Leuthold Preparatory | ✓

Chapter Fourteen

Pacing

Noah couldn't stop the cold sweat that engulfed his; his hands shook as he put on his spring uniform, the cream jacket and dark trousers, the dark shirt and brightly-colored tie. He thought he might pass out after he stepped into the sunlight and realized how warm it was.

There was no doubting it, Noah thought as he made his way to the castle, it was May.

Unable to shake his own panic, Noah tried to keep his hands in his pockets as he passed other students in their spring uniforms, many were out and about, friendlier and more organized than they had ever been. He watched them with stares that lasted too long; who were they? He thought, new students? New people? Were classes no longer going on?

It ran ramped through his mind as he made his way through the crowded halls until he found his way to the botanical gardens and spotted Mi Na and Hanna inside.

"Mi Na," Noah gave a harsh whisper to her when he approached, he hadn't realized how out-of-breath he was until he tried to speak.

"Noah—woah," Mi Na's voice dramatically dropped and she stared at him widely.

Noah felt his sweaty face with his hand and caught a glimpse of himself on the shiny tool next to the pot Mi Na was had ahold of. A trowel, Hannil had called it. Noah could see his hair had fallen down, yet it was shorter than he remembered, flatter too. His face was clammy and his eyes had dark circles beneath them.

"What day is it?" Noah asked Mi Na.

"Um, what?"

"Today—what is today?" Noah gasped.

"Monday," Mi Na replied before she continued: "Are you alright? You should go to the infirmary."

Noah jumped back at her offer, his back hit a nearby cart and he was soon quietly apologizing to the guy that stood nearby. The memory was too fresh to him, he thought. For a moment, he wondered how Liam ever convinced him that he saw nothing. That nothing had happened to him.

"What's going on?" Mi Na asked, "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine—just fine," Noah lied as he backtracked out of the garden. "Just feeling a bit sick is all."

"You look terrible," Hanna commented.

"I'm fine!" Noah replied a bit too forcefully, the silence was deafening around him and forced him back out of the garden.

He cursed his anxiety that he had left yet another source of information alone. It weighed on him as it had in his bedroom. The way Mi Na narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a long while worried him, but he had little idea how to handle her or the situation he faced.

As he went back out into the corridor, he pondered if he should try to talk to Liam again. They were roommates, if anyone saw him the most it was Liam. He might be blind but Noah knew that he couldn't have simply been missing for months without him noticing.

A new thought struck him when he heard some voices shout outside. A game of rugby had appeared to start in the yard; through the window, Noah could see Hannil running through the grass, only stopped when he was tackled harshly to the ground. Noah flinched at the contact, but Hannil seemed unfazed, he got up and helped up those around him.

"You can't trust him." Liam's voice rang as it did earlier throughout his head. "What is there to trust about him? He's loud and noisy, he won't follow school rules because he thinks he's above them. He doesn't care about other people. Besides, Headmaster Berg told you to stay away from him. I think that it is a good idea, his idiocy and artistry would rub off on you."