Her Saviour

Three...

Noah's P.O.V.

The travelling tired me out.

All I wanted to do was get some sleep; but to my bad luck, I had school today. We just moved to Canada from California, I know what you might be thinking, it's just a 7 hour flight, not that tiring blah blah blah; I suggest you to try travelling by road for almost 38 hours and then let me know if you feel tired or not. Yeah you heard me right, my parents and my little sister came by flight whereas I came in a truck, not just any truck, the packers and movers truck to be precise. Dad told me not to do it, since I had to attend school but me being the responsible and stubborn kid, told dad that I’ll take care of the transportation of our stuff.

Worst decision ever.

My parents with my sister took a flight at 11 pm last night, whereas I left day before yesterday so that I would reach our house on time to attend school. I reached at around 7 in the morning, almost 30 minutes after my parents. I had school at 8 am, which means I had an hour before school; this sucks man, I vowed to myself throughout the journey that I’m never ever going to travel by road for long distance. When I reached our new house, the first thing I noticed that, it was a big house, not as big as our place in Santa Ana but this would do just fine. My dad owned a seven bedroom house which had a lawn double it's size with metal gates, the kind where you had to beep and ask for permission to enter the property.

The one here, well it was a four bedroom one storey house with a basement the exact size of the house that dad allowed me to turn into entertainment room, a backyard with a pool and a cute lawn in the front yard with a swing set. In California we had indoor pool, unlike here; though we just moved in here, the house was totally furnished with all the appliances and furniture set in the desired places; all thanks to dad who visited a few days ago and got everything done. All we had to do, was just getting our stuff in the closets as well as fill the kitchen with required grocery and crockery. 

As soon as I reached, the packers and movers staff started taking things inside, asking my mom were to keep which box, while I took my duffel bag which had all the required things, that I would need now to reach school on time and made my way upstairs towards my room. Mine as well as my sister’s room was on the first floor with one more spare room which mom planned to use as guest room, whereas my parent’s room was on the ground floor besides a living room, an extra bathroom, kitchen with a conjoined dining room and a laundry room at the back.

As soon as I reached my room, I went to the bathroom to have a hot shower and then got dressed in blue jeans and a black sweatshirt, paired with black sneakers. Stuffing my books inside my bag, I latched it on my shoulder and made my way downstairs. Mom was already in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.

When did she get the groceries?

“Bye Mom” I shouted, while walking towards the main door, avoiding the breakfast as it was already way past 7.30 and school was a good 10 minutes from here. Mom looked at me and called out, “Whoa young man, where do you think you’re going without eating your breakfast?”

I stopped mid-step, turning to face her I said, “I can’t mom, if I don’t leave in the next two minutes, I’ll be late for school.”

“Your school starts at 8 and it’s only 7.38 right now, it takes around 10 minutes to reach school from here by car and with your driving skills, I’m going to say 7 minutes for you to reach school. So even if you leave at 7.53 am, I bet that you’ll be in school on time; so quit your whining and come eat some breakfast” she explains everything in detail, leaving me no chance for an excuse. 

I breathe out a loud sigh and make my way towards the table, sitting down I start stuffing myself with the pancakes; I’m busy eating when I hear a car’s horn and someone speaking, the voice intrigues me to look outside through the window which is right beside the dining table, to see who it is. The first thing that catches my eye is a Matte Black Jeep Safari, s**t that is one hell of a rough driving vehicle, must be some football jock going to my school, I think to myself. What I see next surprises me to no end, the person driving that beast is not a guy, it’s a girl; I cannot see her face clearly but I’m very curious to know who she is here for. I am busy looking at her, when I see two guys coming from opposite direction to meet up with her and then settle in the jeep; there are two girls already settled inside.

Isn’t it a guy’s job to pick girls up from their home?

Man, I sound like a f*****g sexist right now. I mean I’m not against girls driving, but if I was in those boys place, I would be the one to pick her up and not the vice versa; you see I’m a gentleman. Soon they leave and at the same time I’m done with my breakfast as well, I take the plate and put it in the sink. As I’m about to leave, mom gives me a travel cup filled with coffee, I smile at her, placing a small kiss on her cheek I make my way outside towards the garage and start my car. 

I owned a black BMW 4 series Convertible, she is a beauty and since she is black, I named her Midnight. I get settled in it; upon starting it, the engine roars to life, I check my phone one last time and see that it’s already 7.51, hardly 9 minutes before I reach school. I drive at my usual speed while sipping my coffee and it takes me exactly seven minutes to reach school, mom was right; I park my car and run all the way through the parking lot to enter the school.

As soon as I enter through the main door, it’s like everyone stops moving and turn to look at me; I mean its okay to look at me since I’m the new student but at least don’t stare. I ignore them as I hear the first bell, which brings everyone out of their trance and pulls their attention back to their work. I fast-pace walk towards the office and see a lady, who is maybe in her 40's sitting there, doing something on her computer; I clear my throat to gain her attention and succeed as she looks at me from the upper side of her glasses which are fixed on her nose.

Looking at me, she asks, “New student?” I nod at her and reply with, “Yes ma’am. The name’s Noah Hernandez.” She passes me a sheet and tells me to sign on it, as I’m busy signing, she gets my schedule, locker details and a map out of a drawer and gives it to me while I slide the signed paper towards her. Giving her a small smile and bidding her “Goodbye” followed with a “Have a good day”, I make my way outside and check the schedule. My first class is Math and then History followed by Science after which I have lunch break; after lunch there are two more lectures being English literature and P.E.

Okay. Not so bad.

I make my way to the first class, Math; since I’m already late I ditch the trip to the lockers and plan to see it before lunch and walk directly in math class. As soon as I enter the class, silence envelops me and I have to check around to make sure that I’m actually not alone but notice that there is a man in his 30's standing in front of me, looking at me as if I’ve grown two heads, girls are staring at me as if they are ravaging me with their eyes.

Uhh. Disgusting.

I look at the guys who are least interested in my presence, which I appreciate a lot; at least some people here know what personal space is. I look back at the teacher and it’s like suddenly a bulb lights in his head as he asks, “You’re the new student, right?” I nod and say, “Yeah, that’s me.” He gestures me with his hand to come inside as he turns towards the class to say, “Class, we have a new student here. I want you all to make him comfortable at our school.” He turns towards me and says, “Why don’t you introduce yourself.”

I give him a small smile and say, “Hie I’m Noah Hernandez. I just moved here today itself from Santa Ana, California. I love to read as well as play football.”

As soon as I stop, a blonde girl asks, “California huh, which school?”

I just give her a bland reply, “I was at Mater Dei High School.”

“So you play football?” asks the brunette sitting beside her.

“Yeah, I was the quarterback at my old school” I reply again, I see another girl ready to ask one more irrelevant question, when I ignore her and turn towards the teacher and ask, “Can I get settled now?”

He pats me on my shoulder and says, “Yeah, go and sit beside Michael over there” he points in the direction of some guy, who looks familiar. I nod and walk towards my seat and get comfortable; the teacher turns towards the board to write something when I turn towards the guy beside me, extending my hand towards him for a handshake, I say, “Hie I’m Noah.”

He gives me a small yet genuine smile as he grabs hold of my hand, shaking it he says, “Hie I’m Mike, as in for Michael.” He seems like a good guy, the one who is least interested in girls; the reason could be because he might have a girlfriend but still he looks like he plays some sport, he has an athletic body and I know that guys who play sports are usually assholes, they never miss a chance to stare at girls or flirt with them, irrespective of their relationship status. He, on the other hand, looks like a jock and gives a vibe of a nerd. I think I was staring at him for too long, as I see him flaying his hand in front of my eyes as he asks, “Are you okay man?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a little zoned out.” I say, listening to that he nods and moves his focus back on the board as he pens down everything and solves the problems simultaneously with the teacher.

Okay. Definitely a nerd, now I just have to figure the jock part.

And then it will be proved at we are made for each other.

I laugh at my own thoughts and continue my work. Soon the lecture finishes and everyone starts to leave the class, since I’m new and Mike seems like a nice guy, I ask, “Hey what class do you have now?”

“Science” he answers my question and continues with a question of his own as he asks, "and you?"

“History” I reply, kind of disappointed that maybe the chance of being friends with him are about to get ruined. He looks at me and says, “My girlfriend is in your class then, come I’ll walk you to it; I’m going that way too.”

I knew it. 

He is a committed man and hence the reason for him being least interested in other girls. I smile at him and ask, “Can I join you for lunch?” He stops mid-step and looks at me with a weird expression, as if contemplating with his own self whether to say yes or no; I see his inner turmoil in his eyes as I say, “its okay man. No pressure.” He looks at me astound when he realizes that I knew he wasn’t comfortable with my idea of having lunch with him, he turns towards me and says, “No man. It’s totally okay.” He pauses for a second “What do you have after History?” he asks. “Science” I answer. “Okay. Well, I have History. How about after science, you meet me in the cafeteria?” he asks again.

“Okay. That will be cool. I’ll see you there then” I say as I make my way inside the class as he waits for his girlfriend. I’m almost inside when he says, “We sit in the middle of the cafeteria. Search for the jocks table” I nod and he turns the other side to talk to someone, maybe his girlfriend.

Jock’s table. That’s the proof I was waiting for.

I have a feeling that we are going to be great friends.

I get through History as well as Science, and soon its lunch time. I don’t know why I’m so excited about lunch, it’s not like they are serving Chinese food here, are they? Unless and until, they do serve it, I don’t have any other reason to be excited for. At least not right now. Before going to the cafeteria, I make my way towards the locker, entering the code I keep all the books inside, except for the one which will be required for English literature and make my way to the lunch room.

It’s packed. Totally packed, brimming with people everywhere. I make my way towards the line and grab a slice of pizza; some pasta and a carton of orange juice and make way towards the table as I look around for Mike, when I remember him say that he sits in the middle on the jocks table. I walk towards the middle and instantly my eyes fall on the jocks table, which perhaps is placed in the middle of the room, with two other tables on its side. They form a weird triangle, I can see the jocks have occupied one table but mike is nowhere to be seen, the second one is filled with girls, most probably the cheer-leading squad and the third one has five people settled on it. I can’t see anyone clearly since they are covered due to the jocks standing around and as usual hyped about some girl.

I walk towards them and the guy who is sitting exact opposite to where I’m standing asks, “You need something man?”

I look at him and ask, “Yeah, I’m looking for Mike. He told me to meet at this table; do you know where he is?” He looks at me, smiles and shouts, “Yo Mike, the new dude is looking for you.”

I don’t understand why he does that, when suddenly I see a guy standing up right behind this guy who called him out, he turns and that’s when I see him, he gestures me to come over there, I nod and look at the guy who helped me and says, “Thanks man.” He nods and says, “Anytime man. By the way I’m Jacob.”

“Noah” I say before making my way towards the table behind them. Mike is one of the five people whom I saw settled in the center table beside jocks and cheerleaders, is he like from the popular kids or something, he didn’t seem like one.

As soon as I reach their table, my eyes roam around and stop at one particular person, a particular beautiful human being. She is wearing a black hoodie just like me with some words written on it, which I can’t actually read since she is sitting slumped in her place. She has amazing black hair; they are so curly like weird wavy noodles yet so long that they reach below her chest. Eyes with dark brown orbs that turn lighter as they move towards the center turning into hazel golden shade, I bet they shimmer and shine in sunlight. She doesn’t have any kind of makeup, except for a black liner above her eye lashes; I can say that she did apply some lip gloss, but unfortunately by the way she looks I can say she most definitely ended up licking it and turning her lips void of it, yet her lips are just as much pink as I think they might be soft. She is looking at me with a continuous glare,

Glare?

I shake my head and turn around to look at others who are all looking at me, with Mike and the two other girls, I think I saw one of them in History and the other one in Science class, all of them shocked at my stupid inconsiderate behavior of staring at their friend, whereas the guy who is sitting beside her is throwing daggers at me, if looks could kill; I’m sure I’d be six feet under by now. He places his hand around her shoulder and pulls her closer to himself; she doesn’t respond at his gesture and continues to glare at me. I turn and smile at Mike and he says, “Why don’t you sit there Noah.”

I move and sit beside the other guy, feeling very uncomfortable of his glare. I don’t say anything as the silence turns awkward, that is when the blonde haired girl who was in my science class says, “Hie I’m Patty, short for Patricia.” I nod at her with a small smile and say, “Hie I’m Noah” “So you are the new guy?” asks the guy sitting right beside me. I turn towards him and reply with, “Yeah. I think so.”

Silence falls again around us, when Mike clears his throat and says, “Sorry. I forgot to introduce you to others.” He looks at the black haired beauty and visibly gulps as if she is about to kill him and says, “You know who I’m, so meet her” she points at the specsy girl sitting beside him, placing an arm around her shoulder and says, “This is Becca, name's Rebecca. She is my girlfriend” I give her a smile and she returns with the same. Then he turns towards the blonde girl and says, “She introduced herself earlier, so you know she is Patty.” He moves his attention towards the guy beside me and says, “He is Zach, short for Zachary. He is the captain of the football team so if you are planning to join our football team, you will see him almost every day.” And finally he turns towards the one I’m excited to know about, I don’t know why, I just want to; her existence excites me, he nods towards her and says, “And that is Abigail.”

I don’t know why but without any warning, I ask, “full for Abby?” Everyone turns towards me, except for her who is busy eating her fries.

Doesn’t she speak?

“Yeah right” I hear her say; now it’s her who everyone is staring at.

What’s with people staring at this school?

I smile at her and say, “Hie Abby” and she glances at me just for a second and replies with, “Hie Noah” after hearing her speak, that is when it dawns on me. I know these people; I saw them in the morning through my window. She was the one driving the Jeep Safari.

“You are the one who drives that Jeep Safari.” I don’t realize how loud I was, until I hear a few gasp from the neighboring table; of course the cheerleaders where snooping in our talks.

Damn ladies; mind your work, will you?

Her eyes narrow at me, as her brows furrow, crease forming on her forehead as she asks, “Is there a problem with that?”

I realize that she thinks I am judging her based on her car choice, so I quickly reply to make it clear that my intentions weren’t to hurt her feelings by saying, “No. I love your car, I mean Jeep.”

“That doesn’t answer the question” says Zach; I have a feeling he hates me, I don’t know why but he does. Maybe because I was staring at his girlfriend like an i***t, that’s why.

Great, it’s my first day and I already have an enemy.

“Actually I saw you guys in the morning, when Abby came to pick you guys up. That’s how I know” I answer.

“Where did you see us?” asks Patty.

“I just moved in the house that is on the same lane as them, I guess” I say pointing towards Mike and Zach.

Becca looks like she is in deep thought when she suddenly gasps and asks, “Was there a truck parked outside your house today?”

“Yeah.”

“He is your neighbor Mike” she whispers to Mike as he looks at me and smiles, I am a bit confused when Becca turns towards Patty and says, “So much for a sexy girl being Mike’s neighbor and sweeping him off his feet huh Patty.”

Mike starts laughing as I hear Abby and Zach chuckle at Rebecca's words. Mike looks at my confused face and says, “Hie there neighbor.”

“You stay beside my house?” I ask him, he nods and says, “Yeah. I am your neighbor and Zach stays right in front of my house, so he kind of is your neighbor too.”

Great.