𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟏𝟏𝟒

𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝?
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺

NOAH WALKS DOWN the hallway to her class, listening to the music in her headphones. She is always ready for her next class because afterward, she gets to go to lunch with Jess and their friends. Everything has been working out for the better between all of them and it is nice to have it that way.

The teen walks into the classroom and sulks to the back row of desks. She is not fond of a lot of people in the class, so she tries her best to keep to herself. As Noah sits down, she hears a screechingly annoying voice coming from the row in front of her.

"Didn't you wear that yesterday?" Ava asks the girl sitting beside Noah, who eyes Ava fiercely.

"Bro, she wears the same jacket every day!" A boy adds and laughs along with the rest of their group.

Noah peers over at the girl beside her with sad eyes. She wipes her sleeve under her nose, seeming to be discreetly smelling the jacket. Noah turns to look at the boy as he says something else.

"Must be comfortable," He jokes. "Hey, mind if I borrow a pencil?" He asks the girl and takes her pencil from her desk.

"That's my only one," The girl mutters. Her attempt to defend herself is far too quiet and leaves Noah trying to hold her tongue.

"Finders keepers?" The boy chuckles, making the girl's head falls as she realizes she will not be able to stand up to him.

"Weird," Ava whispers, but everyone hears.

"Hey, why don't you ever talk?" The boy continues to pester the girl.

"Hey, why do you talk too much?" Noah snaps as she turns to glare at the boy. She could not bear to keep herself quiet any longer.

"And who told you to talk?" The boy asks.

"Leave her alone and shut your mouth," Noah says.

"Excuse me?" The boy chuckles. "Prentiss, you sound like you're asking for it."

"Asking for what? Because if you say it's you, I think that's all covered by the princess next to you," Noah replies as she nods toward Ava.

"Oh, please, Noah—" Ava groans.

"I'm sorry, do you prefer princess or bitch?"

"You're an asshole," Ava huffs as she turns her whole body to face Noah.

"And you're drowning in his cologne from your little session in his car this morning," Noah snaps and sees Ava left speechless. "Word gets around pretty fast."

"Alright, class!" The teacher announces.

The shy girl looks up at Noah with a gaze of appreciation. No one has ever bothered to stand up for her before. Noah did not just do that, she gave them a taste of her own medicine as well.

"Thank you," The girl whispers as the teacher talks about their assignment.

"I'd save anyone if it meant I got to shit talk her to her face," Noah quietly chuckles.

"I'm Hailey," The girl introduces herself.

The sound of her name sends chills down her spine. She almost feels a sense of relief as she realizes that she got to save "Hailey" after all. She could not do it before, but she could this time, just in a different way.

"Noah," The teen replies.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too," Noah chimes and turns her attention back to the teacher.