Fame or Fate // Noah Beck

6

I laugh nervously.

"No, no one.. hit me Beck." I try to say in a joking tone but I fail miserably.

"You can tell me Montgomery." He says. "But you don't have to." He quickly adds.

"It's nothing really it doesn't even hurt." I lie.

"Do you want a painkiller?" He asks.

"Are you offering me drugs Beck?" I ask raising my eyebrow.

"Well no.. but yes.. no I mean you could go to the nurse." He stumbles.

I laugh at his confusion.

"It's fine. Thank you though." I give him a small smile and he returns it.

"Can I ask you something Montgomery?" He asks.

"Go for it." I tell him.

"How... how have I never noticed you before." He kind of whispers and says it like a statement.

I laugh dryly. "Probably because you're dating heather." I tell him honestly.

"Heathers a handful." He chuckles.

"Tell me about it." I roll my eyes at the thought of her.

I go to sit on a desk but I forget about my stomach and when I jump up I immediately groan in pain and fall down.

"What happened?" Noah asks crouching down beside me.

I take a shakey breath. My hand grips my side and I try my best not to cry.

"Montgomery what's wrong?"

I can't talk.

"Alexis."

I look up at him and I feel tears in my eyes.

He silently helps me up and slowly reaches for my jacket. His eyes meet mine for approval. Everything is telling me I should stop him but I don't want to. I'm tired of hiding everything from everyone.

He lifts the bottom of my jacket but not a lot. His eye immediately widen and I see his jaw clench.

"What happened?" He asks dropping my jacket.

I look down at the floor.

I regret letting him see it. I don't want to tell him. I'm so stupid. God why do my emotions have to switch so quickly.

"Alexis answer me." He demands.

"Class is about to start." I mumble.

"I don't give a shit!" His hand comes up and I flinch as he slams it on a desk.

"Noah." I whisper.

He steps closer and I step back but I hit a desk.

"I'm sorry, I'd never hurt you. I don't hit girls." He tells me softly.

I nod and look away.

He places his fingers on my chin and turns my head up to look at him.

"You can't just randomly pull me into a classroom and expect me to tell you my life story Beck." I say with a small smile.

"I'm sorry.. I just.. I saw you crying and I know people would talk if I tried to say anything in the hall." He tells me.

"Oh yeah and I'm sure pulling me into an empty classroom is so much better." I tell him jokingly.

He chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "You're probably right."

"I have to go cov- um go to the bathroom before class starts." I say picking my back pack off the ground.

He frowns but nods. "I'll see you around Montgomery."

"See you around Beck."

I walk out but he doesn't follow probably to try and make it look less suspicious.

I go to the bathroom locking myself in the big stall and I pull my makeup bag out of my backpack. I quickly apply concealer and mascara to hide the bruise around my eye.

When I'm done I walk out of the stall and there's two girls standing by the sinks.

"Did you hear that Noah Beck went into an empty classroom with some girl that wasn't Heather?" The first one asks the second.

How the hell did a rumor spread already?

"Do you think hes cheating on her?" The second one asks the first.

"He can cheat on her with me." The first responds.

I realize I've just been standing there so I walk out of the bathroom.

I got to my first period and sit in my desk keeping my head down as everyone comes into the classroom.

My phone buzzes and I pull it out of my pocket.

Instagram dm from *Noah Beck*

I click on the notification and open his message.

"There's a party tonight. U going?"

I self consciously look around the room before looking back at my phone.

"Might. Y?"

I put my phone back into my pocket as the teacher comes in and the bell rings.

After class I pack up my stuff and pull my phone out.

"I want to see you."

What does he mean?

"You have a gf Beck and there's already rumors abt u being in a classroom with 'some girl'."

I put my phone in my pocket and piper comes over to me.

"How are you doing?" She asks quietly as we walk towards our second period. We don't have the same class but it's in the same hall.

"I'm alright." I shrug.

"Who've you been texting all morning?" She asks curiously.

"I send like 3 messages and suddenly I'm texting someone all morning?" I ask laughing.

"Well I don't know you usually don't text anyone." She shoots back.

"Just someone asking if I'm going to the party tonight." I tell her.

"Oh? A boy?" She asks teasingly.

"Maybe." I smirk and walk into my class and she rolls her eyes continuing down the hallways.

-

At lunch Piper, Henry, and I are sitting at the table. They're talking about some movie and I have my head down. I haven't seen Noah but heathers in their usual spot under the big oak tree.

I take my phone out to check it and see 2 messages from Noah.

One from earlier: "Who cares about rumors."
And one from a few minutes ago: "meet me in the library."

I choke on air and Piper and Henry both look at me.

"You ok?" Henry asks.

"I.. Uh- I forgot I have to go get a book from the library for a project in one of my classes," I pick up my back pack, "I'll catch you guys later." I say waving and quickly walking away.