pizzaface | ✓

1.

ENGLISH CLASS was loud as usual, the flurry of voices bouncing across Noel's curls was no stranger to him.

And so was the harsh insults being exhibited from the large group of boorish meatheads situated at the back of the classroom. Their voices were louder than usual, or maybe Noel hadn't done a good job at blocking them out this time.

"Yo! Pizzaface!"

Noel slunk lower into his chair, pulling his hoodie so tight around his face, that he could feel the fabric chafing against his skin.

"Have you tried Proactiv?"

"Clearasil?"

"Hey! Look at us when we're talking to you!"

Why would I? Noel thought bitterly, grinding his teeth in annoyance as he picked up his copy of Midsummer Night's Dream to distract himself. He quickly took a gamble and scanned his classmates faces, apart from the football oafs hollering at the back of the classroom, everybody else looked like they would rather be anywhere else than here. There faces vacant and empty as they appeared to be staring at the whiteboard.

As he was scanning across the classroom his eyes made contact with a girl with large glasses, he quickly turned his head down to the desk.

Eye contact was awkward.

Yet he could still feel her eyes burning into the side of his head.

Just in time, a teacher finally waltzed into the classroom, everybody seemed to take a double take at her appearance, on her head something loosely resembling a birds nest lay in thick dreadlocks in an unflattering spiral. To make it worse she wore a long brown flowery dress which dragged against the classroom floor. She shot a tired, wiry smile at the students, before dropping her brown satchel on her chair.

"I'm Miss Mulroy, I'll be teaching you for the foreseeable future since your old teacher is pregnant."

Noel watched a girl from the front of the class stick her hand up in the air in a feverish manner, before the new teacher could even give her permission to speak, she opened her mouth, her lips squeaking with the amount of lip gloss she applied. "Our old teacher was a man."

The class erupted in a splash of childish giggles as the girl simpered at the attention she had received from the unnecessary comment.

Noel felt horrible for doing so, but he felt happy that the meatheads now had new prey to feed on, as he could already hear their unnecessary comments seeping through there big mouths.

Meathead #1 geared himself up, "What's that on your head! A bird nest!" His collective groups of oafs slapped him against the back, their laughter deep and booming and very annoying.

Miss Mulroy regarded the group at the back with distaste, she knew if she didn't do anything about them they were going to cause trouble for the rest of the year and she didn't know just how much she could take.

"Right, that's it! I'm splitting you guys up."

Once Noel heard those words, he hoped that he wasn't going to be seated next to an oaf. He glanced at the person who was sitting next to him - a quiet boy called Alex who slept way too much and avoided looking at Noel as much as he could.

But then again, everybody avoided looking at him.

Today the universe had decided to hate him as he watched a football oaf slip into Alex's seat. Noel visibly flinched as he waited for an onslaught of careless insults and comments that would inwardly stab at his gut. Yet none came.

The oaf turned and flashed him a quick grin, before placing his books on the desk neatly.

Noel quickly racked through his brain, as to whether or not this particular oaf had said anything jarring to him specifically, but honestly he hadn't bothered to tell any of them apart.

Noel smiled wanly in return, before slinking himself further into his seat.