon.]
And then one more.
[Don’t worry, everything will turn out fine.]
That last message was precisely the one that worried him the most.
While he was having breakfast, Noah glanced at his phone several times.
Emma was making coffee and Sarah was checking some news on her tablet, while Ava ate in silence.
Everything seemed completely normal, but that only made Noah feel even more uncomfortable.
’Yume is going to come here.’
He looked at Emma, who didn’t seem to suspect a thing.
’And she’s going to tell them she’s my girlfriend.’
He looked at Sarah, who also didn’t seem to suspect a thing.
’And afterward I’ll probably have to explain that Luna is my girlfriend too.’
He lowered his head a little.
’And that Iris is as well.’
He went still.
’And that I’m engaged to Ren, on top of Aria.’
Ava looked up.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Noah reacted.
"Nothing."
Ava watched him for a few seconds.
"Doesn’t look like nothing."
"I’m just thinking."
"That doesn’t sound good."
Noah frowned.
"Thanks."
Ava went back to eating while Emma set a cup in front of Noah.
"Are you worried about work?"
"No, it’s nothing."
"About high school?"
"I’m fine, seriously."
Sarah lifted her gaze.
"About some girl?"
Noah almost choked and Ava looked at him immediately, while Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"So that was it."
"I didn’t say anything about that!"
"You didn’t have to."
Emma smiled.
"If some friend is having problems, you can invite her over."
Noah felt his stomach tighten.
’You already gave permission to one.’
Ava kept watching him, so Noah avoided looking at her.
’And she already knows they’re coming.’
He still remembered perfectly the smile Ava had worn when she said she would welcome his guests in a friendly way.
He hadn’t believed a single word.
He finished breakfast as fast as he could.
"I’m leaving."
Emma raised a hand.
"Be careful."
Sarah added.
"Don’t come back too late."
Ava stood up as well.
"I’m going with you."
Noah looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because we’re heading to the station."
"Ah."
Noah was so nervous he had forgotten something that obvious.
The whole way, Noah thought about how to talk to Yume, because he needed to stop her before she showed up at his house without a plan.
He didn’t want to prevent her from coming, since that was already inevitable, but at least he wanted to prepare Emma and Sarah.
To be able to explain something, anything.
’First I tell them I have a girlfriend.’
Okay.
’Then that the girlfriend is Yume.’
Correct.
’Then that I have more than one.’
That was where the problem started, so Noah sighed from exhaustion and Ava slightly turned her head.
"You’re doing that again."
"Doing what?"
"Thinking too much."
"I’m not thinking too much."
"You’ve been sighing for five minutes."
Noah stayed silent, so Ava narrowed her eyes.
"Does it have to do with the girls who are coming to the house?"
Noah almost tripped.
"Keep your voice down."
"There’s no one nearby."
"Still."
Ava looked at him coldly.
"So yes."
Noah brought a hand to his forehead.
"Ava, please, when they come..."
"I’ll welcome them in a friendly way."
"Don’t make that face when you say it."
"What face?"
"That one."
Ava smiled, which made Noah even more nervous than he already was.
When they arrived at the high school, Noah immediately looked for Yume and found her near one of the buildings.
"Yume."
She turned and, when she saw him, smiled.
"Noah."
Noah approached quickly.
"We need to talk."
Yume tilted her head.
"About my meeting with your mom?"
"Yes."
"Perfect, I wanted to tell you the details too."
Noah looked around.
"Better somewhere..."
"Noah."
A cold voice interrupted them; it belonged to Luna, who was approaching them, so Noah closed his eyes for a second.
’You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Luna arrived beside both of them.
"I was looking for you."
"For me?"
"We need to check the work schedule."
Yume frowned.
"He can do that later."
Luna looked at her.
"I also need to talk about the next presentation."
Yume crossed her arms.
"My presentation still isn’t finished."
"Exactly."
Noah raised a hand.
"I just need five minutes with Yume."
Luna watched him and Yume immediately smiled as a victory gesture.
"You heard him."
Then another voice appeared.
"Five minutes for what?"
It was Aria.
Noah turned slowly and saw that Aria was walking alongside Ren, who looked resigned.
Aria smiled at him.
"I hope you’re not modifying the agreement without telling us."
"No, it’s not that."
Noah answered, to which Yume added.
"It’s something private."
Aria raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds suspicious."
Ren sighed.
"Let them talk."
"I’m trying to protect the group’s transparency."
"You’re being nosy."
"That too."
Noah looked at Yume.
"Later."
Yume nodded.
"All right, later."
Noah thought he would have another chance during lunch, but he was wrong, because the moment he managed to sit next to Yume, Iris appeared with her phone in hand.
"Noah."
He closed his eyes.
"What?"
"I need you to look at something."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Yume looked at Iris.
"We’re talking."
Iris looked at Yume.
"You haven’t started yet."
"We were about to start."
"Then I’ll finish quickly."
Noah let his head drop slightly and Iris showed him an advertisement for a video game.
"There’s an update."
Noah looked at her.
"That was all?"
"No, they changed the weekend event."
Yume pointed at the table.
"Iris!"
Iris didn’t react, but then Luna arrived, then Ren, then Aria, and by the time Noah managed to get away, recess was already over.
During the afternoon he tried to send Yume a message.
[I need to talk to you before you go to my house.]
She replied.
[Sure.]
And then she sent.
[But I’m busy right now.]
Noah wrote.
[Are you going today?]
Yume took almost a minute to answer.
[Maybe.]
Noah’s eyes went wide when he saw that message, so he wrote immediately.
[What does maybe mean?]
He received no reply.
’I’m not liking this.’
When classes ended, Noah looked for Yume, but she wasn’t there, so he asked Ren.
"I didn’t see her leave."
He asked Luna.
"She said she had something to do."
Iris didn’t know and Aria smiled too much when Noah asked.
"Maybe she’s fulfilling her turn."
Noah looked at her.
"What do you know?"
"Nothing."
"Aria."
"Nothing you need to find out here."
Noah felt a bad premonition, so he took out his phone, but there were no new messages.
’She couldn’t have gone already, right?’
According to the calculations he made, when Yume left it had been less than five minutes earlier, and on top of that his house was quite far from the high school, so there was no way she could arrive before him.
Or so he thought.