My hand shoots up in the air. “Sir,” I call out, stealing Mr. Garrison’s attention and waving my arm around like a desperate maniac. “Sir, I need to pee, like… now.”
Mr. Garrison narrows his eyes on me. “Then you should have gone before class. You’re not a child anymore. I’m not about to give you a pass when you know better.”
“But Mr. Garrison,” I whine. “I really need to go. It’s so bad.”
“Tough luck. Hold it until your lunch break.”
“Ok,” I shrug. “But I want it stated for the record that you said ‘no’ which means it’s not my responsibility when I pee all over the floor. Besides, it’ll make a lovely addition to your classroom. The fresh aroma of pee soaking into your cheap carpets.”
Mr. Garrison clenches his jaw and I watch with amusement as he forces himself to relax. “Fine,” he all but growls. “You have three seconds.”
It ain’t going to get better than that.
I grab my things and scram.
I hurry towards the back exit, knowing if I get caught running this way, I’ll be dragged to Principal Evans’ office kicking and screaming.
I break through the doors and get hit in the face with the cool morning air before letting out a breath of relief. If I’ve made it this far, I’m safe.
As I take my next step, I spot Noah coming out the other exit, but before he darts down to the back oval, he stops, glances around, and then shocks the living hell out of me as he grabs the fire alarm against the side of the wall and gives it a firm pull.
The alarm squeals throughout the entire school and I stare dumbfounded.
“What the fuck?” I screech, knowing perfectly well that he won’t be able to hear me over the sound. Don’t get me wrong, I like to consider myself to be a ballsy chick, but pulling the fire alarm? I’m not that ballsy.
I watch Noah for a second longer and laugh as he spots me. Hell, he’s so far away that I can’t really be sure, but I’d swear on my grave that he just winked right now.
He darts off and for the second time in less than a minute. I scram.
I hurry down to the old football field which hasn’t been used for the past two years after the bleachers were destroyed when my neighbor, Rocko, lit them on fire. It was freaking huge. All over the Haven Falls news and on every social media account in the area, though he never got caught. I never worked out how that was, but the guy is certainly sneaky. Come to think of it, maybe he’s the one who burned down Haven Falls Public a few years ago.
I beat Noah there and I have to admit, the giddiness pulsing through my veins is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be feeling like this. He’s just a boy, but this last week has proved that maybe he’s a little more than that. Plain and simple, he’s ten different shades of awesome.
And now this…
I’d bet any money that he pulled that fire alarm just so I wouldn’t have to hurry back to class. He did it purely for the sake of spending time with me and while it was probably the stupidest thing he could have done to achieve that outcome, I can’t help but love it.
Noah Cage is surprising me in ways that I never expected and I don’t doubt that given the chance, I could fall hard for a guy like him. Shit, maybe I already am.
Being with Noah would be easy. Hell, it already is. Everything up until this point has just come to us so naturally and I love it. He’s so chill and doesn’t give a shit about stupid things while letting me be me, unlike other guys in the past who have hated me being so challenging. I get the feeling Noah kind of likes that about me. Me and him… it would be epic. Easy.
I stand under what’s left of the charred bleachers knowing that when he gets here, this is where he’ll come.
As I wait, I can’t help but look back up at the school and cringe with amused guilt as students pour from the school. Half of them use the alarm as an excuse to get out of here and head for the parking lot while teachers scramble around trying to find some kind of order amongst the remaining students.
By this point, I’m sure the teachers are figuring out that there’s no fire, but that doesn’t change the fact that there’s a protocol they need to follow, so no matter what, Noah and I have at least an hour or two to ourselves.
I wait a few minutes before my eyes stop scanning the students and start searching out Noah. Where the hell is he? I literally saw him heading this way only a little while ago. He should have been here ages ago.