Page 8 of The Secret Of Us

I still want the all-encompassing love I imagine for myself, but for now, I just need to get through this year and focus on figuring out what I’m doing once it ends.

By the time we make it to homeroom, it’s already full of our classmates. We take our seats at the same desks we’ve sat at for the past few years, the only exception being Chloe. Last year, she decided to sit next to Josh, leaving the seat next to mine empty.

Speak of the devils, they enter the classroom holding hands, Mrs. Harper following right behind them.

“Settle down,” she says as everyone scrambles to sit properly in their chairs. It’s only then I notice there’s someone next to her.

He’s taller than her, probably six foot, if I had to guess, with straight jet-black hair that seems perfectly styled yet looks effortless. I can’t quite see what his face looks like though because he’s staring down at the ground like he wishes it would swallow him up.

Whispers start up, everyone wondering who the new kid is, and I’d be doing the same if I had someone next to me to talk to. Instead, I just watch him, catching the way his fingers are digging into his backpack strap slung across one shoulder. He keeps his head ducked low as if it’ll make him appear smaller, make him invisible. Mrs. Harper clears her throat, and the room goes silent.

“Class, this is Noah Park. He’ll be joining us this year.”

The murmuring starts again, but Noah keeps his head down, pretending that he can’t hear everyone talking about him.

“Noah, why don’t you introduce yourself?” She gestures to the class, a friendly smile on her face that he can’t even see.

I feel sorry for him already. I can only imagine how embarrassing it must be to come to a new school and stand in front of everyone like this. If it happened to me, I’d probably run straight out of the room and possibly flee the country.

“Hi, I’m Noah,” the boy says timidly.

He finally lifts his head and I see his face. His hair falls over his forehead, almost covering his wide eyes that seem to be scanning the whole room for an escape route. His nose is thin, lips fuller on the bottom than the top. I don’t let my mind wander too much. I just got out of a relationship, and I’m not looking for another one. But that doesn’t mean I can’t admire a cute guy when I see one.

Mrs. Harper looks back and forth between him and the class, waiting for something more to happen. When a few awkward seconds pass, and she realises that was his whole intro, she claps her hands together with a tight nod.

“Right, well, there’s an empty seat next to Izzy over there in the corner, so you can take a seat there, Noah.”

At the sound of my name, my eyes snap away from him and go to Mrs. Harper instead. She knows I love having that empty seat, but I guess there’s nowhere else for him to go.

He glances at me for a split second before dropping his head and walking over to me. I do a strange hop in my chair in an attempt to tuck it under the desk.

However, I overestimated, and my stomach presses right against the edge of it. I hold my breath to give myself a little bit more room as Noah shuffles behind me, pulling out the empty chair and sitting down. I move mine back slightly, letting out an exhale that turns into a spluttering cough. I cover my mouth with my arm as the whole class turns to look at me.

“Woooow, and no one wanted to help me?” I joke after I’ve finished coughing up my lungs.

It earns me a small chuckle from my classmates, one of whom tosses me a bottle of water before they face the front again. I take a sip, extremely aware of the boy next to me and the apology I owe him. The whole class was already staring at him, and I made it worse with my coughing fit.

“Sorry. I know you’re probably already tired of everyone looking at you,” I whisper to the side of his face because he hasn’t looked at me once since sitting down.

But now he does, hazel brown eyes staring into mine. The whole world goes silent.

“It’s okay,” he offers with a quirk of his lips that seems like an attempt at a smile. But it looks difficult for him, like he’s having to use all of his energy and effort just for that tiny movement.

“I’m Izzy.”

Even though he already heard my name from Mrs. Harper, I want to introduce myself to him properly. I want a conversation to happen. I want to see what a real smile looks like from him.

“Noah.”

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Noah.”

The corners of his mouth lift slightly, a polite gesture telling me he probably doesn’t want to say anything else. But I’m curious about this boy with the sad smile.

“If you need help with anything, let me know.” I try to make my voice as soft as possible.

I know I can be loud at times. Ryan would constantly tell me to lower my voice when I got too excited about something. Looking back, that should have been the first sign that he wasn’t right for me. But I don’t want Noah to be scared of me. It feels like I’m approaching a tiny kitten on the street, and one wrong move will have it spooked and running away.

“Thank you.” His voice is barely above a whisper, and I find myself leaning into him.

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