Week 4: Day 22 / 13:32
‘So, Noah.’ Juliet’s looking at him seriously. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, okay?’
The wrong way? What does she mean? Why can’t people say what they mean exactly as they mean it? If they did that, there’d be no chance of taking anything the ‘wrong way’.
Noah sighs but she doesn’t hear him. She’s too busy rushing to finish her thought. Her cheeks are flushed and, if it’s possible, she’s talking even faster than usual – all about Noah and girls.
‘Aren’t you even interested, Noah? I mean it’s cool if you’re not. Plenty of guys aren’t. Or maybe you’re interested in boys?’
He wishes she could see the lists he’s made, about how he does notice girls, but that would be giving away too much. More than he’s shown Ms Turner, more than he’ll ever speak about in group. Anywhere in fact.
‘Noah?’
She’s off again.
‘Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to offend you.’
‘You didn’t.’
It’s worth using two words to take the worry off her face, but that’s all. There aren’t enough minutes in his day to think about the ‘Noah Groome and Girls’ thing, let alone explain it all.
20:15
Just because Noah doesn’t have time for girls – or friends, really – doesn’t mean he doesn’t like them. Girls, that is. It’s not like he doesn’t see them, or notice the way they walk and the way they talk.
Maddie tells him he’s one of the best-looking boys in his class, and maybe that’s what girls see first. Tall, dark hair, green eyes, clean shaven (very). The boy-next-door, someone to take home to meet their parents. They’d approve, trust him with their daughters.
But then, the girls notice how he’s always wearing the same make of shirt, jeans, trainers … If they look closely they’ll even see the same make of socks. And there’s always a notebook in his top pocket.
Odd.
And that’s before they see him with his 5s.
Not exactly the catch of the century, Noah.