Chapter 39

Chapter 39
DALIA
“Tamika,” Nathan called out in a hushed voice behind me and I glanced at Tamika who was sitting next to me, furiously copying the answers I had written on my answer sheet onto her own. “Psst! Tamika.”
“What?!” she hissed, jerking her head in his direction.
“Why do you look so angry? …Are you almost done?”
“Oh,” she muttered and a moment later, confusion washed over her face. “You’re sitting beside Harvey and behind Dalia but you decided your best choice was me?” she asked and the corner of my mouth tugged up because of the way she sounded, before I subtly glanced at Harvey.
His dad had been showing up at the house these past few days and though he never had to interact with the man because my dad always stopped him at the door, that had put him in a bad mood. He was still happy that his mum didn’t have terminal cancer but he rarely talked and hung out with me lately.
His eyes met mine and I gave him a small smile which he returned several moments later while Nathan said, “Harvey’s ignoring me and Dalia probably won’t answer me since he didn’t. How far have you gone?”
“I’m at the one-yard line… It’s a football reference,” she replied and I returned my attention to my question paper.
“Yes, Tamika. I know that. I played quarterback in high school.”
“Miss Campbell,” Avery suddenly called out from the front of the class the moment I opened my mouth to tell them to shut up, and I jolted before looking up to see her glaring at me. “You want to share whatever you’re talking about with the class?”
My eyes widened slightly as I glanced around and I shook my head sideways. “Ehhh…”
“That was not a request.”
A couple of people glanced at me and I shifted in my seat, feeling uncomfortable. “I -”
“She was talking to me,” Harvey cut in and Avery’s eyes darted to him while I gently bit my bottom lip. “I asked her a question,” he added when she remained quiet for several moments and she folded her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes at us.
“Grab your things and come sit at the front, Dalia.”
“No!” Tamika exclaimed suddenly, startling Avery and I, and she gave me a wide eyed look after I glanced at her. “Uh… I- I mean… I don’t…”
“Miss Campbell?”
“Bitch,” Tamika muttered when I pressed my lips together and began to pack my things. She reluctantly let me walk past her seat so I could get out of the row, and Avery kept her eyes fixed on me till I got to the front.
The test we were having right now was Higher Analysis and since my amazing boyfriend had a meeting to attend in his father’s company, he decided to ask Avery to supervise in his stead. He told me about it before he left though, and the reason Avery was the one supervising us was because the other two lecturers he was ‘sort of friends with’ were busy.
I couldn’t stop myself from frowning as I sat in front of her and she gave me a smug look. Wow. The next thirty minutes passed with me under her watchful eye and when it was finally time to submit, I was really glad. She made a displeased noise in the back of her throat as I submitted my answer sheet and I frowned slightly before walking over to the door to wait for Harvey and Tamika.
“Sorry,” Tamika said while walking towards me after submitting, and I gave her a dismissive wave.
“Did you finish it?”
“Yes, Harvey’s a sweetheart,” she replied with a goofy grin and I raised a brow at her. “I know,” she muttered, letting her gaze fall to the floor like a child that had been scolded. “I won’t start studying the subject on the day of the test again.”
I snorted, shaking my head sideways before my eyes darted to Harvey who was about to submit, and Avery who was beaming at him. Ugh.
“Ew, she looks like she wants to take a bite out of him,” Tamika muttered while Harvey walked over to us.
“Harvey -”
“Uh, I’m leaving campus,” he said when I was about to hold his hand and I paused. “Huxley wants me to do something for him. I’ll see you at home,” he added and walked away before I could say anything.
“Sorry. Did you guys -” She abruptly cut herself off and snapped her mouth shut. She then cleared her throat and tilted her head to the side. “Fight… Did you guys fight?”
“Huh?”
“He’s been avoiding you like the plague,” she continued and I raised my brow as I glanced at Harvey’s retreating figure. “Kristen keeps asking if you guys have broken up.”
He’s been avoiding me?
I drew my brow together, trying to figure out if that was what he was actually doing, and pulled on the strap of my bag while returning my attention to Tamika. “Don’t you have a class in five minutes?” I asked and realization dawned on her face before she glanced at her watch.
“Crap… Bye, Dalia. Make sure you guys make up.”

My phone buzzed and I quickly glanced at it, wanting to see if it was Harvey’s reply to the message I sent to him over fifteen minutes ago, but it was a message from mum letting me know that she, Huxley and Julie were on their way back home. I then checked to see if he had read my message. He hadn’t.
I hadn’t wanted to believe that he was avoiding me but after thinking back to the times he didn’t want to talk and hang out lately, I realized that he was. The last time we talked - really talked - was Friday and I had been trying to figure out what I could have done to make him annoyed between that day and the next.
I let out a harsh breath while staring at the delivered tick beneath the message asking if I did something that annoyed him, before dialling his number. He didn’t answer the call. “... He’s probably busy,” I muttered, pulling the phone away from my ear, and as I set it on the desk, I heard the door open.
I immediately turned around, expecting it to be Noah because he had texted me a couple of minutes ago to let me know that he had almost gotten to campus but it wasn’t him. It was his father!
My mind whirled and panic whooshed through me as we both stared at each other. I… What… Why is he here? I mean…
“Hello,” he said, breaking the silence with the tact of a hammer, and I swallowed. I then sat upright before quickly getting to my feet, almost knocking the chair over in the process and he gave me a concerned look.
“He- Good morning… sir.” I took a deep breath while glancing past him, wanting to run to the hallway, and when I returned my attention to him, I realized that he was scrutinizing me.
He frowned after a while and as he glanced over his shoulder, I quickly began to pick up my things. “Do you know where Professor Anderson is?”
“I- No. Uh… He hasn’t come back.”
“Oh, no. You can stay,” he stated after realizing that I wanted to leave and I shook my head sideways.
“No, I have a… class now,” I replied and he frowned again before stepping into the office, away from the door, so I could walk out. I cleared my throat and plastered a smile on my face as I headed towards the door but before I could walk out of the office, Noah appeared in the doorway.
His lips instantly curved into a smile and he reached for me before freezing when he realized that I wasn’t the only one here. “Dad,” he called out, surprise evident in his voice, as he retracted his hand.
“Dalia.”
I reacted instantly, glancing at Noah’s father, and my brows shot up after I fully processed that he knew my name, while a half-smile flickered over his face and he returned his eyes darted to Noah.
“Have a nice day.”

NOAH
Crap.
I gently shut the door after Dalia walked out of the office, and leaned against it as I lifted my eyes to dad’s. There was this weird silence as we both stared at each other that reminded me of the day I accidentally broke his car’s windshield when I was a kid. His expression was stoic so I had no idea what was going through his mind but I knew he wasn’t pleased.
“It’s not what you think.”
He had known about her since the day mum saw me texting her. He never brought it up and neither did I because I didn't think he was going to meet her anytime soon, but mum must have described her well enough for him to recognize her after she saw her at my place, seeing as he had sounded so sure that it was her when he called her name.
He took a deep breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know. You’re not like that… You really like her?”
“Huh?” I hadn’t been expecting him to ask that and it didn’t seem like that was what he wanted to say either. “Yes,” I replied and he hmmed as he scratched the bridge of his nose. He opened his mouth to say something else but after several moments, he pulled a phone out of his pocket and walked towards me.
“You took my phone and left yours.”
Oh. He stretched it out to me and I collected it as I handed him his phone, before moving away from the door because it seemed like he wanted to leave.
“I won’t tell you what to do because you’re no longer a kid, Noah, but this doesn’t look good,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder, and I pressed my lips together. “You know what the board will do if they find out, so…” He shot me a look when I faced him. “Be careful.”