Chapter 3- All roads lead to Noah

Nygeria

I feel cold liquid on my skin, pulling me back to consciousness. I look up as the blurry vision comes to focus; Stephanie stands over me, pouring a bottle of water on my face. This has to be a bad dream; this can’t be real. I am not in a novel getting water poured on me by the school slut. I close my eyes again, hoping to wake in my own bed, but I can still feel the water she’s pouring on me. This is real; I’m in a novel.

“Stop pretending to sleep, fat bitch; I’m running out of water,” she says with a smirk. If I accept that I am in this novel, she is one of the people who would bully me. However, I am not a pushover, unlike the book version of me. I sit up as she finishes the last drop of water.

“Did you call me a slut?” She asks as I am still coming to terms with being in a book. How am I going to get home?

“Fat bitch, do you not hear me talking to you.”

I don’t respond as I wonder how the hell I’m going to get out of this book. I’ve read several novels like this, but the main character almost always dies in their world. Dread fills me; did I die in my sleep? I didn’t even get to read the last Game of Thrones novel; how could I have died? I’m young and healthy, yeah I’m relatively thick, but a little fat never hurt anyone.

“Fat bitch!”The irritating screech of her voice interrupts my thoughts. I look up at her elongated face, curiosity finally taking over. She looks just as described in the book and acts like it. Who pours water on someone who faints instead of calling an ambulance. I can’t believe how cruel these people are; what was the author thinking?

“Answer me, you ugly bitch.”

“Can you please shut the f**k up!” I finally say, frustrated and tired of hearing her annoying voice. She looks at me as her mouth falls open, probably shocked that I talked back. But her shock quickly turns to anger.

“Who are you talking to, you fat blob!”I stand as she approaches me, I ignore her and turn to my side of the room. I have to figure out how I will escape or survive in this book. As much as I want to beat Stephanie’s ass, it would not help my current predicament.

“Do you think you can ignore me? Bitch I’ll just let Noah and Gretchen deal with you.

Noah, my insides seared with rage at the mention of that asshole. In this book, the love interest bullies Nygeria, but she’s excepted to fall in love with him. That will never fucking happening as long as I’m here, I’ll completely ruin…the plot,f**k. Last night I wish I was Nygeria in the book to teach Noah a lesson and ruin the plot. Did I accidentally wish on a shooting star? Just my luck to end up in this trash instead of Harry Potter or Game of Thrones.

“Hey, you stop ignoring me.”She grabs me, pulling me from my thoughts again, but now I’m pissed off at Noah and the author, and I’ve had enough of her. I snatch her hands off my arm and twist it.

“Ouch, ouch, bitch let me go or…. “I twist it some more, she screams from the pain glaring at me.

“Or what?…listen and listen good, I’m only saying this once. The Nygeria you use to bully isn’t here. Don’t touch my shit, don’t wear my shit, and don’t ever put your nasty hands on me again. If you want to try me, I’ll beat your fucking ass. I twist her arm to show I’m serious. She screams out in pain as I smile and release her. She glares at me before scurrying out of the room, yelling about me regretting this. I roll my eyes; why do I have to deal with all these annoying people. I sigh before refocusing on the main issue, I’m in a book I barely know the plot, and I’m probably here because I wished on a star to ruin it. I groan as my head starts hurting me; what the hell am I supposed to do?

The stupid alarm on the desk goes off again, and I’m tempted to smash the thing. Why the hell is the alarm ringing at 8 on a Saturday for a high school student? Work! The thought pops into my head. I…she works at a coffee shop, The Moondust. So she also has a job like mine, what terrible luck, I’m poor in the real world and the book. I sigh, contemplating whether to go or not. I really need to figure this situation out, but what could I learn from staying here?

I would need to learn my surroundings to make any plans, so I probably should go. Plus, I don’t know how long I’ll be trapped in this book; I would need money, I groan. Why couldn’t she be an heiress? I don’t want to go to work right now. But what I wanted no longer mattered; if I have to work to survive, I would.

Decision made, I need to find something to wear to work. At the thought of clothes, curiosity fills me about my appearance. I look down at the oversized t-shirt that I’m sporting. I couldn’t see her…my body; I reach down to feel my chest but stop midway. Does this count as sexual harassment? I sigh as my headache intensifies. Okay, I’ll take a look in the mirror. I pull the shirt over my head, my nipples hard from the cold air blowing from the air vents.

I spot the mirror at the end of the room, attached to the back of the door. I walk over, examining my face and body. Isn’t this my face? My real face. Does she look like me? She has these idiots calling me ugly. Steam flies out of my nose, suddenly feeling the urge to punch Stephanie in the face. The nerve of that horse-faced bitch calling me ugly. I grunt as my eyes travel from my face to my body. My breasts are small, but my stomach is flat with wide hips.

Fat? Does she believe she’s fat? Real-world me have a larger stomach, and I didn’t think I was fat. She’s hot, I thought, turning to examine the back. I can’t believe she let that asshole destroy her self-esteem. I grit my teeth and clench my fist; oh I want to punch him in the face right now. Beep, Beep, Beep, I look over at the stupid alarm going off again. I exhale sharply. I would have plenty of time to deal with that asshole; right now I need to get to work.

I cross the room and open her wardrobe, digging through her clothes. I grab a cute pair of jeans and a white top. Then, I dashed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Freshly showered, I get dressed, combed my hair in a bun, and applied some lipgloss since that was her entire makeup collection. Satisfied with my look, I grabbed the keys and made my way down to her car. It seems I have some of her memories about basic information, so I knew where to find the clunker she drove.

I walk up to the piece of crap she calls a car; I want to cry right now. Real-world me never had a car; although I learned to drive, I could never afford one. Now I got the chance to drive my very own car, and it looks like I stole it from a junkyard.

“Think positive, Ny, at least it’s not the bus,” I mumble to myself out loud, trying to look on the bright side. I mean, I was possibly dead and in a crappy book, but hey at least I get to drive around in this piece of junk. I grunt, opening the door and slipping in. Okay, let’s get to work before I get fired.

Thanks to g****e, I find the coffee shop relatively easy. I arrive around 8:30, just as my shift is starting. I walk through the doors inhaling the familiar smell of coffee when a girl greets me.

“Nygeria, you’re here, hurry up and come help me; we’re slammed.”I look at her trying to pull her name from Ny’s memories but couldn’t. Luckily she had a name tag on her apron, Trish, assistant manager.

“Okay, ah? Do you know where my apron is?”She looks at me curiously before turning back to a customer. I groan. Don’t tell me she’s alienated at work too. Why is she such a loser? I roll my eyes stalking off behind the counter to the back of the store. I look around, hoping to spot the apron, when I see a row of lockers behind the coffee supplies. I spot my name at the far end; I hurry over already late. As I get to my locker, I hear footsteps behind me. I spin quickly; a blond boy walks up and stands at the locker beside me.

I turn back to my locker, am relieved there was no lock on it, pull it open, drop my keys and purse, and remove the apron with my name tag and a hat. After changing, I close the locker and examine the boy beside me. Blond hair, blue eyes while I was partial to brunette’s, I still thought he was cute. I wonder if book Nygeria had a crush on him?

“Honey, take a picture. It will last longer.”He says in a sassy voice as he puts on his apron, turning to smile at me. Of course, the only guy that’s nice to her would be gay. I roll my eyes at the cliche; thanks, you piece of the shit, author! I scream internally before closing my locker.

“You’re just so fucking hot; I can’t help myself.”He looks at me wide-eyed as I approach him, my hips swaying. I stop before him, smirking as he stares at me for a moment before breaking out in laughter. What’s so funny? Do I look weird flirting? I have always been skilled at flirting, even with gay men. So why is he laughing at me?

“Ny stop playing with me; I like this aggressive you though, now try it with a guy who likes….what you have.”I scoff, looking at his name tag as I walk past him.

“It’s called a vagina, Ainge.”

“Right that thing.”I laugh as we walk up to the counter. Trish glares at me.

“I told you I needed you 15 minutes ago.”

“I’m here now. Do you have something for me today, or are you going to complain?”The annoyance in my voice was obvious, I know I did not take 15 minutes to change my apron, and I’m not about to take her shit. She eyes me again as if she doesn’t recognize me then shakes her head.

" The register, Ainge, help me at the counter.”I nodded walking over to the register, and begin taking orders. I’m in my natural habitat, so the morning passes relatively quickly without much incident other than the occasional glare from Trish. I want to know what the story was there. I decided I would get the details from Ainge at lunch.

When lunchtime rolls around, I head back to the locker, push my apron and hat in, grabbing my purse. I didn’t plan to drive since lunch was only thirty minutes; I would eat in a restaurant nearby. As I head to the door, Ainge walks in, returning from his lunch.

“What are you having for lunch today?”I think for a while, trying to find the name of a restaurant in her memories, but nothing came to mind.

“I don’t know,” I reply, unaware if real-world restaurants were in the novel.

" Just avoid Luciano’s; Noah and his gang of thugs are there.”

“Noah?”I could feel a twisted smile spread across my face. That asshole who treats book Nygeria like shit is the reason why I’m here. I can’t wait to meet him, but I didn’t need Ainge knowing how I felt, so I smiled at him for his kind warning.

" I’ll be sure to.”I hurry to the door then stop, remembering I wanted to ask him about Trish.

“Hey” He turns and looks at me.

“Do you know why Trish hates me?”He looks at me as if I’m crazy.

“You don’t know?”

“Well, if I did, I wouldn’t be asking you now, would I?”He looks at me skeptically for a minute before responding.

“She has a thing for Noah; she hates the fact that he gives you some much attention.”

“But he bullies me. I reply, finding the answer more than a little ludicrous.

" Yeah, well, it’s still more than she gets from him. He doesn’t know she exists.”

" If she wants to trade places with me, I gladly would.”

" So would she,” he replies.

I scoff as I walk out, clenching my fist; what a coincidence all roads led back to Noah. Well, it’s more plot from the stupid author who wrote this foolish book than an actual coincidence. Everything revolves around Noah because, of course, Nygeria needs to be reminded of his existence every fucking second. It’s time I meet this annoying pest, the cause of all my problems.