Observing Nora had become almost a hobby for Rafe. He had never met such a creature of habit before. It was fascinating, really. The next day, after the vandalising incident they met again, outside their English Literature classroom.
Rafe hated spending time in his room, so he made it a habit to come to the main school building earlier. At least there he could chat with his newfound friends and binge on junk food from the tuck shop.
"What's so funny?" she turned to him as he chuckled.
"Have you been staring at that dick since yesterday? It's not going away, no matter how much you glare at it."
"True, I've been glaring at the dick in front of me and yet, here you are," she said with a bitter smile.
Rafe found himself no longer pissed off at her acerbic comments. In fact, he relished in her comebacks. She was so unpredictable, he liked to get a reaction out of her, no matter what it was. The fact that she was so stoic and deadpan made it even more fun. More fun than anything in Berk. He actually smirked.
"Fiesty as always, cara."
"How do you say obnoxious pig in Italian?"
"Hey look. I did not touch your book, okay? If I could draw a dick that well, I'd be concerned."
He hoped for a smile, but she was in a foul mood. Well, more than usual.
"Mm yeah right. If it wasn't you, it was probably one of your idiot friends." Nora leaned against the wall with a sigh.
"I don't know. And I don't care. I have better things to do."
"I doubt that," Nora said.
He snorted and shook his head. This girl would always have the last word. He could see her lip almost curled into a smile in response to his laugh. This was the longest conversation they'd ever had.
God knows what possessed him to do it, but after a moment, while she still had a trace of a smile on her lips, he took out his brand-new untouched copy of the book. "Here. Take it. And stop looking so miserable," he shoved his book into her hands and took the defaced copy for himself.
Nora's eyes widened as she ran her hand through the new cover. "Are you sure?" Rafe shrugged. "I know you have some sort of weird love affair with that book."
"No I don't," she muttered, embarrassed though she pulled the book closer to her chest. "But you can get into trouble for that."
"I'm always in trouble."
"Thank you," she said. "But... Why are you being nice?"
Rafe shrugged. "Dunno, probably going to get expelled soon from here anyway. So, I don't need these damn books. I'll be out of here with my shitty grades."
She took his unblemished copy of the book. "I've got something to help if you're struggling with the text." Her hand disappeared into her school bag and produced a pack of neatly stacked plastic wallets tidily filled with papers marked with thin tabs of different coloured sticky notes hanging out the sides.
"They're my notes. For the book. I've simplified the content and answered all of the exercise questions. I mean, if my homework helped you last time," she said, looking away, a little abashed. "But you don't need to take it if you don'tâ"
"Let's see," he said and looked through the notes. Hallelujah, these could actually keep him from being expelled. He practically had all the answers that could possibly come up in an exam on this text. "This might be what I need...you'll let me have these?" he asked, as he greedily took the notes.
"Make yourself a copy and give them back tomorrow," Nora said with a nod of as if she'd just completed a business transaction. Her walls came back up. Miss McGrath hurried towards them carrying a mug of tea, she stumbled to a halt, her tea sloshing dangerously, unlocked the classroom, and herded everyone inside.
Rafe followed Nora and, as her long ponytail swayed, he leaned in and inhaled her scent â a delicate combination of jasmine and fresh linen.
She paused and glanced back at him with a questioning look.
A slap on his arm saved him.
"Nice dick. You didn't tell me you were good at art," Luke said as he sat down next to Rafe and looked at the offending drawing, detailed with pubes and veins.
"Just one of my many talents."
* * *
The sweat and the adrenaline melted from his body as soon as he stepped into the hot showers. Another game was won. They sent those weasels from Ashton School packing with a three-nil win.
Football consoled him, the one thing he truly enjoyed. The sport gave him a rush and the taste of victory and the only time he felt in control of anything. An opportunity to let out his frustrations. A moment of freedom. It gave him a feeling of belonging. And football was football, no matter where he was. There was friendly punching and whooping in the locker room. No game finished without some post-game banter about the match, the opponents, the performances, and from time to time, girls.
Rafe's thoughts went back to Nora and the papers she gave him. The book that puzzled and bored him suddenly made sense and intrigued him. Banishment from heaven, temptations disguised as divinations. Hell, it made him want to dig up that Bible his nonna used to carry around with her and throw it at him when he misbehaved. Nora's revision notes were interesting, meticulous, colour-coded, and simplified the texts, motifs, and metaphors. It was like having a copy of the answer to any exam question, similar to one of those 'for Dummies' books that broke everything down for you.
the girl should publish the notes.
"Hey, what do you think of Nora?" he asked, shoving his P.E. kit into his bag.
Luke shrugged his shoulders as he buttoned his shirt. "Dunno. She's not exactly popular here. Has one friend and likes it that way. Seems a bit weird."
After a moment of silence, Luke followed up. "Why? Why do you care?"
"Everyone seems to have a problem with her," Rafe muttered.
"It's her who has a problem with everyone else, I think. And you know how names and reputations stick to you in high school like a bad smell? Last year in class, Nora called Hazel a bimbo in front of the whole class because Hazel thought that Venice was short for Venezuela and Hazel made sure to run a proper hate campaign against Nora. I don't know, the girl already came to school with a mission to hate everyone. I don't know what her problem is."
Rafe laughed. "Hazel is a bimbo. She asks about thirty questions in class. Drives me insane."
"Yes, but she's hot," Luke said. "You should hook up with her. The girl's obsessed with you."
Rafe shrugged. His last drunken mistake was a snog with Amy, the redhead from the year below, and now she wouldn't leave him alone. Followed him around everywhere like a lost puppy. He needed to avoid girls altogether because this town was too small to hide from them.
"Jack has some weird lusting hate for Nora. It's creepy," Luke added in a hushed tone.
Rafe looked across at Jack. He was a formidable football player on the field but also got the team a couple of red cards because of his vile temper. He was provocative and aggressive.
But then again, who was Rafe to judge? He was banished here because he couldn't control his temper properly and constantly got into brawls. The macho in him wondered who'd pummel who in a fight. Jack was slightly taller and bulkier, but the bigger they were the harder they fell...
Rafe packed his stuff, and they made their way out. "Who's Benny? Is he Nora's boyfriend?" Rafe asked Luke. Was this reclusive girl romantically involved with anyone? He found it bizarre how a person could be happy without any social interactions in school, but hey, maybe she was at least getting laid.
It was at that moment Jack overheard them and decided to butt in. "Benny Phillips? That faggot isn't into girls," he replied.
The blatant, undisguised homophobia surprised Rafe. Small-town folks weren't as open- minded as they were in big cities or maybe he spent too much time with people in the showbiz industry. Sure, he wasn't about to take up a rainbow flag in his hands anytime soon, but that was uncalled for. Both of them pretended not to hear the comment and left the changing rooms.
"Why did you even do it?" Luke asked.
"Do what?"
"Switch books with her."
"I don't know, it wasn't a big deal for me. Besides, look at the reward I'm reaping," Rafe said as he produced the stack of papers that helped him write the first part of his homework. "I've already finished the exercise questions...Well, I've kind of copied them. But they seriously helped. It's Nora's notes!"
"Yeah, I get it. Let me borrow them? I'm running out of words to stretch out on the last essay. Miss McGrath told me to stop overusing the thesaurus and put down some actual ideas."
"No way. She expects them back tomorrow."
"Greedy prick. If you're so obsessed with her notes, why don't you get her to tutor you?"
Luke suggested.
Rafe stopped mid-stride and looked at Luke as if he'd just had an epiphany.
"It was a joke mate," Luke said, as Rafe stared at him intently.
"You're a fucking genius, Luke," Rafe breathed, frozen to the spot.
Luke scratched his head. "But you guys hate each other."
"It's not like I'm planning on marrying the girl."
"I dunno, man. I don't think she'll agree. She's so antisocial."
Rafe lips formed into a sly smirk. "No girl has ever said no to me."
"Mate, do you really think anyone will help get your grades up? I mean come on...your heart is just not in it," Luke tried again. "Find someone who'll sit the exams for you, and you'll have a fast track back to London."
"Or a fast track to hell if I get caught," Rafe countered.
Luke looked unconvinced.
"Look, when I was a kid, I used to bite my nails," Rafe started, only to get interrupted by Luke's face of disgust. "It was a long time ago. Anyway, it pissed off my nonna so much that she'd beat the crap out of my hands."
"Isn't that child abuse?"
"We're Italian."
"Ok..ay? Are you planning on asking her to smack you around? Because I can spare you the hassle and do it myself. Lookâ WHAT'S SEVEN TIMES EIGHT!" he yelled.
"The fuckâ it's fifty-sixâ"
"Wrong!" Luke boomed before landing a punch on Rafe's arm.
"It is the right answer!"
Luke thought for a moment and looked sheepish. "Oh yeah, you're right."
"Dumbass," Rafe said before trying to punch him back, but Luke dodged with a laugh. "What I'm trying to say is that she's an evil perfectionist. So maybe, just maybe, she'll be able to find a way to teach me. Like with nail-biting, I wouldn't have been able to stop on my own. My nonna used a carrot and stick method. Well, mostly stick. So can Nora. She's tough. Maybe she'll get through to me. Or devise a cheating system. Or summon the devil so I can sell my soul for some grades. I don't know. I'm desperate."
"Well, better catch her soon then. She might be going away for half-term to assassinate someone."
Rafe felt elated at his new plan. She already behaved like a teacher, spoke like one and even looked like one. In this small town, it was hard to find a tutor and a good one at that.
School teachers proved to be useless.
But Nora, the social recluse, the evil genius, the teacher in disguise. She could be exactly who he needed.