12th November 2019

NOAH

Golden rays of sunlit flooded through the narrow slits of eyes, blinding me completely with its radiance. I pulled my quilt over my head, and turned away, grumbling about how I didn't have the energy to wake up this early.

Right on cue, my alarm began to chime loudly, like it had summoned all the bells in the world to reside in my room.

Mildly irritated, I snoozed the clunky device, wondering why on earth I'd set an alarm in the first place.

And then I sat up so fast, remembering what day it was.

My first day at Greywood High.

I nearly fell out of my bed, before scrambling over to the bathroom to freshen up. If I were a Spirit, I needn't have dealt with all these annoying daily habits that only wasted time. But, I was a stinky human now, and unfortunately, I had to brush my teeth, shower at lightning speed and comb my hair, hoping that I looked presentable enough on my first day.

If I had it my way, I would've donned on my leather jacket and a cool pair of shades. However, I was supposed to blend in with the crowd, which made me choose my dark blue hoodie with a pair of faded jeans and black sneakers.

My hair was messy and even messier as I'd attempted to comb it for fifteen minutes. Finally, I gave up, impatiently throwing away my comb, and accepting my nasty case of bed-hair-itis.

If only I had hair gel.

The door creaked slightly, and in walked my bad-omen called Johannes. He was wearing a nightcap upon his balding head, clutching an ancient candle in his hand. He hadn't even opened his eyes completely, and yet, there was an unmistakable frown upon his nasty face.

"Boy, what are you-" He squinted at me, surprised that I was up already.

"Yeah, I'm finally going to see Renee, and you can't stop me!" I grinned like a child, glad to finally get rid of his overbearing ways.

"Hmph, you assume that I derive no greater joy in seeing you away from your lady love-"

"Don't talk and ruin my good mood," I sighed tiredly. "Please Johannes, just shut up for once."

And before his temper could boil and crash into waves of terror, I raced out of the apartment, flushed with serotonin.

I was finally, finally, FINALLY going to see Renee today.

*****

All that I'd wanted was to blend in with the crowd.

And yet, the new student is always an intricate mystery.

I didn't know why, but the students had no trouble ogling at me, their pointed stares making me reach the heights of awkwardness. It was like being scanned by a thousand cameras, each dissecting my brain and trying to figure out what kind of person I was, and if I'd fit in or not.

I couldn't help but wonder if there was something highly unusual about my appearance. Maybe I'd done some blunder at being a human, like wearing my shoes on my head, or donning shining white robes, Spirit-Realm style, to blind my human classmates for eternity.

But I hadn't.

As I walked, I compared my sneakers to that of another guy, my hoodie similar to what another student wore, my hair not outrageously messy as this other girl's, my face clean-shaven like the rules had iterated.

I looked normal, even maybe boring, and I couldn't understand why I was being stared at like I was a statue who'd magically walked out of a museum.

If only I could find Renee...

Throughout my journey to first period English, my eyes roamed around the campus, trying to find that wavy brown hair or bright grey eyes that I'd fallen in love with. My ears strained to hear her familiar voice, my nose aching for the smell of her chocolatey perfume, my desperate senses trying to grasp at any stimuli that could possibly be her.

When I stepped into the classroom, all twenty-five pairs of eyes clung onto me like magnets. The teacher introduced me as Oliver Jameson and pointed out a girl with straight black hair to help me out.

She's not Renee, my brain sulked.

I ignored the sinking feeling as I settled into the seat, trying to avoid her gaze. Her stare felt different from that of the other students as if she wanted me to look back at her, waiting expectantly for a reaction.

I gave her the smallest of smiles, before trying to focus on the class or at least pretend to. Disappointment bloomed in the pit of my stomach, and I tried to wash it away with Shakespearean sonnets.

Who was I kidding?

I wasn't living in a movie, where Renee would walk right into my embrace. Heck, she didn't even know that I existed, and even if she did, there was a very slim chance that she would identify me as Noah Stark.

"You seem worried." Spoke a low, smooth voice.

I looked up to see the black-haired girl watching me keenly.

"I'm fine," I muttered, trying to wipe the sadness off my face.

"I'm here for you, okay?" She told me, her dark eyes sinking into the depths of my blue ones.

I coughed awkwardly.

"You don't need to be," I replied firmly, yet politely.

"Oh, don't be silly," She chuckled, slyly placing her hand over mine, and making little circles on the palm of my hand. I quickly removed it, shoving my hand into my pocket. "Why wouldn't you want to be friends with someone as popular as me?"

I looked up, trying to figure out if I'd seen her before. My mind turned blank, and I realised that I wasn't even familiar with anything related to the human media.

Right, I had some homework to do.

"Seriously, do you not know who I am?" She nearly gasped at my clueless face. "I'm Chantelle, I'm the queen of fashion bloggers on social media!"

"That's nice," I told her kindly, realising a split second later that it was the wrong answer.

"You know what? It's okay, boo-bear," She swallowed her anger, which miraculously morphed into a sultry wink. "You have lots of time to get to know me."

And that's how I ended up spending the rest of my day with the she-devil, Chantelle, latched onto my arm.

*****

Apparently, if you're in grave danger, no one at this strange school volunteers to help you out.

All I received were looks of pity, as Chantelle paraded around me, marking me as her next victim. Neither did she let go of my bicep, nor did she listen to my countless attempts to tell her that I already had a girlfriend.

"Oh boo bear, stop lying," She giggled, brushing her knee against my leg. I jumped at the contact, wringing my arm out of her grasp, and leaping away to the cafeteria.

"Come back, boo bear!" Her voice was so high pitched, that she was beginning to communicate with local bats.

I ignored her. I've had enough of her torture, and I just wanted to find Renee.

I peered into the cafeteria, trying to catch a glimpse of Renee's warm smile, but she was becoming harder to find with every passing second, like she'd disappeared off the face of the Earth.

"Aww, were you waiting for me?" Chantelle appeared out of thin air, wrapping herself around my torso, her head against my chest. "Boo Bear, you're the sweetest."

"I didn't... Go away..." I struggled, but she'd shushed me, placing her talon-like nails on my lips.

My stomach turned unpleasantly at our proximity, and I fought against her pincer-like grasp, making her settle for my palm. All around the cafeteria, the students were fixated on me, possibly calling me Chantelle's new boy-toy.

I hated this.

Why couldn't things be easy for once?

That's when a loud clattering sound rang through the cafeteria, followed by Chantelle shrieking in agony. I turned around, letting go of Chantelle's hand, to find her drenched in what appeared to be today's lunch: something like stale chicken soup.

I smiled immediately, my eyes landing on my saviour. It was a girl with long curly blonde hair, and dark green eyes, looking highly familiar as she smirked at Chantelle.

"You freak!" Chantelle yelled at the girl, who looked unfazed.

"Oops, I'm sorry," She apologised, but it sounded like she was mocking Chantelle.

"Couldn't your stupid crystals and black magic predict that I was standing here?" Chantelle crossed her arms. "My outfit is ruined, you witch!"

"They did," The girl smiled knowingly. "That's exactly why I crashed into you."

And she marched away, leaving Chantelle screaming curses. I took the chance to escape, following the blonde-haired girl who had just saved me.

"That was cool," I admitted, daring not to turn back at Chantelle who was screaming my name.

"It was, wasn't it?" The girl giggled nervously like she couldn't believe what she'd done. "The look on her face was hilarious!"

"Thank you," I smiled at her. "I didn't know how to get rid of the she-devil."

"OMG, that's exactly what I call her too!" She grinned at me. "We're going to be good friends, new guy."

"It's Oliver," I pointed to myself, hating the fact that I had to use my fake name.

"Hi Oliver," She extended her hand, which I shook. "I'm the freak of the school, the black magic witch of the generation... Known as Clover Hayes."

Clover Hayes?

She was Renee's best friend, wasn't she? No wonder she looked familiar.

If she was here, it definitely meant that my Renee was also close by.

"So, what brings you here, Mr Oliver?" Clover asked me cheerfully, once we'd collected our lunch, and found an empty table to sit at.

"I..." My reply was interrupted as another familiar face settled in on the seat opposite to mine, placing his black backpack on the ground with a 'clunk'.

The sandy-haired guy guy praised her about dunking the soup on Chantelle, when his hazel eyes landed on me, widening by a fraction with recognition.

"Hey, you're the guy-"

"-who bought the phones, yesterday," I completed, nodding in agreement.

"Oliver, right?" He asked, his usually placid face giving me a slight smile. "I'm Sam."

We continued to chat for a while, recalling the incident yesterday, where Johannes had gone out of his way to embarrass me. I hated the fact that I had a weirdo for a dad, and I was grateful that Sam didn't make a big deal about it.

"Where's Ren?" Sam casually asked Clover.

Thank you, Sam, I thought mentally.

"She's angry," Clover threw him a glare. "She didn't even come to school today, claiming that she's going to destroy her device."

My smile fell off my face. Ren wasn't at school today.

I cursed my luck, blaming Johannes for constantly sucking it out of my life.

"All thanks to your grandma," Sam rolled his eyes at her.

"My Grandma? Says the guy who tried to kiss Renee, knowing fully well that she has a boyfriend..." Clover spat back furiously.

Wait... What?

Sam had tried to kiss my Renee?

White, hot anger surged through my veins, and I clenched my fist, desperately trying to restrain myself from punching Sam squarely in the face.

"She told you?" Sam yelped, his face pale with shock.

"Obviously! I've told you a million times, Sam, your moves aren't going to work on her, because she's madly in love with him!"

Him.

That was me. Noah Stark.

Despite my anger, I couldn't stop the little smile that had invaded my face.

"Does he even exist?" Sam questioned impatiently. "Or are you making up an imaginary guy, just so that I stay away?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but she beat me to it, her voice devoid of its usual tinkle.

"My boyfriend exists, Sam," Renee announced from behind me.

I whipped around, trying to catch her gaze, but it was already lost into the distance, intermingled with sorrow and pain.

"His name is Noah Stark."

*****

(A/N :
Hey Guys, I'm extremely sorry about the late update. I've been busy in the past week and things kept piling up, which led to the delay. Thanks for understanding, and I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! :)
P.S: Noah is so adorable to write!!! )