31.5

31.5

I snorted, as Will paced around the room, yelling at his phone.
“I never said I am against anything! I only told you that I am not gay! Pull that story back from your site or I will have your company shut down!” he threatened over the phone.
“Dude Noah, focus on the game.” Liam said, nudging my shoulder, his eyes focused on the screen in front and his fingers working the remote control efficiently.
I couldn’t help laughing at his serious expression. “I have already beaten your ass like five times, till now. Just give up, man.”
Liam’s tongue poked out in concentration. “Nope. This game is rigged. You and your technicians did this, I am pretty sure.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then, why are you still playing it, Liam?”
He flashed me a grin. “Because, I want the satisfaction of winning a rigged game. You know, against all odds. And, oh, the glory in beating the future king of New Elysian fields.”
I pulled a face. “Don’t call me that.”
Liam turned to me with a mocking face. “Your highness sound good? Or how about your grace? Oh, wait, I have a better one,” he smirked. “Annoying SOB.”
I picked up the pillow I was leaning against, and tossed it at his head. “Shut up, dude.”
Liam raised his hands up on surrender and then, in a mimicking voice he began, “I am sorry, your highness, I am not Chloe. I try. Please don’t kill me, my annoying SOB.”
I shook my head, shooting him a glare. “Liam, you are dead.”
“And, you are whipped.” He retorted.
My lips curled up in a smirk at that. “Speaking of whipped…do you know who is crushing on you?”
His face paled at that, but, he tried to appear oblivious. “No one.”
“Oh, yeah? Poor Mia…she deserves better than this indifference.”
“What are you talking about, man?” he said nonchalantly, not meeting my eyes. “Mia doesn’t have a crush on m-”
“Dude, please.” I interjected. “That girl leaves hints as clear as the day. Have you seen how she looks at you?”
Liam frowned at me. “How?”
Okay, so he wasn’t going to admit it. Fine, two could play this game.
I grabbed his hands in mine and made those dreamy eyes or whatever shit it was that girls made on Will most of the time.
Liam swatted my hands away, making a face. “That’s not how she looks at me, you asshole! That is the way Zain looks at Will.”
“Seriously?!” Will deadpanned from the other side of the room, covering the speaker of his phone. “I have already received fifty love letters today, twenty of which are from guys.”
Liam and I burst out laughing at that.
When my laughter died, I glanced at Liam from the corner of my eye, deciding to use the lightness of the situation to make a point. “In all seriousness, Liam, I think you should talk to Mia. Give it a chance. Move on.”
Liam’s laughter died too, and suddenly his face was grim. “Don’t go there, man.”
“No, why?!” I exclaimed. “How long are you going to ignore it and behave like everything is normal and fine?”
“As long as it works,” he shrugged, then he turned to face me and pinned me with a severe look. “You are the one to lecture me about ignoring things and pretending. Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?”
I had to suck in a sharp breath at that. “Liam, this is different. Don’t turn this on me.”
“No, really. Tell me, have you even talked to Chloe? Or your mother, for that matter?” he then, shook his head. “You are the one who keeps things hanging and pretend everything is fine. Chloe is going to find out one day, you know?”
My fingers curled into a fist. “It doesn’t matter. I-”
“Hey, there you are!”
I turned around to see Anna making her way towards me. her eyes momentarily fell on Liam, but, she brushed him off easily. So easily, that it confirmed my theory that these two were impossible and had been practicing the art of ignoring each other very well now.
Liam dropped the remote control on the couch, beside me and stood up.
He looked around the room unsurely, “I will go and see if-”
“It’s okay, please stay,” Anna quickly blurted. “I don’t want to interrupt anything.”
Seriously?! These two were so obvious that it was not even funny. I had no idea how the world couldn’t see what was between them.
I saw Will watching them with an eyebrow raised, from across the room.
Not being able to say anything, Liam flopped back down on his seat, and fished out his phone, pretending to be texting someone.
Anna tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. “Noah, I was looking for you. Tell me if this gift is okay for Tristan?” she asked, extending a small wrapped box towards me.
I could sense Liam stiffening at that while I couldn’t help but scoff at that name.
Apparently, this Tristan guy, the heir of some kingdom whose name I didn’t remember, was Anna’s boyfriend. Or at least, that’s what everyone thought. While, for our mothe- I mean, the queen, this relationship was some sort of…um, what was the term for it-
“Courtship.” Anna completed my thoughts, as if sensing what I was thinking about.
I had to roll my eyes at that one. “I call it bullshit.”
She gasped. “Noah, don’t be like that. You know I like him and-”
“Like him, my ass.” I retorted. “You can’t hide shit from me, Anna.”
“Mind your language, Noah.” Will patronized me, frowning.
Liam abruptly stood up, “I think I should go now.”
I didn’t stop him this time, because I was too busy in trying to compose myself. After taking deep breaths and willing myself to stay calm, I turned to face Anna, who was staring at me with a mixture of shock and anxiety.
“Anna, you don’t have to do this.” I told her gently, pulling her to make her sit beside me. “You know, I will support you in whatever decision you make, given you make it on your own and not because someone else wants you to.”
She didn’t meet my eyes, and kept staring at her fingers. “I don’t know what you are saying, Noah. If this is about Liam-”
“No, this is about you.” I told her firmly.
“I am happy with whatever is happening right now.”
“What are you two talking about?” Will finally asked in frustration, walking over to us.
I realized then, that he actually had no idea about the whole Anna and Liam thing and what happened an year ago.
Anna let out a nervous chuckle. “It’s nothing, Will. Noah is just being random. I will go now.”
“Will, do you know how I met Liam?” I spoke up, ignoring Anna’s wide eyes.
“No…” Will trailed off unsurely.
“It was through Anna.” I replied, “They were dating, about a year ago. Then, Anna dumped him.”
Will dropped his phone to the floor, along with his jaw. I nodded calmly at him. He opened and closed his mouth a several times before finally settling for opening it.
“You mean to say that our innocent sister Annabeth dated someone?” he finally asked.
“You make me sound like a fifteenth century obedient daughter.” Anna muttered under her breath.
“Oh, that you are,” I piped in, “that’s why you dumped Liam, didn’t you?”
“You also mean to say that our now not-so-innocent sister, Annabeth, dumped someone?” Will gaped.
“You have been spending too much time with Sophia,” Anna mumbled, frowning at Will.
At this, Will cleared his throat, and composed his expression. “I was just making sure, that’s all.”
“Will,” I drew his attention, “the point here is not that our innocent slash not so innocent sister Annabeth, dated slash dumped someone. Just look at the bigger picture. She dumped her love just because our mother wanted her to.”
Will was speechless for once. Or wait, was it for the millionth time, that he had nothing to say?
“Surely, it’s a misunderstanding of some sort,” he finally uttered out.
I should have known better than to expect something from Will, when it came to our dear mother. Anna and will were very similar in this respect. They both had a blind faith in the queen and would never go against anything that she said.
“Noah, you are blowing things out of proportion,” Anna muttered feebly.
I clenched my fists and stood up, before I said or did something temperamental. “Okay, I will stop now. It’s not my place after all.” I gave her a tight smile.
“Noah, please, don’t say such things,” Anna pleaded, her voice on the verge of breaking.
I didn’t want to be harsh on her, but, I couldn’t help it, especially when it came to the queen and her unjust demands. I could even tolerate those demands as long as they were aimed at me, but, I couldn’t bear any of my siblings or my friends, becoming a victim to it. No, not after what happened with my dad.
Anna clearly still loved Liam. I didn’t care that they were bloody good actors and were very efficiently putting up an act of indifference in each other’s presence. All I cared about was my sister’s and my best friend’s happiness. And, I was ready to stand up to any queen of this world for that. But, I was helpless if the people in question themselves, were going to be stubborn about it.
“Noah, please don’t be mad at me,” Anna sniffled, looking up at me with imploring eyes. I glanced at Will, whose eyes were begging me to get the situation under control.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, and inhaled deeply, crouching down before Anna.
“Anna, I am not mad,” I sighed. “I just want you to realize that you don’t always have to do what she wants you to. I have said it earlier, and I will say it again, I will support you always, no matter what. Just…just don’t be unjust on yourself. You can go against the queen, you know?” then, I gave her a slight smile. “Look at Quinn, she always does. Heck, look at me. Even if I don’t refuse her, at least I disappear rather than going through with what she wants. Though, I don’t recommend my way for the long run.” My smile widened. “But, you get it, right?”
Anna bit her lip, and turned her gaze away from me. “I can’t be ungrateful to her, after everything this family has given me. I- I can’t go against the queen. She has done a lot for me. My case is different…it’s not like you, or Quinn or will.”
My eyebrows knitted, as I tried to ignore the bad feeling in my gut. “What do you mean?”
Her watery eyes met mine, as she uttered the sentence that shook my whole world for a moment. “Noah, I am adopted. I am not a royal by birth.”
A/N: I am sorry for the long wait. July is a hectic month for me. My classes are resuming. Also, I am shifting this month. Apart from that, I have to edit this book to get it wattys ready. So, yeah…oh, and did I mention stranger things s3? I am still shook from the ending, which I refuse to accept, by the way.
Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter. Many of you have been requesting for Noah’s pov for long. My plan was to show his playful, fun side. But, as I started writing it, I realized that it was not possible because his (and his siblings’) reality is very different from what he makes it appear to be. You know all the family drama and everything…oh, and I messed up a few ships, didn’t I? But, alas, we don’t always get what we want. Think about it, do we get to be with our crushes, after all? Most of the time, we are either condemned to watch them from afar, or they have a girlfriend (this is the most common scenario) or they just don’t see us in that way or something else can mess it up. Anyway, end of rant XD. Have a nice day. I love each and every one of you, so much!