Teaching Noah | √

005

“HEY, RILEY! Wait up!” I watched Camden jog up to me, and I briefly looked at Noah who was yelling something at River, laughing as he walked into the house.

I looked back to Camden, and I was immediately intimidated. He had a gentle smile on his face, and my gaze met his blue-green eyes. “Hi, Camden,” I returned his smile. “Is everything okay?”

He nodded, running his fingers through his sandy blonde angular fringe, “Yeah. I just haven’t seen you at school since I got back and I was wondering if you were okay,” the concern was not hidden in his voice and for a moment, I felt my spirit soar.

“Yeah, it’s just—” I was interrupted by my own shrugging.

Great. Just great. I just had to tic in front of this gorgeous specimen who had always made fun of me for ticking. Was it the apprehension?

“I—” I tried to say, but I shrugged again. “I left school,” I managed to get out before shrugging again, a very wry smile on my face as it appeared like Cam understood already. His eyes were soft as he nodded in understanding, “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am,” I answered when I stopped shrugging. Feeling embarrassed, I looked behind him to the three guys who were now talking among themselves. Only two of them were familiar to me; Ashton, who I remembered to be too blunt for his own good, and Mark, who was quiet and mostly nice.

Why was I even standing here with Camden? We had never really talked before he moved. I didn’t know him that well, and he surely didn’t know me at all. “Your friends look like they’re waiting for you,” I pointed out.

He waved them off, smiling. “For some reason, they think it’s important that I have a welcome party. Apparently they’ve been planning it since I got back and are actually here to set the house up.”

“That’s nice of them,” I said awkwardly and glanced at his friends.

“I want you to come for the party. Would you be able to?”

“No,” I chuckled nervously and shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“What? You don’t think I’m serious?” He flashed a toothy grin and I pushed my hair away from my face, “No, no. I’m grateful for the invitation, but I just have a lot of work to do.”

“I understand,” he smiled lightly. “In case you change your mind, you’re always welcome.”

I smiled, “Thanks.”

There wasn’t a specific reason why I turned down his invitation. I didn’t even have any work to do, but maybe I wasn’t sure I was ready to see anyone from school yet.

❀

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to that party? You've been by the window for over ten minutes.” I heard Noah ask and I looked away from my window.

“I wonder how many people are there.”

“Sounds like a lot,” Noah looked up from his homework.

I moved to my bed and sat, folding my legs, “Will you watch Arthur with me?”

“First off, I’ve got a ton of homework to do,” he blinked. “And second, uh, absolutely not. You know I wouldn’t. You’ve asked countless times.”

I rolled my eyes at him, “What exactly do you have against the movie? It’s—”

“It makes no sense,” Noah deadpanned as he pushed his homework away and moved to my bed. Laying down, he rested his hands behind his head, “The movie... romance, and anything that has to do with love isn't real. So, it's just a bunch of people acting sappy, unrealistic shit."