HOURS
Sora, my older brother, says I'm aiming too high.
He says that I dream too much. My hopes will be shot on sight.
He says that we're way too far down the social chain. That may be true, with us sitting under the bleachers while he's on the football field, but no one ever said he's too shallow to date someone of lower class. We are in the same grade, after all. It's not like I'm some skimpy freshman and he's a glorious senior... although he's a glorious sophomore.
Even in the morning light, in the glares the dew shine on the freshly-cut green grass, he looks completely handsome, his tight blue jeans clinging to every curve in his legs, his taut black shirt hugging his slender chest.
Hayner makes a comment on Axel's physique, noticing the small bit of drool hanging from my lips. "He's way too skinny," says he, grunting. "He needs some guns. Right, Roxas?"
I turn my face back to laugh at him as he kisses his flexed muscles, staring at me with anticipation. Sora hides his scrawny arms beneath his jacket, blushing.
"Right," I respond, smiling. Hayner's eyes get brighter. I turn my gaze back to Axel.
He doesn't need muscle to impress me. All he needs is that smile, that stunning smile to make my day. And as I stare off into the distance at his locks of red hair, I could swear his piercing emerald eyes glance my way through the seats of metal as the school bell rings.
Hayner tears me away, picking me up by the strap of my book bag and throwing me off into the direction of the school.
We have second hour together, the first time of the day that I actually come in contact with him.
He sits next to me, although he rarely ever speaks to me, except to ask for a pencil or something of the like. Any other time, he's laughing with his rude friends or having an argument with the teacher. He loathes having to do any sort of work but loves shouting at the instructor.
How strange.
Sora sits beside me as well, although on my left side. Unlike Hayner, Sora would never tease me about Axel being so close. He's too nice.
But every time the red head cheats off me or asks me a question, I feel my cheeks begin to burn. My eyes frantically search for something that is not him. When he's away from his usual crowd, he's rather pleasant, although seemingly indifferent to others completely. But he sometimes looks over at me. I can see him in the corner of my eye. Maybe he's looking at someone else, but my imagination sometimes gets the best of me and I cannot help but to dream. He is looking at me.
We've chosen one of the booths to sit at—blue and silver themed, the school colors—due to the thunderstorm taking place outside.
The tremendously large window separating the lunch room from the storm outside does nothing to muffle the loud thunder from the outside, the lightning showering the area in a golden glow. Axel hates the rain. It always messes up his gel-soaked scarlet hair.
Axel's not hungry, as I can see. He's bought himself a slurpee and is now sitting with his friends at a round table on the opposite side of the room, under the staircase leading to the second floor. He's never hungry around lunch time and always decides to steal food from people later on in the day.
My heart jumps out of my chest. Axel stands up from his seat, placing his slurpee on the table. He's going to the bathroom. He never leaves his precious food unless he's going there. I breathlessly excuse myself from the booth, stunning a very irritated Hayner, who is in the middle of telling a Struggle story, to follow the red-head to the restroom. Crossing the large lunch room is like a battle in itself; I can feel the eyes of people as they stare me down hard. Do they know of my intentions? To follow him like a stalker just to get closer to him?
No, it's all in my head.
It's just the skirmish inside me—the warmth radiating off of my blushing cheeks.
Axel never blushes over anything; he never has the need to. He's never embarrassed. He's never really liked or even dated someone seriously, so there has never been a moment when he was required to be.
Axel is uncaring to the world, but I still know that deep down, those little glances he sends my way all the time mean something. And as I enter the bathroom, pushing on the swinging door, I feel the desire to see him and it overcomes me, turning me momentarily blind.
I crash into him.
His torso is remarkably warm. My hands, for a brief moment, slightly push into his upper body, feeling the smallest amount muscle and, more than anything, ribs. His hands, for a quick second, grab my shoulders. The collision sends us both flying backward, but we do not fall.
We're both left in an awkward state. I catch my breath over the edge of a sink while he, like always, rubs the back of his head uneasily.
But then he speaks.
"Sorry," he says. "My bad."
Just hearing his voice makes me feel like I'm even more in a dream. It's all unreal. I can feel the stars in my eyes. I cannot be this close to him, just having run into him, actually his only center of attention…
"It's… okay," I try to respond, but few words come to mind. "It's my fault."
"Heh." Axel puts his hands in his pocket uncomfortably. "I'll just… go then."
I nod like an idiot, still leaning against the sink, watching closely as he passes me to go to the bathroom. Sora walks in just as he opens the door, almost running into the tiny brunette as well.
Sora gasps at the almost-impact, quickly moving out of the way. Axel does the same, quickly apologizing under his breath. He lets the brunette pass before turning around to say sorry once again and he walks backward out of the restroom.
But he's blushing.
His cheeks almost match the vibrancy of his hair color. He's looking down at Sora, who, still somewhat shocked from the almost-contact, rapidly spats out "It's okay!" before rushing off into one of the rusty stalls.
He then has no other choice but to look at me with his exceptionally peculiar cherry cheeks, making me, in turn, do the exact same thing. Another awfully awkward moment.
"Sorry!" he says, practically running out of the lavatory. I don't do anything for a minute or two but stare at the door he just closed, still processing what just happened.
From behind a stall Sora says calmly, "He's an odd sort, isn't he?"
I have no choice but to nod.
Hayner had asked about what happened in the bathroom. Sora and I don't bother to tell him. It's too much work.
We are both quite lazy.
I am in the swarming hallway at the end of the day, waiting by my locker for the other two to show up. It is still raining and we need to figure out how we will get home without getting wet.
As I take my history book from my bag and place it neatly in my locker's shelf, I take a quick glance at the finger-smudged mirror on the cabinet door. His green locker can be seen in clear sight from the mirror, however coincidental that may be.
Axel never takes this side of the hallway when about to go home—he's in detention usually already, even though his locker is close by mine. I rarely see him on this side; I have to go to the upstairs corridor and make a reason to talk to the teacher in charge of detention in order to see him for one final time of the day.
Seeing him that one final time helps me sleep peacefully at night. That one final image plays throughout my mind for hours, making me fall asleep like a sugary lullaby for a newborn. The mother's heartbeat a puppy needs to drift off to dream land.
But as I look again inside my mirror, my mind comes to a halt.
That familiar black shirt blocks my view.
It is as if a ghost is standing behind me. I cannot move. My hands freeze up and my breathing stops entirely. He doesn't seem to notice this, for he composedly asks, "Have a minute?"
After a second of slapping my stupid self mentally, I nod silently, shoving my bag into the locker before turning around to face him.
He's barely inches away, the smallest bead of sweat on his forehead. He looks slightly flustered, avoiding any eye contact. How adorable.
He's never done that one before.
Axel always looks into people's eyes. He's never ashamed to look into anyone's eyes, because no one is worthy of his concern.
No one can make someone like Axel uncomfortable.
"What is it?" I ask, sounding a little bit more irritated than I wanted to. He hears the false annoyance in my voice, choking up.
"I…" Axel begins, twiddling his thumbs. He cannot stand still, rubbing his arms constantly and swaying back and forth.
"You…?" I look up at him, puzzled.
"I … I was wondering…"
Time freezes.
"I was… wondering if… if…"
I cannot take the pressure.
"I was wondering if… you…uhhh…"
…would go out with me?
"…would introduce me to your brother?"