The Aegis of Noah Hart

21-Can You Help?

"So guys, I just wanted to apologize for being short with you all the past few days."

"I don't think you've been short for several years, Noah. Certainly not thin."

"That's not what I meant Alex!"

Noah bites his tongue as he notices some students in study hall looking in his direction. Turning back to Alex, Ty, and Kay, he sighs and speaks a little softer.

"What I mean is I kept out on the...job...for too long, maybe a little obsessed, but I know I need you guys, my friends to this."

Ty absentmindedly scratches his head before rubbing his nose as he speaks.

"Do this? You mean go to school or be Ae-"

Alex and Kay both lunge forward to cover his mouth. Tychon startles then laughs nervously as they release him.

"Guess we need an alibi for you in the event your out or we have to give account of your actions, Noah."

Noah turns to Alex and nods.

"That would be smart. I probably should have thought of that before coming back to school. Ugh...I still have to be careful about leaving class, too. I'm trying not to go during academic periods at all, but sometimes...sometimes its serious."

The boys all sit and think for a moment. Only Kalista smiles as she shares her idea. Noah groans before she even soaks knowing it already.

"I think that Noah has to go to the bathroom. It is what you say after all, why not give more backstory. You lost a parent, a life altering event, and now you have anxiety..."

"First off, don't smile about your genius plan as you talk about my mother, second, were you reading her things?"

Noah in fact found the image of certain medical journals that his mother subscribed to on his bed, freshly examined by none other than the princess herself.

"OK sorry," she says more seriously, "but admit it makes sense. You have the trauma which can have physical symptoms like breath loss and irrational bowls syndrome."

"That's loss of breath and irritable bowel syndrome, but, ugh, you may have a point. I'll try to tell the nurse that story when I see her."

Kay grins.

"OK," Ty asks, "if anyone says anything, Noah isn't at home because he's an Alibi," he lowers his voice," not the same as an Aegis. And also if he leaves class, it's because he's getting irritable."

Noah and the others look at Ty in disbelief and nod before going back to their work.

Noah smirks to himself as he overhears the chatter of Nick Pina and Larson Smith on the bleachers above him.

Staring blankly at his Physics book, Noah looks at a diagram showing an arrow pointing to touching boxes. The caption above reads "Dynamics: Multiple Objects 3." Keeping the book right below his nose, Noah sighs and focuses his mind on the other students in study hall.

"Oh my gosh! How did I miss this? They got the whole thing on camera!"

"I know right!"

Noah can see Leigh Thompson and her friend Sarah Walker looking at a news clip on her cell phone. Watching the video, he recognizes the story as his journey to a zoo.

Noah watches the clip in his head. The video is actually a recording made by a man watching his wife and four year old son look over a bridge into an exhibit at a zoo in India. The man waves towards his family. On the screen, viewers can see his hand as well as the boy waving to each other as the mother holds her son in her arms. It's a moment of pure joy. Then the railing in front of the boy comes loose.