The ticking of the library clock reminded Rafe that each minute was crucial and planning out his essay would make all the difference in the race against the time during exams. He sat opposite Nora, hunched over another past exam created by Nora, mimicking the exam conditions - in absolute silence and with a time limit. She sat as still as a statue, steel determination in her eyes, spinning the pen around her thumb as she devoured the text before her.
Rafe had his free hand locked in his hair whilst the other tried to match Nora's writing pace.
From time to time, he would get distracted by doodling on the paper or would occasionally let out a sigh and look at the clock. Nora had mastered the art of concentration. Not once had she looked at him or the watch.
Her pen didn't linger off the paper for long, save for the occasional pauses she took to gather her thoughts and scribble away again. She was so focused on the mock exam that Rafe was sure if he'd got up and left, she wouldn't even notice. He glanced at the watch and knew the time was up because he had run out of things to add to his essay. Nora was running out of time again because the alarm on her phone went off, yet she was still writing away.
Rafe cleared his throat. "You're supposed to put your pen down. McGrath told you you'd get penalised."
Nora let out a noise of frustration. "I know. I'm trying to squeeze in all the information in my head for full marks. Can't figure out how to prioritise."
Rafe felt a stab of annoyance. He wished he had those kinds of problems.
"How did you find it?" she asked, looking at his paper. It was encouraging for him that he answered all the questions. And on the last question, he managed two-and-a-half pages, which was huge progress.
Rafe looked over his work with a shrug, "Fine, I guess. You were right; planning does help."
"We should do a couple more of these. Exam questions tend to repeat themselves every couple of years. If we're lucky, you'll get an essay question you've already practised theanswer for."
She took his papers, and her eyes moved back and forth as she scanned the lines Rafe observed her in silence as she whispered something to herself.
Lately, Rafe had begun sneaking more observant glances her way when she wasn't looking, which wasn't hard because if the girl was reading anything school-related, there could be an explosion outside, and she wouldn't even notice. She was very cute. Her eyelashes weredark and long. She pressed her heart-shaped lips into a thin line, something she always did whenever she was deep in thought - and she thought a lot. He wondered if he should warn her that if she did that often enough, her lips would stay like that.
Probably not. Not unless he wanted another shoe thrown his way.
"Guess what?" he said, not tearing his eyes away from her.
"What?" she asked without taking her eyes from the papers.
"You know how you said I should find something that would boost my uni application?"
Nora pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and nodded her head. She looked up, ready to listen.
"The guys want to nominate me as the captain. That would be pretty impressive on the application, right? Universities love a good sportsperson."
Nora frowned. "But William is the captain."
"Weren't you watching the match yesterday?!" He asked, his hands spread out, his tone accusatory. "It was one of the best matches of the season!"
"I did! I just had to leave earlier to take Gran to the GP. Good game, by the way. You are good."
"Thanks...is your gran alright?"
"Yeah, just a routine check. Anywayâwhat happened?"
"William was dodging the midfielder, they had a scuffle and as he passed the ball, he suddenly screamed in pain and collapsed."
Nora's lips parted in shock, her eyebrows knitting together in a concerned frown.
"He snapped his Achilles tendon. Apparently, those next to him heard a popping noise."
Nora shuddered. "Oh my god... I'm kind of glad I didn't stay till the end....I-Is he going to be okay?"
Rafe's jaw almost dropped to his desk. It was the closest he had seen her show any kind of emotion and it surprised him she cared so much. He assumed she didn't care about anyone in school besides Benny, her favourite teachers and her stationery.
In the hierarchy of what Nora cared for, first came Grandma and Benny, then her cat Luna, then the teachers, then the books and the stationary, her aloe vera sanitiser and then Rafe.
He couldn't believe she would care this much, especially about William, to whom she almost never talked.
"Well, he's definitely not playing anytime soon, but he should be back in school next week," Rafe explained. "Those assholes were playing dirty. I have a giant bruise on my back. One stronzo kicked me in the back whilst I was down. Look, I'll show you."
He turned to untuck his shirt to show proof of his suffering, but Nora wasn't even looking in his direction.
"Poor Will..." Nora squeezed her hands together, distressed.
Rafe's bruise had been completely ignored. It didn't matter to her at all that he'd got trampled on!
He frowned, studying her for a moment. A small, sly smile crept to his lips. "Wait a minute, dio santo, you like him! You fancy the pants off Will!" he said, triumphant at getting a small secret out of her.
Nora huffed, threw her pen down on the table and began to untie her hair. "Don't be stupid. You're giving me a headache."
Watching her release her hair for the first time was a new experience. With a sigh of relief, a cascade of black fell around her shoulders like silk. She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes in bliss then took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.
Rafe looked at her, slightly mesmerised. "What uh what are you doing?" he gulped.
"I'm done for the day. I'm relaxing," Nora said and leaned back in her chair to stretch. Rafe hungrily took in the way she looked. Her eyes seemed more pronounced and darker without the glasses.
She wasn't just pretty, she was gorgeous, he realised with a stab of surprise.
"What are you staring at?" she asked, suddenly self-conscious. She brushed her hand through the ends of her hair. "Do I have something on my face?"
Rafe snapped out of his daze. Playing it cool, he reached out to grab her glasses from the table. "Yeah, these. Why do you wear them? They're so thick. And ugly," he said, inspecting the frames.
She squinted and reached to take them back. He pulled away from her delicate hand.
"You will get them dirty! Give them back." She reached out again, squinting at him.
He chuckled. "Geez these are thick. Why not get contacts? You know if you ditched the glasses, you'd have a shot with William. You're cute," he said, manoeuvring away from her hand. Her aim seemed way off; she must be half-blind without her glasses.
She grunted. "Give them back. Do you know how expensive daily contacts are? And they carry a higher risk of eye infections. I'll just get the surgery done when I have a proper job."
"Remember how you threw my phone out the window last week when I couldn't concentrate? I should do the same with these glasses. I'd be doing you a favour!"
"Don't you dare! Nothing happened to your phone. And that was for your benefit! I don't see how getting rid of my glasses helps me."
"You're hiding your good looks."
"If people can't see my good looks because of a pair of glasses, they're the freaking blind ones," she said.
Rafe burst out laughing, and she whipped the glasses out of his hands.
"And I don't need or have a shot with William," she said, giving the frames and lenses a quick wipe with a cloth from her blazer pocket before putting them back on.
"You obviously like him. It's okay, and you can tell me," Rafe said. "Your secret will be safe with me. Besides hooking up with other people, I'm also good at matchmaking."
"I admire him. From afar. He's great."
"He's a cool guy," Rafe said, "But boring. Hey! Just like you. You should definitely date.".
"He excels in everything. He excels in sports and academics, he has a great social life, and he's been in a relationship for ages. I don't know how he balances everything."
"You sound like his stalker."
Nora ignored his remark.
"Yeah, he's alright," Rafe mumbled, scratching another doodle on his paper. "But that doesn't mean he's out of your league."
Nora shrugged. "He has a girlfriend. He's been dating her for a while from what I heard."
Rafe made a face of disgust. "Seriously? Longâdistance relationship?"
"Is that so terrible?"
He shrugged, inking in his drawing. "Just doesn't work. My girlfriend and I broke up once it was decided I'd be moving here." The memory of Maria dumping him made him poke a hole through the paper with his pen.
"Doesn't sound like it was a mutual decision..." Nora said with a frown.
He didn't expect that comment and was about to lie, but he realised there would be no point.
"I think as soon as she heard I wouldn't be in the London nightlife or around for holidays, she decided she didn't want to be 'tied down' in a long-distance relationship."
Nora reached for his pen and was about to say something when the school librarian came around the corner.
"If you two are done flirting, could you put your stuff away? The library has been closed for five minutes already."
"Yeah, okay," Rafe said nonchalantly and stuffed his things in his bag. He wished the topic of his ex hadn't come up. It soured his mood. Maria was history.
Nora seemed flustered by the librarian's words. She glared at the librarian's back as she left.
When they stepped outside, Rafe was surprised by how dark it was already. But winter was fast approaching, which meant even less sunshine than usual. Great. He turned to Nora, but she was tying her ponytail back up, and her walls were back up again.
Without saying a word, she shouldered the straps of her bag and left in the direction of the exit.