2.12 Lost and Found

"How did it go last night with Noah?" Lorie asked innocently.

Leia began to blush. "Oh...uhmm I found out a lot about him...well, I mean the memory thing..."

"What are you mumbling about Leia? You have a crush on him, don't you?" She snickered.

"No!" Leia answered quickly. "I just....well, forget it. I meant to say that he got some of his memory back..." Her voice trailed off.

"Really? He got his memory back!? How is that even possible?" Lorie asked excitedly.

"Not all of it. Jut about this girl he used to date. Corrine. We were at the bakery and he said it felt familiar. Turns out he remembers his high school sweetheart who works there."

Lorie frowned at the thought of another girl into her imaginary love triangle. It was obvious she was starting to have feelings for Noah. How could she not? He knew things about her that she couldn't even tell her own sister...and he vowed to protect her. She enjoyed joking around with her sister, but she knew she was too shy to get Noah's attention on her own and Noah was too oblivious to notice her sister's crush. She felt bad, but only one girl could capture Noah's heart and she was sure it would be her and not her dorky sister.  "So, what now?"

"We think that if he goes and meets her...like has a face to face conversation with her, he'll get his memory back, or some more of it."

"Would that really work?" Lorie asked.

"We won't know until we try, we just have to go and find her."

"Leave it to me!" Lorie exclaimed. There was no way she would let her sister be the one to trigger Noah's memory. Lorie wanted the attention and admiration from the pink haired male all to herself. Plus, she wanted to scope out this Corrine girl. She could be competition.

Later that day, Noah and Leia took to the chess table. After their day out yesterday, the two became close. Noah understood her original mistrust and Leia's infatuation grew more and more. No matter how had she fought it, she found herself giving in to whatever Noah said. She couldn't get him out of her mind. Thats how she found herself playing chess. She wasn't the best player, but she could grasp the basics. Noah on the other hand was incredible. Lorie was close by, watching the two.

"Check and mate!" Noah beamed.

"I almost had you!" Leia cried.

"No you didn't," Noah chuckled.

"How good is he?" Lorie asked, coming over.

"Really good...I can't even come close to beating him," Leia admitted.

"So are you like some kind of genius, Noah?" Loria turned her attention to him. He just shrugged. "Do you know how much money we could make with you? You can battle those ranked chess opponents. There's a crash prize if you can reach the top."

"That's impossible. the top player is the best in all of Lucky Palms. They've been practicing for years..." Leia interjected.

"So what? I think he can win and then move on to regionals. Can you imagine? We'll be swimming in cash."

"Oh come on. Even if he is that good, we can't exploit him for money!" Leia protested.

"Sure you can." Noah broke in. "You guys need the money right? I can help. It's the least I can do for all of the hospitality you girls have shown me."

"No...you don't have to..." Leia said softly.

"It's settled then!" Lorie's voice drowned out Leia's.

So, that's how Noah found himself at the chess table every free second he had. He had finally found some sort of purpose in his life, even if it was just chess.

That night, Lorie insisted that the three go to the beach near their house.

"Why are we here again?" Leia frowned. She thought it was a stupid idea but Noah seemed to give in to Lorie's demands just as easily as she had given in to his...She tried to shake the jealousy out of her head, but it was impossible. She was falling for him, and the one person she had left in her life was the blockade.

"Corrine is supposed to be here," Lorie smirked. She was acting as if she had just discovered the cure for a famous disease..

"What...really!?" Noah asked, quickly straightening out his clothes. "How do I look?"  She leaned over and fixed his hair and gave him a nod of approval in which he let a sigh out in return. He wasn't ready for this. the crazy girl could have warned him about who was going to be here.

"How do you even know she's going to be here?" Leia, the voice of reason spoke out.

"I know some people." Lorie shrugged.

"Noah...are you okay with all of this?" Leia asked him, with no response in return. He just stared ahead, with his hand on his heart.

"That's her." He mumbled. "It's really her. Corrine Blantan, my first love."

"With her husband." Leia cut in.

"She's married?" Lorie inwardly smiled.

Noah ignored the two girls and slowly made his way over to the orange haired beauty. She had taken his breath away. It was really her...and he remembered. 

"Corrine?" Noah said, breathlessly.

She turned from her husband's eyes, wondering who had the nerve to pull her away from the one moment they had together away from their child. She took a step back, shocked. "Noah...?" 

"I don't remember how long it's been, I'm sorry." Noah whispered. His heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't control his emotions.

"What are you talking about...?" She frowned. "You remember what I told you last time we ran into each other?"

"No. I don't remember anything at all. Just you and me. I can't remember anything else."

Corrine's husband watched silently for a moment before he jumped into the conversation. "Hi, I'm Curtis .How do you know my wife?"

"We umm..well, we went to high school together," Noah said nervously. "I'm just shocked to see her here is all..." Noah looked away. He could tell that now wasn't the time to be bringing up the past.

"Oh...well why didn't you say so!?" He grinned. "You have to come over tomorrow for dinner. Corrine and you can catch up. It'll be great. I'll cook some things on the grill. Are you seeing anyone? You could bring them over too, I don't mind at all."

"Oh..uhm, thanks. That sounds great. I'd love to come over." 

"Great, here's my address. Be there by five." Curtis smiled and waved him off. "We have to get back to our daughter. We've left her with the babysitter for too long."

"Right, it was great seeing you again, Corrine. And a pleasure to meet you Curtis." Noah shook their hand one last time. As the two strolled away, he could only see Corrine's sad smile.

The ride home was silent. After their encounter, both Leia and Lorie were extremely quite. Leia had fallen asleep  in the taxi, while Lorie looked out the window. She would shrug off all his attempts to talk to her.

The next day, the two girls sat in the house, helping Noah practice what he would say to Corrine and Curtis. Once he left, Leia wondered why her sister din't want to go with Noah to the dinner. He had asked both of them (together) to come and help him. Lorie said no instantly, saying she had things to take care of. Leia didn't understand, considering her sister had done nothing important since Noah lefty. Leia had to turn him down because she had to go to work. She was a teacher, and she was supposed to chaperon the school dance tonight. "I'm not feeling well." Lorie shrugged.

"You look fine." Leia said.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Lorie said angrily.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. There's some tea in the cabinet. You can put water in the microwave to boil it if you want." Leia offered. "Feel better." Something was bothering Lorie and she wished she would just admit it. For now, Leia would give her twin some space.

After Leia left, Lorie let out a loud sigh. She was finally by herself. Being alone with her thoughts wasn't exactly what she needed, but she didn't need Leia to know about her revelation. The only person she could tell would be Noah, but then again, would he believe her? Yesterday at the park, she had seen Officer Lutz. That creep. He was staring lovingly into that girl Corrine's eyes. He was a fantastic actor. He had completely encapsulated that girl in his stare and it made her sick to her stomach. She could still feel his sweaty palm on her thigh. He had taken advantage of her vulnerability. He had a daughter at home according to what Leia had told her. A daughter! Yet he was still despicable enough to do what he did to her... She needed to tell Noah, but she had no idea how he would take it.

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Sorry for the wait. I'm working on the next chapter already. The spouse poll is still open. You can vote more than once if you please. Thank you for reading!