The Girl in the Hoodie

27

[Chapter twenty-seven]

"Fuck mornings. Fuck school. Fuck History." I grumble, walking to my first period class. "Why the fuck did I even take History?"

I swing the door open and walk in, taking my usual seat between Noah and Dylan.

I catch Noah's eye and he gives me a small smile which I return. I then turn to Dylan and see him raising an eyebrow at me.

He may or may not know what happened the other night. Hehe.

"Don't look at me like that." I harshly whisper, leaning towards him. "I know I'm an idiot. Just stop."

He shakes his head. "It's not that."

I give him a confused look. "Then wha—"

I'm cut off by the classroom door opening and the principal entering, followed by a pretty girl with blonde hair and pale skin.

"We'll talk at lunch." Dylan whispers to me as the principal starts talking.

"Class, this is our new student, Hazel Leef, please do your best to make her feel welcome. Thank you." He nods at our teacher before walking out.

I look over at Noah and see him staring intently at her.

"Hello, Hazel, why don't you take the seat next to Noah. Mr King, please raise your hand." Our teacher says.

Noah raises his hand.

Hazel walks over and sits down.

Noah looks over and gives her a smile, making her smile back.

Since when does Noah smile?

I switch my gaze to Dylan and find him already looking at me.

He sighs and shakes his head.

"He's an idiot." He mouths, making me chuckle.

From the corner of my eye, I see Noah look over before Hazel says something and he turns his attention back to her.

*~*

As soon as the lunch bell rings, I find Dylan waiting outside my class. he grabs my hand and drags me to the back of the school.

"What is it?"

I stare at him in confusion. "What?"

"There's something you're not telling me." He answers. "What is it?"

I gulp. "It's nothing."

He pulls my hood of and searches my eyes.

Why does everyone keep doing that to me?!

"Tell me." He says slowly.

Before I can open my mouth, a gasp is heard from behind Dylan.

I snap my head up and Dylan spins around.

Max is standing there with his jaw hung open as he stares at me.

He walks over and looks at Dylan. "Dildo, why're you back here with some random girl?"

Dylan bites his lip nervously. "She's not some random girl."

Max furrows his brows. "Okay, why're you back here with a really, really pretty random girl?"

Dylan slaps his forehead, groaning.

I sigh. "Max..."

Max's eyes widen before they travel down and look at my hoodie. "Wait...baby mama?"

I smile nervously. "Hey, baby daddy."

He walks closer and pokes my dimples. "Woah, you have dimples."

"I'm aware." I chuckle slightly.

He smiles sheepishly and give me a shy look. "You're really pretty."

"Thanks."

He grins before spinning around to face Dylan. "Do you have a thing with Nevaeh?!"

Dylan's eyes widen. "Wha—"

"You know Noah likes her!"

"N—"

"Dude, the bro co—"

"MAX! Shut up!" Dylan exclaims, pinching the bridge of his nose. "After school, you, Noah and I need to have a talk."

Max gives him a look of confusion. "Okay. Why?"

Dylan looks at me nervously and I give him an encouraging smile. "I need to tell you guys something." Max opens his mouth. "I do not have a thing with Nevaeh!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Max puts his arms up in surrender.

"Why're you here, anyway?"

"Everyone was wondering where you guys were so I offered to come find you. Have you met the new girl, Hazel?"

Dylan and I share a look.

"Uh, kinda." I start. "She's in our History class. She seems nice—"

"I don't like her!" Max cuts me off. "She's been nothing but snobby and rude. You should've seen Megan's face when she basically implied that she was prettier than her. She looked like she wanted to stab her in the neck with her own plastic fork."

Dylan and I share a look.

Dylan raises his eyebrows. "Oh wow."

"I know!" He throws his arms up. "And Noah doesn't seem to realise how much of a bitch she is! He just keeps looking at her with these stupid goo-goo eyes! Like, I thought he liked Nevaeh, then some new girl from Snakesville starts our school and all of a sudden he's whipped?!"

I look down.

Looks like he's moving on.

Dylan's eyes flicker to me and immediately soften.

"Max, can you please leave?" Dylan sighs. "Nevaeh and I need to talk."

"Alright, alright, I'll see you later." He turns around and starts walking away. "Bye, Vaeh!"

After he leaves, Dylan looks at me expectantly.

I take a breath and slowly let it out before looking up at him.

"You know how my sisters had cancer?" I question, watching him nod. "Well, I-I—"

"You have it, too." His eyes widen in realisation. "How...how long..."

"How long do I have left?"

He nods.

"Two years."

"Two years...?" He whispers to himself before wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me into a tight hug. "You have to tell Max, you know that right?"

I nod. "I know."

"...and Noah."

I take a deep breath. "I-I know. But I don't want to."

"You have to, Vaeh." He strokes my hair while holding me tight. "That's why you told him you didn't like him. Be-Because you're..."

His breath hitches.

"Because I'm dying." I finish. "Yeah."

"Megan knows, right?"

"Yeah."

He pulls away and hastily wipes his eyes.

Was he crying?

"Let's get back to the cafeteria." He suggests.

I nod and we walk through the back doors, into the school.

Great, now I'm about to witness Noah and his stupid love at first sight.

Isn't that what you wanted though? For him to move on?

...yeah. That's exactly what I wanted, isn't it?