zero ; l.h.

her

"hi, luke. i...i miss you. a lot. please call me back or text me or anything. i love you."

noelle sighed as she hung up her cell phone. he hadn't answered any calls or texts since she'd left four months ago. it was worrying her and, quite frankly, she was tired of talking to his voicemail. 

"no answer, again?" kaiden plopped down onto the couch with her, knowing all about her feeble attempts to contact luke back at queensdale.

"as always," she mumbled as she tossed her phone onto the coffee table. "i'm scared. what happened to him? he promised that we would keep in contact."

"it's been four months, ellie," her brother told her. "you're moving on with your life. maybe luke's trying to make this easier for the both of you."

"what are you talking about?"

"you're smart. you know that, no matter how much you love him, distance always wins. getting too attached just to be disappointed in the long run isn't worth it and i think luke sees that."

as stubbornly as ever, noelle refused to believe that. luke wouldn't do that to her. would he? either way, she just wanted to know that he was doing alright, that he was happy, even without her there.

"i know it's hard," kaiden rubbed her back before standing up to leave. "but just think about it, alright?"

noelle leaned her head back against the cushion of the couch. why did she leave? why couldn't she have just stayed? what if he'd done something to himself because she left? 

with that thought swarming in her mind, she'd never hated herself more.

-

school was a nightmare for noelle. she was very quiet and reserved, only talking to the one or two acquaintances she'd met since she started there.

people didn't pay attention to her much and she didn't really mind it. back in queensdale, people swarmed around her radiance constantly. however, in her new town, leighton, people tended to shy away from her cold aura. 

her parents took note of this sudden change in their daughter. her sudden mood swings, her lack of motivation to do anything but stare at her phone. she might have said she'd forgiven them for moving them away, but there was no hiding that she hadn't really forgiven them at all.

"miss devereaux," her calculus teacher's voice anchored her back to the real world. "can you please tell me the limit of the equation on page 25?"

noelle glanced at the page and back up at her teacher, almost tiredly. "there is no indeterminate form, therefore the limit does not exist."

"that is," the teacher looked haughtily down at the page, face dropping as he read the correct answer, "correct. you got lucky this time, but please do not space out in my class."

"yes, sir," she muttered, placing her chin in her palm as she waited for this last period to end.

once it did, noelle rushed towards the door, but was stopped by his voice.

"noelle, may i speak to you for a moment?" 

she cringed, but slowly turned and walked towards his desk, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"what can i do for you, mr. howard?" she asked as politely as possible.

"you're a bright girl, you've proven that much," he began and noelle wanted to bang her head on the wall, feeling the incoming lecture she was about to receive. "but you lack drive, you lack incentive. can you tell me why that is?"