Noel held the door of his black Lamborghini open for Sutton. She carefully exited the car as they both made their way towards the tall front door of his house. He swiftly unlocked the door and led Sutton up the dark wooden stairs and to his room. She carefully took a seat on the edge of his bed and inspected her surroundings. Her eyes immediately fell on a wooden easel holding an incomplete painting of a young woman.



“Who’s that?” She asked politely, squinting.

“No one,” he replied, casually turning the easel away from her view.

“I don’t understand why you feel the need to hide things from me,” she sighed as she traced her finger along the freshly washed bed sheets.

“I just don’t think it’s any of your business,” he replied curtly, “that’s not what we’re here to do anyway.”

“Do you really want to do this?” she asked as she played with the ruffles on her skirt.

Noel nodded and locked the door. He pulled his shirt over his head, exposing his tattooed chest and joined Sutton on the bed. He placed a cold kiss on her lips and lazily lifted his dark, emotionless eyes to meet hers. Sutton understood all too well; Noel didn’t have any feelings towards her. He had turned off his emotions long ago in order to forget the pain he was confronted with. She returned the kiss gently and allowed him to lower her onto the bed as they engaged in their charade.



Half an hour later, Noel propped himself up on his elbows as Sutton placed herself perfectly on top of his body.

“Was it good?” She questioned, out of breath.

“Sutton, you’re beautiful,” he began, unable to meet her eyes, “but I didn’t feel anything.”

The silence was unbearable to Noel. He finally mustered the courage to look up and found Sutton with a smile on her face.



“At least you’re honest,” she replied with amusement.

Noel couldn't help but smile, “One of my only not-so-horrible traits.”

“Well then, I guess I should get going!” Sutton said with an air of breeziness.

Noel seemed to have an internal conflict with himself, “Stay. Stay for dinner.”

His remark hung in the air.

“You can cook?” Sutton asked, raising an eyebrow.”

“Not really, but I can make a killer Mac and Cheese,” he replied with a slight smile.

“If you say so,” she smiled back, the skin around her eyes crinkling.

Sutton and Noel made their way towards the pristine white kitchen. Noel swiftly produced a bowl from the bottom cupboard and began to empty the contents of the blue Kraft Dinner box. Sutton thought of something interesting to say as she waited for her meal.



“Have you heard about the New Year’s Eve Ball?” she asked Noel.

“I haven’t,” he stated slowly, dreading what she would ask next.

“It kind of our town’s little New Year’s tradition. We should go together.” She stated boldly.

Sutton could see the tension in Noel’s shoulders, “Or not…”



Noel was faced with a dilemma. Was it worth losing the only person he could actually tolerate over a silly, little dance?

Noel sighed, “No, I’ll-”

The piercing sound of the doorbell interrupted Noel's speech.

"It's for me!" Yelled Serena from upstairs.

Her feet barely made a sound as she ran down the dark wooden stairs and towards the glass door. Noel's gaze followed the moving image of his sister and his heart clenched as the door opened to reveal Serena’s guest. Noel caught his dishevelled reflection in the surface of the granite counter top and his hand immediately flew to his messy bed hair. He was suddenly self-conscious of his exposed chest but didn't have the time to run upstairs and pull on a shirt. Noel finally remembered Sutton's presence and wanted to shoot himself. This looked so bad. But then again it was. Noel slid off the kitchen chair and nervously made his way over to Elena and Serena. Why was he doing this? The last thing Noel wanted to do was let Elena see him like this but he couldn't stop himself. He was pulled towards her- connected to her somehow. Noel arrived at the door but found that he couldn't form any words. Elena was more beautiful than he had remembered. She slowly broke off from her conversation with Serena and shot Noel a confused look.



"What?" She questioned.

"N-nothing." Noel replied, finding his voice once again.

"Okay, I think we should get going! We're going to be late for our appointment." Serena interrupted, sensing the tension in the air.

Noel gazed after Elena as she slowly closed her eyes and shook her head.

A haunting realization finally surfaced. Elena was the one and he had lost her.

~

Redwood Country Club - 7:45 p.m



Noel sipped his sparkling apple cider and scanned the room. His eyes stopped on a beautiful brunette adorned in a sparkly, nude pink ensemble- Elena. She seemed happy as she laughed at remark made by Beau. Noel remembered seeing the boy, always wearing a baseball cap, in his gym class. Noel jumped as Sutton placed her small hand on his arm.

"She looks beautiful tonight," she replied, calmly.

"I know," Noel replied sadly.

"If you really feel that strongly about her, tell her. Even if you think it will ruin everything, tell her," Sutton urged as her hazel eyes began to water.

Noel laid a confronting hand on Sutton's back, "Sutton, don't cry."

"I-it's just so genuine. I wish there was someone that loved me as much as you love her." Sutton replied, looking up at the chandelier to keep her tears from running.



Noel gently held Sutton's face in his hand and wiped a falling tear with his thumb. "You will."

“Enough about me. Go, tell her how you feel!” Sutton laughed as she casually wiped away her tears.

Noel inhaled deeply and made his way towards Beau and Elena.

"May I?" Asked Noel, bowing slightly with his hand extended towards Elena.

“Go right ahead, man,” Beau replied as a goofy smile spread across his face. He glanced at Elena and mouthed 'good luck' before slipping away into the crowd. Elena reluctantly took Noel’s hand as he spun her towards the middle of the dance floor. Noel allowed his hands to drop to Elena’s lower back, never venturing too far south. Elena automatically wrapped her arms around Noel’s shoulders and couldn’t help but wonder why she always found herself in these situations.

“I want you,” stated Noel’s, his voice cool and unstrained as always.

“What?” Elena asked as her eyes widened with surprise.

“Wait, let me finish," Noel began, "I want to be with you. I want to be the warmth that fills the emptiness in your bed. I want to be the sheets that your fingers crave at night. I want to have differences between us. I want the way you crinkle your nose when you find something you don’t like. I want to drink tea with you, share some books we find. I want to look at you like a movie, a living piece of art…and capture you.”

Elena was confused. The blinding chandelier lights and the way Noel led her across the dance floor disoriented her.

‘W-what are you saying?” Elena questioned, her nose crinkling slightly.

Noel stopped dancing, “Elena, there’s no other way I can say this – I’m in love with you.”



That’s when everything stopped. The dancers around them crystallized into motionless figures and the music began to fade into the background. The grand clock nestled quietly in the corner began to tick slower and all the lights began to dim expect for the one above them. Noel eyes seemed to plead with Elena as he waited for her response. Elena’s sense of clarity returned to her all at once. She knew what she had to do. She wrapped her arms around Noel’s shoulders once more and slowly brought her face closer to his. In anticipation, both of their eyes closed softly as Elena’s aching lips were reunited with Noel's once again.

~

Colton could sense a pair of eyes on his back. He quickly turned around and caught a glimpse of blue eyes belonging to none other than Beau Lornes. Colton continued to dance with his partner, trying to keep his thoughts only on his footwork. Colton's eyes betrayed him as he glanced up once more and locked eyes with those piercing blue eyes. Colton’s gaze lowered to Beau’s lips and realized that he was mouthing something: “Follow me.” Colton nodded slightly, politely excusing himself from his partner and followed Beau outside.



“Get in,” Beau demanded as he held the flimsy dark curtain of the photo booth open for Colton.

Colton hesitated slightly but did as he was told. Beau quietly slipped into the booth after Colton and whipped the curtain shut behind him. Both boys were alone in the booth with the only company being the single dim light that shone above them.

“What are we doing here?” Colton questioned, a sense of nervousness creeping up his neck.

Beau seemed to be deep in thought: his hands were curled up into tight fists and a pale blue vein pumped blood at the side of his forehead. His right leg shook slightly as he contemplated on how to phrase his next statement.

“Dude, what is it? You’re scaring me,” Colton said, looking at Beau’s strained face.

Beau turned his head slowly towards Colton. “I know your secret…I know what you are.”