To Know More

03 | wobbly legs and a warning

| Amelia |

The loud, almost obnoxious ring of the bell announced the end of the class, making me shut my book rather loudly and rush out of there as soon as possible.

A couple hours had passed since the still terrifying encounter with Noah Carter - and much to my dismay, I couldn't help but imagine how I was going to pay for it.

Because there was no doubt in my mind: I definitely was going to.

Call me a scaredy cat, but I had spent practically the entire morning trying to avoid his dominating figure like the plague, even when he was nowhere around. The encounter was probably the last time I was ever going to talk to him, but picking a fight with Noah Carter - someone who certainly wasn't known for letting grudges go - wasn't a thing I could forget on the very first day of school.

My eyes travelled through the entire cafeteria as I entered it, making sure he was nowhere to be seen. Once that was ensured, I smiled in relief and spotted Zoey already at our regular table, walking to the secluded place in the corner a few seconds later.

"This year, chemistry is going to be the death of me." Zoey groaned tiredly once I was seated, reaching her hand out to take a fry from my plate.

"Hey! Hands off!" I chided petulantly as a reflex, swatting her hand away.

She simply rolled her eyes and groaned again, resting her forehead down on the table between her arms.

I let out a sigh as I pursed my lips, trying to pacify her, "C'mon Zoey it's just one subject...I know you're going to end up acing it as you usually do-"

"Nuh uh, not this time. It's just so difficult! I can't believe the first day sucks so much already." 

I chuckled dryly. "Tell me about it."

Hearing that, she shot her head up and gave me a questioning stare, somehow forgetting her chagrin from earlier. "What do you mean?"

I flinched and bit my lip; I had not wanted to let Zoey know about this morning, at least not yet - I knew exactly what her reaction was going to be.  

But as she looked at me expectantly, I realised there was no other way and sighed, launching into the sequence of events a few seconds later. Every thought in her head could be sensed worsening as each word escaped my lips; by the end of my narrative, she stared at me with wide eyes, her expression screaming only one thing: concern.

"You know you should stay away from him." She yelled while whispering, lowering her head to keep the conversation between ourselves, her voice aggravated in worry.

"Yeah, but-"

"You know he's...dangerous. I'm pretty sure he's in a gang." She refused to listen and continued instead, placing her hand on mine to convey just how serious she was about this.

I chuckled hesitantly. "I know, but...it was barely an interaction, he was the only one talking...plus, you can't possibly think he's actually involved in illegal stuff. Those things are just rumours."

Even though my tone was offhanded as I tried easing her tension, I did believe that a small part of what I said was true. Everyone at campus thought -or rather, was sure- he was in some sort of a murderous gang, but I somehow never believed those rumours. They were based mostly on just his bad boy reputation, and were a way for people to decipher the secrets he seemed to be hiding.

Letting the thoughts go from my mind, I shook my head and returned my attention to a worried Zoey, deciding to lighten the suddenly tense atmosphere.