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STRANGELY SO, Noel found solace in the library. The dust ridden books and musty smells was calming to his senses. The books couldn't judge him, they sat neatly in their rows, waiting calmly to be read, Noel never did.
But it was nice he had that option.
The light was perfect, soft and dappled, and it shone through the small window situated by the creaky beams. He liked to sit there as there's usually a large green beanbag, and as he sat there, he'd eat his lunch slyly, while spreading out his schoolbooks to look like he did work.
Today was no different than the others. He had his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and his Biology book open to a paragraph on Photosynthesis, even though he was pretty sure they were doing Homeostasis in class.
For once, he didn't think about the large craters scratched across his face, and if he tilted his face a certain way the pimple on his forehead didn't hurt at all.
Just complete, and utter solace.
He even pulled down his hoodie.
But of course this had to be broken, by a small presence, a girl with messily chopped brown hair and large geeky glasses placed askew on her nose. She passed Noel a shy smile, tucking her mousy hair behind her ear.
"Hey Noel." Noel glanced up at her quickly, before quickly reminding himself of his facial disfigurement before facing his gaze firmly to the floor.
"Hey." His response was quieter, his hand still gripping on to the remnants of his PB&J sandwich. A lot of the things Noel did was mildly childish, his scatter of power ranger pillows, his love for cartoons, his PB&J sandwich, all these small things reminded him of a simpler time, he didn't suspect to ever let them go. He didn't want to.
Noel regarded the small girl in front of him, despite her timid appearance, her stance was confident and aware. He hated that he couldn't exactly place her name, but he didn't want to ask in case that sounded rude, but she never made an effort to talk to him.
Nobody did.
"It's May, from your English class, I just- I see you here a lot and I just wondered if your okay."
"If, I'm okay?"
"Yeah. Sometimes, people aren't and if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. I don't want you to suffer in silence."
Noel slowly raised his head up to meet her eyes, and to his dismay, he couldn't miss the slight grimace that crept into her features, the frightened movement of her eyes as she tried to look anywhere else but directly at his skin.
He couldn't talk to her.
"I, get it." Despite the putrid silence, May carried on talking, her eyes looking past Noel to the library wall. "I used to have acne t-too, and you can speak to me."
May silently cursed herself, this wasn't the way it was supposed to go. She wanted to put a smile on Noel's face, she wanted to see him light up and sparkle, but instead she seemed to have made it worse, as he slipped his hood back on and trained his eyes to his textbook.
She wanted to help him, but she couldn't even look him in the eye?
She couldn't do anything right.
"You can speak to me." She repeated but she wasn't sure if he was even listening, and with defeated sigh she left the library, brushing her fingers through her short locks in exasperation.
Noel had since slammed the Biology book closed, his hands going to touch his face before he recoiled instantly.
Don't touch your face.
It'll only make it worse.
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