Girl Online: On Tour (26 page)

He wants me to come with him? Immediately all sorts of questions pop up in my mind, like moles in the whack-a-mole game on the pier.
What about my A levels? My parents? My life?
I bat them all away. This is Noah’s big moment.

Luckily, I’m spared from having to reply when a jumping song comes on and as everyone leaps to their feet to dance, Noah and I are pulled along with them. Judging by the way he’s leaping around to the music, Noah doesn’t seem to be worried about not getting an immediate response from me, so I decide to embrace my makeover and enjoy myself too.

As the night draws to a close, I’m starting to think my feet have swollen to the size of an elephant’s—the stiletto heels have been the biggest style challenge of the evening. Thankfully, it’s not long before we all head back to the hotel together. Noah even gives me a piggyback for the small walk from the taxi to the hotel lobby.

As I’m on his back, I look up and catch sight of the tip of the Eiffel Tower. It is covered in sparkling, dancing lights,
and reminds me of a grand version of the fairy lights Noah set up for me in Sadie Lee’s basement in New York.

“Look at that,” I whisper in his ear.

Noah tilts his head back and immediately lowers me to the ground when he spots it.

“My feet! My
aching
feet!” I protest.

“It’s not that,” he says, grabbing my hand. “I have an idea. We haven’t had a Magical Mystery Day yet. Why not a Magical Mystery Night? Let’s go see the Eiffel Tower right now. Then we can go to this twenty-four-hour restaurant that Larry told me about and watch the sun rise over the Louvre . . .”

Only moments before, I felt so tired I could have slept for a thousand nights, but now I am wide awake. Excitement spreads from the top of my head right down to the tips of my toes. “It sounds perfect,” I say.

“Come on, let’s go before anyone notices,” he says.

“Um . . .” I look down at my feet. “I don’t think I can walk anywhere in these shoes.”

Noah laughs. “OK, just a minute—give me your room key and wait here.”

“Can you grab my bag too? It’s got my camera in it.”

“Anything for you.”

Everyone else is already dispersing into the hotel bar and the elevators. Noah directs me over to one of the seats in the lobby. I hand over my room key and my stilettos, and Noah races off. “Back soon!”

It feels like just a couple of minutes before he’s back, with my beloved Converse in his hands. I slip them onto my feet with a mixture of relief and amusement.

“Penny Porter, you look even cuter,” Noah declares, admiring my new styling and pulling me from the seat. He passes me my bag and I slip the strap over my shoulder, putting my room key back in the pocket of my dress.

The pain in my feet disappears as we jog hand in hand across the street, the Eiffel Tower pulling us closer like a magnet.

“Noah? Hey, Noah, wait up!” The moment shatters as Dean shouts from the hotel entrance.

I don’t want us to stop. I want to keep running down the street, and I can feel the hesitation in Noah’s hand. But he slows to a stop and turns back.

“Yeah?” he says, the word laced with reluctance.

Dean hurries towards us. “I told you, I need your approval on some photographs and design elements for the World Tour. It needs to be done tonight or else it won’t go to press.”

“Seriously? Can’t it wait until morning?”

Dean just stares at him, and Noah hangs his head.

I pull back on his hand. “Wait, can’t you just approve them, Dean? Surely Noah doesn’t need to look at everything?”

Dean grunts. “Noah approves everything that his fans will see. Right, Noah?”

“Dean’s right,” Noah says, sounding dejected. “I’d better go back and check on the photos. These ones are going to be everywhere—the whole design and look needs to be right. I don’t want to let anyone down.”

I almost laugh out loud.

“I mean . . . I know I’m letting you down, Penny. But—”

“I understand,” I say, stopping him. At the same time, though, I think:
I’m trying really hard to understand, Noah. Really hard
.
Then I’m almost laughing again at the thought that, even in the middle of the night, we can’t find time to hang out together. Is this really what I signed up for?

We walk back towards the hotel, at a much slower pace than before. After the huge adrenaline rush, I feel the tiredness hit me again like a freight train.

“Let’s talk over here,” says Dean, striding across the lobby to the hotel bar.

“I think I’m just going to go up to my room,” I say.

“Should we try again tomorrow?” Noah asks, his voice soft.

I just nod.

Then his hand slips from mine, and I’m left alone, standing by the lift and watching Noah walk away.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

I lean up against the slice of wall between the two elevators and try to diffuse my disappointment so I don’t lie awake all night, going over and over what just happened. I’m not even going to email Elliot about it; I’ll pretend the night ended when we came back to the hotel the first time. Until then it was perfect.

“Why the long face?”

Blake’s voice in my ear makes me jump. He’s drunk and sways slightly as he tries to focus on me.

“Oh, you know . . . these lifts take ages.” I take a step back. “Did you have fun at the party?” I ask tentatively.

“That party rocked!” He stumbles as he mimes playing the drums in the air in front of us, smashing an imaginary cymbal. “
Ba-doom tish!
” he shouts.

The lift doors open and he straightens up and links arms with me. “C’mon, pretty Penny, let’s go!”

I walk with him in slight disbelief that he is being so friendly. The lift is funky and modern, designed to emulate the night sky. There are glowing planets on the walls and stars on the ceiling, and there’s calming music playing.

“You look
so
amazing tonight, by the way.” He starts trying to hold my hand and I realize very quickly that this isn’t a comfortable scenario. I try to pull my hand away, but he reaches for it again.

“Blake, you’re very drunk. Let’s get you back to your room, shall we?” My head is spinning in panic, and I’m not sure where
his
head is at right now. “What floor are you on?”

“Eighth,” he says, still slurring. If Noah knew that Blake tried to hold my hand he would be furious. Blake is his oldest friend; I might not get on with him, but I respect that he’s like a brother to Noah, and I know immediately that this is not something I’m going to mention to Noah. Blake is drunk and stupid, but it’s not worth ruining a friendship over.

The lift seems to move agonizingly slowly, but eventually we reach the eighth floor. Blake points towards his room at the end of the corridor and I follow him at a safe distance, just to make sure he actually gets into his room. As we approach it, he turns to me and smiles sweetly. “Thanks, Penny. I’m sorry I can be such a douche. I like you really. You’re great.” The silence feels awkwardly long as he just stares at me.

“Thanks, Blake, it means a lot—”

As I’m finishing my sentence, he pulls me near him and, before I know it, his face is looming towards mine. I whip my head to the side as he pushes his lips against me—missing my mouth but still catching my cheek. My bag slips off my shoulder as I throw my arms against him. “BLAKE! Get off! What are you doing?”

He tries again. I drop to the ground as he leans in for another kiss, and he ends up banging his head against the
door. I take advantage of the moment of confusion and back away from him. In a split second, my entire night has flipped upside down. Trying to hold my hand was one thing—I was prepared to let that slide—but this is unforgivable. How dare he do this to me . . . or to Noah?

He rubs his head. “C’mon . . . I know you’re into me.” He puts his hand out, trying to entice me to come back towards the door.

I don’t want to move, but he is standing between me and my only exit route: the lift.

“No. No, I’m
really
not into you. That isn’t a thing.”

“Well, Noah doesn’t have time for you, so you might as well be with someone who does.”

Something inside me musters the strength I need to push past him and run down the hallway, toward the lift. I hear Blake shout behind me: “Penny, wait! I’m sorry!” But I don’t take the time to stop and listen to him. Instead, I don’t even bother with the lift and I launch myself into the stairwell. I don’t have my camera anymore—my bag is lying back in the corridor, but I don’t care.

I run until I reach my room, thankful that I kept my room key with me, rather than putting it in my bag. I slam the door and lock it with the chain in place, my heart pounding in my chest. I lean against the wall and tears stream down my face.

My perfect night is officially ruined.

Chapter Forty

I’m not going to let Blake get away with this. I stand up, wipe the makeup from under my eyes, and try to put on my fiercest Ocean Strong face. I head straight down to the hotel bar to find Noah and tell him exactly what has happened, but the server lets me know that he and Dean have gone back upstairs.

I choose to take the stairs over the lift, not wanting to be trapped in any enclosed spaces if I can help it. As I approach Noah’s room, I can see that the door is ajar. I can just about see the back of Noah’s head, and even the sight of his messy dark hair makes me feel better. I’m about to barge in when I hear Dean’s voice and it stops me in my tracks.

“You see, Noah? You really should have consulted me first. It’s not the image we want to portray for you. And now this . . . she’s just so young.”

He’s talking about me. I know he is. I wait for Noah to leap to my defence, but he doesn’t. There’s a deafening silence instead. My blood runs cold inside my veins, turning my fingers to ice. It’s like all my worst fears are coming true.

Noah Flynn would be better off without me.

That exact thought has crossed my mind many times, but hearing the sentiment said out loud is truly horrible. Tears start rolling down my cheeks again, but then I hear another voice in the room that turns my blood from ice-cold to fire-hot. It’s Blake.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t know what to do. She just showed up at my door.”