Devil's Eye

Chapter 2

5' 8"-5' 9"

Noah should've already gotten used to such kind of jokes,but after the summer with no humiliation, his armor was weak. After reading this text, he felt a lump in his throat and a nasty shiver ran through his body.

'Get yourself together!' Noah ordered himself, put his phone away and started eating all the leftover appetizers savagely. He could feel others staring at him and tears choked him. He wanted to cry so badly. But if he had gone to the restroom to cry his eyes out, that wouldn't have left unnoticed. That would have been considered being a victory for those pranksters. He could go out for a smoke, though. God, Noah wanted to smoke so badly! But that also would have been taken as a weakness. The only right strategy, in Noah's opinion, was to be completely apathetic to the surroundings. It would have been so nice if he had felt apathy, not faked apathy. Life would have been so much easier.

"I don't recall inviting whores to my house," a loud voice addressed him. Noah flinched and almost choked on another tartlet. It was Rufus' voice, of course. That text drew his attention to the fact that Noah was not only in his house, but especially in this very room.

'The waves are rolling out to sea, the boats are rocking on the sea.'

Everybody deals with stress in their own way: some would count till ten, others would name cities and familiar streets, or even pray inside their head. Speaking of Noah, an old foreign nursery rhyme would start running in his head. His grandma taught him this rhyme. She loved the sea and Noah inherited it from her.

"I'm talking to you, Morgan!" again this loud voice, after which a beer plastic cup flashed just a couple of inches past Noah's head. The cup hit the wall and beer spilled out, pouring over all the appetizers. That was an aggressive act and probably Rufus regretted doing it almost immediately. He was the one to clean everything afterwards. It's amazing how people are willing to make sacrifices to show off in front of others.

Noah was doubtful this kind of behavior could impress anybody. Hughes had another point of view, just like his friends.

'But the storm can't scare us - captain is here with us!'

Noah put on the mask of indifference and turned to Rufus slowly, smiling like a horse.

"Did you say something, sweety?" he replied slowly, licking crumbles from his fingers deliberately.

"I said you weren't invited," announced Hughes, lounging on the couch like a king and showing everybody who's the boss here.

Those present held their breath, observing impending conflict. The party couldn't be a success without a scandal. How nice that the main dancing monkey of the university, Noah Morgan, came to this abode of the intellectuals, so they could mock him as much as they wanted!

'The sea is rough — one.'

"You're right, I wasn't," Noah agreed immediately, "Like almost the rest of the others. So what? Are you gonna kick everybody out?" he asked acidly.

"No, just you"-Rufus pointed his finger at Noah-"I don't care about the others. At least, they're not trying to moonlight at my party, giving a blowjob to anyone who asks."

'The sea is rough — two.'

"Are you afraid of competition?" Noah laughed tensely, feeling that something was coming up. Something he couldn't bear. He shouldn't have brought himself down to Rufus' level, or to anyone's level. Noah understood it clearly, but he couldn't defend himself in any other way.

Many people thought his answer was smart, even witty. Chuckles surged through the room, making Rufus angry. And now he was getting angry for real.

"I'm afraid I don't want the others to take a boiling hot shower after sharing a room with you"-he growled, frowning-"I'm really worried about the guests, that's why I don't want to see the epicenter of the infection in my house."