A Boy Called Noah

Chapter Five

^Noah's sketch^

Amalthea Galanos

Thea anxiously watches her teacher scan her body for something. "Sir?" "What happened to your eye, Ms. Gala-" "Thea." Mr. Roberts watches his student with curiosity and wonder. "Thea, what happened to your eye?" Thea blushes deeply and looks away, "I walked into my bathroom door this morning, sir." Glancing at Mr Roberts Thea finds him staring at her in amusement, "Your bathroom door ?" 

Thea's lips pull into a thin line, "Yes, sir. My bathroom door." Suppressing a smile Mr. Roberts sternly looks at his student, "You must avoid running into doors, Thea. One tends to get hurt when running into them. Now one more thing... your dancing, are you any good?" Thea stares at her teacher surprised, "I would hope so, sir, otherwise the academy is wasting their time." Mr. Roberts smiles at her now, happy that she actually had some confidence. 

"Well then, Thea, we must dance together sometime. Are you busy this coming Saturday?" Thea stands gaping at her teacher, "Sir?" "You heard correct, Thea. Are you free this Saturday?" "Uh... I'm afraid I am, sir." Mr. Roberts nearly grunts in frustration.

Mr. Roberts re-enters his class, leaving Thea utterly confused about what just happened. She quickly scrambles inside the classroom and starts looking for a vacant seat.

She finds one next to a boy with his head on his arms. Behind him sat Bethany and Jamie, gossiping about who knows what. Thea pulls the chair out and sits down but the boy still doesn't lift his head. "Rude." The word escapes from her lips before she can stop it. Her hands fly to her mouth and she quickly glances at the boy only to see his head is still tucked into his folded arms. She sighs in relief and relaxes a fraction. The boy seems to be asleep. Well then, that makes things easier for me.

Noticing a sketchbook tucked under the boy's arm she gets curious and tries to move his arm without waking him. She successfully removes the book from under his arm and is amazed by the incredible drawing. Drawn was half of a girls face looking to the left side of the page and at the back of her head is a very realistically drawn wolf head staring at the right side of the page. What shocks Thea the most is that she recognizes the girl from somewhere.

Suddenly the sketchbook is ripped out of her hands, "What the hell do you think you're do-"The boy suddenly shuts up. He looks at her as if just realizing who it is. She too recognizes him now. Noah James. Of course her luck would be that she sits next to him. "Sorry." She turns to face the front of the class and sees Mr Robert watching her. Amalthea confusedly feels around her face for something and Mr Robert flashes her a smile before turning to his computer.

"Look I'm sorry that I snapped at you. It was totally uncalled for." Thea glares at the boy and quietly scoffs. She rolls her eyes and lifts her hand to her head, it had started to throb after the dancing. She raises her hand and Mr Roberts briefly looks up, "Ms Galanos?" "May I please go to the nurse?" Mr Roberts looks up worriedly, "I'll escort you." Thea rises but abruptly sits back down, stars dancing in her vision. "The- Ms Galanos, are you alright?" She shakes her head to get rid of the stars and rises again but slower, "Yes, sir. I'm coming."

Mr. Roberts quietly escorts her to the school nurse. He knocks and the door quickly opens to reveal the aging nurse he had come to meet a few days before, "Hello, Dean. What brings you here?" Thea quietly steps from behind Mr Roberts. The nurse's eyes quickly snap to her and a kind smile graces her lips, "Come on in, dear." She gently pushes Thea onto the small bed in the clean room. "What seems to be the problem, dear?" Thea gestures to her eye and sighs, "You mean besides this?" The woman chuckles lowly, "Of course besides your lemur eye." Thea breaks into a smile and looks at Mr Roberts' figure leaning in the door, "Something wrong, sir?" His face remains worried but he shakes his head.

"Seems to me, Amalthea, that you have a slight concussion. You should be fine in a few days, no serious damage. But I do recommend that you get some rest today. I'm going to call your parents and see if they can come pick you up." Amalthea quietly watches the aging woman move around to a desk she hadn't noticed before. 

The nurse quickly dials her mother's phone and clearly it went straight to voicemail because seconds later the older woman was leaning against her desk looking at Thea sympathetically, "Seems like your mother can't come get you. Is there anyone else that I can call for you?" 

Thea shakes her head no and rises to her feet once more, "I'm fine. You said so yourself, it's not that bad. And besides, school is ending in a few hours. I can wait." The nurse's eyes flashes toward the door. Thea thanks her and makes a move for the exit. 

Her aged voice stops her, "I really don't think that's a good idea, Thea. At least ask one of your friends to take you home." 

***

"Hey, Fal, is there any way you could maybe take me home early? The nurse says I have a concussion and need to go home." Fallon audibly sighs over the phone, "I'm sorry, Thea, I have detention after school, Mrs Gray caught me on my phone... my cousins are in town, I can ask one of them to pick you up?" Thea sighs in relief and lowers her bag onto the floor next to the bench she is seated on, "Thanks, Fal, you're a lifesaver."