BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (A TWISTED VERSION) ONGOING

Chapter 7

KENDAL

    I come to school the next day wearing a seriously over sized sweater, you can imagine my bad luck when the one day I wore a big sweater, was the day when the sun shined brightly, you can imagine how many people laughed and teased me because of my choice of outfit. I didn't care though, I had to hide the bruises my step mom gave me and also even if I wore shorts or tank tops and all other skimpy outfits that teenage girls wear these days, I would still get laughed at and bullied so why bother. I'm walking down the hall keeping my head down to avoid unwanted attention but well with my choice of dressing, all the attention is actually on me, I hear laughter and I look up to see my sister Ashley with her groupies walking down the hall looking more like a slut than normal, can't she wear different clothing for once in her life, I turn around to avoid her but I bump into someone else,

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me," I say already putting up my hands to protect myself, the person just holds my hands and I feel tingling immediately, I look up through my thick rimmed glasses to look at the person, I see Noah looking at me with a look I couldn't decipher, he gently puts my hands down and continues staring at me, I didn't even know when the whole hallway went quiet, I just hear people talking and pointing at us,

"OH MY GOD"

"What is he doing?"

"Why is he touching garbage?"

"Has she charmed him like she did with the others?"

"What a slut"

They just kept on talking but Noah kept on staring at me, I just shuffle on my feet nervously not knowing what to do or what is going on, I then decide to walk past him but he grabs my wrist and brings me in front of him again, this makes everyone gasp and the talking gets louder and the insults become more unbearable, I put my head down trying to hide my tears but Noah lifts my head so that I can look at him properly,

"Don't hide your face from me," he says with a soft voice, that shocked me, I know Noah and I can be classified as kind of friends now but this is the first time he is talking to me like this in school, he then turns to the other students and glares at them coldly, I'm surprised that they did not turn to ice statue with his stare, his steely grey eyes regarded all of them one after the other,

"Get out" he said in a calm but cold voice, immediately everyone dispersed the hallway, I'm sure this is going to be the latest gossip in school now,

"Are you alright?" he turns towards me and his grey eyes soften, I nod at him and look down again playing with the hem of my sweater,

"C'mon, lets get you to class" he says then puts his arm around my shoulder and we walk to my first class,

"But wait, do we have the same class this period?" I say stopping and looking up at him a bit,

"Hmm, I don't know, lemme me check" he says then brings out his schedule from his pocket,

"I have History with Mr Greymore" he says then looks at me for confirmation, I smile a little and nod at him,

"Thats my class too," he nods then together we heard to our first class of the day.

Its lunch time already and I'm here under my spot in the school enjoying the hot but good weather, when Noah and I walked into class together, everyone immediately started talking, I would want to leave but Noah made sure that I was by his side through out, he even switched seats just so that he could sit next to me, I received a lot of glares from both boys and girls especially from my sister Ashley,

"I'm so dead," I say then relax my head on the tree and close my eyes a bit, the sun is just too hot so I decided to take my sweater of since no one is here with me, I take my sweater of and lay it beside me then I relax further on the tree, I almost doze of until I feel something, more like someone staring at me, I turn and I see Noah again, standing a few feet away from where I am, my jaw drops, but no one comes here but me, how did he know this place, he walked slowly towards me until he was standing right in front of me, he looked down at me while I looked up at him, okay this is awkward,

"Where did you get those bruises on your arm from?" he says as he crouches in front of me, he takes my hand forcefully but gently at the same time, I almost gasp form the sparks I feel, what is happening to me? I look into his eyes and I see anger with worry in them, why does he care about me all of a sudden?

"Its nothing" I mumble out,

"Don't tell me that, what really happened? is it Ashley or is it your step mom? who did it, I swear the person will pay," he says and his grip on my arm tightens and tightens until it started hurting,

"Noah you are hurting me, let me go" I say with tears brimming my eyes already, his face softens again and he lets me go, he lets out a sigh and runs his fingers through his hair in frustration,

"Why do you care so much for me all of a sudden? you didn't even care if I existed before but now you are standing up for me, walking me to class, and even missing lunch for me, why?"

He smiles at me, one of his rare smiles and it makes him look breath taking,

"Well Kendal, I thought that after our time together yesterday, I thought we were friends, you wound me darling" he says and places his hand on his chest in a mock hurt, I raise my eyebrow at him at the nickname, darling, since when

"Just because we got to know each other better doesn't mean we can be friends, you can just go back to ignoring me in school" I say as I cross my hands in front of my chest, his face falls and he just stares at me,

"But what if I don't want to?" 

"Then my life at school will be more hellish than it already is, please Noah, I know that you are trying to be a good friend but just stay away from me, people hated me before, they will just hate me even more than they do and my life will becoming a living breathing hell," I say still looking at him, he just stares at me without saying anything, I stand up from the floor along with my sweater, I face him again to see him still staring at me, well I guess he has nothing left to say, I walk past him, I continue walking until he calls my name,

"No, I won't stay away from you, if anything I'm going to help you, I'm not going to abandon you just like that, you have been alone for far too long, its time for you to have someone to always be there for you, luckily you have me, Mason and Drew standing by you, you don't need to worry about those people anymore Kendal," he says to me still standing in the place I left him, I stood there stunned at what he said, I didn't know what to say to him, so I just put on my sweater and walk back into the school, I never once looked back but I could still feel his burning gaze at my back, what will a boy like Noah want with a girl like me?