To Know More

02 | a bold albeit stupid move

His eyes analysed everyone in the room for an almost unnoticeable second before he clenched his jaw and began walking inside, each step taken in such a way that I was sure he thought he owned the place.

A tense silence now encased the room, many of the girls stopping their conversations to openly stare at him like cheshire cats - admittedly, not unlike myself - and as was clear from the look on his face, a mixture of amusement and arrogance, he loved the attention.

The trance was broken the next moment, however, as a loud sound of rustling papers echoed through the room and a skinny figure rushed through the doors, subsequently bumping into Noah's shoulder on the way.

Timothy Anderson, a boy from my course, hurried in while muttering curses under his breath, scared that he had been late for class. "Ms. Smith, I'm so-"

But he stopped mid-way the second he noticed the absence of the teacher, and from where I was sitting, it was clear he had a much bigger problem to deal with.

"Watch where you're going."

The colour from Tim's face drained into a horrified white as he recognised the voice, just now realising who he had bumped into. With his lips almost trembling, the bespectacled boy clenched his fists and turned around, finding a deadly Noah Carter standing in front of him.

"I'm s-so sorry, I-I thought I was late and-"

"I didn't ask for explanations." Noah grunted and cut him off, walking dangerously towards him and with an almost malicious look in his eye he suddenly snatched the paper Tim was holding in his hand.

"Now, what do we have here?"

"P-Please, give that back, i-it's important-"

Noah clicked his tongue and shrugged mockingly, "You should've thought about that before you pushed me."

Every student now stared at the scene in anticipation, some even pulling out their phones to make a video. My guts twisted as I watched them and then the scene in front of me, an ominous feeling already beginning to cloud my stomach.

Before any of us could even comprehend what was happening, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket and began fiddling with it in his fingers, smirking amusedly as he saw the absolutely petrified look on Tim's face.

My eyes widened as I realised exactly what he was about to do.

I kept rocking my eyes back and forth to look at the door, hoping that the teacher would come in and stop this madness. But even I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Tim's hands immediately reached out to grab the sheet, his voice for the first time loud and determined. "Give it back!"

An almost amused chuckle left Noah's throat as he brutally pushed Tim towards the blackboard, causing a loud sound to echo as the blackboard rattled while a pitiful whimper left the frightened boy's mouth.

"You don't want to raise your voice at me." Noah warned as he watched Tim cower and stutter apologies from where he had been pushed.

The horrible feeling in my insides worsened as I watched Noah take intimidating steps towards the pale boy, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his dark jeans. "Let's teach you a lesson, yeah?"

The lighter was still clutched in the grip of his fingers as he threw it upwards and then caught it, the smirk on his face widening.

No way. He wouldn't do that, would he?

But the scared whimper that left Tim's mouth was enough to make me assume the worst. Before I could even process what I had done, I stood up in my seat, only one word leaving my lips in a hesitant fashion: