21. Reliable

ASTRID

“You don’t have to fight him for me. You don’t have to go meet him. Trust me, that’s him luring you to his trap,” I said to Noah.

We were on the school rooftop. It was where he brought me to after we left the lab.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I will have it handled,” he replied to me, not sounding bothered at all.

“Do you know who Damien is? His father is one of the biggest sponsors in this school. The head mistress will do nothing to him and just like the other victims, you are going to be kicked out,” I tried explaining to him what was at stake.

“That’s because they never put him properly in his place. I’m not scared of brats like him. I don’t care if his father is the supreme ruler of werewolves, I will deal with him and I will meet him and his friends at the field,” he replied.

“I don’t think that you are getting it…”

He cuts me off. “It’s fine, okay. You don’t have to worry. I will handle it.”

“What about you? I don’t want you having to leave the school for my sake. He has always been a bully,” I tried reasoning with him.

“What was he saying to you before I came?” He asked.

“He…” I paused as I recalled Damien’s words.

“Just some rubbish,” I replied because I refused to accept he meant any of those words he said.

Probably said it to rile me up or tell me that he was never found to get off my trail and would continue to bully me and honestly, I don’t mind at this point because how worse can it be?

I couldn’t wait to graduate and leave this school, hopefully the life that awaits me in the future will be kind to me.

“Some rubbish? surely he said something, what did he say?” He sounded curious.

I told him everything that Damien said and as I spoke, I cringed sometimes thinking about it.

“He said all of that?” He nodded his head if he knew something that he didn’t know.

“You don’t have to worry. It’s clear he’s intimidated by me hence the reason he wants to prove a point today. He won’t be able to kick me out of the school when I still have a lot to do,” he said, making me curious to know what he meant by his last words.

“A lot to do in this school? Like what?” I asked.

He shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. I have it handled.”

I was baffled. “How are you not bothered? I mean you aren’t bothered by the fact that you could get kicked out and you sound so confident. Just who are you?”

“Isn’t it clear to you that he can’t kick me out of the school? I know how to handle young kids like him,”

He replied.

“You speak like someone who isn’t a teenager. Aren’t you eighteen like the rest of us? And suddenly you have so much experience? Now that I think about it, I don’t think you’ve really said much about yourself.”

He leaned closer to me. “The less you know, the better it will be for you.”

He stood back upright, glanced at his wrist watch. “I skipped class when I heard that you were taken out of class by Damien so my next class is in ten minutes.”

“You skipped class for me?” I was surprised. “Why would you?”

It was surprising because he doesn’t consider me his friend and he comes through for me all the time. It wasn’t like he found himself in that situation but he chose to turn up for me. He came to my rescue. Why?

Who are you Noah? Are you my secret savior? Were you sent here for me? I didn’t want to overthink much about why he could possibly be tuning up for me everytime even when I didn’t ask for it.

”You said we are not friends, but you did that for me, thank you.”

I meant that word. He has always been there for me and the fact he doesn’t consider me his friend or try to move to me in a funny way just shows that he wa not like the others.

And the more I look at him, the more I couldn’t help but admire him. He was strong and confident.

“We don’t have to be friends for me to be there for you. I’m proud of you today though. How you spoke back to him,” he uttered.

“You listened?” I asked.

“Yes, before I spoke up. That’s what I’ve been telling you. When you let them step on you, they’d keep stepping on you for a long time but when you fight back, they would avoid stepping on you because they knew you won’t allow it.”

I nodded my head in realization. This was what he meant the time I woke up in his house. I recalled how Damien sounded impressed too.

I have been a fool for a long time and it took me the presence of Noah to realize what I’ve been doing wrong.

“As an omega, it’s never easy and worse I’m on scholarship. I cannot fight back because they are way stronger than I am when it comes to physical strength and they have families to back them up,” I explained to him.

“What about your parents?” He asked and I didn’t want to speak on it.

My step father is the reason I ran away from home. He would have sold me off to be a breeder. He doesn’t care for me. I don’t have anyone caring for me.

All my life I have always been the problem and that’s why I try my best to avoid problems because I still aspire to be great even if I’m nothing but an omega.

“It’s time. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he said to me, reassuringly.

Once again, he had shown me that he can be reliable even if he wasn’t telling me to my face that I could rely on him.

“Thank you,” I said again sincerely.

“If you really want to appreciate me, then buy me lunch tomorrow,” he said, a smile tugging on his lips.

“Alright.”