I couldn't see how I could get to be friends with Noah unless I turned into a complete asshole to match the rest of the boys which Noah hung around with. This seemed unlikely to ever happen however so I thought it best to do it the only way I saw possible. I would have to get Noah away from his friends.
I often wondered what other people would think if they could have gotten inside my head and see what I was thinking about half the time. Words like 'freak' and 'weirdo' came to mind when I considered this. Indeed, I'd have to admit that I was entirely obsessed with Noah. There wasn't a single thing wrong with the guy; he seemed perfect in every way possible. I realise of course that these feelings are shared by almost any person who has ever had a crush, yet I couldn't help but thinking that there was something different about Noah; something inherently special which made him stand out from anyone I've ever felt something for.
It was possible however that the feelings stemmed simply from the fact that I was lonely at school. Admittedly, I'd only ever had one friend and she had moved away years ago.
Whatever the case, it didn't deter me from my determination to at least befriend Noah Bennet.
In the weeks that followed the dreaded return to school, I found myself continuing to watch my crush. Nothing gave me more pleasure than to glance up from my books at Noah walking past in his shorts which were constantly worn so short that most of his thighs were visible. This was in fact the fashion of the time, even I wore those shorts, yet Noah seemed able to 'pull-it-off' like no one else could. The way he stood there, his bulge largely apparent. Three weeks after the return of school, I actually had to hide a boner for most of the day which simply refused to go away after Noah had grab his bludge for the amusement of his friends and wave it around.
Even though the sexual attraction was definitely strong, I couldn't help but notice that my attraction to him ran far deeper. The obsession was so pronounced in fact that my heart actually stoped beating briefly when I heard Noahs name; my chest seizes up when he granted me a brief smile in the corridors between classes and I could almost feint on the rare occasions when he said my name.
'And so it was that Shakespeare closed Romeo and Juliet with one of the most tragic and memorable endings of all time.'
Mr Shorten stood before our class, none of whom were paying the slightest attention to him.
Not even I was; I knew the story back the front anyway. I was instead (for what was surely the millionth time) watching Noah. Noah had taken his watch off, and was playing with it. He was sliding it across the desktop and moulding it into different shaped. He may not have realised it, but he looked quite childish. I smiled behind my hand as Noah flicked some of his blonde mass of hair from his eyes.
I cursed him somewhat bitterly from behind my hand; mockingly through some spite yet more from my own sheer jealousy of how beautiful Noah's hair actually was. Indeed, how beautiful everything about Noah was. His tangled, blonde hair, his toned figure, his warm grey eyes. Everything regarding Noah was enviable. If I had to be fair I suppose, I wasn't totally bad looking though I wasn't as fond of my short, dark brown hair. I was skinny and my almost non-existent interest in sports ensured little room for toning. I did favour my strait nose, thin face and blue eyes however. They were something I at least.
As I was watching him, Noahs eyes suddenly widened in realisation of something and he flung his hand into the air.
'Sir?' Noah interrupted, 'I have to go to footy tryouts!'
Mr Shorten looked most suspicious but more so irritated at the interruption of what he surely considered a most riveting lesson.
'Very well, anyone who needs to leave, do so.'
As Noah stood up and crossed the room, I had a sudden crazy idea and after a few seconds of furious internal debate I jumped to my feet. Sniggering carried me all the way to the door which I closed behind me, and turned to see which way Noah had gone.
He was down the corridor to my right, skidding along extremely slowly which gave me time to catch up with ease.
'Hey man, what's up?'
'Oh hey Corey, what are you up to?'
'Nothing much.' I answered, 'You're heading off to the ovals then?'
'Huh? Nah I was bull-shitting back there.' Noah laughed, 'The tryouts are this 'arvo, I was just over all that Shakespeare shit.'
I laughed faintly, 'I know what you mean.'
'So what are you up to then?' Noah asked.
It took before I realised that the real answer would sound stupid as it seemed, there was no tryouts.
'Erm, just going to the toilet.'
'To jack-off I bet?' Noah said, banging my ass firmly as he brushed passed me.
I hesitated, not sure if Noah was being serious or not.
'Yeh defiantly.' I said in what I hoped was a sarcastic voice.
'That's what I'm doing when I get down to the public pool in town.' Noah smiled mischievously, 'Anyway I'd better go before that dick-head figures out anything. See you then.'
I stood rooted to the spot for a minute, stunned. Was Noah being serious? It didn't matter, when I looked down, I saw what I expected. I almost ran to the bathroom, threw myself in the cubicle and tore my shorts down.
When I returned to class a few minutes later, I sat down happily mesmerised after one of the greatest masturbations of my life.
* * *
I took a breath as the rickety bus drove away. As I did so, I looked straight forward at the small, brick building and started a slow walk towards it.
'Okay Corey, just relax. You can do this, really, you can!'