Destiny pulled out her hand which now held her handkerchief and she made to bend to clean his shoes, when he caught her hands and pulled her up. He had a quizzical look on his face and his hands still held hers as he asked, “What on earth do you want to do?”
“Clean your shoes, so would you please not hold this against me?” Destiny said. She tried to put her bag back on her back but he took it from her hands gently and placed it over one of his shoulders since the other shoulder held his own backpack.
Destiny’s mouth fell open and she froze. “Don’t tell me you’re going to seize my bag just because I stepped on your shoes. I mean, I know they are expensive but please don’t…”
“What on earth are you talking about? Look, I just want to help you out with your bag. You looked like you were having a really hard time with it and I was right. It is heavy.”
“Uh, what?” That was the last thing Destiny had expected to hear. “Why are you helping me? Wait, is this some kind of trick? Are you pranking me? What do you hope to get from this? Isn’t it too early to be doing this?” Destiny asked hotly as she glared at him.
The boy’s eyes widened and he raised his hands up in surrender as he said, “Whoa, whoa, I’m just trying to help here. I have no hidden agenda.”
“You don’t say,” Destiny scoffed. She reached out to grab her bag but he caught her hand gently and held it in his grasp. Destiny’s eyes widened. Who was this guy and what gave him such audacity?
“Aren’t you running late? We should head in, right?” he asked her. Before Destiny could reply, he was walking into the school, pulling her along beside him. Destiny’s voice was lost at the back of her throat as she followed him in. When they were in the front halls, he smiled and turned to her, “So, where is your class?”
Destiny shook her head and she swallowed hard, “I’ll take it from here, please.”
“Oh no, I think I got it. If you would just–” he started saying when a voice interrupted him.
“Noah, what on earth are you doing? We have to head to admissions,” a young girl said as she walked towards them. She looked just like him in skin color and even the same ink-black hair which she had pulled up in a high ponytail and currently fell down her back to her waist.
Destiny’s eyes quickly flew over the girl as she gave her a once over and the girl’s grey eyes showed that she was doing the same thing. The girl looked stunning with a face that had light but perfect makeup, dressed in a dark turtleneck sweater and black leather pants and high heeled boots, over which she had on a red pea-coat that looked so soft that Destiny longed to know how it really felt. “Come on, Noah. Admissions?”
It was then that Destiny realized that the boy called Noah still had her hand in his. She looked at him to speak when she saw that his eyes were on her and those grey pools were as inviting as ever. She tilted her head towards the boy whose name she now knew to be Noah and said, “You should go.”
A smile slowly crept up his face and still looking at her, he said to the girl, “I’ll be just a second, Natalie.” To her, he said, “I’ll give you your bag but please don’t go anywhere, all right? Just wait here. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
He gave the bag to her and he let go of her. He backed away and the newcomer who he had referred to as Natalie grabbed his arm and pulled him away. They turned the corner before he stopped staring at her. Destiny looked down at her hand and she could still feel his warmth.
“Move, Rags!” someone shoved her, jolting her out of her dazed state. She caught herself this time and blinked back tears as she hurried off.
As she headed to her class, she could not help wondering about the boy who had made her feel so much warmth and treated her so differently from every student she had met since she started out at Havana. The girl that came for him had mentioned, ‘Admissions’, which meant she had been right, he was new. It didn’t matter if he was nice to her today, tomorrow, they adopt him and he’ll have no choice but to be mean to her. Once more, the chaos in her classroom woke her up and she quickly found her seat before anyone noticed her.
***
“Kensington!” their homeroom teacher called during the roll call that morning.
“Here!” Destiny called as she raised her hand to signal her presence.
“More like Rags,” she heard someone say loudly and the entire class broke into laughter. The teacher looked sternly at the class and they settled down. But that did not stop the occasional hoots and ‘Hee-haws’.
Destiny rolled her eyes as she muttered, “It never gets old, apparently.”
The teacher continued with the roll call and Destiny let her thoughts wonder off. Initially, they settled on the boy who had acted strangely different from the other rich kids in the school but not for long as her thoughts strayed on to what she was doing after school. She had started working at The Sun Café a week ago and it had been going pretty great. Working there and doing all she needed to do scared her as much as it excited her. Her first week had been very stressful but she was adjusting. I will do it; I will figure out a way to perfect juggling work and my studies. After all, I am not the first person doing it and I certainly will not be the last.
“Mrs. Baker, come to the Director’s office. Mrs. Baker, homeroom teacher of 11B, please head over to the Director’s office,” the words floated into the class from the intercom in the walls.
“Well, that is me,” Mrs. Baker said. She looked over every member of the class and her eyes lingered on the back row where snickers were currently emanating from. “And behave yourselves till I get back. First period is not yet over, bear that in mind. You better not head out to the halls.”
“Yes Mrs. Baker!” they said in reply, the replies from the back being the loudest. The teacher’s gaze lingered once more and then she headed out.
“I wonder what’s going on,” someone said as the class became unsettled.
“It probably has to do with Kens. Noticed he’s not in school yet?” another asked.
“Oh yeah, he can be such a nuisance,” one other concurred.
As the voices continued, Destiny’s eyes moved from the wall clock to the class door. The quicker the bell rang, the quicker she was out. Her eyes were on the door when it pushed open and Mrs. Baker stepped in and Destiny’s breath caught. Coming right behind Mrs. Baker was the boy from that morning and the girl. She pushed lower in her seat, wishing that she could shrink or rather disappear into the floor.
“Well, you couldn’t wait one minute before you turned into a marketplace. Could you? Anyway, we have two new additions. Class,” Mrs. Baker turned to the people that had followed them in, “Meet Noah and Natalie Powers.”
As her teacher spoke, Destiny could hear the approving murmurs and whispers from her classmates, male and female alike. They considered the new guys one of them and they were right. There was nothing that they had in common with her. The boy was in a completely different league from her and if he didn’t know it earlier when he was being nice to her, seeing her in this class, looking like a rag doll next to the other fine China dolls, he certainly knew now. She watched as he looked around the room and then, their eyes met as he found her. He held her gaze while his sister stepped forward and introduced herself and then, he continued holding her gaze as he stepped forward to introduce himself and despite herself and the warning bells going off in her head, she actually could not stop staring at him.
CHAPTER SIX
NOAH
Noah swallowed hard as he and his sister were introduced to the woman who was going to be their home teacher, Mrs. Baker. His heart was pounding in his throat and he longed to run back into those halls and grab her hands once more. He could not believe it. She was his mate and his heart was racing. He knew it and he could feel it in his bones. How? Because he had met so many girls in his life but he had never felt for anyone of them the overwhelming feeling he had felt just by the sight of her. Everything in his life had slowed down just by seeing her. Noah shook his head as he tried to calm d
own. He had to get himself in check and in order. He was the son of the Alpha of their clan. He had to have a clear head and be capable of doing no wrong. There was so much expected of him by virtue of his position and due to the way he had proven himself all these years. He had to pull himself together and be calm. He could not be the one who ended up blowing things for them even before they all started their new life.
He tilted his head and shut his eyes as he calmed down the animal within him; the animal that was longing to jump out and run after her, the curly haired beauty who he could not get off his mind, even now in the Director’s office.
“Focus,” his sister whispered as she nudged him and looked forward. It was then that he realized that the woman, Mrs. Baker, had stretched out her hand for a handshake. He quickly stepped forward and shook it.
“Great,” the Director, an elderly man with a full head of silvery-white hair said as he rubbed his hands together with glee. “Now that we have gotten the introductions out of the way, I will leave you in Mrs. Baker’s care. Oh, before you go, here are your instruction manuals and school guidelines. Your class schedule will be given to you by your homeroom teacher, Mrs. Baker here. She will also assign your school guides to you. You have to follow them to a ‘T’. No one is above the law over here, no matter how fat your checkbook or that of your parents and family is. Do you understand me? Am I clear?”
“Crystal,” Noah and his sister said in unison. But looking at the man, he was inclined to think that the man’s last louds were very far from the truth. He might be young but he had dealt with a lot of corporate personnel and Director Saks looked like the kind of person who could easily be swayed by someone swinging a fat donation or rather, a promise of a building being erected on the premises. Oh yes, he was that kind of person who would accept favors in the name of helping the school, Noah decided.
“Well then, if you would just follow me,” Mrs. Baker said. Noah stood up and exchanged looks with his sister. They picked up their package of instructional material, thanked the Director and headed out of his office, on the tail of Mrs. Baker.
“Hey kids!” the receptionist, a plump and seemingly cheery woman called to them as they passed by. They stopped and turned to her. She smiled as she stretched out a bowl of chocolates, “It’s our welcome package. Welcome to Havana Academy, home of the Dolphins.”
“Thanks,” Noah said as he grabbed a few wrapped bars of chocolate that were coincidentally dolphin shaped. Natalie smiled her thanks as she grabbed some as well.
They stepped out into the halls and Noah’s eyes flitted around as he looked for her. Where had she run off to? It was then that he noticed that the halls were empty. He looked at the teacher who was already moving ahead of them briskly. A couple strides with his long legs and he was already almost ahead of her.
“So ma’am, classes have already started?” Noah asked, his eyes still searching around for the person he still could not see. How on earth am I going to find her in this large school? This is going to be damn hard.
“Yes,” Mrs. Baker told him. “Classes start by eight-fifteen a.m.”
“Isn’t there a morning assembly?” Natalie inquired. Their previous school had an assembly every morning.
“We have a weekly assembly every Wednesdays,” their new teacher explained to them.
She stopped and Natalie, who was coming up behind her, almost ran into her. Mrs. Baker smiled her apology and she turned to the stained-glass doors that were to her right. “Here we are, come on in.”
Mrs. Baker led the way and they followed her in. She smiled as she stood at the center of the class and started introducing them. Noah’s grey eyes roved around the class, taking in every single face that he set his eyes on. And then, his heart started racing as his eyes fell on her. He had found her again. She looked up at him and their eyes met. When his sister stepped forward, he kept looking at her. And then, it was his turn and still holding her gaze, he moved forward,
“Hi, like Mrs. Baker said, I’m Noah Powers. We just moved here and Aqua Vale seems like a nice little city. I for one am looking forward to what Havana Academy has to offer. I mean, it does seem like a really cool place,” Noah said, his eyes still on her. She averted her gaze and he watched her as she pushed lower in her seat.
“Quick question!” A dyed blonde raised her hand up and Noah turned to her. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
The class broke into a riot of laughter and Noah let a smile play on his lips as he said, “It’s complicated.”
“Oooh, tell me more,” the girl said as she placed her hand under her chin and there was more laughter.
Another girl winked as she said, “You didn’t say you are taken and as long as there is no ‘I’m taken’, I really don’t care if the situation is complicated. I didn’t hear an ‘I’m taken’, in other words, you’re fair game.”
There was more uproar and he heard Natalie chuckle beside him. Noah’s eyes flitted to the curly haired stranger and he saw that her head was lowered as she doodled on her notebook. He turned back to the girl who had made the statement that caused the uproar and said, “Trust me when I say this, my game is too hot for you to handle.”
The class went wild and Mrs. Baker raised her hands as she tried to calm them down.
“That’s enough class, settle down. You can head on to your seats, the both of you. Take your pick of any of the free seats,” Mrs. Baker waved her hands around the class
“Thank you Mrs. Baker,” Noah said and his sister said the same. They looked around the class and walked further in. Noah looked right at her and saw that the seat next to her was empty. The girl sitting behind her was about to place a bag on the seat but he went there in a flash and he set his bag down on it.
The girl’s mouth fell open at his speed and Noah gave her a smile as he settled into it. He heard a hissing sound and he turned around to see his twin glaring at him from a row down. It was a silent code between them and he knew exactly what she was trying to tell him- ‘Be careful, and you better not be a hothead.’
He chuckled silently to himself as he turned to look at the curly haired stranger. He smiled as he said, “Hi.”
She looked at him and he could see that she was puzzled, “I’m sorry? Are you talking to me?”
“Yup, I don’t really know anyone else here now do I?” Noah asked, a smile tugging on his lips. He watched her as she flicked a strand of hair away and her nose twitched once more. She was beautiful and she looked so cute when she did that.
“You don’t know me,” she said pointedly.
“Well, why don’t we change that then? You know my name, what’s yours?”
“Rags, that’s her name,” a voice said from behind Noah and he turned around to look into the laughing face of a black guy with a nose that he was suddenly tempted to break.
“I beg your pardon?” Noah asked.
“Her,” the guy motioned for Noah to move closer and despite his better judgment, he leaned in. “Trust me, Rags is not the person that you should be talking to. She is wretched and probably does not have a cent to her name. And get this, she’s a scholar! Can you believe that?”
“A scholar? Isn’t that a good thing?” From the corner of his eyes, Noah could see her and she looked very much crestfallen and he watched as she fumbled with something around her neck. He would bet anything that she could hear their conversations and from what he could see, the guy was not even trying not to be heard despite his pretense of secrecy.
“Oh trust me, it’s not. It’s someone that is so poor that the school picks you up from the gutters where you reside and educate you. I’m sure you get what I mean and obviously, you are not one of them. I suggest you stay away from Rags over there so you won’t spoil your rep. Right now, we already like you, you know what I’m saying?”
“Yeah I do, stay away from the poor girl because she’s poor,” Noah said with a knowing nod.
“Exactly. You feel me? I knew you looked smart and I was right. You’re smart,” the gu
y said with a wink.
“Oh yeah, I feel you,” Noah nodded and he turned around. She was still doodling and he opened his mouth to say something when Mrs. Baker interrupted all of them.
“Noah and Natalie, see me after the class. And Destiny and Stella, you both should wait behind as well,” Mrs. Baker said and she resumed with the roll call.
Noah turned back to her but she had already placed her head on the desk and he could not see her face anymore. He sighed and sat back in his seat. He would try to catch her before the next class. He hoped he would be able to disentangle himself from the meeting with the room teacher as fast as possible.
The roll call drew to a close soon enough and Mrs. Baker continued with the morning rituals as she mentioned the activities that would be taking place that week. Finally, the bell rang and there was the loud scraping of chairs across the tiled floors as the teenagers stood up and hurried out of the class. Noah’s eyes were on the curly haired stranger as she stood up. He had to find a way to catch her before she left. To his surprise, she walked ahead and stood in front of the teacher. Standing beside her was another dark girl with cropped hair. He hurried to the front as well.
Mrs. Baker smiled at the four of them and she said, “Noah, Natalie, meet Stella and Destiny. Natalie, Stella will be your school guide and Noah, Destiny will be your guide.”
Noah felt joy bubbling in his heart as he realized that his curly haired stranger was Destiny and not only did he know her name already, she was also his school guide. If those words meant what he thought they meant, then they were going to be spending a lot of time together. The next words from his teacher confirmed his thoughts.
“Your guides will always be with you and help you navigate through your first few days in Havana. You have corresponding class schedules so that it will be convenient for you all. Your guide is pretty much your buddy and will help you out on the school premises as much as she can. Well, here are your class schedules you both.”
Destiny: BWWM High School Romance Page 5
