• Aɴɢᴇʟɪᴄ Rᴇғʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ •

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ IV

"The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

- Winston Churchill 

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Loud. The only word usually used to describe the cantine at lunchtime. Trays filled with snacks, ranging from miniature bags of chips to apples and kale salads, utensils clattering against porcelain plates and plastic bowls. The noises would be overwhelming to anyone who wasn't used to it already. My eyelids felt heavy and we still had gym class after lunch. Resting my chin on my folded arms, on the sky-blue metal table, I rested my eyes for only a couple of seconds. I felt drained and the thought of skipping gym-class was minute by minute sounding more appealing. 

A hard boney yap to my side startles me enough to make my backside rise from the bench in shock. My lips part in a silent yelp and I sent a hard glare Eva's way, as soon as I realize it was her who had turned to violence for my attention. She gives me an apologetic smile and a slight blush creeps up her cheeks, but the embarrassment quickly fades from her face and is replaced by a subtle nudge with her head towards the entrance of the cafeteria. I follow her eyes and there Noah is once again. His features stay unreadable as he scans the lunch environment. Our eyes connect and a dazzling smile is sent my way. Eva is frantically rambling on about something that I do not hear. My attention is fixated on Noah, who's approaching our table, still wooing us with his dashing smile. 

Eva silences and stares at the boy-wonder, as she had named him after class, expectingly. He doesn't acknowledge her and his eyes have captivated mine. I was not gonna let my hormones scramble my brain and I hastily brought myself back to earth.

"Can we help you?"

I asked, sounding more nervous than intimidating. My left eyebrow was raised in questioning and the boy seemed to be taken back by my petty attempt at seeming dismissive. 

"You're the only one I recognize from English Lit, and I was wondering if you could tell me where the gym is? The secretary forgot to get me a map"

His hands were comfortably resting in his front pockets as he shrugged.  I wasn't surprised by the secretary's lack of memory, the woman was nearing her late 70's, but I wasn't about to run around playing welcoming committee.

"I think it's-"

I began before Eva interrupted.

"It's best if she shows you the way since her next class is gym as well, and you could easily get lost on the way there".

If looks could kill, Eva would be 6ft under already as I stared at her with the toughest glare I could muster. Noah didn't even spare the girl a glance as he replied

"I would really appreciate that, thank you. Addilyn, right?".

Without looking him directly in the eyes I nodded and muttered a quiet, you're welcome while still being pissed at Eva's attempt to couple the two of us.

For the rest of lunch, Noah sat at the opposite side of the table trying to navigate through Eva's shooting questions, as I silently sat nudging at my food with my fork. I still didn't know what to feel about the new guy. He was polite and sweet, offering short answers here and there to my best friend, who was too curious for her own good, and yet I felt like he was too good to be true. All around us I could feel the eyes of sex-deprived teenage girls glaring us down in jealousy. What was all the fuss about? Sure, Noah wasn't an ache-trouble-shitbag like the rest of the school's male students, but did that really make him that much better?