Chapter 86: Twelve years old Noah
Twelve years old Noah’s POV
Conan is coming to get me.
Conan is coming to get me.
I look at the cherry blossoms in my hand and nod. It’s alive. It means Conan is coming to get me.
There’s someone in the forest too and I think it’s a ghost. It makes a coughing noise and my heart stops beating.
My chest is starting to hurt from how fast my heart is beating. Conan said my heart can’t explode, but I think he’s wrong.
My heart is going to explode and a ghost is going to eat it, and I’m going to the Goddess’s side, and I will never see my daddy and Conan and my mom.
I don’t want to die. I haven’t kissed Roman yet! He said we’ll do it when we’re bigger like our parents.
I hold my cherry blossoms tighter and continue to walk into the forest.
Maybe if I can walk faster and talk louder, the ghost would run away. Conan always says I have to be bold. I’m twelve and I’m still a kid, but I can be a bold and confident kid.
"Conan is coming to get me. I shouldn’t be scared of anything" I say loudly for the ghost to hear me.
And then suddenly something scary breaks under my shoes.
I think it’s the ghost’s bone, or a twig, or the ghost’s house. I don’t know what it is, but I jump up as high as a flea to get away from it.
"I want to go home!" I cry out and all the tears I’ve been holding back start to flow.
I’m too scared. I don’t know this place. Hide-and-seek is not my favorite game anymore. And I just want Conan to take me home.
I’ll eat all my veggies. I’ll do all the hard sports. I’ll stop sneaking my thumb into my mouth.
A big fat tear rolls down my cheek and I wipe it off with my arm. Sniffling and coughing at the same time.
"Conan?" I sob his name, but he’s not coming.
He’s making me scared.
"Daddy? Daddy please come and get me!" I scream out, but no one comes. No one is coming to get me. No one ever comes to get me when I’m lonely.
Why is everyone leaving me?
Conan said he’ll be my best friend forever. That he’s not my nanny, he’s my friend, he’s my brother, and he’s my favorite person.
Why is he leaving me like mommy?
I sit under a tree and wrap my arms around my legs, sniffling as the hot sun heats my head up.
My skin is so hot, but I’m okay. Conan rubbed some sunscreen on my face and my hands and my legs and my neck.
I sniffle again and start to cry.
Nobody is coming for me.
Nobody likes me.
I look at the cherry blossoms in my hand and wipe off the tears again. They are running down my cheeks harder than when it rains.
Daddy doesn’t like that I’m a cry baby, but he says I’m a golden retriever who needs to become a black cat.
I don’t know what that means. I don’t have teeth and whiskers and tails like a dog or a cat.
"Conan?" I call again using my loud outside voice.
I want some water. I want my pink pillow. I want Zaney.
Zane doesn’t talk to anyone, but he lets me cuddle him. He lets me kiss his cheek and he says it’s okay when I tell him all my stupid story...well, he doesn’t say it, he just nods.
Conan says Zane is a broken sweetheart. I don’t know what that means either. I don’t know what anything means!
"Conan!" I call again and start to walk around the forest again.
I stop in front of a big statue. It’s a stone angel. It’s very scary looking. And the more I stare at it, the scarier it becomes.
Suddenly, it opens its eyes and I scream in fear.
It’s going to eat me!
"Ahh!" I yell and start to run away.
I trip over a tree root sticking out of the ground and fall to my face. The fall is painful, but I’m not hurt.
As I pull myself up from the floor, I see a boy sitting on a bench with a book.
I know he can hear me crying and yelling, but he’s not looking at me. He’s more interested in his book.
He looks like my age. He has dark hair like a bad guy and he’s not scared of anything here. Maybe he can help me.
"Hi my name is No-Noah" I stutter and he looks up at me. He has the most unpleasant and the handsomest face I’ve ever seen.
Roman is handsome too. Roman is like Ken and this boy is like batman.
Why is he looking at me the way I look at my veggies?
I wipe my face with my sleeve and sniffle. I think I’m making a mess with how much I’m crying.
The boy opens his mouth to say something and my eyes widen. He’ll be nice...won’t he?
"Get lost" the boy says before turning to the other side of the bench with his book.
That’s so rude.
"I..."
"I said get lost" he repeats his words, but I don’t go anywhere. How can I get lost when I’m already lost?
"I don’t know where to go...the angel statue scares me" I say, doing the hand wiping thing again. I just want him to play with me till Conan comes.
"The angel isn’t scary" he says without looking up from his book.
"It is. I like people, people can smile and be real, and play, and like pink...but that stone angel is scary" I start to ramble.
I talk a lot. I can’t help it. I like people so much.
And without permission, I sit on the other end of the bench with my new friend who doesn’t like me.
"I don’t want you here" he says with that rude voice and my shoulders drop.
"I want to be here, please, I’ll wait till they find me" I whisper.
He finally looks at me and sighs.
"You’ll have to be quiet" he says and I nod, sitting properly on the bench. "And you can’t touch me with your snotty hands" he says and I nod again.
We stay quiet and I keep sneaking glances at the statue in front of us.
I can’t stay quiet. Conan says I’m a chatterbox.
"Will you tell me your name?" I ask with a loud whisper and he sighs again like an adult.
"Stay quiet" he says but he doesn’t leave me.
I like that he’s not leaving me. He’s my new friend. And I want to be with him for a very long time even though I don’t know his name.