CHAPTER II: Hangover
Noel squinted at the bright ray of sunlight shining through the blinds right into his face. Yet, he could hardly open his eyes. They just felt too heavy and the throbbing pain in his head did not help either. He took a glimpse at the alarm clock: 7:30 am. Damn it, he was late. He jumped up quickly, but regretted that immediately afterwards. How could he have been so stupid and throw the party on a Sunday night?
After having relieved his bladder, he took a look in the mirror. Except for the dark shadow under his eyes, he still looked fine. Perfect. Flawless. Handsome. He grinned at himself, quickly brushed his teeth then jumped into the shower. Although he hated cold showers, he decided that one ice cold shower would make him come to his senses. To be honest, he did not even remember most of what had happened last night. According to the messy sheets, he had had some fun with a random girl at his party. Exactly how it was supposed to be!
Unfortunately, he could not tell if it had been Mona or someone else. Honestly, Mona was going on his nerves anyway. She drove him nuts. She was way too clingy. Noel Kahn did not like clingy girls. He quickly got out of the shower again, wrapped a towel around his waist and rubbed his hair dry with another one. It was 7:55 am. Yes, he was late for school. He would be late for first period again, but he really did not give a damn. A flirtatious look at the teacher combined with a boyish grin would calm down his teacher.
At quarter past eight, Noel ran downstairs, thinking that he would just skip breakfast today – he still felt quite groggy and just knew that he would not be able to keep anything for long. So, he just left the house, wanting to get some coffee on his way to school. Before getting in his car, he took his mobile phone out.
'Definitely had some fun last night. Dunno what we did but it made me sleep like a baby' He typed, then sent the text to Mona. Only seconds later, his phone beeped.
'Noel ur such an asshole! Leave me ALONE! We r over!'
Noel raised both his eyebrows in surprise at the reply she had sent him. So, it definitely had not been Mona in his bed last night … well, it is not that he was disappointed. He had wanted to get rid of her anyway since she bored him to death.
Once he had arrived at the school's parking lot, he quickly left his car and headed for Rosewood high's entrance. He was immediately greeted by his guy friends as well as a whole group of giggling girls, his constant admirers. It seemed like they already knew that he was back on the market. Once he saw his mates, he could not wait to tell them all the embarrassing shit about Mona. Flaws in her behaviour, her quirks as well as things she said to him in bed. Now, it was his turn to humiliate her. People did not break up with Noel Kahn. Noel Kahn broke up with them.
Then, Mona even came over to him and his friends, holding a necklace he had bought her in front of his eyes, telling him that he could have it back. Noel just took the necklace and threw it in a rubbish bin, along with a cruel smirk. Noel could hardly stop himself from bursting into laughter when Mona walked off, tears in her eyes.
Noel Kahn was a dick. He was cruel. A heartbreaker. But, that's what he was. It was his identity. And everyone knew it. Yet, all the girls wanted him. The bell rang for first period. Looked like he was not too late after all. On his way to his first class, his eyes caught Mike Montgomery standing at his locker, giving him a weird glance. The moment their eyes met, Noel suddenly knew with whom he had spent the night. And Mike knew, too.
Noel gave a sign to his friends, telling them to go ahead whilst he approached Mike, nodding at him. From the outside, it seemed like a casual and friendly conversation. But his words were clear. "If you tell anyone, it will be the last thing you ever did." Without giving him another look, he quickly headed for the classroom, his mind full of images from last night.
He took his seat, staring at his history book when the lesson began. Mike had been in his bed. Mike had touched him. He had jerked him off. Mike had jerked him off. They had kissed. Noel bit on his lower lip hard, completely tensed up. He had made out with a guy and had enjoyed it. The mere thought of it made his cock twitch.
Noel swallowed hard, staring at the blackboard – he did not hear a thing of what the teacher was talking about. No, he was not gay. Noel Kahn could not be gay. He had been drunk, Mike as well. No one could ever find out about this. He turned his head sideways, taking a look at Aria who was staring at her phone. It seemed like she had got a text. What would she say if she knew? Why did he even care? It did not mean anything.
Noel took his phone out of his pocket, going through his contacts until he had reached the name he was looking for – Mike Montgomery. He was not even sure why he even had his number.
'We have to talk. Come to the boy's restroom after last period. – Noel K.'
Noel could barely follow any of his classes that day. Not even PE was able to clear his mind and it seemed like he was more violent as usual when they had to play in teams against each other. He just kept checking the time until it was finally over. He did not even bother to take a shower and just headed for the toilets, thinking that he would still have plenty of time to do that at home.
He could already see Mike standing in front of the toilet door, he seemed to be quite uneasy, not sure whether he should run away or not. Noel nodded at him slightly, then entered the men's room, knowing that Mike would follow him.
"I wasn't sure if you'd show up", Noel said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, looking down at the other boy, who was much smaller than himself. Mike opened his mouth in order to say something, but Noel did not give him any chance. "Look, we were both drunk last night. We… just had some … uh, fun. No need to tell anyone."
Mike just scoffed at this. "No need to tell anyone? Do you think that this would be the first thing I'd do? Tell someone about this?" He quickly shook his head, unable to look Noel into the eyes. "I'm not gay, dude."
"I'm no fag either, Montgomery! So shut the fuck up." Noel took a step towards him, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched menacingly. Mike did not walk away, however. He appeared to be quite bold which made Noel grin. He then cleared his throat.
"Maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement."
