Chapter 4.

One word: Silence.

The music stops, gasps are heard, followed by the sound of someone's fart. 

I'm not that much of a fighter, neither do I have anger management issues. In fact, I can count the number of times I've gotten mad throughout my human existence but this tops it all. It also tops the time I went for a house party Junior year and got dared to go home during a game of Truth or Dare. Teenagers are evil.

Noah doesn't make any move and stays still after the first punch lands on his jaw as if trying to process in his brain what just happened. Before he can fully react, I pounce on him.

"You bloody thief!" I screech, continuously driving my fists into his face. He uses his arms to dodge my blows as I aim for his chest area instead. I'm about to aim for his face again when I feel large arms wrap themselves around my waist and yank me off him. 

"Let me at him!" I struggle against Cory's tight grip. 

"What's your problem?!" Cory snaps at me. 

"That thief stole my neck chain!" He looks between me and the boy on the ground, raising him on his feet with a hand and unbuckling my chain on his neck. 

"Is this yours?"

"Fuck yeah!" I snatch the object from his hand. 

"Let's go man, it's not worth it," Someone pats him on the shoulder when he's about to blow off on us, dragging him away from the murmuring crowd. 

"Yeah you better walk away!" Yep, that's me yelling after them. 

"Let it go Allie, what is your problem?" 

"He is my problem. The goober doesn't even apologize after he was caught red handed."

"How are you sure he stole it? You can't accuse people like that," I stare hard at him. 

"Are you even listening to yourself? You're supposed to be on my side," I can't believe Cory's defending him.

"I'm on no one's side. I just want what's right," He pinches the bridge of his nose, a habit I noticed anytime he's pissed. "When one person starts an issue with another school it becomes a general feud between both schools, and do I need to remind you who owns this resort?" 

I stare down at my feet. "The Kingston's?"

"Exactly. Our bags and luggages could be thrown out tomorrow morning out of the hotel rooms and where do we go from there?"

"Nowhere," I sulk. 

"NOWHERE. Our whole trip is going to be a disaster all because of a matter that should've gone 'Hey that looks like mine, can I see it?' but you had to go King Kong on him," I brave myself to look up at him and find his eyes already focused on mine. Please let the next words to come out from his mouth not be what I think it is.

"You have to go apologize."

Goddamnit!

"You can't be serious!" He gives me a stern look. "Fine. You're serious, I'm going."

I throw my hands up in defeat and walk over to the resort's health center. I'm definitely going to be shunned but it's worth a shot. Mabel would laugh in my face if I get back home weeks before the end of summer.

I push open the door to the resort's health center and request for a first aid kit, shooting the nurse a 'Don't ask' look before storming out. 

People soon start leaving the party not before staring at me. 

"You should sort it out, I don't want to go home yet," A girl says and walks past me.

"I like 'em feisty. We should hang out in the Suite room sometime." A guy says and winks. Ok that one's totally drunk.

"He deserved that punch. I was talking to him yesterday and he just stood up and left," Been there, done that. 

Lacey comes up next tsks at me. "We need to work more on your flirting skills."

Behind her comes Simone. "In case you heard someone fart in the crowd, that was me. I was shocked and I had to let the tension out of my... you know..."

"Jeez Stop. You're so gross," I scrunch my face up in disgust as she shrugs nonchalantly.

"I think I saw them go that way," She points to the entrance of the second pool and fastens her pace to meet up with Lacey.

With the first aid kit in one hand and my sweaty palms wiping themselves on my bump short, I brace myself up and make my way to where Simone directed me at. 

There's a group of guys hovering over where Noah is seated with an ice pack held to the side of his face. 

"Why did you let her hit you?" One says.

"She didn't offer me another choice Dylan," Noah seethes out. 

"Hey." All six eyes turn to stare at me. Eight now including Noah. "Leave us."

I tell his friends. If I was going to be humiliated, I didn't want three other people to see it.

"We're not so sure about that..." The one whose name is Dylan says.

"What? I'm not going to kill your friend." 

Reluctantly, they drag their feet against the floor and go the opposite way, looking back at us occasionally like they were going to catch me driving a dagger up his neck.

I set the kit open on the bench and bring out an antiseptic wipe. 

"Get away from me. You can't be the cause and the cure," He scowls. Noah is scowling, big surprise there. 

"Hold still. You'll get a tetanus infection before the break of dawn and I don't want anyone dying because of me." I don't know how true the dying part is, I just remember Simone's Mom used to tell me that when I was little.

I frown slightly when I see a feint scar beside the flesh on his right eye. It's not visible until you're this close to his face and it looks it's going to be a deep injury the first time he had it. My fingers itch to touch it but I'm already staring at his face for too long so I use the antiseptic wipe on the cut down below his eye.

Noah winces when the stinging alcohol touches the opened cut. I use a small sized Band Aid to cover that part up when I'm done and move to the next part where one of my blows did harm. His lips. 

My gaze fly up to meet his to find him staring at me. Correction, frowning at me. Again, no surprise there. 

My fingers grazes the skin there lightly to clean the wound but lingers too much in his lip area. 

Great, now he's going to think I'm a pervert. 

"Don't be such a pervert and give me that," Noah snarls and snatches the wipe from my hand to apply it himself. 

"You want to explain why you stole my neck chain?" I know I was sent here to apologize but come on, a girl need answers.

"I didn't steal your stupid neck chain." 

"Oh, so it mysteriously grew wings and flew from my luggage to yours. How believable."

"Look, believe whatever you want. I don't have time for this." He stands up from the chair and I spring up to go after him. 

"Wait!" He turns around so that we could be face to face. "Ok, let's just say you didn't steal my neck chain and whatever fiasco happened back there never took place."

"Never took place? Do you need a smack on the head because I am this close to giving you one."

"I'm trying to make things work out here. Don't make this hard for me. If you hadn't stolen my neck chain in the first place, none of this would've happened." 

He walks closer and bends a little so that our faces are inches apart. "I DID NOT STEAL YOUR NECK CHAIN." 

"Ok, you didn't steal it. We didn't get off on the right foot and maybe we could to start over again?" I outstretch my arms for a handshake when he doesn't respond. "Hi, I'm Allie."

"I never asked for your name."

"Hi, I'm Allie," I press further, ignoring his snide remark. "And you are?"

He stares at me like I'm the weirdest thing on earth before rolling his eyes. "I'm Freddie. Can you leave me alone now?"

"Wow, so you're a thief and a liar. Well that completes it." 

"What are you talking..." I cut him off by placing a finger on the tip of his nose.

"Now, now Noah," I see his eyes widen. "All I'm asking is that you let this whole thing go and call it a truce."

"Move the finger or you lose the finger." I oblige immediately, not wanting to test his patience. "And no, I'm not letting all that go."

"Come on! Just hit me instead." This whole thing is harder than I thought. 

"I would've done so minutes ago if you weren't a girl, but I do have something in mind that would make me feel much more better." 

"Go on...?" Where is he driving at? 

He stares at me for some minutes before jabbing two fingers at my shoulders. Next thing I know, my feet are no longer on the ground and I feel myself falling backwards where the pool is. 

And then I hit the water with a loud splash.