We reached the science block, and I turned to him. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.” My eyes widened to the point of pain. Why on earth did I say that out loud? I cringed. You didn’t tell a guy that you kind of liked them right away – especially when you’d only known them an hour.
He shoved his hand through his fair hair, moving it out of the way of his forehead, and smiled. His light eyes sparkled. Actually bloody sparkled. I used to think I was more of a tall, dark and handsome type of girl, but it was definitely tall, blond and handsome for me now. His jaw looked like it had been carved from stone and his lips. Well, those things would have any girl gaping.
He stared down, a full head taller than me. “I’m glad that you’re glad.”
Sucking my lips between my teeth, I took a small step back. I liked him already, there was no question of that, but he looked dangerously close to kissing me, and I was in no way ready for that so quickly.
We were called into the classroom, and Noah took a seat next to me. The Bunsen burners were out which meant I was going to have to really listen because it looked like we were doing an experiment. I hated experiments.
“You good at chemistry?” I asked.
He laughed. “There is a bad joke in there somewhere. I’m okay, yeah.”
“Good, because I’m rubbish. I’m failing so badly. I don’t know why they continue to make me attend. I think my presence alone dumbs down the rest of the class.”
He chuckled, crooking his eyebrow. “You can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, wait and see.”
“Settle down,” Mr Gregor said. “Welcome, Noah. Have you covered–”
And that was where I switched off. I couldn’t be any less interested in chemistry if I tried. I’d learned more watching The Big Bang Theory than I had at school.
I switched back on when Noah poured something into a test tube.
“What’s the point of this then?” I asked, nodding to the Bunsen burner.
“You really don’t like science, do you?”
“No.”
“Me neither, actually. There is too much unexplained that science doesn’t have an answer to.”
“What do you believe in?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. Anyway, I might not like all this but I do understand it so I’ll explain while I work and you can take notes. Let’s see if I can help you pass this class.”
Yeah, again, good luck, Noah.
I popped the lid off my pen, trying to concentrate on what he was saying rather than his deep voice and the way his crooked smile made me swoon. Yeah, there was no way he was going to be able to help me with chemistry – the subject anyway.
As he worked his eyes kept flicking back to watch me like I was the most interesting thing on the planet. Like he was scared if he took his eyes off me, I’d be assassinated.
He turned to me once everything was set up. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“We’re supposed to be making those chemicals... do something.” And there’s not a whole lot to tell.
He shrugged. “We’ve got a minute. Come on.”
There was one thing. I didn’t like to bring it up much because it was weird, and I always got the same how-can-it-not-drive-you-crazy question. Sighing, I replied, “I remember nothing before the age of four.”
His eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“There was a house fire and we lost everything. My parents got me and my brother, Jeremy, out, but we were in the hospital for smoke inhalation. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember anything.”
“Nothing?”
“Nope. All I remember is waking up in a yellow room. I didn’t even know my family.”
“When did you start remembering?”
I frowned. “I didn’t. They filled in the blanks with stories of stuff we’d done, but I don’t actually remember any of it.”
“That’s crazy. Hey, they could’ve told you anything.”
I laughed. “Yeah, they could’ve had fun with that one. ‘We’re a normal family and you and your brother fight like cats and dogs’ is pretty boring.”
“They could have made you a princess. Or you could really be a princess, and they stole you away to–”
“Okay,” I said, cutting him off, “You have an overactive imagination.”
Smiling, he replied, “Sorry. It’s just a bit weird.”
“Totally weird. I repressed everything because of the traumatic experience, apparently.”
“Think you’ll ever get your memory back?”
I shrugged. “Probably not. Doesn’t matter, though.”
“I suppose not. I would just hate to have four years and a lot of experiences I couldn’t remember.”
“It bugged me before but not now. Lots of people don’t remember much of their childhood, I just don’t remember the first four years.”
“Did you try therapy or get hypnotised?”
I laughed. “Nope. It’s really not that big of a deal. I tried remembering, but there’s nothing there.”
He smiled. “One day you will remember.”
I gave up believing that about four years ago.
Scarlett