Too Far To Touch
AXELALICE
Every girl at school wanted to be in Dr. Vexen's AP Chemistry class that day after news spread round like wild fire about who had showed up. Supposedly there was a new replacement teacher, since Dr. Vexen was on leave for surgery, and supposedly he was fairly attractive. Scratch that, he was supposedly amazingly attractive.
Alice felt like a lucky girl to be in AP Chemistry at that moment. Her front row seat placed her right near where the he stood and taught. His fiery hair spiked high above his head; his shining emerald eyes that sparkled in the light of the flame as he explained what they would be doing; his smooth skin and fit body that just screamed 'HERE IS THE EPITEMY OF BEAUTIFUL'; his suave voice and cunning jokes; his expressive face that made every girl's heart melt.
The way he said, "Just call me Axel. I'm not old enough for 'mister'."
It was like he was sent by the gods just to please the eye of a woman… or tease the eye of a young innocent girl. He might have been young, but he was too old for any of them. The moment Alice saw him her heart dropped in her chest as she realized that their beautiful new teacher was as unattainable as a movie star.
"Excuse me… Miss Alice?" she heard a voice call behind her.
Her cheeks flushed bright red and her figure went rigid. She adjusted the blue backpack hanging on her shoulder and looked towards the ground as she turned around. "Yes, Mr. Axel."
"Just Axel if you don't mind," he started. She looked up for a brief moment, her eyes immediately dropping back to the ground in embarrassment as she saw the beautiful white smile across his face. "…Dr. Vexen said you had helped him grade papers in the past and to ask you if I needed help. So I was wondering if one day after school you could lend me a hand."
"Yes Sir."
"You're set on calling me some sort of title. God, you make me feel so old."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry. Now head home and stop blushing… your face is the color of a cherry." She looked up just in time to see him wink at her before turning on his heel and walking away.
-x
She'd stayed after school every day for the past two weeks helping him grade papers. She'd worn her skirts a little shorter, she'd left an extra button of her shirt undone, and she made sure that every day before she went to school she looked absolutely perfect.
Alice didn't consider herself by any means skanky nor would anyone else in the school. She'd been considered sweet, caring, and if anything a prude when it came to guys.
Even if she couldn't get him she wanted to Axel's attention though, so she made sure to make herself a little appealing. Of course, every male would take attention of her appeal to the eye, but the girls noticed her affect on men too.
"I can't go in there looking like this," Alice sniffled as she wiped her trailing mascara from underneath her eyes. "I look like a train wreck."
"That you do…"
"Thanks Selphie."
"I'm sorry! Maybe you can get sympathy?"
"I don't want sympathy! I don't want to go in there looking like…"
"You're cheek is turning purple…"
"Oh goodness," Alice whimpered. She leaned forward, trying her best to wash her face in the sink to look like she hadn't been crying, but it was no use. The ends of her hair fell into the bottom of the sink and ruined all the time she had spent that morning trying to straighten it. "It's no use!"
"Maybe you should just go home. I'm sure he can get some done by himself. You can just go in tomorrow."
"But I was helping grade that test we took yesterday!"
"I'm really sorry, Alice. You know we're all kind of jealous you get to stay after school with him and stuff… but I didn't think that any of them would go that far…"
"It's fine. It isn't like it's your fault," Alice tried her best to smile but cringed as soon as the muscle in her cheek moved. She'd been hit pretty hard. She touched her hand gently against her face, feeling the small lump that was forming there. "Can you see the lump?"
"Nope. Just a little purple… not that bad…"
"I think I'll just go home." She stepped away from the sink, frowning as she saw herself in the mirror. She honestly looked like a wreck.
As if her day could get any worse… but of course it had to.
"What happened?!" asked a worried voice as her oh-so-beautiful new teacher kneeled down to examine her face. Selphie gave her a half smile before waving goodbye, quickly mouthing 'I'm sorry' as she walked away.
"It's really nothing. I fell."
"You're full of shit, come on I'll put something on it and then we can start working."
"I was thinking about just going…"
"It's fine don't worry… it really isn't that bd. I'll get some ice to put on it."
"But Axel…!"
"Hey, you just called me by my name," Axel grinned triumphantly causing her to blush multiple shades of red. "Go on to the classroom. I'm going to go get you some ice."
Alice couldn't say no to him. The way he spoke gave her stomach some rabid case of butterflies and sucked out every sort of determination she had to go home. She wondered if he realized the affect he had on the women around him. He must have considering how confident he was with everything he did.
Alice couldn't keep concentrated on the paper in front of her because she was too busy worrying about how terrible she looked. She didn't want him looking at her for any long period of time with such a gross mark on her face.
She jumped in surprise as Axel walked into the room, carrying a bag of ice in one hand and Neosporin in the other. "Hold the ice on it for a while and then I'll put some Neosporin on it so it doesn't get infected. I guess you'll only have one hand… so just tell me what to write and I'll write for you."
"I can write with one hand."
"You're awfully stubborn. Just let me help you."
"I'm not a little girl I can make my own decisions."
He raised an eyebrow towards her but didn't say anything. She looked at him briefly, expecting him to suddenly smile or laugh, but he never said anything. She slowly began grading the papers, holding the bag of ice with her other hand.
She watched in her peripheral as he sat down, swiveling his chair away from her to look at the computer.
She didn't want to break the silence, knowing that she had obviously done something to anger him, but she couldn't stand sitting in it either. How long had it been? She was sure it'd been at least twenty minutes since she'd finished the remaining papers. She set down the bag of ice, reaching for the Neosporin to put on her face.
"I'll put it on."
"I can…"
"Yeah, cause you aren't a little girl."
She had to admit, she was a little taken back by the tone in his voice, but all her worries washed away as he gave her a half-smile. Not a smile, but it was pretty close.
He swiveled back around to face her, narrowing his emerald eyes to take a closer look at her cheek. "Damn, those were some long nails."
"You shouldn't curse in a school building."
He chuckled, unscrewing the cap to the Neosporin and squeezing some on his finger. She tried not to cringe as he rubbed his thumb across her cheek. His fingers were surprisingly rough for looking so soft, and his touch seemed jittery and hard. Not enough to hurt her but a lot harder than she had expected.
Then again, what had she been expecting?
"Why can't I curse in a school building?" Axel asked before chuckling as he tried to lighten up the mood.
The question seemed obvious to Alice, "Because you're a teacher."
She assumed that was the wrong answer because he stopped smiling after that. He pulled his hand away from her cheek, swiveling back to face his computer.
"I'm done grading…"
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Oh… okay… see you tomorrow."
-x
He hadn't asked her to help grade anything for the past week. In fact, it seemed that he made every point not to talk to her.
Alice was very confused, but it wasn't her place to ask. Maybe he didn't need her help anymore to grade papers. He'd probably gotten the hang of it after all that time.
It seemed the past week of silence had died though, because he was offering her a ride home from the rain. Maybe fate hated her or maybe it was mere coincidence that it was raining and he happened to drive by and offer her a ride.
"You've been ignoring me," she stated, her wet blonde locks hanging down in front of her blue eyes and clinging to the sides of her face.
"Just get in the car; you're going to get sick."
"No."
"Damn it, Alice! Just get in before I drag you."
He decided she looked like a miserable puppy as she stepped into the car and closed the door. "You can pick something to listen to."
She didn't say anything, her eyes staring out the window. She had to admit she loved the warmth of the car… and of course she was with Axel… but she didn't want to be there. This wasn't helping her stay mad at him for just completely ignoring her.
Not that he had any right to pay more attention to her than any other student. After all, she was no more important than any other person in her class.
Unfortunately.
"I'm leaving tomorrow. Dr. Vexen is coming back," Axel stated, not taking his eyes off the road.
"What?! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Why does it matter?" he asked, taking a quick glance to look at her before smiling. "You can still grade papers when Dr. Vexen comes back I'm sure."
Awkward silence.
Axel took a glance over, noticing her face completely turned towards the window. "Alice?"
No response.
"Alice… seriously… talk or something."
"No."
"Are you crying?"
No response.
He pulled the car over into a department store parking lot and turned off the ignition. Without the sound of the engine he could hear her soft sniffles that she was trying her best to cover.
"Alice, look at me."
"No."
"Please?"
No response.
"Alice, look at me!"
She slowly turned her head, her eyes lowered as she looked at everything in the car but him.
"Don't cry…"
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, her bright blue eyes looking up to meet with his green ones. "Did I make you mad?"
"No, you didn't make me mad…"
"Then why did you ignore me?" Her bottom lip quivered as she spoke as she tried her best to refrain from letting her watery eyes actually cry.
"I wanted everything in the world but to keep away from you."
"Don't sweet talk me!" She turned her face away as a tear found its way down her cheek. "I did everything I could to help you and you just… you just…"
She could feel the car move as he leaned closer to her. "Alice, look at me."
She turned to find his face a few inches away from hers. His hand reached and his rough thumb brushed across her cheek. "You know how hard it is to keep away from such a pretty girl like you?" His lips gently pushed against the end of her nose. "You know how painful it is to want such an amazingly sweet woman like yourself?" He brushed his lips along her cheek.
He could feel her shiver underneath him, and if she could see his face she'd see how wide his smile of satisfaction was.
"You know how hard it is to deal with you teasing me with such a rocking hot bod?" he joked, letting the hand that had been on her cheek moments before find its way to her thigh.
"I… I was not teasing… no… I was not teasing you!"
"Oh really?" he asked surprised as he pulled away to look at her blushing face. "That's why you leaned over so I could see down your shirt while you talked… and you'd drop things on the ground where I could see up your skirt…"
"Shut up… those were on accident."
He laughed, leaning forward once again so his lips pressed against her neck.
It became apparent to Alice he was aiming everywhere but her lips.
"Why won't you kiss me?" she asked, pulling away so she could look at him.
"Alice…"
"You've known I have wanted you for so long now!"
He pulled away, looking away from her back through the front of the car. "We should get you home."
"Axel, don't be like this!"
"Alice, don't start with me you're making this hard enough as it is!" he retorted as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm ten years older than you…"
"But I'm graduating this year! Please, kiss me. We could keep it a secret and…"
"And be together after that? You think your parents would be happy you're with a guy a decade older? Alice…"
"How could you do that?! You… you… you just acted like you wanted me and then you treat me like I'm seven! I can make decisions for myself."
"You're cute when you pout."
"Axel, shut up I'm trying to be serious!"
"Ooh, I like it when you say my name in that tone…"
"Axel, seriously…"
He leaned forward again, letting his lips catch hers for a brief moment before pulling away. She hadn't realized how far up her skirt his hand had actually gone until she felt his fingers pulling at the rim of her panties.
"Wait til I'm done teaching then I'll kiss you completely, I promise." He let his fingers run in between her legs before pulling away and sitting back in his seat. "Can you wait til then?" he asked, watching as her face turned multiple shades of red.
She nodded quickly, letting her eyes linger on the profile of his smirking face as he started up the car.
She couldn't wait til tomorrow.