Present Perfect (5 page)

I let out another deep sigh. This bought me a little more time for my knee to feel better and for the redness to go away from my hands and face.

I noticed Noah staring at me while I ate the cake. I held the fork out to him. “You want some?”

“Nah, you need it more than I do.”

I pushed it closer in his direction. “Have some,” I insisted.

Grabbing the fork, he took a big bite while I held the plate for him. We passed the fork back and forth until the cake was gone.

After setting the plate down, Noah laid back on the bed, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Feeling better?”

“Yes. Much better,” I told him.

“Good. I figured that would help.”

“What?”

“The chocolate cake.”

“Yeah, why’s that?” I asked with curiosity.

Noah smiled. “Cause chocolate cake takes the hurt away and makes everything better.”

Your world can change in an instant when you see someone through another’s eyes.

We were at the final baseball game of the season. Noah was the star player for the city league, the Tigers. It was his last year playing for them. We were starting our freshmen year in high school in a few months. Noah was a great baseball player, so there was no doubt he’d make the high school team.

The extent of my baseball knowledge was practically nonexistent. I had been coming to these games forever. You would’ve thought I’d have retained some information through osmosis at least. It’s supposed to be America’s favorite past time. I’m an American, and it was never my favorite past time. The only reason I came was to support and cheer for my best friend.

Noah started playing T-ball when he was 4 years old and quickly fell in love with all things baseball. Even though, I never understood the game, there wasn’t a better way to spend a Saturday than watching Noah out there on the field. Baseball made him happy and excited. I loved watching him. It was worth sitting through a game I didn’t understand to see how much joy it brought him.

I decided to invite Beth Sanders, a potential new friend of mine, to the game. Her family had moved in next door to us about three weeks ago. She was still in her friendship trial period. I hadn’t even introduced her to Noah yet. So far, she had done pretty well.

She was exotic looking with her deep tan, long jet black hair, and emerald green eyes. She had really sharp facial features, her nose, cheekbones, and jaw were all well-defined, unlike mine. My face was round and my cheeks were chubby, at least I thought so. Beth was taller and thinner than me, with legs that went on for miles. She was fun to hang out with, a little boy crazy, but certainly not on the road to becoming Queen of Whoreville.

“Wow, I’m going to love living here. This place is crawling with hotties,” Beth said, as we carried our food up the bleachers to our seats “Who is that?!”

I turned towards the field. “Who?”

“The batter, Stewart.”

“That’s my Noah.”

“
Your
Noah? I thought you just had an older sister and your last name was Kelly.”

“Not brother, best friend,” I said.

“Your best friend?” She scrunched up her face confused. “You can’t have a guy as your best friend.”

“Why not?”

“It’s unnatural. Weird,” she said, her lips pursed into a straight line.

It was hard for me to think that there was something unnatural or weird about my friendship with Noah. Everything with us had always felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Beth continued to ramble on. “…and you especially can’t have a guy who looks like
that
as your best friend.”

“A guy who looks like that? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how scorching hot he is?”

“I never thought about it.”

She huffed. “I don’t believe you,” she paused for a moment. “Are you a lesbian?”

“No!”

“I’m just asking because a lesbian is the only type of female, who wouldn’t think Noah was hot.”

“I don’t know if you and I are going to be friends,” I deadpanned.

She smiled at me. “Oh, come on. Look at him. His body is insane.”

“I think
you’re
insane.”

“He’s a perfect triangle. Broad shoulders, thin waist, amazing ass.”

“I’m beginning to think
you’re
an amazing ass.” I was getting more than a little annoyed at the way she was talking about Noah.

“I haven’t even gotten to his arms and legs.” She was almost panting.

I held my hand up, hoping to stop her diarrhea of the mouth. “How do you know him?” She asked, breathlessly.

“We grew up together. There hasn’t been a day in my life that I haven’t been with him. Our families even take vacations together.”

“Where does he live?” Beth was becoming too inquisitive about Noah.

I narrowed my eyes at her, not answering.

“Does he live in our neighborhood?” I remained silent. “Oh! My! God! He lives in our neighborhood. Why haven’t you introduced us? You’ve been holding out on me. You
have
to introduce us.”

Once she started talking about Noah, her words came out at such a rapid fire speed that I could barely keep up. She was talking so fast and excitedly, I had the urge to punch her in the neck just to slow her down.

“Yeah. I’ll be doing that real soon,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

I didn’t know Beth well enough to make a judgment call, but she appeared to be in need of some sort of medication.

“Come on, Amanda. I need to see if his front is as amazing as his back.”

I looked at her in annoyance, shaking my head.

For the remainder of the game, Beth sat there ogling not only Noah, but every guy she deemed hot, which was the majority of the team. She even thought Coach Sawyer was hot, and he was old. He had to be at least forty.

The game was almost over. It was Noah’s turn at bat. The score was tied. If he scored with this run, the Tigers would be city league champs for the first time.

The crowd grew quiet. The pitcher took a few seconds and then, threw a fast ball straight at Noah. The sound of the bat connecting with the ball was so loud that it sounded like a cannon had just fired. Noah dropped the bat and took off running faster than I’d ever seen him run before. He rounded first, then second, then third. He slid feet first into home plate. When the ump yelled, “SAFE!!” my Noah became a city league legend, leading his Tigers to their first championship. The crowd went crazy, jumping up and cheering.

I stood and looked on the field, watching as Noah’s teammates ran over, picked him up, and placed him on their shoulders. They started to chant, “STE-WART! STE-WART! STE-WART!” as they turned him towards the excited crowd.

Beth gasped. “Oh yeah. His front is definitely as amazing as his back.”

I shot a piercing glance in her direction.

The cheers got louder and the crowd began to chant, “STE-WART!” Noah looked up into the bleachers. His eyes locked with mine. He had the biggest smile across his face, matching mine. He took off his baseball cap and waved it in the air, looking at me the entire time. He was the only one I saw out there on that field, and he looked at me like I was the only one he saw in the bleachers. Warmth coursed through my body as I stared at him. He really was nice to look at.

I was overwhelmed with pride and joy for him. Beth was wrong. There’s nothing unnatural or weird about the connection Noah and I shared.

We descended the bleachers and walked toward the field where Noah was standing. A large crowd had already gathered around him, shaking his hand or slapping his back in congratulations. I stood off to the side with Beth. I wanted to watch him enjoy his moment. After several minutes, the crowd began to thin. Noah looked past a few people and spotted me. He shook a few more hands, but never took his eyes off of me.

When he reached me, his arms immediately wrapped around my waist, and he lifted me off the ground. He spun me around a couple of times, causing me to squeal.

“Can you believe it, Tweet? League champs!” Excitement ricocheted off of him.

I felt a shiver radiate through me when my body slid down his as he placed me back on the ground. I swallowed hard as I steadied myself.

“I know. Congratulations! You did it! I’m so proud of you.”

He took his cap off and placed it on my head. It was soaked with his sweat, but I didn’t care. I beamed up at him for a few seconds before I was startled by the clearing of a throat.

“Oh, Noah, this is Beth. She just moved…” I trailed off.

I wasn’t sure why I didn’t tell him she lived in our neighborhood. I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. Besides, Beth would tell him where she lived eventually. I just felt very protective of him all of a sudden. I didn’t like the way she looked at him or talked about him. Beth would have to find her own Noah. This one was taken and he was mine.

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.-Author Unknown

(Damn, I wish I’d written that.)

“What do you think?” Noah asked, while we sat at the picnic table in the neighborhood park. This had become
‘our spot’
.

It was the end of summer vacation. This time next week, we’d officially be high school freshmen. I wanted to enjoy every minute of tonight because once school started, time spent here would be limited. I loved coming to ‘
our’
spot
at night. Tonight, there was a slight breeze so it wasn’t as hot as it had been. The crickets were singing in the trees all around us and you could hear an occasional ripple of water from the pond when the ducks would paddle by.

Noah was sitting very close to me. We were both wearing shorts and the feel of our bare thighs touching was something new and exciting. I noticed just before the summer, he had started being more affectionate with me. Noah had always been sweet, but recently he hugged me more, held my hand more, and sat closer to me. I liked it. A lot. My body tingled every time he was this close.

We were sharing his set of ear buds listening to music. Both of us were huge music fans; alternative, indie, punk, rock, etc. The music of our favorite band, Lifehouse, was pulsating through the ear buds.