Luna

Chapter Two: Paying Attention

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On my way over to Noah's desk, I grabbed one of the robotics kits. I took a long time selecting one, and it rattled under my arm, despite how slowly I was walking. How much time could I waste meandering around the classroom?

Looking at the clock, I sighed. Apparently not much.

Noah was sitting back in his chair, his ink-smudged fingers twirling his pen absentmindedly as I approached. I wondered if that was a sign he was as agitated as I was.

"Um..."

Okay, Luna, you are an intelligent, sixteen-year-old human being with a good grasp of the English language. You can do better than that.

"Can I sit?" Great.

My bag slumped on my shoulders as I set the kit down. Noah's eyes flickered toward me, and then the kit, and then back again.

"What if I said no?" I realised I had never really heard Noah's voice before, nor did I care to imagine what it would have sounded like. But the warm, husky voice with its hint of boyishness was not what I expected.

Not only was I going to fail this class, but I was being rejected by Noah Hadley. Perfect. I might as well die now. My face fell completely.

Noah ran a hand through his hair, and the unruly mess became even more disheveled. "Okay. Luna Khan can't take a joke. Got it."

A joke? Noah was making a joke? He was positively the last person I ever expected to laugh easily with.

My eyes narrowed as I slid into the chair across from his. "I can take a joke," I replied haughtily.

Noah's lips lifted in the tiniest of smirks. And then he shrugged, shoulders rising and falling underneath that sweater in one easy movement. "Not from what I've heard. Uptight, uneasy, bossy... those words come to mind. Your sense of humor didn't quite make it into your reputation."

My mouth dropped open. Who even was Noah Hadley to say that to me? "Who did you hear that from?" I replied scathingly, before I could stop myself. "One of your imaginary friends?"

Noah's playful smirk was gone in seconds. Sure, his words stung, but they weren't as pointedly true as my own. His expression immediately went blank. I could tell nothing about how he felt. Honestly, his hazel eyes became as hard to decipher as a pitch-black room. He didn't look hurt, or bothered... but, he didn't look anything.

Noah clicked open the kit with the hand not preoccupied with his pen spinning. I was glad to have something else to look at than his expressionless face. "Right. Standard robotics kit." He dropped the pen, and his black-smudged fingers rifled through the pieces. "This lab should be easy enough. I know you suck at physics, so I guess I'll have to do it all. I don't want you to ruin this grade for me."

I had leaned forward in my seat, peering at the little pieces Noah was playing with. But at his words, I sat back in surprise. Was he really going to do the lab for us? Without even trying to get an expensive dinner out of it?

I should have taken the offer. I really should have. But again, how was I going to get into medical school if I couldn't pass a simple physics lab?

"No," I said defiantly, picking up a wheel and frowning. "No deal."

Noah looked confused, but I didn't give him a chance to contradict me. "Also, how do you know that I suck at physics?"

Noah looked at me as if I had grown six heads. His eyebrows furrowed over those penetrating hazel eyes. "Because," he said in that low voice, the one that could trick a person into thinking he was a totally normal, perhaps even charming, teenager. "I pay attention."

I realised in that moment that everything I knew about Noah Hadley came from rumors and wild, adolescent imaginations. If I hadn't been paired up with him in class, I'd have gone on not even sparing him another thought.

I didn't pay attention to Noah at all. I knew nothing about him.

My cheeks flushed. So what? I told myself, wildly erasing one of the smudges on my graphing paper. Noah Hadley had sent the school into a rippling mess freshman year. He had locked himself and his English class in their classroom, for god sakes. I shuddered, remembering the incident.

I wasn't in his class, but the rumors were that Noah had burst into his classroom, immediately locked the door behind him and refused to let anyone leave.

The official explanation was that Noah had thought everyone was in danger. That he did what he thought necessary. Danger of what? No one knew. But in everyone's opinion now, the only danger, in the end, was Noah himself.

That stroll down memory lane was all it took for my apprehension to flare. I scooted further away from Noah, who looked back at me knowingly.

We spent the rest of the class in silence.

* * *

"I heard," Dahlia said in a serious voice, carrying her lunch tray to one of the tables outside.

It was October, but the weather was still cooperating. We found a spot in the sun and basked in its warmth.

"Oh, Dal," I said, my voice shaking with all of my suppressed emotions. "Ms. Desmond hates me, I swear. She knows what he did. And now I'm stuck with him."

"It's the school's fault," Dahlia said, swirling one of her fries in ketchup. "Noah should be in some private institution, being taken care of by professionals."

I caught Noah exiting the school doors. Ever since physics class, it felt like I was catching glimpses of him everywhere. I coveted the days when he was invisible to me, completely irrelevant to my life. He made his way to a cluster of tables on the other end of the lawn.

Dahlia followed my gaze, and we both watched as he settled himself at one of the empty tables, not even looking around for someone to sit with.

"He looks so normal," Dahlia mused. Her blue eyes, which looked even bluer in contrast to all of the mascara she was wearing, sparkled mischievously. "He's really quite attractive, isn't he? And tall, too." Her gaze slid over to me, and for some unknown reason, I blushed.

Sure, Noah was handsome. In that weird, dark, ghoulish kind of way.

"Don't even go there, Dahlia," I muttered dryly. And Dahlia grinned, her blonde hair whipping around her in the wind.

"Maybe crazy can be good in ... certain situations," she continued slyly.

I buried my face in my hands, feeling them radiate with heat. "I need new friends."

Dahlia only laughed in response.

But I couldn't help it. My eyes made their way over to Noah, who was absorbed in his notebook. One of his hands ruffled through his hair again, and I could only imagine how much ink threaded through that dark hair of his.

Suddenly, Noah lifted his head, and our eyes met. An odd feeling rose in my chest, and I suppressed it as adamantly as I could. He raised a brow in surprise.

I pay attention.

I blinked, and quickly looked away. I was starting to pay attention too, and I didn't know to feel about that.

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A/N: I hope you're enjoying Luna's journey so far! I'm pretty excited about writing the next few chapters, and getting into Noah's history. Hopefully it keeps you engaged!

Any comments or critiques or anything else really appreciated!