Noah and I grew up absolutely unable to stand each other. He always said I was a firecracker, bursting into flames at the slightest spark. I told him he had a venomous tongue, never knowing when to let things go. We bickered like that for over a decade. That was until our senior year of high school, when the new transfer student, Kitty, confessed her feelings to him. He cast a careless glance my way, a lazy smirk playing on his lips. “Sorry about that. You just aren’t my type.” The crowd around us immediately started hooting and hollering. “Don’t tell me you’re actually into a girl like Scarlett?” Noah let out a soft chuckle, his tone dripping with a relaxed drawl. “Yeah, I like a girl who gives it to me straight. Got a problem with that?” Later on, we went to college together, got married, had kids, and spent a lifetime loudly arguing our way through love. Right before he passed away from his illness, he held my hand, his eyes crinkling with a peaceful smile. “Look at you. Your temper is so awful, and you always put too much salt in the food. In my next life, I am definitely finding someone gentle and sweet.” My eyes stung with tears as I lightly punched his shoulder. “Fine. You go find someone gentle, and I will find a guy who doesn’t argue with me every single day.” When I opened my eyes again, I was standing right back in the middle of our senior year. Right on the very day Kitty confessed to him. 1 “Noah, I really like you. Could you give me a chance?” Noah lifted his gaze, sweeping his eyes over me for a split second before looking away. The corner of his mouth tipped up into a relaxed, easy smile. “Sure, let’s give it a shot.” Kitty’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief, the edges of them turning a soft, teary pink as she stared at him. “Are… are you serious?” Noah hummed in agreement. “You have a really sweet personality, and you look nice and clean. I appreciate that.” I dug my nails into my palms, my fingertips trembling slightly. The sound of mocking laughter erupted from the students surrounding us. “Wow, Noah, so you actually go for girls like Kitty! We all thought you were secretly pining after Scarlett.” Noah lazily lifted his heavy eyelids, that careless smirk still resting on his face. “Who would ever like her? Her temper is a nightmare. She throws hands over nothing. A grown bull couldn’t survive one of her punches.” The classroom exploded into louder laughter. “I mean, Scarlett is gorgeous, but she goes off like a landmine. Who could deal with that?” “Exactly. Guys just want a girl who is gentle and actually knows how to behave.” I stood frozen in the middle of the room, an icy chill seeping into my bones. At this exact moment in our past life, Noah had rejected Kitty without a second thought. He had stood in front of everyone and declared that he liked girls who were straightforward. My heart had beaten so fast that day I thought it might leap right out of my throat. I had spent that entire night tossing and turning in bed, completely unable to sleep. The next morning, I had stumbled downstairs with massive dark circles under my eyes, only to find Noah leaning against the porch railing, waiting for me. He had looked me up and down, clicking his tongue in amusement. “Scarlett, were you out robbing banks last night?” I had snapped at him, but he just laughed. After graduation, he finally asked me out. He told me that even though I had a terrible temper, he was pretty crazy about me, and he wanted to know if I would be his girl. I remembered lightly punching his arm, telling him no one in their right mind would want to be his girlfriend. He had just grabbed his shoulder and laughed, teasing me for acting tough when I clearly felt the same. He said I had been using that same stubborn defense mechanism since we were kids. Then came college. We were just like any other ordinary couple. We took walks in the pouring rain and kissed under golden sunsets. We got married right out of school and had a son and a daughter. Through all those years, we bickered constantly, but we never truly crossed a line. The worst fight we ever had resulted in a month-long cold war where we flat-out refused to speak to each other. People around us started whispering, assuming we were finally heading for a divorce. But whenever someone brought it up, Noah would just glare at them. He would tell them to mind their own business, claiming that fighting was just how he and his wife showed affection. Then he would turn right around, flash me a cheeky grin, and start sweet-talking me into forgiving him. He kept bickering with me right up until his dying breath. He told me he was going to find a sweet, gentle woman in his next life. I thought he was just trying to rile me up one last time. I never expected him to actually mean it. I pulled myself out of my chaotic memories, forcing my gaze up to meet Noah’s. I steadied my voice the best I could. “You say that like anyone actually wants you. Your mouth is pure poison. Just listening to you speak is exhausting.” Then I shot a glare at the boys who were laughing the loudest. “You guys have a lot of nerve judging other people. Have you ever considered looking in a mirror?” Without waiting for a response, I spun on my heel and stormed out of the classroom. If I stayed in there for even one more second, I knew I was going to cry in front of everyone. Once I reached the restroom, I aggressively splashed freezing water onto my face. Drops of water slid down my chin, soaking the collar of my shirt and resting cold against my collarbone. I stared at the eighteen-year-old face looking back at me in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot. This was not a dream. Both Noah and I had come back to the year we turned eighteen. Only this time around, he had no intention of choosing me. 2 When I walked back into the classroom, Kitty was sitting in my seat. My voice came out like ice. “Get up.” She bit her bottom lip, looking up at me with wide, innocent eyes. “Noah told me I could sit here.” Right on cue, Noah strolled into the room holding a thermos filled with hot water. “I told her to sit there. She is my girlfriend now, so naturally, she should sit next to me.” He casually pointed toward the empty desk where Kitty used to sit. “You can take her spot.” When the teacher had assigned seats at the beginning of the year, Noah had begged and pleaded until they let him sit next to me. He had joked that my temper was so bad I would definitely bully anyone else, so he had to sacrifice himself for the greater good. I didn’t say a single word. I walked straight to Kitty’s old desk, grabbed my backpack, and hoisted it over my shoulder. Under the shocked stares of the entire class, I walked all the way to the very last row in the back corner. “What is she doing? Is she really going to sit next to Rowan?” “She can try, but there is no way Rowan will let her.” Even Noah furrowed his brows, shooting a displeased look in my direction. I knocked my knuckles against the desk in the back row. The boy sleeping with his head buried in his arms slowly lifted his face. His eyes were cold and distant, laced with heavy irritation at being woken up. “Can I sit here?” He stared at me for a long moment, completely silent, before closing his eyes and dropping his head back down onto his arms. I pulled out the chair and sat down. Whispers erupted all around us. The chatter didn’t die down until the bell finally rang for class to start. I pulled out my textbook, but my mind was a total mess. My eyes kept drifting toward the front of the room, drawn to Noah against my will. He had his chin propped on his left hand, his gaze fixed entirely on the side of Kitty’s face. The corner of his mouth was curved up into a soft, genuine smile, and his features were completely relaxed. He used to stare at me exactly like that during class. He used to tell me that I looked the most beautiful when I was intensely focused on a lecture. When we finally started dating, he kept doing it. He would whisper that I looked so pretty he just wanted to lean over and kiss me. Even after we got married, nothing changed. He would look at me with that same soft expression and promise that he wanted to be with me in this life, the next life, and every life after that. A small pack of tissues suddenly landed on my desk. I looked down, realizing for the first time that a dark, wet patch had spread across the pages of my textbook. Rowan had already pulled his hand back. He was leaning casually against his chair, deliberately looking away from me. His voice was a low, raspy drawl. “People are going to think I’m the one making you cry.” If you added my two lifetimes together, I was almost a hundred years old. Yet here I was, crying in front of an eighteen-year-old boy. The sadness instantly vanished, replaced by an overwhelming wave of embarrassment. I genuinely wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. When the final bell rang that afternoon, Noah walked over, carrying Kitty’s backpack in one hand. His tone was completely flat. “Walk home by yourself today. I am taking Kitty home.” He took two steps away before pausing and looking back over his shoulder. “And don’t tell my parents I have a girlfriend.” With that, he looked down at Kitty. The bright smile on his face was impossible to hide. “I am taking you to this amazing food truck. They have the best spicy street tacos in the city.” Noah loved those tacos more than anything. In our past life, he dragged me there every single day after school. But now, he had someone else to share them with. I had spent the entire afternoon wallowing in misery, but I had finally made up my mind. Even if he had treated me like a queen in our past life, that was all in the past. I needed to let it go. I needed to move forward. I turned my head to look at the brooding, untouchable boy sitting next to me. “Do you want to go get some ghost pepper wings? I know a dive bar that makes them perfectly.” Rowan gave me a weird look, grabbed his bag, and walked right past me. He dropped a single, freezing sentence as he left. “Are we supposed to be friends or something?” 3 After being ruthlessly rejected, I walked out of the school gates all by myself. It felt incredibly strange. Ever since kindergarten, Noah and I had walked home together every single day. In college, he always walked me to the door of my dorm before heading to his own. When we were married, he would wait outside my office building so we could commute back to our house together. How could a man who loved me that deeply change so fast? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I swung my foot and violently kicked a loose rock on the sidewalk. “Two-timing bastard!” The rock flew through the air and hit the guy walking in front of me directly in the back of the head. He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around. My heart dropped straight into my stomach. Rowan stared at me, his eyes as cold as absolute zero. “Who did you just call a bastard?” I opened and closed my mouth like a fish, my brain scrambling for an excuse. I pointed a stiff finger at a stray dog loitering near the alleyway. “Him.” The large yellow dog rested its chin on its paws, giving me a deeply innocent look while lightly wagging its tail. A smirk tugged at the corner of Rowan’s mouth, though the amusement didn’t reach his eyes. “You curse at dogs by throwing rocks at them?” “My foot just slipped.” He took a few slow steps toward me until he was standing right in my personal space. He was a full head taller than me, forcing him to tilt his head down to meet my eyes. His voice dropped to a low, dangerous whisper. “Scarlett, are you sure you weren’t talking about me?” I waved my hands frantically. “No, no, I swear! I was cursing out Noah.” He stayed silent for a few seconds, his gaze turning thoughtful and slightly amused. “What were you calling him?” “A… two-timing bastard.” Rowan raised a single eyebrow. “Let me get this straight.” “Noah dumped you, you called him a bastard, and somehow the rock ended up hitting my head?” I completely choked on my words. From an outsider’s perspective, I suppose it did look exactly like I had been dumped. The moment I realized I had been reborn, I had wanted to jump for joy. I thought I had been given a miracle. A chance to see Noah again and spend another lifetime loving him. Who could have predicted this? The love of my life was currently feeding street tacos to his sweet, gentle new girlfriend! I took a deep breath to steady myself. “I was not dumped. We were never even dating. Besides, he is a fickle, promise-breaking, backstabbing jerk who ruined our friendship. I wouldn’t like a guy like that if he were the last man on earth!” Rowan let out a soft, breathy laugh. “Right. Well, you still owe me an apology.” I dropped my head in defeat. “I am really sorry. I genuinely didn’t mean to hit you. Do you need to go to the nurse or a clinic?” “No.” He turned around and started walking away. Without thinking, my feet moved on their own, trailing right behind him. “How about I buy you dinner to make up for it? Those ghost pepper wings I mentioned earlier are seriously amazing.” He stopped walking. He didn’t turn around, but two icy words floated back to me. “Lead the way.” We destroyed a massive platter of insanely spicy wings, followed by fries and shakes. The heavy, suffocating anger that Noah had planted in my chest finally began to melt away under the sheer comfort of junk food. When I finally turned onto my street, I spotted Noah immediately. He was sitting on the stone bench near my driveway. A white takeout bag from the taco truck was resting next to him. The moment he saw me, he stood up. His face was thunderous. “Scarlett, did you forget how to walk home? Why the hell did it take you so long?” I rolled my eyes, stepping around him to head toward my front door. I kept my voice incredibly casual as I brushed past him. “I went out to eat with Rowan. It took a little longer than expected.” A hand clamped down hard on the strap of my backpack. Noah’s explosive voice rang out behind me. “What did you just say? You went out with Rowan?” He forcefully spun me around. His face was a mask of pure disbelief. “You don’t even know the guy! Why the hell are you eating dinner with him?” I yanked my strap out of his grip, my voice dripping with ice. “Is that any of your business?” “My business?” Noah let out a bitter, mocking laugh. “Wow, Scarlett, you are really feeling yourself today, aren’t you?” “When have I ever not made your life my business? When we were kids and you were still hungry, I gave you half my lunch! When you lost that fight in the first grade, I was the one who went back and beat the kid up for you!” He was practically shouting, venting all his chaotic frustration. I watched him lose his temper, and for a second, I found it almost funny. “Who I eat with is my choice. You are just my neighbor, Noah. You are overstepping.” “If you have this much free time, you should be on the phone with your sweet, gentle girlfriend.” Noah ground his teeth together. “You are just being stubborn, Scarlett.” “I only agreed to date Kitty because…” “…I know. Because she is sweet and gentle.” I cut him off before he could finish. “I only went out with Rowan because he is gorgeous, and it looks good having a guy like that walking next to me.” “Oh, and he has broad shoulders and an amazing waist. Not like you. You’re built like a beanpole.” Noah’s face turned so dark he looked like he might actually spontaneously combust. I ignored him, turning my back and walking straight up to my house. I only made it two steps before the familiar burning sensation returned to my eyes. Moving on was obviously going to be a lot harder than I thought. 4 The next morning, I walked into the classroom to find an iced latte and a toasted bagel sitting on my desk. They were exactly how I liked them. Kitty was standing next to my desk, flashing me a soft, timid smile. She spoke with an apologetic sweetness. “Scarlett, Noah accidentally bought too much breakfast this morning. You can have this one.” Before I could even open my mouth, Noah’s voice drifted over from the row behind us. “Kitty, don’t waste your breath on her. Just leave it there. If she starves, she starves.” He walked over, grabbed a second iced latte, popped the straw in, and held it right up to Kitty’s lips. His eyes were overflowing with affection. “Drink this one. I added extra syrup. It’s as sweet as you are.” Kitty blushed violently and took a sip. The rest of the class immediately started catcalling them. “Damn, Noah, you got moves!” “Since when were you the romantic boyfriend type?” Noah raised a brow, his gaze flicking toward me for a fraction of a second. A smirk played on his lips. “Depends on the girl.” I reached out, grabbed the latte and the bagel, and dropped them straight into the trash can. The smug smile on Noah’s face completely shattered. When lunchtime rolled around, I grabbed my tray and sat down at an empty table. Almost instantly, two people sat down directly across from me. Kitty pressed her shoulder right up against Noah’s. He was picking the best pieces of chicken from his plate and placing them gently onto hers. His voice was disgustingly tender. “You are way too skinny. Eat more.” Kitty shook her head, her cheeks flushed pink. “It’s too much. I can’t finish all of this.” Noah just laughed. “If you can’t finish it, I will eat it for you. It’s not like I haven’t eaten your leftovers before.” That sentence caught the attention of the surrounding tables. “Noah, you guys are moving way too fast!” “Seriously, get a room. We’re trying to eat here.” My grip on my fork tightened until my knuckles turned stark white. In our past life, Noah was always the one eating my leftovers. I was an incredibly picky eater, and he constantly lectured me about wasting food. He would complain endlessly while reaching over, taking my plate, and finishing every last bite. I dropped my head, shoveling food into my mouth as fast as I could. I stuffed my cheeks full, swallowing hard to force down the bitter lump rising in my throat. Noah suddenly looked up at me, a mocking edge to his voice. “Why are you eating all by yourself, Scarlett? Where is your broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted desk mate? Why isn’t he keeping you company?” “None of your damn business.” I didn’t even look up. “Wow, still got that terrible temper, I see.” He chuckled, turning his attention back to Kitty. “See? I told you she was vicious. She doesn’t have half your manners.” The second the words left his mouth, a tray slammed down onto the table. Rowan slid into the seat right next to me. Mutters and whispers broke out across the cafeteria. “Since when does Scarlett hang out with Rowan?” “I have no idea. Didn’t they just become desk mates yesterday?” Rowan acted like the whispers didn’t exist. He calmly picked up his fork, took a bite of his food, and chewed at an agonizingly slow pace. His broad frame completely blocked my view of Noah. I had no idea what expression my former husband was making. All I heard was the loud, violent clatter of silverware hitting a plastic tray. “I lost my appetite.” Noah grabbed his tray, turned around, and stormed off. Kitty scrambled out of her seat in a panic, chasing after him as fast as her legs could carry her. Half the cafeteria was staring at our table. I kept my face completely blank, finished the rest of my meal, and finally looked at Rowan to say thank you. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, his voice as aloof as ever. “You owe me a meal.” “Didn’t I just buy you wings yesterday?” “One favor equals one meal.” I stared at him in sheer disbelief. Who the hell kept score like that? But honestly, he had just saved me from a deeply humiliating situation. “Fine. I will buy you food some other time.” He stood up, grabbing his tray. “Don’t go back on your word.” When school let out, I bumped into Noah at the main gates. He was leaning against the brick wall holding a bottle of water. The moment he saw me, he stood up straight. “Scarlett.” I didn’t break my stride. I kept walking. He caught up to me in three long strides, stepping right into my path to block my way. “What do you want?” He looked down at me, his lips parting and closing a few times before he finally squeezed out a sentence. “Why aren’t you taking the bus today?” “I am walking. I need the cardio.” “Then I am walking with you.” “I don’t need you to. Shouldn’t you be walking your little girlfriend home?” He choked on his words, averting his eyes. “She had something to do today. She left early.” I didn’t reply. I just stepped around him and kept walking. He followed right behind me. It took less than three seconds for him to start running his mouth. “When did you and Rowan get so close? You have sat next to him for exactly two days, and he is already sitting with you at lunch?” “Scarlett, don’t tell me you actually have a crush on him.” His tone was starting to sound incredibly frantic. “Guys like him are a nightmare to deal with. He walks around with that freezing look on his face like the whole world owes him money.” I stopped so abruptly that he almost crashed right into my back. “Noah, what exactly are you trying to say?” He stood there in the fading twilight, looking deeply uncomfortable. It took him a long time to finally mutter his next words. “Stay away from him.”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “459946”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel
Leave a Reply