I got in early that day, I was so excited to see Noah again even though realistically I knew he would be no earlier than usual. So I waited, and waited.
Until someone walked through the door. But that person wasn't Noah, she was a short girl who had her eyes glued to her phone as she walked to her desk, managing to sit down without taking her eyes off the screen. Crazy curls of caramel hair framed her face, and you could note the rolled up skirt at her waistband, showing off a tad more thigh than acceptable.
As more and more people entered the room, I sat there, getting my hopes up every time. Once the tutor walked in however, I felt defeated and tucked my head in to look at the desk.
The room felt lifeless. Well it was far from it, everyone was loud and involved in small conversations among one another, but I felt entirely disconnected from it all. I wanted a friend by my side. I wanted Noah by my side.
Perhaps he was just late, I thought to myself trying to perk up. "I'm sure he'll be here soon" I whispered under my breath.
The bell rang and everyone packed up their stuff. "Harvey," My name was called. I scurried to the front avoiding the stares from the few people still lingering in the classroom. I hated that. "Its come to my attention that you haven't been settling in all that well." I tried to open my mouth but she continued, "You don't seem to have made any friends yet,"
Although it was obvious she was trying to continue, I felt offended and responded quite snappily, "Noah is my friend."
She got a concerned look on her face as she spoke her next words, "But Noah is not the most reliable. He is a good student when he is actually here, but you need some others you can spend time with." She seemed to almost plead, as if she was worried about it.
"Noah is ill." I didn't mean to but I had locked eyes with my tutor and there was no turning back. "Be concerned about him." And with that I chickened out and speed walked out the room to my first class.
Why would I be so idiotic as to talk to a teacher like that. She was obviously just worried I would be alone. I am alone, at least today. I paused at the realisation. Noah is having a sick day, I hope he's okay. Maybe I should've got his number or address so I could check up on him. Is he going to miss the work? Should I pick up an extra homework sheet for him? How would I get it to him? Is he even at home when he's sick? Oh, what if he's in hospital, I hate those places, is he there often? He made yesterday an amazing day for me, and it's not fair that I can't make today an amazing day for him, especially as he will probably feel so awful when he's sick.
By the time I reached the classroom my head was overflowing with worry for Noah and I could barely concentrate on my work.
The state of constant rushing thoughts continued to lunch. Due to this I walked into the back of someone. A short boy who was talking amongst a group of other teens. They all looked at me.
The girl with caramel curls from class gasped and pointed at me, "You're the new kid!"
"Oh Noah was spamming the group chat talking about you last night." I had to look up to see the tall boy that the sentence emitted from, and as I took his height in, the cogs turned in my mind and it clicked into place.
"Is he okay?" I blurted, without giving myself a chance to think.
A few chuckles erupted from the group. "Yeah, he'll be fine." The short boy gave a soft smile and a nod.
"You're pretty worried about him, huh?" The curly haired girl spoke, raising her eyebrows suggestively. I don't know what she was suggesting, but it was definitely something.
"Leave the poor kid alone," another girl piqued, she had deep brown hair, with slight waves and blue eyes that soothed you in her presence. "You must be Harvey, I'm Becca." She gave a sweet smile with her words.
"I'm Ben," The tall boy sent a wink my way. He had a dark curly mop of hair sat atop his head and his hazel eyes gave a seductive sparkle with his wink.
"Gilbert," the short boy averted his shiny blue eyes at his feet as he spoke his name, showing off his pitch black hair even more.
"And I'm Jessica!" Crazy curls all but shouted, luckily the dining hall was busy enough for it to go unnoticed.
"Nice to meet you, I didn't realise Noah was so popular." I tried cracking a joke to push away some of my awkward feelings. It paid off.
Chuckles broke out from the group I had found myself within. "So Harvey, you were the one that stole our precious Noah yesterday?" Ben questioned as the lunch line grew shorter.
"Actually I think he stole me. I got kidnapped after tutor." I replied, knowing that I never would've had the guts to speak to the boy myself.
The laughter returned, bringing a lopsided smile to my face. Jessica pulled out her phone once again and within seconds a video call was on and everyone was fighting to be on screen.
Calling Noah
Noah answered pretty quickly and his face appeared on screen. He was slightly propped up by his pillows, and you could see the bed frame just behind him. His eyes looked exhausted, and his breathing seemed heavy but he had a sweet smile on his face.
"What's so important you needed to call me." Noah spoke through a laboured chuckle.
"Look who we found!" Jessica shouted, causing everyone to part and leave the camera pointing directly at me. I awkwardly waved at the phone, but Noah blocked his video immediately.
"Oh my god guys be nice to him. And don't show him my face when I look like shit." You could still see me just standing in frame, staring awkwardly at my feet.
"Noah, put your camera back on" Gilbert spoke, "I'm sure he doesn't care what you look like." He pulled the camera towards himself taking the spotlight off me.
"He's like a lost puppy without you." Ben said standing tall above Gilbert. He wrapped his arm around the smaller boy and made a pouting face.
"He has been worried about you," Becca confirmed pushing infront of the boys. "Why didn't you tell him where you are?"
"It's not like I have his number, I just met him yesterday." Noah groaned.
"What's your number Harvey!" Jessica shouted though I was just stood next to her.
"Urm, pass me the phone and I can send it in the messages." I reached my hand out and surprisingly the phone landed in my hands. I typed it out and sent it, trying to hold the phone at an angle were I would still look presentable.
When I returned to the call Noah's face was back again staring at the screen with a smirk. When he saw me notice, he winked and ended the call. I handed the phone back over to Jessica. When they realised the call ended they all started complaining.
We reached the food and they invited me to sit with them, which I, of course, accepted. They were good people, caring but not too uptight for a joke here or there. And they were Noah's friends. My tutor can't say anything to me now, they must want me to be there, or they wouldn't have asked me to sit with them. I'm sure we would be great friends.
During lunch they all added me on facebook, Jessica and Ben even waved to me in messenger. So I just waved back in person. I hoped they liked my stupid jokes, I didn't really have much else to offer them.
Jessica was still going on about not getting a proper goodbye by the time lunch ended. I didn't mind though, at least he let me see his face. He always looks beautiful.