Present Perfect Read online

  Noah rode up alongside me cheering. “You’re doing fantastic. Tweet! We’re almost to my house.”

  He rode off, returning to his position in front. It made me so happy to know Noah was proud of me, there was no better feeling in the world. Then it happened.

  I don’t know what I did, but all of a sudden the handlebars shook, and I lost control of the bike. In a split second, I was face down on the road. My legs twisted around the bike. Noah must have glanced back and saw that I was no longer behind him.

  I heard him yelling, “Tweet!”

  He rode over to me as fast as he could, jumped off his bike, and let it fall to the ground. The palm of my hands started to burn, and I could feel the blood dripping down my left leg.

  I heard Noah’s panicked voice. “Hold on, Tweet. I’m here. Can you move?”

  He pulled the bike slowly away from my knotted legs and tossed it to the side. He knelt beside me and helped me sit up. Tears and sobs started coming out of me. My hands felt like they were on fire. I held them up as Noah blew on them, trying to cool them off. My left cheek was red and covered with dirt and gravel. Taking the bottom of his shirt, he wiped as much of it off as he could. My left knee was the worse casualty. The skin was completely scraped off and hanging to the side. The knee was covered in bright red flesh with blood oozing from it. When I looked at it, I started to cry harder. Noah wrapped his arm around my shoulders, trying to calm me down.

  Pulling me into a hug, he whispered, “I’m so sorry, Tweet. I should have stayed with you. I’m going to take care of you. I promise. Can you walk?”

  He helped me try to stand. I put my weight on the left knee, pain shot through me like a knife, and my knee gave out.

  It was hard getting the words out through my sobs. “I can’t walk. It hurts too much.”

  Needing to get out of the street, Noah helped me as I limped to a neighbor’s front yard and sat on the grass.

  “Will you be okay here while I go get your mom?”

  I shook my head rapidly. “No, no, no, you can’t tell my mom. Please, Noah. She’ll take my bike away and ground me forever.” I held my breath, waiting anxiously while he made his decision.

  The next thing I knew, I felt his left arm under my knees, his right arm against my back as he scooped me up off the ground. “Grab around my neck.”

  I did as he said. I rested my head on his shoulder as Noah carried me down the street. “I’m not too heavy for you to carry me?” I asked. I was still a lot smaller than Noah, but I had grown a little taller over the past year.

  “You’re light as a feather,” he said, smiling at me.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To my house, we have a first aid kit.”

  Noah’s parents were out back doing yard work, so we were able to sneak into his room, unnoticed. He gently sat me down on his bed and left to get the first aid kit.

  As I sat waiting for Noah to return a million thoughts ran across my mind about how my mom was going to punish me if she or my dad found out. The sound of the bedroom door opening distracted me from my thoughts of impending doom. Noah closed the door quietly and sat down on the bed in front of me. He stared down at my knee. When he looked up, his eyes appeared watery. He leaned in and draped his arms around my shoulders as mine found their way around his waist.

  “Thank you, Noah,” I whispered.

  “For what?” He said into my hair.

  “For taking care of me.”

  Wiping his eyes, he sat back on the bed, and began to gently clean my face with an antiseptic wipe. As the alcohol hit my raw skin, I winced in pain. I saw Noah cringe each time he started to wipe my face.

  “I promise, I won’t let anything bad happen to you again, Tweet”

  I gave him a small smile. He opened another wipe and cleaned my hands and knee, trying hard not to hurt me.

  Once he finished, my face and hands didn’t look bad at all. A lot of the redness and burning had gone away. My knee was the worse injury. Noah gently applied antiseptic ointment and a large Band-Aid. I stayed in his room while he left to put the first aid kit back. It felt like a lot of time had passed before he returned. Finally, the door opened and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Where’ve you been? You were gone for like an hour.”

  Shaking his head he smirked at me. “I was gone for like twenty minutes. I had to go get our bikes. Then my mom stopped me in the kitchen when I was getting this for you.” He had a huge piece of chocolate cake with a fork sticking out of it. He handed it to me. “She wanted to know what I was up to.”

  “What did you tell her?” I said with a mouth full of cake and frosting.

  “That you were here. Then she wanted to know if you were staying for supper. My dad’s grilling hamburgers.”

  “I need to call my mom and let her know that I’m over here and ask if I can stay.” I could feel tears sitting behind my eyes. I was scared Mom would know something was wrong the minute she heard my voice.

  “You don’t need to call her. Mom said she would check to make sure it was alright if you stayed.”

  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?”
r />   “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.

  “They’re awesome,” I said, swaying side to side, my eyes closed, letting the music flow through me. “The entire CD is brilliant. The song ‘Everything’ is my favorite.”

  “Mine too. It reminds me of you,” he said.

  I quickly glanced at him, not sure if I heard what I thought I heard. I looked down and closed my eyes again. When the song ended, I looked over at Noah and caught him staring at me with a slight smile across his face.

  “What are you smiling at?” I asked.

  “You, I like watching you listen to music. You get so lost in it.”

  Our eyes locked as I sucked
in my lower lip, running my teeth over it. I felt a warm blush start to creep across my cheeks. I smiled at him, as I handed back the ear bud.

  “Do you think they’ll go on tour soon?”

  Noah shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “If they come to town we have go to see them. I bet they’re unbelievable in concert.”

  Suddenly, he hopped off the table and stood in front of me. Reaching into the back pocket of his cargo shorts, he produced two tickets, and held them up in front of me. He tried to contain it, but the grin on his face was getting bigger and more adorable each second.

  “Performing Arts Center, three weeks, you and me, Tweet,” he said excitedly.

  It took a second for me to register what he had just said. This would be the first concert either of us had been to. It was hard to contain my excitement.

  “You’re kidding?!”

  “Nope.”

  I jumped up and flew into his arms, causing him to stumble backwards, and fall to the ground with me landing on top, straddling him. We were out of breath and laughing.

  “Noah Stewart, you are the bestest best friend a girl could have.”

  “I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?” He shot a flirtatious smirk up at me and my insides melted.

  “Yes you are,” I said in a low voice.

  We laid there, so close our noses were almost touching as our eyes locked on one another again. Noah had the most amazing eyes. They were light blue and so bright, it looked as if they were lit from the back.

  I wish I had eyes like that. Mine were a weird color. Mom always said they were teal. What kind of color is teal? I can guarantee the color teal is the least used crayon in the Crayola big box.

  I realized I should have probably gotten off of Noah immediately, but I didn’t. He seemed perfectly fine with me staying put, straddling him. My palms pressed against his chest let me know how toned and solid his body was, under his t-shirt. Playing baseball since we were little kids had been very, very good to him. I could also feel how excited he was. I had never felt anything like that before pressed against me. Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared. It felt right.