Page 25 of The Secret Of Us

But then I see her.

Izzy’s sat at a table with the two girls I always see her with and a boy on the football team. Her hands flail around as she explains something enthusiastically to them. She’s out of her gym clothes, changing them for a simple white T-shirt and jeans. I’ve thought she was pretty from the first day, but her personality just makes her even prettier. Now that we’ve been talking more, seeing her brightens my day.

Her head shifts in my direction, and she catches me staring at her like a creep. I turn around quickly, as if that’ll somehow make me invisible. The nearest exit is just a few feet away from me, but as I start walking toward it, I hear my name being called.

“Noah!”

I turn around and Izzy is a few steps away from me, gradually getting closer until she’s in front of me.

“Do you want to sit with us?” she asks, pointing behind her.

I look past her to see her friends staring at us. They all lift their hands, waggling their fingers at me, and my face heats up. I turn back to Izzy and she’s got that warm smile on her face that I’m getting dangerously used to seeing.

“If you have space…” I trail off, not wanting my eagerness to get the better of me again.

“Of course we do.”

She rests her hand on my upper arm, gently guiding me as we walk toward their table. I try to ignore the weight of it, how I can feel her fingers pressing in and leaving their marks. My face heats more and if anyone mentions how red it is, I’ll blame it on how warm it is in here.

We’re almost at the table when she changes the direction we’re going in. I glance down at her right at the same time she looks up at me.

“You need to get some food, right?”

Right.The whole reason I came here. I forgot all about it once I saw her.

“Oh, yeah. You can go sit down if you want,” I tell her. I don’t want to take her away from her friends.

“It’s okay. I wanted to get more fries for us anyway.”

It only takes a few minutes for us to join the line and get food. Izzy ends up getting fries, pizza, and cake for herself and her friends, so I take her tray from her and carry both of ours to the table.

I’m greeted with a chorus of hi’s and hello’s from her friends. I force the best smile I can on so they don’t think I’m rude.

“Hi,” I say, taking the seat next to Izzy.

She gets back to whatever story she was telling, and the three of them listen raptly. I’m struggling to hear her though, over the rush of blood pounding in my ears. It’s the same feeling I got on the first day I sat with them, the sense that I’m intruding and don’t belong here.

I’m suddenly all too conscious of my body again. I keep my arms tucked close to my side so I don’t knock into her. My legs are angled away from her to avoid contact too because I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. I pick at my food, keeping my head low so that they can pretend I’m not here.

“So, Noah.” My head whips up at the sound of my name. Amelia sits on the opposite corner of the table, which means when I look at her, I can see all four of them staring at me. “How are you finding Coates?”

I put my fork down, my hands dropping to rub up and down my thighs.

“It’s nicer than my old school,” I tell them and regret it instantly. I’ve opened the door for more questions by saying that.

“Where did you go again?” Chloe asks from the other side of Izzy.

I don’t want to tell them. If I do, it’ll be all too easy for them to find out the reason why I had to leave. I keep my hands on my thighs, balling them into fists as I dig my nails into my palms.

“Uh…”

“Are you going to finish that?” Izzy interrupts, pointing at the half-eaten pizza slice on my plate.

“No,” I say, my hands relaxing at the sudden change in subject.

“Can I have it?”

I fix my gaze on her, and it feels like everyone else disappears. She gives me a small smile, mouthing the words‘it’s okay’. I can only stare at her, completely taken aback. How did she realise so quickly that I was getting anxious? I thought I was hiding it well enough, but she saw right through me.

---