That Kid: Noah Pryce

Chapter 1

A/N : Third POV Italic means flashback from 9-10 years ago.

***

I jumped a bit upon hearing a friend's voice spoke from behind me out of the blue, just in time when I closed my locker.

"Hey Jen,"

I turned around and what greeted me was a beaming 18 year old boy who's in the same History class as me. His name is Harris.

"What?" I uttered while starting to walk along the hallway for my next class which was Arts. Harris walked beside me, his one hand clutched on one shoulder strap of his backpack.

"Can I borrow your History homework? My... Uhh," he paused for a brief second, like he was still thinking of a good alibi to add. "--my pet ate my homework."

I gawked at him with an amused expression, which led into an outburst of laughter. His cheeks flustered red and gestured me to be quiet. I shook my head and continued to chuckle.

"That's so cliché Harris. You really didn't do your homework. Correct?" I said, eyeing him so the truth would escape his mouth.

He bit his lower lip and nodded. "I just got caught up in Avalor last night, I lost track of time," he wailed.

My eyes gaped at him, my smile still not fading. So he was up all night playing the game. No wonder he looked like a rat today. His brown curl-ish hair looked like it hasn't been combed in days, dark circles colored his puffy under eyelids, and he looked like he forgot to take a shower, overall. His uniform wasn't even ironed well.

"I thought you logged out when I did?" I asked plainly. I took the liberty of procrastinating too for a good span of 45 minutes to finish my quest in Avalor. It's this mmorpg game that Harris and I love to play together. Actually, it's the very sole reason he and I became friends in the first place.

He shrugged and did a sheepish grin, with a dash of a regretful sigh.

"I was about to, but then this new quest popped out. A rare quest that could give you the healing staff of Selene. So I grabbed the opportunity and play," he explained again.

Instead of uttering any words, I remained eyeing him instead, with an eyebrow dubiously raised.

Don't get me wrong. Harris is a very very smart kid. However, it's his procrastinating that keeps him from continuously finishing, or starting any work. He was good looking too, although not the Prince-y type that makes any girl's eyes sparkle just by the sight of their hair.

He was skimpy, yes, but not super skimpy. He was tall, in fact I'm only a neck shorter than him. He has glasses, but rarely uses it. According to him, his nearsightedness isn't that bad to be needing the use of wearing glasses.

Without the dark eye-bags that was the result of sleeping late literally everyday, Harris actually has a nice pair of eyes. It was dark brown, but somehow it sparkles when illuminated by light. You know what I'm saying? And his thick eyelashes complemented it a lot.

"Well?"

He tapped a hand on top of my shoulder, cutting me off from deeply staring at him as I was enumerating his facial details inside my head. He looked like a normal person to me now.

"Well what?" Guess I forgot what we were talking about seconds ago. I can't believe I got entranced with his eyes again. It just always gets to me and I can't seem to help it. I drown every time I get stuck by his eyes. Let's just say it's his greatest asset... For a geek.

"HISTORY. HOMEWORK. PLEASE." He reiterated, emphasizing word per word.

I blinked, touched my nose, and opened my mouth. My mouth wanted to say 'okay, here', but I changed my mind instantly. Instead, I shook my head firmly and said,