The food came by then with the worker taking the little number tent and tucked it under her arm before placing it down the tray and Alice thanked the worker by slightly tilting down her head with a smile.
The meals were both the same, so she just chose the ones closer to her and picked them up to put them on her side of the table before taking a long sip of her soft drink.
It was odd to see different sides of Noah, but then again, if she hadn't, then it would have been hard for her to believe that he had this side of him considering the normal stone-faced wall he liked to put up at school.
It wasn't like she was out to get him or anything, because she could hardly care less. There was just something about him that didn't sit right with her.
With him sitting across from her underneath the bright lights of the restaurant, it didn't hide the dark shadows underneath his eyes and the tired posture of his shoulders that ever so lightly slanted downwards.
She was in the academy by luck, so she didn't want to cause any large ripples in the water, but she got the feeling that the waves were soon going to crash ashore.
She didn't want to have a big presence throughout the school but knew that she had always got people watching her due to her socials which she couldn't control, but Alice also got the vibe that Noah didn't know that he commanded everyone's eyes whenever he walked into the room with the laid back personality that could make people either like or hate him.
Alice guessed that she was in the same position since she knew that students at the academy couldn't care less if she was a scholarship student, however, whenever she was caught in a pinch, it was always the first thing brought up as if it was supposed to explain everything.
To those who attended the academy on a scholarship, she hoped that they weren't getting the same treatment despite knowing that it was somewhat unavoidable no matter how likable one was.
Having gotten more background on Noah, she did understand why he acted that way and felt the need to work with his priorities all arranged in a different order than most students would have had it, but it wasn't her place to judge. If anything, she could extend her hand to help out, but she didn't know what she could offer to him.
Noah seemed to be irritated in her presence, and she didn't blame him since he was tasked against his will to take her safely home when she would rather be in any other person's company than his. She was grateful that he kept his words showing her how upright he was in that sense, but she didn't have a good grasp of his character yet.
She didn't know what first inspired their uncomfortableness for each other, but Alice guessed that the distaste somehow spawned when they were always put against one another for no reason other than entertainment from classmates. It was only from there she let her assumptions grow wild which in the future she would hope to be able to learn from.
It was unfortunate to hear that Noah's parents weren't supportive in the least since she would have assumed that he was already set for life since he was well off, but it wasn't right for her to make that assumption.
Not everyone who had money was content with their lives, and she shouldn't act higher than them when she had no place to. It was something that she still had to work on, but it was a problem that was aware of.
Money not only makes life easier, but in a way, it opens much more opportunities to those who don't have it which only made her view people in that way especially after coming to the academy.
Not everyone that she had met was nice along the way, and it didn't help that they were apart of families that were loaded with long lineages of their fingers deep in wealth. She shouldn't put different people inside of a small bin that she had mentally created since everyone had circumstances that varied from the next.
Alice quickly unwrapped the crisp red cover and took a bite of the hamburger with the aroma coming off in a tasteful fashion along with the crispy chicken tender that was encased in the bun. Chewing slowly, she hummed as it tasted as good as it looked on the order menu.
She really didn't ask for much in her schooling life, just to be able to get good grades and have nice friends in a comfortable environment. She didn't know what Noah wanted with his school life, so she asked him so.
"What do you want to do with your school life?" she asked as she swallowed her bite.
"I guess to be able to relax since I won't be getting that any time soon once I get a job in my future career," he answered slowly. "I just want to kick back and do nothing."
"Are your parents strict with your schooling?"
"I guess so," Noah replied with a pause. "It's more silent than anything since all they want is to be the best."
She lifted a shoulder. "That's natural for any parent out there."
"What is your plan after graduating?" he asked.
Alice took a sip of her drink and was surprised that he asked about her first since she knew that he wasn't overly interested in her life considering that she had rarely gotten to speak about herself during the times they were together mostly due to the fact that she was also trying to extract information from him.
"Well, I'm going to apply to multiple universities, and go for a journalism degree to hopefully become a news reporter in the future," she said.
She listed off some universities she had in mind, and Noah nodded as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Those are good ones. Aiming high, aren't you?"
Alice smiled. "Of course. I might as well."