"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

"SO, EXPLAIN THIS TO ME AGAIN," Emily says as she sits a cup of tea on the dining table for Noah. She takes a seat beside the teen, sipping on her own tea.

"The piece of zinc metal and the piece of copper are put in both the lemons," Noah begins as she points to her chemistry project, "I connect one zinc metal to the copper on the other lemon. Then, I connect the zinc from this lemon to the lightbulb and the copper from the other lemon to the lightbulb. And the lightbulb will turn on."

"That lightbulb is gonna get electricity from lemons?" Emily asks.

"Yep," Noah replies as she starts connecting the wires.

"I'm confused," The mother says.

"So, the citric acid from the lemon will react with the zinc and loosen the electrons. The copper pulls electrons stronger than zinc, so loose electrons should move towards the copper when the electrodes are connected by these wires. And the moving electrons are an electric current, which should light up the bulb," Noah explains. Emily stares at her daughter, having no clue how she knows all this.

"Alright, well, let's see it," Emily beams.

"Okay..." Noah trails off as she focuses on connecting the wires. When she connects the second wire to the lightbulb, a light illuminates her face.

"Oh my God," Emily mutters as she watches the bulb light up.

"It worked!" Noah exclaims as she claps her hands.

"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't think that would work," The mother giggles.

"And that is my chemistry project done," Noah chimes and unhooks the wire from the bulb, "Now, I just have to take it all out and put them in fresh lemons when I turn it in."

"I can't believe your teacher gave you work over break," Emily tuts.

"I don't mind it," Noah shrugs, "I like his class."

"Do you wanna do something with science when you go to college?" Emily questions.

"I don't know," Noah says as she puts her knees to her chest in the chair. She grabs her mug and holds it close to her chest.

"Have you thought about it?"

"Not really," The teen replies as she sips her tea, "I never thought I would go to college, honestly. I always thought Gia would never pay for it and I wouldn't be able to pay for it on my own — at least not right out of high school. So, I never really bothered to think about what I wanna do."

"Well, you're good at this stuff," Emily mentions, "And you like it. You could do this kinda stuff all day if you studied it at college."

"Yeah," Noah sighs, "But I also like reading books and writing. And I like running and video games and skateboarding — doesn't mean any of those things will be my job."

"But they could be," Emily notes with a small smile, "And that's the great part about college. You don't have to decide on a major when you start, you can find a major after trying out different classes. Or you could double major in chemistry and English or whatever you want."

"Well, I'm only a sophomore, so I don't wanna pressure myself to decide now."

"Decide what?"

"About college," Noah shrugs and takes another sip from her mug.

"Well, you're going to college," Emily states.

"You know, people say college is unnecessary—"

"We're not having that discussion," Emily interrupts her, "You have too much potential to not go. And wherever you wanna go, we'll figure something out."

Noah peers up at Emily and flashes a smile. She never had security in her future. With Gia, Noah always knew college would not be an option. It was always something she knew she would have to figure out on her own. Knowing that Emily will be there to help her changes everything.

"So, I can double major?" The teen asks.

"You can triple major if you want to," Emily says, "And you can have minors."

"What did you do?"

"I started my Bachelor's in Criminal Justice at Chesapeake Bay and finished it at Yale," Emily answers, "I had a minor in Russian, too."

"Really?"

"That's why I know how to speak it so well," Emily says.

"Maybe I could do a minor in French," Noah beams.

"Yeah!" The mother replies, happy to hear Noah coming around to thinking about it.

Emily wants nothing but the best for her daughter. Sending Noah to a good college and ensuring her future is nothing like her past is important to Emily. It will be hard to watch Noah grow up, but Emily knows that the teen will keep getting older right before her eyes. And Emily will stop at nothing to make sure Noah has everything she needs to excel.

—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨

Noah throws on her black hoodie and makes sure to grab her converse. She cracks open her bedroom door, seeing Emily's bedroom door closed. She knows that it is only fully closed when Emily is taking a shower. The teen turns on her stereo, turning the volume up loud enough to hear it from the hallway. She steps out of her room and closes the door, tiptoeing her way to the stairs.

Noah slips on her converse, grabs her house key from the bowl next to the door, steps outside, and quietly closes the front door behind her. She pulls her hood over her head and grabs her bike that is leaning on the railing next to the door. She quickly gets on and pedals up the driveway and down the street.

Noah listens to the wind that whips against her as she rides. She looks around, seeing the ice melting and the snow fading away day by day.  She will miss the snow and all the good memories it brought with it.

The teen's thoughts stop abruptly as she brakes her bike in front of the house. She lays it down on the grass on the yard and walks up to the front door. She knocks and waits, eventually hearing someone unlock the door.

"I got it!" A voice shouts as they open the door, "Oh, hi, Noah!" Josephine beams with a wide smile and a cup of coffee in hand.

"Hi," Noah chimes.

"Come in, come in!" Josephine says and waves the teen inside, "I just made breakfast for Jess, I'm about to head out to meet some friends."

"Sorry for barging in," Noah mutters as she walks into the kitchen.

"No, you're always welcome, you know that!" Josephine beams and gets another plate from the cabinet for Noah, "You get whatever you want, Noah. I made pancakes, eggs, bacon, there's waffles in the freezer, bagels in the cupboard — whatever you're feeling."

"Thank you, Josephine," Noah replies and takes the plate, hearing footsteps on the staircase.

"Noah?" Jess asks as she walks into the kitchen.

"Hey," The teen says as she pulls her hood down.

"Uh, did you make enough for two?" Jess asks her mother.

"I was just telling her she can get whatever she wants," Josephine says as she grabs her purse from the counter, "I will see you later, I'm gonna be late to meet Nancy."

"Bye," Jess replies and hugs her mother. She listens to Josephine walk to the door as she makes her plate, "Give me your plate," The blonde says as she hears the front door shut. Noah hands Jess her plate and watches her put everything she likes on it.

"Thank you," Noah says as she takes the full plate and sits at the island counter.

"So, what're you doing here?" Jess asks with a smile.

"I wanted to see my favorite girl," Noah beams and takes a bite of her breakfast.

"I'm honored," Jess giggles.

The two eat breakfast over random conversation. Noah takes in the moment between the two of them. Jess has always held a power over Noah that makes everything and everyone else disappear. When Jess is in the room, it is like tunnel vision for Noah — the only one she sees, hears, and feels is Jess.

The blonde puts their dirty plates in the dishwasher while Noah cleans up the dishes Josephine used. They clean up the kitchen together in silence. Jess imagines that this is how it would be if they lived together while Noah cannot stop thinking about her outburst with her mother. The blonde notices Noah's silence and the somber expression on her face.

"Hey," Jess says as she watches Noah wash the last dish. The teen does not respond, making Jess pout, "Gorgeous?" She adds and touches Noah's shoulder.

"Yeah?" Noah asks.

"You okay?"

"Mhm," Noah nods.

"You wanna know what my mom got me for Christmas?" Jess says as she looks at Noah with a wide smile.

"What?"

"C'mon!" Jess exclaims and grabs Noah's hand. She drags her to the sliding glass doors that reveal the backyard. Sitting in the grass to the side is a brand new trampoline.

"What?!" Noah shrieks.

"I know!" Jess laughs, "C'mon!" She shouts and opens the glass door. The two run over to the trampoline, getting in and immediately jumping up and down.

"I always wanted a trampoline!" Noah beams.

"Me too!" Jess laughs. Noah laughs as well, not sure what exactly they are finding so funny.

Jess falls down after Noah accidentally jumped at the same time as her. Noah slows her jumps as she struggles to breathe because of how hard she is laughing. Jess giggles uncontrollably, flashing a shocked expression when she accidentally snorts.

"You just snorted!" Noah exclaims as she holds her stomach because of the ache from laughing.

"That's so embarrassing!" Jess whines through her laughter.

"No, it was cute," Noah chuckles and takes a deep breath, letting out a few last giggles. She sees that Jess is sitting criss-cross and decides to jump. Jess goes flying in the air, her legs falling out of the criss-cross before she lands on her bottom.

"Hey!" Jess exclaims with a wide smile.

"You never heard of popcorn?" Noah asks.

"Yes, but I wasn't ready!" Jess shouts. She gets in position again and gives Noah the signal to jump as hard as she can.

"Woah!" Noah exclaims as Jess bounces so high that she lands on her own two feet. The blonde stumbles to stay up and falls into Noah's arms.

Noah holds Jess' waist and pulls her close. Both of their giggles can be heard as Jess wraps her arms around Noah's neck. The blonde almost makes them fall over, but Noah keeps them up.

As they steady themselves, Noah looks down at Jess. The blonde is giggling, but she gets the last of it out and peers up at Noah. They stand there in silence just looking at each other, their faces only inches apart.

Noah feels the desire bubble in her stomach. It feels like butterflies and a moving force that goes up to her throat. She feels her lips throb with a yearning to touch Jess' own lips.

Just like before, Noah's thoughts intrude and crash into her nerves like a train.  She, again, backs away and throws a smile on her face.  She watches Jess lean away as well, leaving a cold air between them.  This time, they understand what pulled them together, but Noah knows what pushed them apart.

"I should go before Emily knows I'm not at home," Noah mumbles.

"I swear to God, Noah Prentiss, that's the last time I'm gonna let you do that," Jess says and Noah nods with a smile.

"That's the last time I'll do it," Noah replies and sees the blonde nod.  They get off the trampoline and Jess walks Noah to the front door.

"New Years," The blonde says as she opens the front door.

"New Years," Noah repeats and kisses Jess' cheek, "See ya," She says and walks up the driveway, grabbing her bike and pedaling down the street.