Chapter 47

Chapter 47
NOAH
Dalia was no longer on campus.
When I went searching for her, I ran into Tamika who told me she had left with Harvey a while earlier and she had left her phone behind. I probably made things worse by going around to look for her like that but my mind had been a mess because I wanted to tell her what was going to happen. I didn’t want her to be blindsided when the rumours started spreading and that was why I was currently heading to the parking lot, so I could go see her.
She’d probably get mad when I told her and rightly so, because I promised her I wouldn’t let her get in trouble. Fuck.
“Anderson!” someone roared, snapping me out of my thoughts. I flinched so hard, I nearly ate shit on the stairs I was climbing, but my hand shot out and grabbed the handrail, helping me right myself from the step the toe of my shoe had missed. I then turned around to see Travis marching towards me and I didn’t need to rack my brain to know why. Allison had told him her version of what happened.
I wasn’t interested in engaging him though, so I resumed heading towards my car in the teachers parking lot.
“You’re a fucking piece of shit. You know that?” he called out. “You knock my sister up, accuse her of cheating on you and break up with her. Now you shove your relationship with that fucking bitch in her face.” I clenched my jaw but still kept walking till I got to my car and as I got in, he added, “You tell that bitch to watch her fucking back!”
My brows snapped together and I jerked my head in his direction to see him scowling and still heading towards me. He wanted to provoke me and he was doing a great job, but I just started the car and pulled out of the parking lot instead of replying him. He wasn’t worth my time right now.
My phone began to ring a little while after I left campus and I glanced at it to see it was a call from Avery. She hadn’t been in my office when I got back there and that sort of made me glad because I could no longer convince her that I wasn’t in a relationship with Dalia.
I considered not answering the call till it ended but when she called again, I did. “Avery -”
“Save it,” she said, anger evident in her voice, and I set my mouth in a hard line. “I’m sick of your fucking lies. I talked to Dalia and while she didn’t actually admit it, her reaction confirmed it. What the hell, Noah?”
Talked… She talked to Dalia. Excluding the fact that Dalia had been blindsided unlike I wanted, ‘talked’ just didn’t sound right.
“What the fuck did you say to her?”
Avery paused, probably taken aback because I had never spoken to her like that before, and moments later, she scoffed. “Nothing I shouldn’t have said,” she replied and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Shit… Shit. Shit. Shit. “I warned you, Noah. I told you she would get you in trouble. Why the fuck would you do something so stupid?”
“Fucking hell,” I muttered under my breath, reaching for the phone so I could hang up.
“I reported her,” she added and I paused. She made it sound like she did something good, like she did it because it was against the rules, but it was obvious she did it because she was bitter. And that ticked me off.
“Have a good day, Avery.” I ended the call and immediately dialled Dalia’s number even though I knew she probably wasn’t with it yet, and when the call wasn’t answered, I raked my fingers through my hair. “Fuck… Fuck.” My stomach churned as I tried to figure out what was going through Dalia’s mind. She probably regretted getting involved with me right now… she probably didn’t want to see me. Fuck, I needed to talk to her.
I had left campus to head to her place but I now realized that probably wasn’t a good idea because I didn’t know if her parents were at home. I didn’t want to make her angrier than she probably was… But I didn’t want to only talk to her over the phone. I wanted to see her.
Shit.
I took a deep breath, deciding to call Dalia again in a bit and hoping she would want to talk to me so we could meet up. I then changed my destination to my parents’ place, so I could deal with this Allison problem- what I ought to have dealt with weeks ago. She was overdue for a comeuppance.

DALIA
It had started.
People were already talking about it and tagging me and my friends in group chats to ask if I was the one sleeping with Professor Anderson, even though most of them had already decided that it was me. I had kept Harvey’s phone on silent so I wouldn’t have to hear the notification tone, but that didn’t stop some people from calling him.
I knew staying silent was only going to fuel the rumours and though Tamika hadn’t brought my phone over yet, I could use Harvey’s phone to say something on the group chats, but I also knew they wouldn’t believe me if I said it wasn’t true.
Noah popped into my mind and I bit the bottom of my lip as I tried to figure out what he was doing right now because he had to be aware of the rumours. Was he trying to deal with the fallout of this? Was he trying to reach out to me? The only way I could know the answers to those was by having my phone and I hoped Tamika would bring it over soon. I wasn’t looking forward to the messages and calls I had gotten and would get from my coursemates though.
I still didn’t know how Avery found out about Noah and I and that put me on edge because I didn’t want to believe that Noah told her either intentionally or accidentally. Another thing that put me on edge was that the rumours would get to mum and dad, and my stomach churned even more violently as Avery’s words replayed in my mind, making me curl in on myself before Harvey walked into the room. I dropped his phone next to me, pushing myself into a sitting position while he walked over to the bed and sat on it.
“Hey,” he muttered, brushing my hair away from my face before trailing his fingers over where Avery hit me. A small frown appeared on his face and I gave him a smile as I grabbed his hand.
“I’m fine.”
“That doesn’t make it fine,” he replied and I sighed.
“Is it still obvious?” I had used an ice pack on my cheek when we got home but I hadn’t checked it in a mirror yet. He didn’t say anything, just kept frowning, and I intertwined my fingers with his. “It’s fine, Harvey. And thank you… I don’t know what I’d have done if you didn’t show up,” I added and he clicked his tongue before glancing down at his phone when the screen lit up because of a couple of messages.
“Ignore those,” he said, picking up the phone with his free hand just as a call from our coursemate came in, and I pressed my lips together when he declined it.
“They won’t stop… At least not till something even more interesting happens and I doubt that will happen anytime soon.” And this was just over the phone, it was going to be a lot more nerve-racking when I went to school. Of course I didn’t have to go to school for the rest of this week and next week, but I would have to go when my exams start and my presence would remind people of the rumour if they had already forgotten it. I dreaded that.
“Give it a while.”
“They’re not going to stop after a while,” I muttered after the corner of my mouth twitched. “If I get expelled -”
“You’re not going to get expelled.”
“I don’t know, Harvey.” I took a deep breath as Avery’s words came back to mind and I leaned my head against his shoulder. Her disciplinary hearing had been a pretty big deal among students when it happened and the only reason she didn’t get fired was because a lot of professors, including deans, liked her and her parents. Now that I was sort of in the position she had been, she was going to make sure I knew how she felt whenever people whispered about her as she walked down hallways. I really hated this situation.
“I do… You’re not getting expelled,” he replied and despite how anxious I felt, I couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. He had been trying to make me feel better ever since we got home. “No phones for now. You’ll give yourself a headache.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it and getting to his feet. “I need to go to the supermarket before everyone gets back. Do you need anything?”
“No.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

Minutes after Harvey left for the supermarket, the doorbell rang while I was using an ice pack on my face again, and I froze, thinking mum and dad were back and that they were already aware of what was going on at school. My mind instantly churned at that and I dropped the ice pack on the counter before staring at the kitchen’s doorway for several moments without moving. Crap. I hate this.
I swallowed as the doorbell rang again and cleared my throat, straightening myself into an upright position. I then made my way over to the front door before opening it and my eyes widened slightly when I saw who it was. “Noah?”
Relief washed over his face, most likely because I was the one who opened the door, and he let out a shaky breath. For a moment, he seemed cautious. Like he was trying to gauge my reaction to him being here and it actually felt good to see him, but I was a bit freaked out.
I tightened my grip on the door knob, my heart stuttering in my chest as he began to close the distance between us. “You sh-”
He pulled me into a hug, burying his fingers into my hair as he held me tightly with his other hand, and I let myself relax in his arms for a couple of seconds before pulling away from him. “Dalia, I’m so sorry. I know- I know this was…” he trailed off, gazing down at me, and raked his fingers through his hair in frustration before cursing under his breath.
“I-” I glanced at the open gate and road behind him and pressed my lips together as I returned my attention to him. “My parents are going to be back soon.”
His hands which had been reaching for me again paused and he let them drop back to his sides. “You’re angry,” he muttered and the corner of my mouth twitched while I shook my head sideways.
“I’m not angry, Noah. I… I’m scared.”
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, sadness clouding his features, and when I was about to respond, his brows snapped together. He gently grabbed my chin and turned my head to the side, making me raise my brows in confusion before I realized that he was checking out where Avery had hit me. “What-”
“You should go,” I said as I pulled away and cleared my throat. We needed to talk but this wasn’t the place to do it and I didn’t want my parents to meet him here. At least, not today. He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off by adding, “I- I’ll call you after I get my phone.”
His eyes searched my face and I plastered a smile on my face as he pursed his lips before giving me a tight nod. He looked dejected though and my heart tightened in my chest as he started to walk away.
“...Noah,” I called out and he stopped to glance over his shoulder before I closed the distance between us. I then pulled his face down to mine, pressing my lips to his, and his arms instantly went around me as he kissed me back. “I’ll call you,” I repeated after breaking the kiss and he nodded, pressing his forehead to mine.
A small smile crept onto my face and he pressed a quick kiss to my lips before pulling away from me to head to his car.