Target of Hate>

Alice pushed the gym doors open, and the cool air of the conditioning in the hallway that didn't make it into the gym made her practically gasp out for breath like a newborn. She wiped her forehead from the sweat that perspire on her skin and regretted not taking off her school uniform for her gym one.

The buttons of her white dress shirt were sticking to her skin, and she fluttered her shirt to try and get air in between. There was no one in the gym area considering everyone had already headed to their clubs and whatnot, so she made a quick walk to the bathroom to find the water fountain so that she could refresh herself.

There was a vending machine nearby, stationed in between two pillars that were down the end of the hallway, but she didn't have her bag with spare change with her since she left it in the locker rooms to not carry it around with her as extra weight since all she was doing anyways was sitting in the gym.

She strode past while staring at the brand of the coffee can that she normally got since she always tended to run low on caffeine during the exam season, but now that it was over, she was trying to ride the tide until the taste acquired had fizzled out which sounded funny if spoken out loud to the ears.

Alice turned the corner and sighed when she saw the familiar face considering that he in particular didn't show up to their float meeting. Noah had his eyes trained down on his phone sitting on the bench that was practically half hidden behind a tall fake tree, and she cast her eyes back down on the water fountain to get a drink.

The cold water hit her throat, and she took a few sips before straightening and wiping her lips with the back of her hand. Alice sighed inwardly, also regretting the fact that she did desperately need her water bottle since she practically almost died of thirst. Taking another sip, she straightened too, but much to her surprise a matching head was angled down at the water fountain as well.

She turned her face away for a second but ended up looking back with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Noah lifted a shoulder and shoved his phone into his pocket. "Maybe?"

Alice pointed in the direction of the gym. "Ring any bells?"

"No? But I'm sure that Madeline is blowing up the chat."

"Hm, you would be very correct."

He didn't look apologetic at all. "What were we doing anyway?"

"What we are still doing," Alice corrected. "First day of float day."

"Wonderful..."

"And what has got you the excuse to ditch?"

Noah put a hand behind his neck. "I had other matters to attend to."

"But you couldn't have informed beforehand?"

Noah frowned. "Is it really your business to make sure I do so?"

Alice lifted a quick hand to stop the conversation. "Okay. I'm walking away."

She didn't expect him to get defensive, but he only tilted his head to analyze her true intentions which were true and along the lines of how she wished that she didn't bump into him and wanted to leave. He didn't seem to be doing anything important but tinkling on his phone, but she guessed that she should just leave him be.

Turning around on the soles of her tennis shoes, she waved without looking back for more flair. "I didn't see you at all."

Alice didn't bother saying anything more, and she took her time to walk back to the gym, taking in the cold air before it was sucked away from her later in the sticky gymnasium. She didn't want to deal with Noah much longer since she didn't want to be on such friendly terms with him, not that she was in the first place.

She went past the vending machine again which brought a smile to her face after zoning in on the coffee drink and went straight to the gym to open the doors, letting the heavy doors fall shut quietly behind her, the air whirling to a close on her back while the humidity met her face in the front.

Alice zoned in on her homeroom's float which didn't seem to have made any large progress, and she strolled over to the side to inspect the new floral sash that they glued on. Madeline popped out of nowhere and grabbed her shoulders, steering her all the way to the front too much of her protests.

"Well, since our poster girl is finally back, we should get her opinion on if there should be a Q&A session," Madeline said.

"Q&A session about what?" Alice asked confused, as Claudia covered her laugh with the back of her hand.

"Dating advice," Sophie supplied.

Alice furrowed her brows before giving them all an easy smile. "I think what we have planned is already great."

"That's true," Madeline laughed. "But to have a panel with our poster girl would be great for publicity."

"Maybe not for the event, as it would distract from the whole activity," Claudia added to try and help Alice out.

"We should just get Alice and Noah on the academy podcast," Daniel said with a shrug. "That would work, and it would still help for publicity reasons."

Madeline immediately pounced on the idea. "I love it."

Alice didn't even try to defend herself since Madeline had already swung her eyes over, and she ran a hand up and down her arm to try and find the nicest way to shut her down. She didn't want to be related to Noah even more so than she had already been with all the posters going around which people both hated and liked.

She didn't want to be the target of hate considering that she had other things that she needed to focus her attention on like her academics and long-term goals rather than rumors that could make or break her if she accidentally crossed the wrong person.

There was a pause since Alice was still hesitating on her words when the gym doors to the right that led to the shed from the outside were pulled open which made everyone's attention swing in that direction. It shouldn't have been a surprise to see Noah walking inside as if nothing was amiss despite everyone staring at him incredulously.