The Prince

Part 49

By the time Noah returned to school, everyone were buzzing as they streamed towards the electronic noticeboards indicating their current standing in their respective years. He turned the opposite way. He couldn't stomach the thought of getting kicked out for his poor performance.

"Congratulations, Noah!" Tsukasa came up to him with a wide smile.

They hadn't yet had time to talk properly, but since the hospital, Tsukasa had been more affectionate towards him, which he enjoyed, but he still didn't want to get his hopes up in case it was all out of pity.

"Huh?" He asked curiously. Why would Tsukasa congratulate him so early in the morning?

"Haven't you been to the noticeboard yet?"

"I thought that I'd wait for this afternoon before heading there. I don't want to have bad news so early in the morning," he grimaced.

"Well, there's no point in waiting until the end of the day," Tsukasa informed him, grabbing his hand. "Come on, I'll show you." His excitement was palpable as he led Noah down the passage.

Looking up at the board, Noah couldn't find his name and started to worry that he'd fallen so far behind in the rankings that he was being kicked out.

"Look, to the right," Tsukasa excitedly pointed.

"Top ten, class B?" Noah couldn't believe what he was seeing. How was that possible when it felt like he got every question in the exam wrong? It took him a minute to come back to life after the cold wave of shock that ran over him.

"Is that... is that my name?" he asked in awe, still sure that his eyes were deceiving him.

"It is," Tsukasa grinned, his arm around his shoulders.

"Not too bad, Class B," Noah heard a quiet voice beside him, turning to see Skye looking up at the board.

"Guys, this can't be real, can it?"

"It's real enough," Skye responded. "I knew you could do it, even if you are a bit slow."

"It wouldn't be a celebration without a well-placed insult from the Prince," Noah remarked, sparing Skye a glance before turning back to the board again, his eyes sparkling.

"Thanks, guys, you really came through for me," he grinned at the two.

---

 "Hey, backstabber,"

"Oh, hi, Travis. Why am I a backstabber?" he asked, sitting at a table overlooking the grounds.

"Because you moved up a spot or thirty, I got bumped down. Thanks, mate."

"Yeah," he sighed, "I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I got bumped to the top ten! Mate, not so long ago I was in Class C!"

"Okay, no need to get all excited," Travis gave him a pained look. "What are you doing to celebrate?"

"Nothing; there aren't that many options anyway." He briefly looked down at his tray. Who would he celebrate with? Who was he making proud of his good grades? He was alone, with no family to anchor him.

"Well, we can go for burgers on Saturday. I'm only working the afternoon shift." Travis suggested, watching his friend's face carefully.

"Sure, that sounds like a plan! I have the day off, which is perfect." He smiled, looking forward to the weekend's celebration, even if it was only the two of them.

"Don't eat breakfast; we're going to stuff ourselves!" He laughed, getting up. "Well, I'll see you around." Travis grabbed his bag and left the cafeteria.

Noah sat a while longer staring through the windows. He had to decide what he wanted to do. He didn't want to move back to his brother or the house that reminded him of all his grief. There were the offers of Skye's parents and his grandmother, but they've already done so much for him that he'd feel bad relying on them more than he already has.

The other options were too unpleasant to think of since he was still a minor and still technically under his brother's care. Shaking his head, he let out a slow breath. He needed to decide at some point, and putting it off made life much more uncertain.

Going through the rest of the day caught between elation and joy at his achievement and loneliness and hurt that he didn't have anyone to share it with. With a heavy heart he slowly walked to the bus stop, surprised that the other two were nowhere in sight.

Since he'd left the hospital, they had all stayed together at Skye's parents, even Tsukasa. He was so used to having the two around that it felt odd walking home by himself. His two hotties have turned out to be the best friends he's had, he thought with a smile. At first it felt odd to be around everybody, but they soon found a rhythm that worked and restored order to the chaos that always loomed over the house. Or at least the rules that Skye's dad, Raymond, had imposed kept the peace and everything running.

With a sigh he looked at the door in front of him. Will this be home? Putting his hand on the handle, he briefly thought of his parents, hoping they were proud of him, before pushing the door open.