Axel
Axel had been beneath the bleachers of the football field, enjoying a momentary respite when a brunette unintentionally stumbled into his spot. The male seemed ready to back-pedal, the color draining from his face the moment they made eye-contact. Admittedly, Axel was rather flattered that he posed that much of a threat to the male, but rather than feed on it, he extended his arm out to the brunette, joint in hand, "You look like you could use a hit." Axel exhaled smoke smoothly, his voice maintaining a soft rasp from the smoke that he'd been inhaling moments before.
The brunette didn't immediately move, as if the soles of his shoes had effectively melted into the concrete beneath them, "You look familiar." Axel tried again. It was a half-lie. The male did look familiar, but only because he knew who Sora was. Sora had been hanging around Kairi since she was a sophomore and Sora was still in middle school.
"I'm," Axel watched the brunette pause, his deep-blue eyes scanning the concrete before finding his thoughts, "friends with Kairi." The brunette's voice rose towards the end of the statement, almost as if he was questioning his own relationship with her.
"Are you telling me or asking me?" The question was half-genuine, though half-way through he released he didn't actually care and rolling the wrist of his extended arm, "Don't be shy, it's rare that I share my joints with people." It was another lie, one to make even the most insecure feel important in his graces. After all, he was bred for acting engaging even during the dullest of social situations.
Sora looked between the joint and him as if one, or both, were irradiated. The red-head didn't mind, of course, watching the brunette accept the joint and take a puff. Axel tried not to laugh when the brunette immediately erupted into a coughing fit, indicating that Axel had essentially peer-pressured the kid into trying something new.
"What class you supposed in?" As he spoke, he accepted the joint and took another hit, studying the brunette out of the corner of his eye.
"English." Sora sighed as he answered, rubbing at the back of his neck, "You?"
Axel rolled his shoulders forward, "P.E. I should be running the mile right now." Axel snorted, then tilted his head, "Aside from Kairi, you also hang out with," Axel paused, as if collecting his own thoughts, "Namine, is it? Her brother's a junior, isn't he?"
Of course, he knew both of their names, having been promptly filled in by Riku and Kairi upon arrival. He had a vague sense of a timeline that involved Chicago and Southside Pinecrest, including their painfully impressive academic achievements that landed them in the school's lottery system. Though, it seemed, Roxas had a pension for getting himself in trouble. All of this information, of course, was stored away in Kairi's intricate filing system. How exactly the girl managed to have access to student's academic files, he didn't know. Aside from typical teenage-girl cattiness, it seemed Kairi only used them to find fleeting disciples to her adolescent, and entirely imaginary, kingdom.
Sora
The brunette felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach, the same knot he got whenever Kairi was about to ask him to do some mind-numbing and irrational task. He was already feeling out of his element by skipping class, and now here he was, hiding beneath the bleachers with Axel Lancaster who was asking questions that Sora wasn't sure he should be answering.
"Ah, yeah, he's a junior, why?" Sora answered cautiously, accepting the joint that was once more handed to him. He felt partially light-headed, but he wasn't sure if that was from his anxiety or the marijuana. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he was teeter-tottering between ease and complete distress, he would've assumed the marijuana was canceled out by his overwhelming desire to flee.
"What's his deal?"
The question caught him off guard, he knew Riku had been giving Roxas a hard time since he transferred in, and if Axel had the same intentions, Sora certainly didn't want to be a part of that mess. And yet, Axel didn't seem all that interested in what Riku and the others did. Even back when Axel was a freshmen and sophomore, he seemed disconnected from all of the childish shit his friends pulled.
Instead, he was the impossibly cool guy that everyone wanted to be around.
"There's not much I know about him, to be fair." Sora really didn't know much about Roxas. The blond looked meaner than a rattle snake, but yet, he seemed to be pretty patient with people and he'd seen the numerous times that he acted like a caring, if not over protective, older brother to Namine, "I'm pretty sure Riku knows more than I do, after all, he's had it out for the both of them since they transferred here."
Namine
"Are you actually taking an art class?" Namine snorted as she entered the classroom, immediately spotting Hayner who seemed utterly lost as he busied himself with opening the art supplies they'd been instructed to purchase for class.
Hayner practically jumped at the sound of her voice, turning to look at her, "Uh, well, I need an easy elective, so…" The male gestured to the scattered art supplies that littered his desk and Namine had to laugh as she sat next to him.
"Well, colored me mildly offended that you think art classes are easy, but I suppose I can forgive it."
Hayner gave her a sheepish smile, his hand immediately coming up to rub at the back of his neck, "I didn't mean it like that, I mean, I suck at art, so I'm sure it won't be easy."
Namine shook her head, "You don't suck at art. Unless you're making a career out of it, no one sucks at art. "She smiled, reaching over onto Hayner's table to grab the erasers that were still in their packaging, removing the cellophane, "Plus, you have me as your guide into the art universe."
Hayner opened his mouth to respond to her encouragement, but was cut short when Olette walked into the classroom, "Have you seen Sora?" The brunette's brows were furrowed together in concern, casting an apologetic look to Hayner for interrupting his conversation with Namine.
"No, he wasn't in English this morning so I thought he was sick." Namine frowned, "Why, is something wrong?"
Olette sighed, plopping down in the chair next to Namine, shaking her head, "We got into a fight this morning and I bailed on him when I shouldn't have"
Namine could see that her friend was feeling guilty, but she didn't understand the depth of the problem. There was no doubt that Namine was quickly developing a strong friendship with both Olette and Sora, but she wasn't privy to their deepest secrets and thoughts. And if Namine were honest, she had a feeling there was more to uncover than she really wanted to know.
"Well, I'm sure Sora's going to be fine. If you want, I can text him?" Namine offered, pulling her phone out of her purse to pull up her text messages, ready on the 'go ahead'.
"No, don't worry about it. He's probably just blowing off steam and skipping class." Olette finished, redirecting the conversation by leaning forward in her seat so that she could look past Namine to Hayner, "Hey, you're Hayner, right? I think we had Algebra together during our freshman year."
Namine watched as Hayner gave Olette the once-over before a light-bulb went off in his head, "Ah, yeah, I remember you. You looked different back then."
Olette laughed, pushing her brunette hair back with her hand, "Yeah, I thought I wanted to be a Kairi clone, but now I've joined the dark-side." As if to make a point, Olette gestured over her mostly black ensemble with the corner of her mouth quirked upward in a grin, "Speaking of dark-side, you two going to the party on Saturday?"
Roxas
"I can handle it." Was the agitated response from Axel who was in the middle of measuring out a tablespoon of baking soda as per instructions. Once measured out, the older male dumped the spoon's content onto a paper towel before following the paper's instructions on the proper folding technique.
"Well, I would certainly hope so, considering most third graders can do this." Roxas responded evenly, ignoring the glare that Axel was giving him.
While the red-head worked with the baking-soda, Roxas made an effort to make sure the zip-lock didn't have any holes in it as he filled it partially with water. Upon seeing that it wasn't leaking, he emptied the water out, "Is it a half a cup of vinegar and a fourth of a cup of water?" Roxas questioned, trying to look over Axel's shoulder to see the paper. Though, all he managed to do was grunt in annoyance at the red-head's height.
"I thought third-graders could do this." Axel taunted, a shit-eating grin on his face as he turned to look at Roxas. Out of reflexive thought, Roxas imagined the satisfaction that could be derived from decking the man square in his pretty-boy mouth. Luckily, his limbic system was high-functioning enough that the small conscious he had told him that it wouldn't be socially appropriate.
"Just give me the paper." Roxas finally replied, running thin on insulting commentary as he semi-shouldered Axel out of the way to look at the paperwork, returning to his work area to measure out the correct amount before emptying it out into the zip-lock bag.
As the teacher finished walking up and down the aisles, she returned to the front of the room, "Alright, since this experiment can get a little messy, we're going to move the last portion of the experiment outside in the parking lot."
Roxas rolled his eyes, sliding up his safety googles so that they were resting on the crown of his head. As the other students filed out of the classroom, he found himself reluctantly tagging along after Axel, trying to keep up with the older male's longer strides.
Once outside in the parking lot, the students broke up into pairs once more, "So you hold the time-release capsule and I'll seal the bag." As he instructed, Axel placed the neatly folded napkin inside of the zip-lock bag, but held it pinched between his thumb and index finger while Roxas zipped it shut, "bomb's away." The blonde, muttered, watching the red-head release the baking-soda filled capsule into the baggie. The red-head briefly shook the bag so that the household chemicals would react faster before he set the bag down on the ground.
Roxas folded his arms over his chest, watching as the bag expanded as a result of the chemical reaction between the baking soda, vinegar, and water. If he hadn't done the exact same experiment in elementary school, he might have been a little more amused at the result. Instead, he remained perfectly bored as the plastic bag continued to expand until finally bursting like a balloon.
"I haven't been this disappointed since learning Santa wasn't real." The response poured from Axel's mouth at the speed of molasses. There was brief silence before they made eye-contact and immediately broke out into a spurt of laughter. And if the joke wasn't enough to make him smile, the sound of Axel's laugh was, even if he wouldn't dare admit it.
Once they were back in the classroom they began cleaning up their lab station. As Roxas reached out to grab the bottle of vinegar, Axel did the same, the red-head's fingers unintentionally ghosting over Roxas' knuckles. As if Axel's skin were composed of sulfuric acid, Roxas quickly withdrew his hand and occupied himself with cleaning off their measuring utensils instead.
"Y'know, I know my friends have a bad reputation, but that doesn't mean I'm like them."
Roxas didn't look at the man at first, mulling over his words before finally giving him a contemplative gaze. Axel made it hard not to believe him. He spoke with an unnerving ease, no notable indication that he was full of shit. Well, minus a few factors. "You can't hang out with assholes and not be an asshole yourself." In contrast to Axel's smooth ability to articulate his thoughts, Roxas was abrasive and brazen. There was no time to skirt around brushes or pretend his tongue was sweeter than his bite, "Birds of a feather."
Of course, there was no falter in Axel's façade of cool, the corners of his mouth merely quirking up, "Touche."
"And I haven't exactly forgotten your endearing 'trailer trash' comment, either. So, why, Axel Lacanster, should I not believe that you're another cookie-cutter GQ model look-alike with sociopathic tendencies as a result of too much money?" Roxas felt that he was pushing his luck with his smart-ass remarks.
"Same reason I don't immediately jump to the conclusion that you're another south-side fuck up whose future ends somewhere between a prison sentence and a crack-house." Axel countered.
Roxas felt his jaw tightening, molars grinding as he processed just as how thin his own-skin was. He thought about Hayner's warning to stay away from Axel, but Roxas felt that he could make his own judgements. His judgement being that he didn't like Axel at all. However, being civilized didn't mean that he had to like Axel. He could just as easily be friendly with him for the sake of his chemistry grade and nothing else.
"So, what do you say to a start over?" Axel interrupted his train of thoughts, hand extending outwards towards him.
Like most of Roxas' decision, his answer came in impulse, "Sure, I'll play along." The blond mumbled, extending his own hand to shake Axel's, "Roxas Kaufmann"
"Axel Lancaster." There was another grin on Axel's face as his cat-like eyes bore into Roxas' own vivid blues.
Sora
He'd been absent most of the day, actively ignoring Olette's concerned text messages and only spending fleeting seconds with Namine, as if to reassure everyone that he hadn't jumped ship. By the time lunch rolled around, though, he felt his anger from this morning dissipate, replaced with exhaustion and a strong desire for comradery.
"Sora, why don't you sit with us?"
The brunette had strode by Kairi's table, barely acknowledging the mixture of seniors and juniors, intending to make a beeline for Namine and Olette. Still, the commanding voice had him halting in place and turning to look at the red-head. Kairi had a playful smile on her face, one that made the acid in his stomach creep up his esophagus. Still, he smiled, "Are you sure? I don't want to impose."
"Of course!"
Kairi insisted, scooting away from Riku and patting the space between them. Not wanting to look any dumber than he felt, Sora forced his feet forward. When he sat down, he found himself feeling incredibly small. Out of his peripheral vision, he was sure that RIku was giving him a look, but he didn't dare turn his head to check. He was pretty sure the man hated him, solidified by the shut-down he'd experienced yesterday with the posters.
He sucked air in through his teeth, heart-hammering in his chest as the adrenaline coursed through him. He felt like a rabbit who'd just waltzed into a wolf's den, but he tried to maintain some composure on the outside.
"Hey, I just wanted to thank you for putting up those posters! I know I've been kind of harsh lately, but I hope that you can forgive me." Kairi tilted her head, a half-pout on her face to emphasize just how sorry she was.
"Uh, no worries, I didn't mind." Sora lied through his teeth, meeting Kairi's gaze with some ease. Normally, he was able to navigate social situations with relative ease. In fact, in any other scenario in which he didn't feel like he was about to be pulled into the seventh-layer of hell, he thrived off of attention and spotlight. He had the uncanny ability to be bold with just the right of innocuous naivety that let his less than sugar-and-honey tongue go undetected.
"I'm so glad to hear it." Kairi let out a sigh of relief. She then leaned toward him, the unmistakable scent of her Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb perfume infiltrating his nose, "So, Riku and I were thinking you should totally come to this party that I'm throwing Saturday." Kairi's glossed lips curled into a come-hither smile before she looked over his shoulder to where Riku sat, mid-bite of a sandwich, "Isn't that right?"
For the first time since he sat down, Sora dared himself to look up at Riku, who was already looking at him, much to Sora's own embarrassment. He felt the heat rising to his face, and if he wasn't so nervous, he would've sworn he saw an amused smile grace the male's lips, "Yeah, you should."
Red-flags should have been sprouting up all over Sora's understanding of the universe, but they weren't. He was either borderline delirious or pathetically caught up in the dream-state of being included in the more 'popular' crowd. After an awkward pause, he smiled, "Uh, yeah, sure. I'd love to."