Sadie, Enchanted

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sure enough, Sadie felt fine the next day, and went to school. It was a weird feeling, because while she had felt she had changed so much, she felt that everything else was still the same. Sadie was anxious about how the day would go, but her biggest anxiety came from the thought of seeing Noah again.

Sadie entered the front doors and stepped into the lobby. Most of the student body was already there, chatting about unimportant things and being obnoxious. Sadie scanned the room, unable to find the boy she desperately wanted to see. Someone ran into her as they passed, and they swore at her for being in the way. Sadie ignored them, still looking.

"Sadie?" A familiar voice said behind her. Sadie's heart lept from her chest and she whirled around to see Noah, standing there, smiling timidly at her. He was back to his handsome, clean self (not that the handsome part was any less in Utopia), clad in normal human clothes, and Sadie felt her heart flutter.

"Hi," she said, shyly. She wanted to kick herself for suddenly being so timid, but she couldn't help it. Here, it was a whole different game. She had no idea where they stood anymore.

"So, crazy week, right?" Noah asked lightly, and Sadie laughed, relaxing.

"Yeah, a little bit. Except I think time passes more slowly in this universe...my mom says I was never gone." Sadie said, laughing again. Noah smiled, but she caught him glancing around at the kids that stood near. He was worried someone would overhear her. "But anyway, I wanted to talk to yo-"

"Dupont! Dude, that concussion melt your brain? What are you doing talking to that?" One of Noah's soccer friends, Bryce, shouted, sauntering over to the two and wrinkling his nose at Sadie. He threw his arm around Noah's shoulder, jostling him. Noah frowned.

"Come on man," Noah said softly. He held onto his backpack straps tightly.

Bryce ignored him. "In case you're still kind of out of it, I'd be happy to remind you of how things work around here. We, the normal people, talk to other normal people, while she, the weirdo, talks to things like, uh, that trashcan over there." Bryce sneered, punching Noah playfully on the arm.

A small crowd had formed around the three of them. Kids snickered at Bryce's comments, while Sadie's face flushed. Noah looked around at the crowd. Sadie looked to him, waiting for him to tell Bryce off. Noah finally locked eyes with Sadie. She couldn't read his expression. His eyebrows were scrunched together and his mouth was in a tight line.

"Um, why are you still standing here? This," Bryce drawled, snatching Sadie's notebook from her hand and tossing it down the hall, "is code for go away, freak." He finished, and the surrounding crowd laughed louder. "Right, Noah?" He asked.

Sadie's gaze burned into Noah's. He looked at her, and then at Bryce, and then at the crowd. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Slowly, he closed his mouth.

Sadie was calm. She felt like she had just been torn apart inside, but she remained calm. "Very funny, Bryce," She began. Noah looked up at her. "And I don't think it's Noah's concussion that's causing his lack of speech. That's just because he's a coward." She finished, her voice cold as ice. With that, she turned around and marched down the hall, picking up the notebook as she went. Noah stared after her, watching her go, unable to say a word.

***

Sadie spent the day in the bathroom and the library. She kept her cool during the confrontation with Bryce, but she could barely see straight as she walked away. The first chance she got, she slipped into the bathroom and spent the rest of the day crying. She hated being this girl. She had made it her whole entire high school career without pining over any boy or letting a boy affect her like this. And here she was, a senior, feeling as though she would never be able to take a full breath again, all because of some stupid boy she had fallen for in less than a week. Sadie wanted to scream at herself. She was stronger than this! Hadn't she shown that in Utopia? Hadn't she proved that she was capable of anything? Letting out another sob, Sadie let her head drop into her hands. She was in love with Noah, and he had turned out to be exactly like every other stupid boy she had ever encountered. Flashes of the more intimate moments of the journey made their way into Sadie's mind; the conversation by the fire, when she had first realized that Noah was a real person with real problems; the night of the ball, when Noah had held her hand; the hug Noah had given her when he found out that she had escaped from the henchmen. Was all that a lie?