Chapter 5 Five

"There's a party this weekend at Karl's place," Nolan tells Priscilla and Noel, though she can hardly hear anything over the roar of the blood rushing in her ears. "You guys should try and come if you can, it's a bring your booze but stuff will be provided if you don't drink a lot, or at all."

As expected, Nolan isn't the type of guy to pressure people to get wasted at parties, like most of the guys he chooses to hang out with. Noel has never gone to any of the parties the kids at school throw, but Priscilla has gone to a few and crashed at Noel's place, so her parents don't see her, ranting about some of the disgusting and disturbing things she sees going on at those parties.

Noel expects her to turn it down in her favour.

"Sure! Why don't you text me the address later?" she says. Noel whips her head around to gape at her, but she isn't paying her any mind, reaching into her bag to rip a piece off her muffin bag to write her number on and hands it to Nolan. "We'll catch you guys later!" She grabs Noel's hand and drags her away.

"Why the hell did you say yes to me? You know I hate those parties, you're the one who made me hate them, remember?" Noel asks.

Priscilla rolls her eyes and links her arm with Noel instead of dragging her, patting her hand empathetically.

"Relax, girl. Didn't you say that you want to try and get at least one date this year? How do you expect to meet any potential guys if you never leave the house?"

Noel sighs. She has a point, but why does it have to be a party at Karl's? The guy is just a sleaze-ball, hitting on every girl he sets his sights on, regardless of if they're interested back or not, he'll take anyone willing to sleep with him. Noel is certain he throws these stupid unnecessary parties just to scout these girls, and she doesn't plan on being one of them.

"I'll be there with you the entire time, I promise I won't drink that much so I can keep a good eye on you and the douchebags that try and get close to you," Priscilla tries to reassure her, but it doesn't work.

"I doubt anyone would even notice I'm there," Noel says.

"Oh, they'll notice, because I'm going to make them notice."

Noel stops before opening her locker, wondering what on earth she could mean by that, but also afraid of knowing the answer.

"I'll think about it, but don't get your hopes up," she grumbles.

Opening her locker, she reaches down to grab the books she took home out of her bag, the locker door slamming shut above her as a hand slams against it. She follows the large black Celtic-style tattoo carved into his skin, only making out the bottom of the tattoo under his rolled-up shirt sleeve. It doesn't look like a simple symbol as she has seen on a few other people, there are multiple symbols and designs within the base design, and she can't get a clear enough look.

"You really like checking me out, don't you?"

She freezes and squeezes her eyes shut at the deep voice of Harken.

"I was shocked, how else is someone supposed to react to you almost cutting their head off?" she grits through clenched teeth, hoping to make it at least the morning without running into him. She made sure to steer clear of him in the parking lot and scanned the hallways when coming in. Yet, low and behold he appeared out of thin air to torment her.

"Help me find this class," he says and shoves his schedule in her face, pointing to the block of the first period.

"Why do you need help, didn't you used to go here?" Priscilla asks.

A heavy silence looms over the trio. Noel should've expected he was just stringing her along, most likely going to make her run around the entire school showing him places and make her late for class, roping her into doing it out of guilt for being new here.

But he isn't a new kid here.

"You've gone here before?" she asks, not even looking at him.

He doesn't answer her. She pushes his hand aside and rips open her locker again, not bothering to place her books and dumping them inside, grabbing what she needs for the morning and slamming her locker shut.

"Find it on your own then." She pushes past Harken, not looking if Priscilla is even following her, and speed walks away from them.

Priscilla hangs back, making sure Noel is out of earshot before she turns a glare towards Harken, standing there watching as Noel rushes down the hall.

"Look, I don't know what your deal with Noel's dad is, but it has nothing to do with her, you don't have to be such a jerk to her. If you don't like her, then just stay away from her, Noel has been hurt enough times, she doesn't need someone like you hanging around and making her life worse." She lets out a quick huff after her rant, nodding her head as if to say she is done speaking and brushes past him.

"I never said I didn't like her," he calls over his shoulder.

She snorts, turning to give him a sarcastic smile. "Well, what you say and what you do, don't really match up, so..." she trails off, throwing her hands up in a shrug, then turns on her heel and walks away.

"Just leave Noel alone!" she shouts once more then disappears around the corner of the hall.

What the hell did she mean? How could someone like Noel have such a miserable life that my poking fun at her now and then will make any difference?

Harken knows he has toed the line with a couple of things he has said to her already, but even he thinks he's going easy on her compared to how bad he could actually be with how gullible and easily riled she is.

Have I really been that bad?

It doesn't matter much to him, anyway. He just has to get through this gruelling last year and he's finally home free. He might not have any plans for after at the moment, but that's the point of shacking up with Scott and his daughter. Free room and food, a second chance at a decent education, and he already has a place in mind for a part-time job that won't do background checks.

He just needs to bide his time. Concerning himself over the feelings of one little girl should be the least of his worries.