2 Two.

Slowly, Noah made his way down the cafeteria, carrying his lunch in his left hand, phone in his right. He looked up from the bright screen, and scanned the large hall for any familiar faces to sit with. It was lunch, still the first day sadly, but half way to freedom, the brunette had spent the majority of his day showing the new girl around, almost forcing her to follow behind, he did feel bad but no one else would've, he knew that they'd just laugh or give her incorrect directions, and anyway, he'd been instructed to by his teacher. Eventually, to the far corner of the room he spotted a familiar group of heads, blond, red, and bright blue. He smiled triumphantly, sometimes he felt as though finding friends in a room of chaos was the most difficult thing. Noah quickened his pace, approaching the table.

"So how'd it go with the new girl?" The red haired boy with the built physique spoke first, he had a suggestive look on his face, catching Noah's eye the second he noticed him.

"Hello to you too Markus, and I only showed her around cause Mr. Sullivan made me." Noah replied bluntly.

The redhead, Marcus, was one of those friends who were always making everything sound inappropriate, although he'd gotten his friends through a lot and was somehow great at everything, other than being nice, his immature behaviour had never changed, he was the one in the group who'd always manage to get females to trip over him, and constantly out doing stupid things.

Then there was Nate, the guy who would always dye his hair different colours that Noah had forgotten what his actual hair colour was, currently, however, it was a cyan blue shade, and an absolute mess. But despite his unkept appearance, the brunette adored his friend, he was intelligent and mature, and kept an eye on the rest of them, keeping them out of trouble on many occasions, always putting up with their childlike behaviour.

Noah's eyes trailed to the final member of the trio sitting on the table, Oscar, his best friend, and mum, of sorts, he didn't have to say much when it was about him, but Oscar was like his lifeline, other than his family, whenever he was with him, he felt safe, and happy. The brunette settled on an empty seat beside his best mate, and began to take out his food.

"Oh really?" Marcus challenged teasingly

"Mark if you don't eat your lunch I'm talking your crisps." Nate let out coolly, eyeing a pamphlet about issues in society which he'd probably picked up from the office.

"Shush, our Noah might finally have an opportunity to get a girlfriend."

"Why would I need a girlfriend when I have Oscar?" Noah tapped his friends shoulder playfully, before beginning to eat.

"What?!" The blonde could feel his face going red out of embarrassment. He looked down, pretending to search his bad in order to hide his face.

A reaction to which Noah burst out laughing and threw his arm around his friends shoulder, "Chill I'm just joking."

"But she is quite pale, I have to say" Marcus began.

To which Nate followed, to the brunette's surprise. "Yeah and emotionless."

"Doesn't talk much either."

"She's so thin the wind might break her."

"I think she might just be insane."

"Hey, I don't think you two should be judging her when you don't even know her, so just shut up and eat!" Noah began, defensively, he stared at his friends, his gaze like knives stabbing at them, warning them, but was taken aback when Marcus began laughing hysterically. "Aw being protective? Are you her knight in shining armour?"

Noah opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Nate. "She's a stranger man, for all you know she could run a network of drug dealing, she could be involved in dangerous things and you're backing her up? What if she influences you negatively? And get you in trouble?"

"Or she could take advantage of you. You never know." Marcus pitched in.

"Just cause she's a girl doesn't mean she's harmless."

"Yeah, they can be just as fierce and dangerous as guys."

Noah grunted. Irritated. Why were his friends trying to make him cautious around her? It seemed stupid and why did gender matter? So what if she was a girl? He turned to face Oscar, tuning out the duo, who had been silent the entire time. "Scar what do you think?"

Oscar looked up from his food, gazing directly into Noah's eyes, "I think you shouldn't give a f*ck to what they're saying. You do you man, and if anyone judges, well, I'm here to back you up." He paused for a second, seemingly conflicted before his face cracked into a grin, "and if you do like her, I'll support you all the way."

"Oh shut up I do not."

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"Um, Noah?" Marcus reached across the table and tapped on his shoulder lightly, seemingly distracted by something going on behind the group of boys.

"What?"

"Red alert. Nelson seems to be going in for a kill."

Noah looked at his friend. Confused. Melissa Nelson was one of those girls who could be nice, but could also be a demon, in general she appeared to be perfect, perfect face, perfect grades, perfect social life, she wasn't rich or spoilt, but she had everything under her control, and spent the time acting like she owned the place, and somehow everyone liked her, well, almost everyone.

"Why would I care? I hate her, let her do what she likes." The brunette responded emptily, focusing on his phone.

"No, the new girl. She's-" Markus paused, to focus on the yelling, elbowing his friend, as hard as he could, causing him to grunt in pain, still ignoring what was going on behind them.

After a few seconds, he registered what his friend had said, he lifted his head up from the video he'd been watching, and raised his eyebrow "new girl?"

"....f*cking idiot, how dare you...."

Noah narrowed his eyes, hastily twisting his neck to see what was going on. He made a disgusted face, seeing Melissa fist her hands into the new girl's shirt and pull her to her feet. Sighing, he slipped his phone into his pocket and turned back to face his friends, ignoring the muffled laughter. "I'm only doing this cause I hate Nelson."

The brunette stood up abruptly and turned around, about to march to the two girls, who seemed to be about to go to war. They looked so different from one another, Melissa had bright blond hair, that appeared near white, bold, captivating green eyes, and a meaningful expression, making clear that, I'm her egotistical views, she was superior to the other female, who with her dark hair and eyes, was the complete opposite.

Before intervening, he looked around, checking if any teachers would intervene, but judging by the looks of the older man at the back of the hall, and the two ladies in aprons serving a slop which resembled mud, he acknowledged that wouldn't happen.

'Splash'

Noah winced at the noise which carried through the room, closing his eyes before looking up again to see some sort of liquid all over Melissa's hair, dripping down. Noah glances at Ilysa, who was holding a bottle of juice in her hand, which was half empty. Nelson screamed in frustration, a sound which made the brunette question how he had not lost his hearing, she was about to open her mouth to yell at the transfer, who had, surprisingly, a faint smirk on her face, she stared at the other girl in the eye, the half empty bottle of juice still in her hand, before dropping the rest of it on Nelson's shoes.

"Damn-" the brunette whispered, frozen to his spot in awe, before realising Melissa was probably seconds from slapping Ilysa across the face, he sprinted towards them, grabbing the transfer's hand and dragging her off, out of the cafeteria.

"Jesus you really have some nerve" Noah began to laugh, pulling her into a quieter corridor away from any crowds, still keeping a firm grip on Ilysa's hand, aware that she may sprint off otherwise.

"What do you want now? Going to scream insults at me too?" She began, back to her cold self.

"No, but you've made yourself an enemy, she's never going to leave you alone, not to mention she's just the first, others may also do the same."

"And I assume you're going to protect me from her or something then? Cause I can look after myself. I don't need someone else."

"No, I'm not." He chuckled "you don't seem to need someone like that anyway", thinking back to the look on Melissa's face. "But what I am going to do, is offer you my friendship. You have an enemy, now you just need a friend." Noah grinned.

Ilysa, appearing to be surprised by the boy's gesture seemed taken aback, she fell silent, giving him hope that perhaps he had made progress with her. She looked up with her dark- almost black eyes, into Noah's brown one's, pulling her hand out of his, "no thanks." Without another word, she walked away.

Noah began to stutter, bewildered at her behaviour, feeling something sink in his chest, it was a strange feeling which he hadn't felt before, it baffled him, and he decided he didn't like it. He looked up to see Oscar, who was obscured by some lockers, hiding. He presumed he'd been listening in the conversation. "What?"

The blonde just shrugged, biting the inside of his mouth, before walking away.

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"F*ck him! I hate him so much sometimes I- Noah Anson you absolute idiot-" Oscar angrily smashed his fist into the bathroom mirror, which immediately displayed cracks, splitting his reflection into hundreds of smaller ones. Some shards of the mirror had fallen onto the sink, and some dug into the boy's fist, biting in. Streaks of blood ran through the cracks and dripped onto the tiled floor. He sniffled a little, feeling tears pricking in his eyes, the same burning eyes which he disallowed to cry during the entirety of the school day. But at home, behind closed doors, where the world was oblivious of his emotions, rivers of tears fell from him eyes.

For a second he regained his senses, looking up and the damaged mirror, "what am I going to tell mum?" He wondered, troubled and lost, he didn't want to have to explain himself, nor did he want to get told off, or cause money issues for his mother, who already worked so hard just to provide him with three meals a day.

In his emotional outburst, Oscar walked a few steps out of the restroom before collapsing onto the floor in an emotional mess, his fist still bleeding ounces of crimson, as he let out a small whimper, giving in to his chaotic mind, and began sobbing hysterically, hoping that perhaps someday some light will find him.

The boy fell into his thoughts, thinking of what had happened over the course of the day, but the image of Noah, and then that girl, flashing in his head cause him to gag, anxiety and sadness flooded his stomach. He subconsciously took a foetal position, laying on the floor, hugging himself. He dug his nails into his arms, aware of all the aches in his body.

"Why....?" he whispered into nothing, sensing flames inside him, thinking as though he was falling. "Why did I have to fall for my best friend?"

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