No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

"What are you doing here?" someone asked.

Noelle looked up to see Cedric and quickly lowered her head, flustered. She responded, "To eat. "Her voice was slightly hoarse.noveldrama

Cedric stepped closer. "Have you been crying?" He detected something wrong with her tone of voice.

Without thinking, she said, "No."

Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Frank stepped out.

When she saw him, she immediately threw herself into Cedric's arms, clutching his shirt tightly. She kept burrowing deeper into Cedric's embrace, not wanting to be seen by Frank.

Cedric was frozen. He peered at the girl pressed against him. She was so close that he could almost smell her. He gulped and tried to put some distance between them. But as soon as he moved, she wrapped her arms around his neck. They were so close that others might have mistaken them for a pair of passionate lovers.

Cedric pressed his lips together, taken aback by her actions. It was rare for a composed man

like him to be at a loss of how to react.

Noelle peeked out and let out a breath of relief when she saw that her brother had returned to the room. This was when she finally realized how intimate their posture was.

It also dawned on her how tall Cedric was. She stood on tiptoe while he bent over, just so she

could hold on to his neck.

Face flushing with embarrassment, she quickly let go. "I, uh, saw my brother coming out from the elevator and didn't want to get caught, so I used you as a shield."

Cedric narrowed his eyes. He was beginning to piece together why she was there and in low spirits. He teased her. "Do you just grab any random man to hide behind?"

Noelle looked at him in surprise. "I don't think so." She'd acted without thinking because the person next to her had been Cedric. She doubted she would have done the same if it had been anyone else. Satisfied with her answer, Cedric's mood lightened up. "Did you come with them?"

"Yeah. It was supposed to be a celebratory meal for my good grades," Noelle replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

She peeked at him and recalled the beautiful woman he'd been with earlier. She wondered why he was alone now.

Cedric calmly responded, "Tenth, huh? Not bad.

Her voice was laced with pride as she retorted, "It's okay, I guess. I should have a shot at Yole University now." She remembered how he'd previously remarked that her ranking wasn't high enough. Cedric chuckled. "Have you eaten?"

""No. I don't want to eat here."

"Because of the ones back there?"

Noelle nodded. "You can go ahead if you're busy. I'm heading back to my apartment." She didn't want to go home that night, either.

"If anyone's leaving, it's them, not you."

Noelle was puzzled. Was he going to make Frank and Xenia leave? She didn't think that was possible!