10. Izzy / Noah
10
IZZY / NOAH
IZZY
“When will you understand I don’t want to talk to you?”
We’re a few weeks into the school year now, but Ryan is still relentless in trying to have a conversation with me. I’ve done my best to avoid him. I get to homeroom right before the bell rings so there’s no time for him to hound me. I can easily dodge him in the corridors or at all meal times. I’ve done everything I can but today he’s caught me.
It’s Friday, and he hasn’t bothered me yet this week, so I figured he’d given up and I was safe. I came to homeroom a little earlier to see if I could talk to Noah about yesterday, but he’s not here.
I want to thank him properly for being so kind to me during a weak moment when he could have easily continued speaking to his parents and ignored me. I wonder what he said to them before he came to my side. Luke knows Korean because of his girlfriend Jinhee so maybe I can ask them to teach me some.
I also want to check if he’s okay. The rumours about him still haven’t died down. I think they’ve gotten worse, actually but I can’t be too sure. Whenever I hear people mention him, I get as far away from the conversation as possible. It’s been bothering me from the start, but I don’t know how to stop them.
“I think you owe me some kind of explanation.”
I almost forgot that Ryan was standing in front of me. He’s got his palms pressed flat on my desk, staring down at me in a way that he probably thinks is intimidating but he just looks ridiculous.
“I don’t owe you anything,” I tell him, shoving my finger into the crease of his arm so that it buckles.
He loses his balance but catches himself just in time before his face collides with the desk. The laugh I let out is so loud that everyone turns to look at us. Ryan pockets his hand and I can see his jaw clench as his face starts turning bright red.
“Isabelle, you’re just being silly now,” he hisses.
“ I’m being silly?” I repeat, wanting to make sure that he knows who he’s actually talking to.
“Yes, you are. I don’t know what game you’re playing with that new guy, but it’s not a sensible one.” He bends at the waist, bringing his face closer to mine, and I push my chair back. “People have started talking about you now, too. Did you know that?”
I didn’t. I can’t guess what might be being said about me. But I also can’t find it in myself to care.
“Go back to your seat, Ryan. You’re embarrassing yourself.” I sit back, crossing one arm across my chest and holding the other up to my face to look at my nails. I need a manicure.
“That’s rich coming from you.” I look up, and he’s standing at his full height again, letting out a sigh. “If you apologise now, I’ll forgive you. We can forget any of this even happened.”
I can feel my brain cells dying one by one.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Of course, I am.”
“I dumped you,” I remind him, because he’s clearly lost the plot somewhere.
“And I can forgive you for that if you say sorry.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded, trying to figure out how he came to this solution.
“You’re ridiculous. Go and sit down.”
“Okay,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.
I only have a split second to think I’ve won the argument before he rounds the desk and pulls out Noah’s chair.
“What are you doing?” I ask him, my patience wearing thinner by the second.
“Apologise and I’ll move.”
“What exactly am I apologising for?” My voice is shrill, and maybe I should lower my volume, but I’m finding it impossible to when he’s acting like this. I can’t believe I ever liked him for even a second. “If you don’t move, I’m telling Mrs. Harper.”
He lets out a huff of laughter but doesn’t get a chance to say anything.
“She told you to move.”
* * *
NOAH
I should have realised something was up when the classroom was quieter than usual as I got closer to it. I assumed I was late, and Mrs. Harper had already started taking attendance so I hurried into the room expecting to see her.
Instead, I saw everyone staring at Izzy and Ryan. He’s in my seat and annoying Izzy and both of those things are bothering me—one more than the other.
Izzy’s saved me countless times over the past few weeks just by being a friend. But I still haven’t forgotten how she stood up for me last week in the gym when Ryan was trying to pick a fight with me.
Whatever emotion she felt when she decided to step in must be similar to what I’m feeling now because every cell in my body is screaming at me to get him away from her. She was upset yesterday, and I don’t want him making it worse for her. I know Izzy can handle herself; she’s headstrong and stubborn in the best way, but right now I want to try to help her.
I march toward them, completely ignoring the way everyone turns their heads to look at me. At least the attention is off Izzy. I only catch the tail end of what she’s saying, but it’s enough for me to interject.
“She told you to move.” The low gravelly tone in my voice surprises me, and I think Izzy, too.
I let my gaze drift to her for a split second, and her eyes are wide. I focus my attention back on Ryan, staring him down, but he’s wearing a cocky smirk.
“Oh, here he is. Want to explain why you’ve been hanging around my girlfriend?”
“I’m not your girlfriend, idiot!” Izzy yells, standing up from her seat.
The entire class is silent, and even though my back is to them all, I can feel their stares focused on the scene we’re creating.
“Get out of my seat.”
Ryan stands then, and I hide my momentary shock at him actually listening to me. He leans over the desk, moving his face closer to mine, and he reeks of arrogance.
“Or what? You’re going to beat me up too?”
I try not to let my expression falter, but it must slip for a fraction of a second because he bellows out a laugh. He’s the only one who seems to be finding this situation funny.
“I knew I was right about you,” he adds. I keep my eyes fixed on him, biting the inside of my cheek.
He’s wrong. He doesn’t know me. I’m better than I was last year.
He turns to look at Izzy, all of us standing now.
“Surely by now you’ve heard what he did, right?” he asks her.
I bite down harder, the taste of metal filling my mouth. Of course she’s heard, I know she has. But for just a moment, I wish she hadn’t. She’s been the only person showing an ounce of kindness to me. And while it might be out of some strange sympathy she feels for me, at least it’s something. I don’t want her to think the worst of me.
Izzy doesn’t answer him, and I can’t figure out whether that’s better or worse than hearing what she would have said. I angle my head to look at her, and she’s already looking right back at me. The expression on her face has changed now, her earlier shock replaced with a softer look that seems an awful lot like pity.
“You’re all rather quiet today,” Mrs. Harper’s voice breaks the silence hanging over the room.
The scrape of chair legs and footsteps starts up along with a low hum of chatter as everyone moves to take their seats. The show they’ve been watching has come to an abrupt end.
“Move,” I spit out, one final word and he does just that, knocking his shoulder against mine to pass me. The smirk is still on his face as if he’s won whatever battle he thinks just happened.
Izzy sits back down and I take my seat next to her. I watch her in my peripheral. Her eyes are closed, and her bottom lip is pulled between her teeth. I glance down at the desk we share, and her hands are folded tightly together. She pulls them into her lap, and I follow the movement. It’s only then that I realise they’re shaking.
I look back up at her face again, wanting to see if she’s okay. Her eyes are open now as she stares straight ahead at the front of the room. I have no idea what Mrs. Harper is talking about because Izzy has captured my full attention.
Before I can think about it too much, I reach my hand over to rest on hers under the desk. Izzy turns to look at me, green eyes wide as her lips part slightly. Her back is rigid straight, but the moment my hand touches hers, once she sees it’s me, she relaxes. Her shoulders drop and she lets out a small breath, her eyelids fluttering shut and open for a moment.
I open my mouth to…apologise? Explain? I don’t know what, but the tiny shake of her head stops me. Instead, she flips her hand around mine, her fingers squeezing mine once gently before she lets go.
Then Izzy smiles at me in a way that’s different from all the others. It sends a jolt through my chest. I’ve seen her smile a lot over the past few weeks, but it’s never been like this. It’s never had my heart racing, and my stomach doing flips, and my mouth dry. It’s never had me wanting to be the only one who sees it.
I take my hand back, whatever moment we just had ending before I even realised it was happening. I clasp my hands together, turn my attention to Mrs. Harper instead, and try to find something else to focus on.
I want her hand back in mine.
The strange thought pops into my head, and I get rid of it as fast as it comes. I need to stop whatever crush I seem to be developing on her as soon as possible.