Chapter 2.

He felt short of breath and clenched the cuff of his sleeves tightly to calm himself.

Meanwhile, teacher Renoir was glaring angrily at her student, the woman hated interruptions and Henry was aware of his mistake.

"Mr. Campbell, behave yourself please."

That scream caused a radical turn in somebody's plans. He could barely hear the voices through his headphones, but he had caught that name as clear as water. He felt everything went in slow-motion when he raised his head and he focused on the girl standing there, with a beautiful dark complexion and black as the night long hair, and those eyes, oh boy, those beautiful eyes of an almost artificial green. Her always inexpressive face was quite shocking for her friends who decided to see her reaction.

Alex didn't know how long he had been watching the girl until their eyes met and he could say for sure that it was her, it was Noah! The coincidences were too much, Noah had left for good - or so he thought - on a Thursday - and yes, he still remembered every detail clearly - and she was coming back again from nowhere on exactly the same day. It was amazing. As his thoughts wandered off, Noah had already finished introducing herself.

"Take a seat next to Mr. Duval", the woman indicated. "Class, I must leave you alone during the first period for a meeting, you will have these hours for self-study and will have the rest of your classes normally from the second period onwards."

Noah walked down between the seats to go to his place, she didn't expect to be next to Alex so soon, his heart was heavy when he looked out the window with a boring gesture, and he didn't seem to have any intention of talking to her. She understood.

When the teacher finished with some directions, the self-study time became socialization time. Everyone seemed to keep talking about the vacation, Noah in turn was questioned as if there was no tomorrow. However, Bruno was not at all happy with his best friend's reaction. He knew better than anyone how Alex felt about Noah, so ignoring the girl now that she was right next to him was illogical.

However, he knew there was someone else who was very excited to see the girl again, so much so that he wasn't at all surprised when Henry had already taken his chair to sit next to Noah.

"I'm so glad you're back," said the blonde. "I missed you so much."

"WE are glad Henry, US," corrected Scott. "We all missed her."

"Well I don't think so," he hugged Noah's shoulders and pulled her towards him. "After all someone is ignoring her."

"Henry, shut your mouth," scolded Travis.

"I don't want to say that he's right," Fidel started to say quietly as to not be heard by the aforementioned. "But if he missed her so much, and we know he did, this just isn't the best reaction, man."

This whole situation reminded him a lot of his childhood, yes, he didn't focus his attention on them but he still listened to their comments. Okay, he wasn't nostalgic, sad, or intrigued, he was angry, he was really really angry with Noah. He always wondered how it would feel to see the girl again, and now he knew.

"If she didn't want me to ignore her in the first place, she shouldn't have left without saying a fucking word," Alex said loud enough for them to hear.

He got up from his seat and left the room without much noise. Alex had every right to do so -it was the consensus of the group- but it was not enough reason to act like an asshole, every one of them had been hurt by the girl's sudden departure. Then someone broke the silence.

"Why?" And there was the much-awaited question. "Why did you leave like that?" Scott asked.

Everyone was suddenly sad. Noah knew it, she couldn't expect to come back out of the blue and have everyone act the same as before, the truth wasn't so easy to explain. It wasn't the time to talk about it.

"I would love to be able to talk about it, but…"

"But?" Scott started to look like a kicked puppy, although those freckles fluttering in his nose were very adorable.

"But it's not the time yet. I don't want to think about it right now," she tried to explain.

"I don't know about you all," interrupted Bruno. "But I won't press the issue, however, don't delay," he ruffled her hair. "Hiding secrets only brings problems."

"I know."

"Well… how about forgetting that sourpuss and having a meeting? On the court? Like in the old days. Bring some food, I'll bring the grumpy giant.

"By the way, where are you living now, Noah?"

"About t-that I…"

After planning their meeting they kept talking about trivial issues, especially the fact that many of the girls looked at her with hate, and it seemed that being handsome Henry's friend didn't guarantee that she would get along with the others, but well, it's not like that was her fault.

The bell resonated again indicating the end of the first period, the boys wanted to spend more time with Noah, but she walked away for a moment with the excuse of having to take care of some documents of her transfer. Bruno was aware that this was a lie, the paperwork had been completed a few weeks ago, it was pretty obvious that she was looking for Alex, who by the way had been hiding in the gym equipment storage for quite some time.

His mind kept remembering every detail of that girl like she hadn't grown too much, she must have been only 5'6", although some other body parts grew. "What the hell am I thinking?" He asked himself. He rubbed both hands against his face, it was just mid-morning and he was already exhausted, lying down on some big table there had not been a bad idea at all, alone and in silence, it couldn't have been better, or so he thought until he heard the creaking of the door. Damn it, they insisted on ruining his mood.

"Fuck you, Bruno, I'll be back later."

"You shouldn't talk that way."

Oh no.

He closed his eyes tightly and in one swift movement, pushing himself with his legs, he got up from the table. She peeked out of the door shyly and slowly closed it behind her back, looking adorable in that green hoodie which she was covering her hair with, along with navy blue shorts, her legs covered by long black socks and brown boots up to her ankles. With slow and cautious steps the girl began to approach, Alex took a step back, Noah didn't stop until he was in front of the boy.

"I talk the way I please," his gaze was trying to intimidate Noah, to keep her away. "What do you want?"

"To talk," she said.

"We have nothing to talk about."

"Alex…" she pleaded.

"You come and go without saying anything," he was starting to get upset again. "What do you expect? A warm welcome? 'Hi, Noah! It's been so long, why did you disappear without saying a fucking word?'" He shouted the last.

"Hey calm down, it's not a big deal."

"Is it not a big deal? Well then fuck you, I have nothing more to say."

He walked past Noah ready to leave, completely furious with her for being so insensitive, and with himself for behaving that way "Alex, I lo-" oh no, he wouldn't let her finish that sentence. He smashed her so fast onto the table that Noah didn't even notice when she ended up under that huge body. Alex was huge in comparison to her, she felt like a dwarf by his side, and having Alex so close made her appreciate his face so much more, he had physically matured and in a good way, his face was that of a handsome man with his unruly black hair.

"Not a fucking word about it." Noah was mute. "You have no right."

And he left, leaving her there in the middle of the storage. She wanted to cry, knowing Alex she didn't expect a good reaction, but she never imagined it would be so bad. She didn't leave because of her own decision or selfishness.

"Soon I will tell you the truth." The first tear escaped. "But it isn't the right time yet."

Noah also left the storage, but although she didn't feel in the mood to go back to the others, unfortunately, they found her before she went back to hiding. Travis was the first to notice something strange about her.

"What happened?" The others stared at her.

"I'd rather not talk about that." Scott wrinkled his nose causing his little freckles to dance, he looked like a dog sniffing. "S-Scott?"

"You and Alex were pretty close, right? I can feel the smell of his perfume."

"It's true," Fidel said, imitating the shortest boy's action. "Did you manage to talk?

"We…"

"What did that asshole do?" Bruno asked.

"Nothing to worry about."

"Noah, honey," Bruno hugged her and stroked her head. "You mustn't lie to us, Alex is our friend, and that's all the more reason to tell us if he did something stupid so we can kick his fat ass."

"I don't know if you're cute or someone to fear."

"I know, my darling," he boasted. "I am an irresistible mystery."

"Show off doesn't fit with you" Scott scoffed.

"Shut your mouth or I'll get you back to printing the paper," he said with a smile that fooled no one.

"Yes, Boss!"

"Good boy."

She had missed them so much, each one of them, with their madness and particularities. She never forgot them in those seven years, they were the ones who gave joy to her twisted childhood. They saved her from the darkness in which she was sinking. Agony and despair accompanied her since her birth and it never ceased; it wasn't that she learned by herself these feelings, in those days she was unable to feel anything, but she saw them reflected on the decadent face of her mother. Her emotions remained sealed until she met this group of beautiful, good-hearted boys.

It was better to be silent, it was not the time to give anyone problems, and she didn't come back for that. Although being honest with herself, she didn't come back to meet the boys either, finding out that Bruno's mother was the Headmistress was quite a shock and it took her several days to get used to the idea of such a change that would come to her life, facing her past was hard, her bad decisions were taking their toll, and she was paying with the contempt of the boy she always dreamed of seeing again. It was a fair price, she deserved it. That was her way of thinking.