Alice pulled the hot ramen bowl from the beeping microwaved and quickly placed it on the side counter as she finished putting the other seasoning packets. Her fingers were burning, and she leaned over to the sink nearby to run them over with cold water.
Going back to her ramen after wiping her hands on her suit jacket, her mouth watered at the scent of sesame oil in the air. Alice was hungrier than she first anticipated when she picked up all the snacks.
They moved back and forth to their table after they finished heating up what they needed. She dropped the last steaming packaging on the table, shaking her hand to alleviate the burning sensation before sitting back in her chair and blowing out a breath, making a strand of hair fly up.
Noah grabbed Alice the chopsticks she left at the counter, placing them down in front of her with a distinct click. She lifted her eyebrows at him but shrugged off the feeling. It was whatever since it wasn't her problem. Alice picked up the chopsticks and rolled the pieces together between her hands in a fast motion until they broke.
Alice pressed her hands together in thanks mirroring Noah before digging in first. She didn't bother to eat pretty since eating ramen was a comfort food. Blowing on the steaming noodles, she hummed when the familiar flavors burst into her mouth.
Noah smiled over at her when he came to realize that his version of an expensive meal was her version of a cheap meal at a convenience store.
Alice patted her flat stomach after cleaning all the food and threw away the trash along with Noah's who surprisingly finished all of his as well. She could tell that his noodles were soggy but didn't bother pointing it out to him since he already seemed to be on edge.
He had changed back into business mode after she returned with a cleaning wipe for the table. Noah grabbed his materials and lifted them while she tidied up the place before sitting back in her seat with a yawn, satiated.
Noah sat his laptop back down and lifted the screen, putting in his password to unlock the homepage and bring up the material in question, his eyes flicking to the screen as he scanned the material.
She tapped her fingers on her arm while waiting before asking the imposing question on her mind from earlier with all the blank sheets in his notebook that rivaled a new one.
Alice leaned forward in her seat. "Why don't you take notes, Noah?"
"I don't need to," he responded without up. The clicking of the keyboards seemed to fill up his answer. He continued his train of thought after a moment. "I memorize what comes from the teacher and only go over the fundamental stuff with people."
She nodded. Many people did that. It was efficient and got the job done, but she couldn't help pass a barb for the fun of it. "Some material is in the textbooks too, you know."
He glanced up at her with a smirk. "I do know which is why I also read. I just don't tend to go out of my way to do any memory-enhancing tasks since once I read or hear it once, I get it."
"What?" Alice exclaimed in surprise. Some people had it easy. She wished that she could say the same since it would have saved her so much heart and headaches. "Your memory must be amazing."
He shrugged. "But for some classes, I scribble in the pages to keep the teacher happy."
Alice laughed. "Hm, such a hardship. I'm the total opposite, you know. I have to study really hard to maintain my grades, Noah."
Noah leaned back in his chair. "It's different for everyone. What you're doing now works for you since you're also the top student, so there's no need to look at anyone else."
Alice snickered. "Love the advice."
Noah lifted his fingers from the key to loosen his tie with a hint of a smile on his lips. "Of course. I have to look out for my friend."
The way he said it was like how she hesitated over the word to her mother with a slight pause and raise in pitch. She wanted to punch him but decided that violence was never the answer nor did she want to make a mess of his face. Alice rolled her eyes. He was lucky that she was feeling merciful.
Noah shifted the laptop screen to her. "I can't get access to that document. None of my friends have it either, because they were out for a charity basketball tournament downtown."
Alice brightened when he showed her what it was supposed to be. "I do have that one. Claudia sent it to me to proofread hers. Let me send the clean one to you."
She pulled out her laptop and quickly logged in to find the worksheet that Claudia sent her with the link. He put in his email when she turned her laptop over to him, and she leaned her head in her open palm taking in his concentrated face that was pulled into a frown with his soft brows coming together.
Alice sighed since she knew that he would take a while to finish up some uploading details and whatnot to finish up his document, so she took out her homework as well to get a head start. She was quite average at test taking among the rest, however, studying ahead of the curriculum was what truly put her ahead.
She would meticulously go over one topic, completely committing it to memory before she moved on to the next topic that her classes did have yet to reach so that when the tests came, she would already know that material. She wasn't going to lie and say it came easy to her when it didn't since she needed to put the work into making the rewards happen.
It was the studying hack that she picked up during middle school when she was bored during class and couldn't care less about what was happening during the day. She would curiously browse through the end of the workbooks given and see what was coming ahead. Alice then began taking notes when she got home, carefully organizing them in notebooks to help her study.