Alice strolled down the empty hallway with the gloomy hallway chasing her out of the academy. It was a cloudy day, so the day dragged on longer than she had hoped. Alice was able to get through it with the help of Claudia going through the motions with her, but other than that, it was truly a normal day.
The clouds that were rolling through had turned ominously dark in just a few hours after lunchtime she was able to be outside on the rooftop with Noah per usual before the rain slammed in hard.
Noah was already clonked out on the bench with his earbuds in as he took his long nap while she ate the lunch box that her mother had lovingly packed for her.
Noah stole some of her sausages that were cut into cute octopus-shaped bite sizes, and she ignored him when he took a sip out of her water bottle. She cleaned it profusely afterward, so she wasn't too worried.
After the time they spent in the hospital with his grandfather, she felt as though a wall silently broke down between them.
It was a good thing because she wasn't getting irritated at him anymore. And he tolerated her presence better. It was funny because no one was forcing them to be together.
Well, the posters that were plastered around the academy with their couple photos would say otherwise, but she got used to those and the little comments that were on the side.
The younger first-year girls would covet her position, and Alice knew that it stemmed from a place where everything that another person had would be placed on a high pedestal.
All girls went through that phase of want. The small comments of the light words such as "I would be glad to take her place" were something that she heard often.
Claudia would laugh at them not with them which would make Alice crack up since the underclassmen would also scamper after Claudia like it was nobody's business. The little competition between the classes was going well, too well in fact since the word had spread to other schools starting a new trend.
The dean was overjoyed to hear such matters since he was trying to create a whole publicity stunt. When Noah said that, Alice snorted because it was so true. The academy was already extremely popular, but the dean still wanted to contribute to that prestige and that of kind flare.
The harsh rain was coming down hard, beating down with loud echoes on the roof as she made her way down the staircase with her briefcase tucked underneath her arm. She was on classroom cleaning duty, drawing the short straw by herself, but it was fine since there wasn't much to do on the checklist that the teacher provided.
She didn't want to run through the halls, but she certainly wanted to be on her way home. Alice reached the main floor and walked through the large common area which had an overlook that spanned the five floors of the building. There were still some students lingering around the glass doors due to the rain.
They reminded her to take her umbrella out of her briefcase that she packed in the morning after her mother yelled to remind her of the weather. Despite the rain, some clubs were still up and running, and Alice decided that she dodged a bullet that way considering that she would rather not get roped in intense schedules.
Alice pushed the tall glass doors open and stood underneath the entranceway of the building that had an extending roof to cover the concrete patio for the pathway of the few steps down onto the ground. There, she opened her black umbrella with a click as the rain continued to pour down around her.
There was movement to her right, and she glanced over in the direction to see that it was Noah who was leaning against the wall near the other side of the doors. His earbuds were in, but his pale eyes that turned stormy were trained on her. He had no umbrella from what she could see just as lightning flashed overhead.
"Do you want my umbrella?" she asked.
Noah pulled out one side of his earbuds, and she took in his soaking-wet form. His hair was down which she wished she got to see more of. His gym uniform was wetter than his uniform, and the black fabric was clinging to him well. "I'm good. I'm already wet from helping the track put their equipment away."
Alice cocked her head to the side. "Then why are you just standing here? Aren't you cold?"
"I was waiting for you."
"I'm here now. Let's go."
"I just wanted to check on you."
"If you had enough time to do that, you could have helped me clean up you know?"
His low laugh was a soft breeze. "That wasn't my job."
She rolled her eyes but waved him off. "I'm kidding. I took care of it fast. Still, take my umbrella."
"It's fine. Head home before the weather gets worse."
Thunder crashed as she sighed. Alice knew when it would be a lost battle with him, and she turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Please just take it."
In answer, Noah smiled before taking off into the rain. He was wet earlier, but now he was fully drenched. Alice burst out laughing since he looked like a wet dog in the rain, but she also realized that he was walking away from her. She was about to follow him, but he stretched out a hand to tell her to stop.
"Go home, Alice."
Alice paused and looked at him steadily. With her chest rising and falling to match his, she stepped into the rain.