21: Antidote to Righteousness (Noah)

Noah wondered why, for the past week, every time he walked into a classroom, the De La Rocha kid was staring at him? It was like the guy had some sort of radar - he always tried to catch Noah’s eye too. Noah had started to avoid the gaze, his expression was so sad and curious and angry. Like the guy was angry that Noah was even here, resenting his existence.
Noah wondered if Caleb was upset about that stupid thing that had happened in the training session last month. So the guy had fallen of a platform on the assault course, that is what the safety nets were for. But who would hold a grudge over a simple fall for this long? But here they were a few weeks later and his eyes always seemed to be on Noah.
If Noah didn't know any better, he would assume that some dark, omniscient power was out to make his life miserable. Not that he felt particularly bereft where misery was concerned, he still felt homesick after all this time. But that home had been long gone before he had come to Xaviers.
Noah was not about to get into a staring contest of who would turn away first, so he took the simple tack of not looking in Caleb’s direction.
Simple.
If the guy wanted to fight he was welcome to try, Noah was one of the most highly trained students on campus. And he could not remember the last time someone landed a punch or kick.
Noah did take one swift glance at Caleb and tried for the thousandth time to imagine what the guy’s damage was. He walked to his own desk situated in the second row, Xavier classes were ridiculously small so it was hard to get out of another student’s line of sight. Noah only had to see the back of his tormentor’s head, an easier fight than being eye to eye.
Noah looked at his schedule on his phone to see what they were doing. Still on Macbeth. Just murder and politics, good distractions.
"I can't believe he said yes! That's amazing.”
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Angelica."
Perfect, thought Noah. Illyana and Angelica had settled into the desks next to him and seem particularly excited about the day's gossip. Yay, thought Noah.
“Sorry, you know what I mean," Angelica said, trying to soothe her best friend. "It's just that taking Jamie Braddock to the dance is kind of a big deal."
"I know!"
Danny could almost hear the smile on Illyana's face. He guessed she asked Jamie to the dance, then. Even Noah had to admit that they made a nice-looking couple, with their shiny hair, flawless skin, and perfect Colgate smiles.
It was exhausting.
"Now it's your turn," Illyana says. "You need to grow a pair and ask him!"
"Ugh, I know," Angelica said, "and I will. I promise. Just... let me get through this week. I need to nail this Macbeth project and then I'll ask him. Seriously."
"Okay, okay," Illyana concedes, "but you need to stop stressing about this paper. You already have an A."
"And I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much."
Noah could not see her, but he knew Angelica was preening while she said this. He found this early-morning chatter irritating beyond belief, but the girl was smart. And she never let anyone forget it.
"Fair enough. Just don't wait too long."
Illyana's voice drops to a whisper. "Caleb's one of the cutest guys in the school. Someone is gonna snatch. Him. Up.”