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Chapter Four

Not A Hugger?

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Noah

I spotted Tiffany leaning against the bleachers outside as she watched the soccer practice that was going on fuerther out on the field. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her face blank

"Do you play soccer too?" I asked, walking up behind her.

She turned and looked at me, seeming confused for a moment. "What?"

I nodded at the field where the boys were warming up. "Charlie's been playing his whole life. Do you play?"

She looked at me for a moment before turning and resuming the stance she had before. She leaned against the bleachers and shook her head, "No. I stopped playing when I was 12."

"That's when... when your parents split up, right?" I stood beside her, looking at her from the corner of my eye. I was hesitant when I asked, not thinking it was a very smart choice but going for it because it was hard enough to get anything out of her anyways so maybe bringing it up myself would make it easier to hold conversation with her.

She looked at me, slightly taken aback. She licked her lips, "Yeah, that's when they split up." She looked away again.

"Is that why you stopped playing?"

She didn't look at me when she answered this time, "Kind of. I use to play with Charlie and then quit when he moved with my dad."

"Did you not like playing? I mean, did you only play because he did?" I looked at her intently but also in fear that she would walk away because I was asking all of this.

She stared at the field, watching the boys kick around the ball doing drills. "Yeah, it was something we did together but I quit because I was on the boys team with him and when I joined the team at the new school I transferred to, those boys weren't like the old ones. They started giving me crap about being the only girl on their team. They didn't see me as being good enough to play on their level like the guys on my old team did. I didn't have Charlie to push me to stay on the team so I quit."

I stayed quiet for a minute before I asked, "Do you regret quitting?"

"Things would have been different if I hadn't." That was all she said. It wasn't a clear answer which confused me all the more.

What exactly did she mean by different? I knew it probably wasn't a big thing but for some reason I wanted to believe there was a deeper meaning behind it because of how Tiffany was.

She finally turned to look at me again, "Shouldn't you be on the field?" She looked down to the soccer uniform I was wearing.

I nodded and looked out to the field where the rest of the team was, "Yes, I should and coach will probably yell at me soon."

She scoffed and looked away.

"What?" I inquired.

"Golden boy is going to get in trouble?" She muttered, back to looking at the field.

I narrowed my eyes, "What does that mean?"

She glanced at me for a second, "I'm calling you a goody two shoes, Ace."

"Ace?" I ignored her comment about being a goody-goody because the nickname didn't make any sense.

Tiffany laughed, patted my arm before she walked away. I watched her leave just before coach yelled out, "What the hell are you doing, Coates? Get on the field!"

≋

"Do you guys not have your own homes or something?" Tiffany mumbled quietly as she walked into the kitchen where Leo, Luke, Ezra, Charlie, and I were sitting with boxes of pizza.

"Ah, princess! You were missed." Luke chimed as he hopped up and eloped her in a hug.

Tiffany squirmed in his hold, "Let go, bastard."

"Not a hugger?" He asked as he pulled away, a smile on his face.

"Leave the girl alone, Luke. You're annoying." Leo muttered as he rolled his eyes, causing Charlie and Ezra to laugh.

"Oh trust me, she's a hugger." Ezra smirked from his seat as Tiffany glared at him.

"Am not." She grumbled, turning away from us and opening a cabinet to get some cereal.

"Are too. Remember when you would j-"

Tiffany turned around and gave Ezra a hard look which caused him to instantly shut up. When she turned back around to pour her cereal, Ezra and Charlie exchanged a quick look.

"Where you going, princess?" Luke asked when he saw her walking away from the kitchen with her bowl of cereal.

She looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed, "Why? are you going to follow me?"

"No," he rolled his eyes. "Just join us."

"Why would I want to do that?" She looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"I can assure you that the rest of us are for more tolerable than Luke." Leo insisted, chuckling. I could tell Tiffany was debating as she stood there looking at her cereal for a moment. Finally, she decided to come over and take a seat at the table where the rest of us sat and ate pizza.

"Why pick cereal over pizza?" Luke spoke once again, his voice filled with amusement.

Charlie shook his head in amusement as he reached for another slice.

"Because I like cereal." She shrugged and started eating her cereal.

"But pizza is pizza." Luke argued.

"Maybe she didn't feel like eating pizza, Luke." Leo gave Luke a look that said 'leave the girl alone before you piss everyone off' but from Leo's face you could tell he found Luke and Tiffany's bickering amusing.

Tiffany didn't say anything as she continued eating her cereal.

"Have you talked to mom?" Charlie asked, looking at Tiffany. Ezra gave Charlie what seemed to be a horrified look, surprised at his question.

Tiffany's body tensed for a brief moment before she very slowly swallowed her food and placed her spoon back in her cereal before she looked at Charlie, "Why would I? Have you?"

"She asked me if you had settled in alright." Charlie answered nonchalantly.

"She did?" A genuine look of surprise crossed Tiffany's face.

Charlie nodded, shrugging lightly in a no-biggie kind of manner. "Yeah. She wanted to make sure you were good."

Tiffany scoffed, stirring her cereal around, "Yup. Super concerned seeing as she checked up on me through you instead of directly through me." Ezra looked between the two sibling with a knowing look on his face. It was hard to see what he was thinking. He partly looked concerned, partly looked confused, and partly looked uncomfortable. He seemed to know more than he led on.

"When's your guys' next soccer game?" Ezra spoke, shoving his face with pizza.

"In a few weeks," I shook my head. "Against Herbrooke. We might be screwed."

"No we won't" Charlie scoffed. "We're better than them."

"They're our biggest competition though," Leo chimed in. "The odds are fifty-fifty with them. They're good."

"We're better," Luke retorted, shaking his head. "They didn't beat us last time and they won't this time either."

"Yeah but they have good chances," I argued. "I heard they got better too."

"Yeah but we're also working harder than last year," Charlie stated. "Thanks to captain." He threw a water bottle at me which I caught.

I rolled my eyes, "I changed some of the drills, no biggie."

"Changed?" Luke looked at me in disbelief and scoffed, "You doubled the suicide count and made everything ten times harder."

"Well, you got to work harder to get better." I shrugged.

"Yeah but you work our asses off." Leo chuckled. "Practice is hell sometimes."

"You're captain?" Tiffany spoke up. She chuckled, shaking her head lightly. "I shouldn't be surprised, Ace. Goody-goody golden boy and all."

Leo hollered at her comment, "Oh man, you're getting called a good-goody."

"What's wrong with being captain?" I looked between my friends- who were all laughing -in confusion.

"Nothing," Tiffany shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "It's just.. you sure live up to your reputation."

"My reputation?"

"Yeah. Golden boy, goody-goody." She grinned, amused. "Keep it up, Ace." Tiffany stood up, brought her bowl to the dishwasher before she walked out of the kitchen.

Luke snickered, "Ouch, Noah, that must've hurt - being told off by a girl and all."

I glared at him while the other guys chuckled. "Shut up. How am I a golden boy? And what the hell does Ace mean?"

"Ace like you ace all your classes, every girl in the school drools over you, you're the best soccer player in the school — next to me of course," Charlie explained, grinning in amusement.

"It's basically a nickname for golden boy." Ezra added.

I shook my head, "you guys are all ridiculous. What's so wrong with it anyways?"

"Nothing, mister big ego," Luke taunted in a joking manner. "You're just little miss perfect." The rest of the boys continued laughing in my despair.

"You all suck, you know?" I grumbled as I stood up and walked away.

"Come on, don't tell me your ego got so hurt by a rather minor comment that you're leaving." Tiffany leaned against the staircase with an amused grin on her face as she watched me head to the door.

I narrowed my eyes, "Don't flatter yourself. Your opinion isn't quite that relevant yet." That got her to raise an eyebrow. "I got to pick my brother up. Want to join?"

"Why would I want to pick your brother up?" She had an amused look her face, seeming intrigued.

I shrugged, "You don't seem to be doing anything more interesting. Why not?"

"Why not?" She repeated. "Maybe because I do—"

"Yeah, yeah," I cut her off, already knowing what she would say. "You don't know my brother nor do you know me well enough to get in my car and trust I won't take you somewhere to kill you. Is that all or am I missing something?"

A grin twitched at her lips, "you forgot that I would much rather spend my time away from you and your perfect persona that you hold up."

"Perfect boy, hm?" I tilted my head. "I could get use to it but it wouldn't make it true. You can believe it all you want."

"I never said I believe it, Ace. I just said you live up to it because your actions show that it's an accurate label. That doesn't mean the real you isn't hiding behind the facade."

I stayed quiet as I watched her eyes do that thing where they looked like they were analyzing me. I wondered if she read me better than she led on.

"What? I'm right, aren't I?" She asked when I hadn't responded.

I cleared my throat and opened the front door. Nodding outside I said, "You joining me, or what?"

She took a minute before pushing herself off the banister and walking out the door. I was surprised she was actually coming, but glad nevertheless.

"Was this a way to kick me out of my own house or are you coming?" She turned around and asked when I hadn't move. I laughed and shook my head, coming back into reality and following her out the house.

"Where are you picking your brother up from?" She asked when we had been driving for a few minutes. She fiddled with the radio stations before stopping at a station that was playing the Top 50 list.

"His friends house. He doesn't like driving for some reason."

Tiffany nodded as she stared out the window. I jolted the car to a stop when I had come to a stop sign that I didn't notice sooner because I was looking at her — once again not realizing that I was staring.

"Jesus, Noah." She exhaled, her voice cracking.

I looked at her to see her eyes tightly shut as she gripped so tightly on the seatbelt that her knuckles were going white.

I reached over and placed a hand on her arm which caused her to flinch so I pulled my hand back. "Sunshine... are you... okay?" I asked slowly and cautiously.

She opened her eyes and nodded her head slowly but wouldn't look at me. Her hands slowly released the seat belt, her breathing shaky. "I'm sorry, yeah. I'm okay. Just wasn't expecting that." She looked out the window. When I continued looking at her in concern she looked at me and raised her eyebrows, "it's a stop sign, not a stoplight. There isn't a green light here so are you going to drive, or what?"

I laughed, seeing the Tiffany I knew back. I shook my head and focused back on the road and continued driving.

"You don't like car rides?" I asked, glancing at her for a brief second before looking back at the road.

I felt her gaze on me for a few seconds before she looked out the window again, "Why do you suggest that?"

I shrugged lightly, "you seem on edge and you're never on edge."

"I'm never on edge?"

I shrugged again, "no. Frankly, you're always calm and just analyzing the situation without seeming fazed."

"I don't seem calm right now?" She questioned, confusion in her tone. "I'm not saying anything."

"I know but you look like you're waiting for the second I put the car in park so you can get out and feel the ground under your feet." I looked at her from the corner of my eye; her jaw was clenched and she stared straight ahead looking like she in thought.

"Maybe it's not car rides themselves but just your driving I'm waiting to get away from." She muttered dryly.

"Touché." I mumbled with a small grin. Very soon after that, I stopped outside the familiar house. I texted my brother and waited for him to come.

"You and your family close?" I looked at Tiffany, surprised at the question. "What?" She questioned. "Might as well get to know you while I'm stuck here, right?"

I laughed, "I guess we are. Not so much with my dad, though. All of us, in general, used to be closer when we were younger but yeah, we are close."

Tiffany nodded in response but didn't say anything.

"Are you and Charlie close? He said you guys stayed in touch even though you didn't live near each other."

"Charlie and I are close, sure. We talk, he's there for me, we joke around and everything. Ezra and I are closer though." Her voice was firm and eyes were locked straight ahead out the window as she spoke. She seemed distant whenever she was talking even though she was right beside me.

"Did Ezra live near you before he moved here?" I asked. "None of us know a lot about him. Ever since he moved here he hasn't been at school much until recently."

Tiffany thought for a moment before she continued speaking. It were like she were debating on how much to tell me. "He wasn't at school because he was with me. He use to live in Saratoga Springs until he moved here because my aunt and uncle got a divorce. Over the past months while he's lived here he'd always be in Saratoga visiting me and my mother."

"And now you're both in Long Grove so he's around more too." I noted, making sense of the situation. "Pretty clear you guys are closer."

Tiffany nodded, "He's just been by my side through a lot. Sure, Charlie was there too and I'm grateful to have him but Ezra understood things better because he was actually there when they were happening. Charlie could comfort me and give me advice but Ezra knows me better than anyone ever will."

I nodded. I was disappointed the conversation came to a stop because my brother walked out of his friends house and started walking to the car. I finally felt like I was getting through to Tiffany and didn't know if this conversation would come up again. Bad timing, Braxton.

"Uh, hey," my brother muttered awkwardly as he got into the car.

"Braxton, this is my friend Tiffany. Tiffany, meet Braxton."

Tiffany turned and looked at him. She narrowed her eyes. I was expecting her to say hello but she winced and looked away.

"What?" I looked at her in confusion.

She gave me a flat look that said 'can you not see what I see'. I was confused.

Braxton grumbled under his breath and looked out the window. "It's not a big deal. Not like I'm the only kid you ever seen do it."

"Never said you were." She replied dully to my brother, not looking at him. "Just not a fan. Don't mind me, though. Who am I to judge, right?"

"What are you guys going off about?" I looked between the two of them but they both simply looked out their own windows.

"Can we go home? I got stuff I need to do." Braxton gave me an irritated look, not seeming very happy.

"I'm not driving until one of you tells me what the tension is about." I raised my eyebrow and waited for an answer.

"He's your brother, it's none of my business." Tiffany gave me a tired look.

"Then why are you being pissy about it?" Braxton retorted, narrowing down his eyes at the back of her seat since he didn't have a clear view of her.

"I'm not," Tiffany held a straight face and emotionless voice. "I don't care."

"That explains your judgemental looks." Braxton muttered quietly but loud enough for us to hear.

Tiffany finally turned around to look at him, "Listen kid, I can smell it off you. I don't care what you do but for your own good you may want to stop before it ruins your life, okay? That's all I'm saying. Aside from that, I'm not judging you because I don't know you and I don't know what your deal is. I'm not a fan of these things so I truly hope you forgive me for cringing when I smelt it radiating off you."

"Ruin his life?" I asked as Tiffany turned around and crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you talking about? Smell what?"

"Oh come on, Ace." Tiffany looked at me and rolled her eyes irritably. "Are you really telling me you have never smelt weed before? This is the 21st century."

I looked at her in confusion and then looked at Braxton with wide eyes, "you smoke weed?"

Braxton leaned his head against the window, "Took you long enough to catch on." He was unamused and not fazed.

"Dude, seriously?" I looked at him in anger. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're really going to ruin your life by doing that especially after seeing—" I stopped myself. I shook my head and turned back around in my seat.

"Can we just go home?" Braxton grumbled.

I didn't say anything. I started driving in silence and started thinking about how it made sense. Some of his actions and his attitude all made sense but I didn't know how I was blind enough to not see it sooner. We were going to have to have a conversation later.

A short and quite uncomfortable drive later, we got to my house. Braxton rushed out of the car before I had even properly parked.

I looked at Tiffany as I took the keys out of the ignition, "am I a shit brother for not noticing?"

Tiffany looked at me and gave me a soft smile which took me by surprise but I kept my face neutral so she wouldn't see that. Tiffany never smiled - like, ever.

"No. He's a stupid teenager who got caught up in the wrong things with the wrong crowd. Smoking weed doesn't make you a bad person but it can lead to bad decisions that can cause a lot of harm." Once again, I noticed the distant look in her eyes. She was here but her mind was somewhere else. "Just talk to him. Try to get him to understand how dangerous it can be but don't beat yourself — or him up about it."

I nodded slowly and smiled, "you caught on right when you met him." My statement came out more like a question.

"I've been around a lot of different types of people." That was all she said before she quickly changed the subject. "So, what are we doing now, Ace?"

"Come on," I motioned towards my house as I opened the car door. "You can meet my other brother who I think may be easier to get to know compared to Braxton."

Tiffany looked a little hesitant but followed me inside my house anyways. Almost instantly, my youngest brother ran to me and hugged me.

"Hey kiddo," I smiled. "This is my friend, Tiffany."

Tiffany bent down so she was at his height and stuck out her hand with a small smile playing on her lips, "Hi there."

Colton looked at her with a toothy grin and ignored her hand as he gave her a big hug causing her to laugh as she almost fell over. "Hi, I am Colton. I'm nine years old and I'm really good at reading - oh and math."

Tiffany laughed as they pulled apart, "it is very nice to meet you, Colton. I think you're already my favourite."

Colton smiled even wider as Tiffany stood up. He grabbed her hand and started dragging her through the house, "Here! I'll show you the others."

Tiffany looked behind her shoulder and gave me a scared looked but was smiling as Colton pulled her along. I laughed and followed behind them.

"Guys, meet Noah's friend. She's a lot nicer than him," Colton grinned as he brought Tiffany into the lounge room where my other brothers except Braxton were sitting and playing video games.

"Oh, um hello." Tiffany shifted on her feet as she stood in the room like a deer in headlights, not expecting more guys.

"Hey, I'm Cade." He nodded at her, pausing the video game. "I've seen you around school. We have English together, I think. You're the new girl, right?"

"Yeah, I am." She smiled lightly.

"Well hello," my older brother, Adriel walked up to her and placed a kiss on her cheek which caused Tiffany's eyes to widen in surprise. "I am Adriel. The oldest and most charming of these fools. I can show you a good time of you let me." He winked.

Tiffany stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. She narrowed her eyes, "has that ever actually worked on a girl?"

Cade snickered as Adriel feigned a look of disbelief.

"Cade and Braxton are fraternal twins, by the way." I mentioned as I took a seat on the couch and grabbed the bag of chips from Cade. "They're 11 months younger than me."

"I figured." Tiffany mumbled quietly as she came over and took a seat beside me.

"Why didn't you tell us you have a girlfriend, little bro?" Adriel came back to his seat and grabbed the Xbox remote as him and Cade resumed their game.

"When are you going back to uni, Adge?" I rolled my eyes, my voice light and joking. "We're tired of having you around."

Adriel reached over and punched me, "Shut up, my presence is always a delight. I can show you if you want a free test run, Tiffany." He winked at her again.

Tiffany scrunched her noes up, "I think I'm doing just fine without."

"Can we go play soccer," Colton started tugging on Cade's hand. Cade hummed before quickly destroying Adriel who was distracted in the game, then getting up. He picked Colton up in his arms and turned to Tiffany, "Bye. It was nice meeting you." He smiled.

"Bye Tiffany! Visit again soon, okay?" Colton beamed happily.

Tiffany nodded and smiled, "I will. Bye guys."

Adriel stood up and looked at the two of us with a smirk and his eyes narrowed. "Use protection, alright?" Then he left.

I coughed awkwardly and looked at Tiffany who looked stunned. Her cheeks tinged pink ever so slightly that it was hard to notice.

"So Cade is quite opposite of Braxton." She muttered quietly, breaking the silence.

I leaned back on the couch and popped a chip in my mouth as I put the bag between the two of us so she could reach it easily. "Braxton's always been the quieter one who keeps to himself. Cade's a good kid."

"I'm sure Braxton is too," she stated softly. "I mean... he probably feels like he's hiding behind Cade all the time, like he's just in his shadow. I get it."

I looked at her with my eyebrows furrowed. Was she referring to her relationship with Charlie? It made a bit of sense because Charlie was kind of like Cade whereas she was like Braxton without the drugs.

"You get it?"

She looked at me and cleared her throat. Tiffany sat up straighter, "I just mean it would make sense, being a twin and all. I... I don't uh — well Charlie and I had two separate lives, so I don't know." She looked away.

"Hey," without really thinking, I softly grabbed her chin and turned her to head so she was facing me. I tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

I got lost in her eyes for a moment as our gazes locked. It was cliche and absurd because Tiffany would probably pluck all of my hairs out individually if I ever made a move on her.

I wasn't saying I wanted to make a move on her because I didn't like her like that. We just seemed to be growing into an odd and confusing friendship.

"What are you doing, Ace?" her voice soft and barley above a whisper. We were so close I could feel her warm, minty breath on my lips.

I involuntarily licked my bottom lip. Her eyes glanced down to my lips for the most brief second that I wouldn't have caught it if our eyes weren't locked.

"Noah, have you seen my— woah, sorry. Am I interrupting? Stupid question. Yes I am. My bad, I was just looking for my Ozil jersey."

Cade's voice pulled both of us back into reality. We instantly pulled away from each other, Tiffany awkwardly looking away as she rubbed the back of her neck.

I cleared my throat and sent a glare to Cade who rambled like an idiot before backing out of the lounge.

"You should probably drive me home," Tiffany stood up. "I have homework."

Without saying anything I nodded and stood up, following her to the front door.

The whole car ride was silent and kind of awkward with no sound except the radio playing stupid pop songs.

I didn't sleep much that night. All I could wonder was what would've happened if Cade hadn't walked in. Guess we would never know.