Living In Shadows

Noah

That's it. I can't take anymore. I think to myself. I run over to Mr. Elizah and ask to go to the bathroom. "Are you alright Angelica? You're looking rather pale." He says, his face scrunched in concern.
    "I'm fine." I reply too quickly. I practically sprint out of the room, earning a few stares from my incoming classmates. I don't care anymore. I hardly hear Tara calling my name as I bolt down the hall to the girls bathroom.
    Luckily nobody's in the stalls, and at last I allow myself to sink down against the wall.
    "What the hell just happened?" Tara asks, her eyes so wide they seem to be popping out of her head.
    "That... Guy..." I gasp. "He has.... The wings but... They're real." I can't cry, I'm too shocked. All I can do is sit there trying to choke out words to Tara about what I just saw while I hyperventilate.
    "You mean the really hot one, with the blue shirt?" She says when I finish. I just manage to nod glumly.
    A few minutes of silence pass and I begin to get my breath back.
   "What's happening to me?" I say quietly to my best friend, running my hands through my blonde hair.
    "We should ask him." She says with sudden determination. "What?!" I say slightly too loud.
   "Well... I mean he has real... Wings right? So maybe he isn't going to die, maybe he knows something about all this." Tara finishes.
   "But what if he doesn't know the wings are there? I'll go up to him asking about them, and he'll think I've lost my mind!" I say before adding
    "But you are right, we need some answers. Somehow."
    "Well now we have something to do. We can watch this guy, maybe try to even become a little more friendly with him, then maybe we can get some answers." She says.
    "It's better then having no plan I suppose." I start to mentally pull myself back together and stand up, checking how I look in the mirror.
    My hair is a little frazzled, my eyes are 3 times wider than usual, and I look as white as a ghost. I quickly move to smooth down my hair into its naturally straight state, and take some slow breaths to calm myself down.
   Deciding I look decent enough, I turn to Tara and lock eyes with her.
   "Ready?" I ask.
   "Are you?" She says.

   Mr. Elizah's class goes by slowly, his boring, lifeless voice droning on as I peek at the winged man. He sits one desk up to the right.
   His wings are breathtakingly beautiful, feathers that are so white they seem to nearly glow. Not to mention his chiseled face, making him look closer to a man then a teen. And his eyes, are an icy-blue colour, and yet they seem to hold warmth.
   His hair- "Noah! What is the first step to factoring polynomials?" Mr. Elizah's voice cuts through my thoughts, and I realize that he just called on the winged man. Noah, that's his name.
   His emotionless expression doesn't change as he opens his mouth to answer the question, that's when I hear his voice for the first time.
   I finally understand the saying 'it was like music to my ears.' His voice alone sends shivers down my spine. It's soft and deep, it sounds like all of my favourite songs combined into one, the words flow from his mouth like a melodic poem, but all too soon he has stopped answering the question.
    I notice I was unconsciously leaning towards him while listening, and quickly scoot back in my chair.
    The rest of the class I occupy myself by staring at him, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. At the same time, I try to decipher a strange feeling I have deep inside me, it feels so strange, not unpleasant, but strange.
    It's like, there was a hole in me, that I've never even noticed, but it's now filled. I feel more complete, for some weird reason.
   The bell halts my train of thought, snapping me back to reality. I gather up my books and start to head toward the door, not really paying attention to where I'm going.
   Suddenly I bump into something- or someone. "Oh jeez, sorry." I mumble, looking up.
   At once I notice who I just walked into, and curse at myself. It's Noah.
"Sorry." I stammer out, my cheeks reddening. "It's fine, Angelica."
   How does he know my name? Maybe he heard it when I asked to go to the bathroom.
    I move past him, looking once more at his perfect face. He was looking at me, a half smirk on his face, as if we have an inside joke. Weird.
   Shaking my head I rush out of the class, catching up with Tara.

   The rest of the morning passes slowly, because I have no other classes with Noah or Tara. At last the bell for lunch rings and I rush to my locker before the majority of the rush comes.
I meet Tara at her locker and we head to the cafeteria together. I order a burger, grab it, then we sit at our usual table.
About halfway into my lunch, Tara taps me on the shoulder. I don't even have to ask to know what she wants. Looking towards the cafeteria doors, I see Noah walk in. He steps into the cafeteria line, then starts looking around.
Our school is pretty big, about 700 students, but almost all of the girls, and some of the guys were staring at him.
Noah seems to ignore it as he continues to look around, as if he's looking for somebody.
"Who can he be looking for?" I ask Tara. "I mean he's new here, been here for half a day, could he have already made some friends?" I ponder.
Finally his eyes stop wandering the cafeteria and come to rest on someone. Me. My heart speeds up as I accidentally lock eyes with him. I quickly turn away, starting to talk to Tara for a distraction.
"Why's he looking over here?" I whisper-yell into her ear. "I dunno. He's still looking at you. As if you and him know something no one else does." I fake an interest in my burger, taking a bite although I was no longer hungry.
I risk another glance towards the winged man, only to see he's walking towards me, holding a chicken burger.
"Tara!" I say to her. She quickly looks up and her eyes widen.
"You guys mind if I sit here?" His amazing voice flows through my head, causing me to take extra time to answer.
"Uh... No go ahead." I stammer.
Most of the high schoolers were still staring, probably wondering why a guy like him was sitting with girls like us.
"Thanks." Noah says.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" I blurt out without even thinking.
"Like what?" He replies, a slight smile on his face.
"I don't know... As if we know something no one else does." I say slowly, my heart rate refusing to come down.
"Because we do." He says back, no touch of falseness in his voice.
"I... Um... Not following here. I barely know you." I say, knitting my eyebrows together in confusion
"You really have no idea do you?" He asks, looking surprised.
"About what?!" I holler slightly as I throw my hands in the air.
"Come with me." His voice oozes as he gets up from the lunch table.
He begins to walk out of the cafeteria, not checking if I'm behind him.
I look quickly back at Tara for reassurance, and she gives me a nod.
With that, I turn on my heel to catch up to the man with angel wings.

A/N sorry it took so long to update... School and stuff ya know :): But what do you guys think so far? Comment, like, share, luv ya <3
-C