I'm Your National Anthem

CHAPTER 4

Walking away from her new friends, Sophia went to the drinks table to fix another drink for herself. Sliding behind her was none other than Mike Montgomery. She sighed when she saw him. She wanted to be friends with him, she really did, but he was making it hard for her. He was clearly flirting with her when they were both in relationships! She was still committed to Ryan (determined to make it work, actually), and he was in a relationship with some girl named Avery.

"Hey, Sophia," he said, staring at the floor. "I'm really sorry about the whole flirting thing from earlier. I just want to be friends with you, and that's all. Sorry if I was flirty, I was over my head. I have a girlfriend that I want to be with, and she's just going through a rough time. I was forgetting about her. But, I want things to work with her. I want things to work with us, too, as friends. Is that okay with you?"

Sophia smiled and said, "Of course, Mike! That's exactly what I wanted from you. Actually, I have a boyfriend back in Florida, so it's all good. A friend is really what I needed. We should definitely keep in touch, as friends. Oh, and that led me to meeting your sister and her friends. They're all so great, I love them! Thank you so much."

"My sister Aria?" Mike scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You must be hanging out with the wrong sister. I love my sister, but she's lame, and so are her friends. How can you even tolerate being near them for more than five minutes? Oh, and her friend Spencer always makes out with her boyfriend when she thinks they're alone. Sometimes, they're really not alone! I saw it myself."

Sophia chuckled and said, "All siblings say that about each other. I think you're really cool, and I think your sister is, too. How's that?"

"I'm all for it," Mike said, nodding at her. "So, I think I should get back to the party. I may even call my girlfriend Avery and check up on her, because I need to be there for her to be a good boyfriend to her. Maybe I'll see you around at school from now on? I hope..."

"Hopefully," she spoke, smiling at him as he walked away.

...

"—and then Aria came in and fucked the whole thing up, man!"

Rolling his eyes, Noel Kahn commented, "You're a dick, Mike. You told me that you broke up with Avery last week! Since when did you two get back together? If you're in a relationship, you shouldn't be flirting with the new girl. Even I know that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Mike said, sighing. "I told you that Avery and I broke up... 'cause it felt that way between us. I don't feel like we're in a relationship anymore. And I wanna break up with her, but she's got that whole thing with her dad, and she's been supporting him in the hospital for weeks. You can't break up with a girl while her dad is sick in the hospital! That's cold. I don't want to drop more bad news for her."

"You know what's worse than Avery finding out that you honestly want to break up with her when you tell her?" Noel said, glaring at his best friend. "Avery finding out that you want to break up with her when she finds out that you're cheating on her with some new girl! As much as I love me some cat fights, you can't do that to the new girl. Don't make her have some rivalry with your girlfriend."

"I know it's stupid. I really care about Avery, I promise you I do... but I just can't be with her. After tonight, my attraction to Sophia, it's insane!" Mike cried.

"Look, you need to make a choice already," Noel said, rolling his eyes. "I'm gonna go get another drink. It's been too long. I'm not even drunk, I've only had like one beer tonight. Want anything, dude? Eric has vodka in the cabinet if you want me to hit you you up with that." Eric was Noel's older brother who had already went off to college.

"Vodka? Sounds good," Mike said, grinning. "Yeah, get me one."

Noel nodded his head and started walking to the kitchen. On his way there, he bumped into someone. A girl, actually. And it was none other than Mike's new infatuating crush: Sophia Brannigan.

"Oh, damn, sorry," Noel said, backing up a little.

"It's okay," Sophia said sweetly.

"I made you drop your drink, though!" Noel cried. "I'm so, so, sorry. Hey, why don't you come with me? I'll get you another drink." She seemed a bit hesitant. "I promise, I don't bite. I just feel bad that I made you spill yours. Come on, please?"

She smiled and followed him. She had no clue what his name was. She didn't know that he was the Noel Kahn that Hanna had been talking about.

"Here you go," Noel said, gently handing her a red cup. Their hands touched as the cup was transferred to Sophia's hands. "One icy cold beer."

"Thank you," Sophia said, smiling. "Why would go all the way back here to get me another drink, though? Most guys would have just brushed it off."

"Well, I'm trying to be nice for a change," Noel said, offering her a smile. "And I believe you're Mike's friend, right? Mike Montgomery, if you remember him."

"How could I forget him?" Sophia asked, chuckling quietly. "You're not going to try to hit on me like he did, are you? Let me just make it clear: I have a boyfriend. He's back in Florida, but he's still my boyfriend, and I'm committed to him."

"Cocky, are we?" Noel teased, grinning. "Don't worry, Mike is just confused. His girlfriend has been away with her dad for a while, so he hasn't been getting the attention from her that he's used to getting. I guess he just misses her, but I don't really know. But, I do know that he's over his head."

Sophia smiled and asked, "So, are you a friend of his or an enemy of his? I can't really tell."

Noel laughed quietly before saying, "Friend, friend, definitely friend. He's probably one of my best friends, actually. Yeah, I put him down, but it's cool. That's just what we do. And you know that I was right when I said he was over his head when he flirted with you! I mean, honestly, you have a boyfriend, and he has a girlfriend. It would just be dumb." He locked eyes with her before saying, "So, you're Sophia Brannigan, huh?"

"That's me," she said playfully, doing a little hair flip.

"I'm Noel Kahn," he introduced himself. "This is actually my cabin. What you can thank Mike is, is for letting you into the party in the first place. When he saw you, he just had to let you in. I usually don't let strangers crash my parties, but he's my buddy, so I let it slide. Besides, you seem pretty cool. I wouldn't think that you're a killer or anything."

"Yeah, why would I want to ki—" Sophia began, but then her eyes widened. Oh, god! He couldn't be that guy that Hanna was talking about, could he. She looked up in shock and asked, "Wait, did you say that your name is Noel Kahn?"

"Mhm," he hummed calmly, scratching his head. "That's the name. Why is that baffling to you? Were you expecting someone else to be me?"

"No, it's just that... I've heard some stuff about you," she began quietly.

"Yeah, I should have figured," Noel said, sighing. "You were hanging out with Aria Montgomery and her friends. They all think I'm a jerk, especially Hanna Marin. And I admit, I have a jerk like side, but I don't think I'm all that bad. You can believe them, if you want. But, maybe you would want to get to know me before deciding if I'm a jerk or not?"

"I didn't think you were a jerk, it's just that, they made you seem so bad," Sophia said, raising her eyebrows. "But for as long as we've been talking, you've been the opposite of a jerk! You seem a lot nicer. When I thought Noel Kahn, I was thinking a player or a jerk with the leather jackets and the motorcycle."

Noel rolled his eyes playfully and said, "Well, I can't answer that question—if I'm a jerk or not." He stared at the floor before continuing, "Maybe I'm a nice guy, maybe I'm not. You'll just have to wait and see, huh?"

Sophia couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah," she started. "I guess I'll just have to wait and see."