Finding Shadows

Chapter 3

Noah finally got to the school. His eyes widened as he saw the massive 3 story building before him. There were a bunch of teenagers walking through large doors that he assumed was the entrance. "Pft- I know, right!?" He heard someone say. He turned his head and saw a group of teens that looked to be the same age as him. 3 guys and 2 girls. He saw the shortest of the guys roll his eyes. "This is fucking stupid. I want to go back to summer break where I could sleep in." Noah heard him say. He'd say the guy was about 5'7. The other guys seemed to be around the same height as Noah, and the girls looked about 5'2 and 5'4.

Noah walked into the building. He went to the office to grab his schedule. He hated not knowing where the classes were, which meant he'd be walking around aimlessly like a dumb ass. He poked his head into the office and a lady turned to him. "Yes?" He stepped inside and went up to the counter. "I need my schedule," He told her. "First and last name?" She asked. "Noah Vaile," She nodded and handed him a paper. "There you go. Have a good day, kid," He waved as he was leaving. "Thank you, you too," He called as he left.

It took him a while to find his first class, but he was surprisingly only a minute late. He sat down and listened to the dreaded 'introduce yourself' that teachers always have students do each year. 20 minutes after the class started, the boy Noah had seen earlier walked in so casually that Noah wondered if he realized how late he was. Mr. Johnson turned to him. "Where were you?" He asked him. He shrugged. "Does it matter?" Mr. Johnson sighed and shook his head to himself. "Go sit next to uh..what's your name?" He asked Noah. "Oh um. Noah," He muttered. The guy casually walked over and flopped down into the seat next to Noah. "It's too early for this shit." He muttered. Noah tried not to laugh. He had always found it funny when anyone here swore. He just found it funny when British people swore in general. He shrugged. The guy turned to him, resting his cheek on his fist. "What's your name?" He asked. Noah blinked. The teacher literally just said..you know what, never mind. "Noah," He said awkwardly. "Cool, i'm Michael." He said, putting his feet on the desk. Mr. Johnson turned to him. "Please get your feet off the desk." Michael rolled his eyes. "Nah," He chuckled. "What's your name?"

"Michael. Michael Underwood."

"Go to the office." Mr. Johnson demanded. Michael sat up straight and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? On the first day?" He sounded annoyed. All Mr. Johnson did was point at the door. Michael rolled his eyes and got up, grabbing his bag. "Fine, dickwad," He muttered. Noah stared at him in shock. He wasn't a goody-two-shoes, but he would never do that on the first day.

It was the middle of the day and the bell rang, signalling it was now their lunch period. He saw Michael and then saw his sister talking to him. He was suddenly curious when he realize he looked annoyed. Noah saw one of Amanda's friends drag her away from him, and Noah walked over to him. "What was that about?" He asked. "I don't know. Some girl a year older than us. She was like- hitting on me or something," He muttered. Noah felt awkward all over again. "Oh um. That was my sister," He said wryly. Michael turned to him looking surprised. "I never would have guessed," He shrugged. "Women are just annoying. Like please I don't like you, stop," He snorted. "I mean not that I don't like girls-! I'm not weird like that," He said quickly. Noah raised an eyebrow. "Never thought you didn't."

"Anyways, want to sit with me at lunch? I have a few other friends that'll be there, but they're chill," He offered. Noah nodded, grateful that he didn't have to sit alone. Once we sat down, Amanda walked on over and sat down next to Michael. "Heyy~" She said to him in a flirty voice. His face twisted with disgust. "Ew, get away from me," He snapped. She turned to look at Noah. She snorted with annoyance and walked away indignantly. "Anyways," He said, turning back to Noah. "Why'd you move here?" He asked. "How did you-"

"You have an American accent," He pointed out before Noah could finish. Noah nodded slowly. "Almost a year ago because my mom got a partnering offer with a big business here in London," He told him. Michael blinked. "Wait did you say your last name was Vaile?" He nodded. "Your mom Hannah Vaile?" He asked. Noah looked at him, confused. "Yeah," He sounded just as confused as he looked. Michael gave a fun little smirk. "Your mom works with my dad, then. Mark Underwood?" He said. "Yeah, that's who she's partnered with."

"Damn, your mom has a shit load of money!" He exclaimed. "Hey your dad is rich as fuck too," Noah pointed out with a laugh. "True," He shrugged, smiling.

Noah and Michael hung out during the rest of the school day. I'm happy I made a friend already. Noah thought as he looked deep into Michael's ocean blue eyes as he spoke.