Chapter 10

"Is he gone yet?"

"Who?"

"You know."

"Uhm, nope, he's still looking for you."

"Well what the hell is going through his mind? Doesn't he know he's gonna be late if he doesn't move it?"

"Oh! He just turned into the class. Can you let go of me, now?"

Roxas released his grip on Sora and stepped out from behind him, muttering an apology. Automatically the two boys picked up their materials and rushed through the halls into their class.

"So what's the deal, anyway?" the brunet asked as they sat down in their desks.

"It's ... complicated. A lot of crap happened this week and I'm just so confused of what to make of it..." Roxas lowered his voice as their teacher eyeballed him suspiciously.

"And?"

Roxas shrugged. "Axel's being weird. I don't want him to notice me."

Sora's eyebrows shot up.

Roxas sighed. If only he could sort out his thoughts and know what the hell he was feeling. He felt as though he was feeling something totally new, a word left indescribable or unreachable. It didn't help that everything had been going by so quickly. Nothing was ever like this in Radiant Garden. It was as though the end of the world was near and everyone could sense it, causing havoc trying to get everything done and under control before the final intake of breath. Roxas hated this feeling and wished he could escape the drama.

But life wasn't that easy to escape from.

The boys' teacher suddenly began his lecture as Roxas was just about to explain to Sora what was at least running through his mind. The two boys quickly whipped open their notebooks and pretended they were paying attention.

Finally Roxas turned to Sora and whispered, "I think I really like Axel."

Sora kept his gaze locked on the teacher, leaning toward the blond slightly. "Oh?"

The blond blinked. "That's all you have to say? 'Oh?'"

"Well," Sora replied, turning his full attention to Roxas, "what else is one supposed to think when someone suddenly dashes behind their best friend because they don't want to be seen by the person they obviously like? And it's also pretty obvious, Roxas. We've had this conversation before."

Roxas blinked again. He had never thought it was that obvious he liked Axel but he thought about it more as he wrote the notes from the blackboard into his notebook. His actions did seem a bit immature yet it was his own way of defending himself. He knew Axel would try to confront him again about what happened in the library and try to kiss him then swing Roxas off his feet and—

A loud snap woke Roxas out of his daydreams. Then blond blinked rapidly, gasping as he saw his teacher's face inch slowly towards his.

"Are you alive, Roxas?"

The blond gulped. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Then pay attention in my class. We wouldn't want you to go the principals office, would we?" The professor whirled around and with a final huff he continued his lecture, bringing a textbook under his scrutinizing gaze.

Roxas sank lower in his chair as his classmates kept glancing over at him, snickering quietly. His teacher's lecture seemed to be drowning as the taunting giggles increased in volume. Soon, the snickers turned to cackles and it was all Roxas could hear, he was drowning, falling, tumbling in humiliation...

Axel.

The blond suddenly straightened himself in the chair. Somehow, things seemed to suddenly make sense to him, like him and Axel were meant to be together. Axel was his shining light, his way to keep his chin up, something to look forward to now and not to dread. He finally understood what it was like to be in love and even though it happened just now the blond found himself anticipating running into Axel soon.

He glared at those who were giggling at him and the class soon quietened down to hushed whispers. Roxas gave Sora a quick grin before raising his hand.

"Yes, Roxas?" the cinnamon-tanned teacher asked dryly.

"Just so you know, you spelled 'incredibly' wrong."

The elder raised a brow but turned but turned to the blackboard anyway. To his horror he had in fact spelled 'incredibly' wrong. He quickly grabbed the eraser as snickers began to fill the room again. Misspelling was not permitted at all in schools and was a teacher's worst nightmare, especially if the subject was Literature.

Sora gaped at Roxas. The blond noticed.

"What?" the blond hissed. "I needed some kind of payback. He totally deserved it, anyway."

Sora sighed and focused on their teacher's frantic scribbling as he corrected his error. The brunet knew what was coming next as the teacher turned to stare long and hard at the class, flicking his gaze to one pair of eyes to another. A tense silence filled the room.

"Aw, man! That stupid idiot!"

Roxas, Riku and Sora turned to see a steamed red-head holding out his arms as he made his way to the bench the three boys sat on, completely soaked as water poured off his body. Behind him a giggling Demyx watching the red-head try to shake off the water, keeping his distance away from Axel with another water balloon in his hand.

The day had proved to be a hot one and the sent its heated rays unmercifully. Hardly any clouds hung in the air and no breeze was physically felt. The air was sticky and humid; it was almost unbearable. Many of the high school's students were wearing thin clothing and sporting sunglasses. Axel decided to wear a tight-fitting blue polo with black shorts. Demyx donned a baby blue wife-beater with white shorts.

As Roxas looked at his friends sitting next to him he saw that Sora wore a gray sleeveless T-shirt with tan shorts that flooded past his knees while Riku sported a white tank top with black shorts that were almost identical to Axel's.

Despite his wetness, the red-head squeezed his tall body onto the bench beside Roxas. The blond could smell cologne from Axel as he closed his eyes to breathe.

"So how's it goin'?" he asked, looking at the other three on the bench.

The reply was similar. "Good."

Axel nodded slowly.

"Well, not all that great," Sora complained. "Roxas tried to pay our teacher back because he had humiliated him so now we have fifty-five pages to read!" The brunet poked Roxas.

"It's only forty," Roxas said in defense. "Anyways, he totally deserved it."

Axel beamed at Roxas. The blond opened his eyes and noticed the red-head's expression.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Hi did; he got what he was asking for, though I guess I should've went about it a different way..."

"It was that bad from what Sora told me," Riku intervened. "It's not that embarrassing to have a teacher interrupt your day-dreams."

"You were day-dreaming?" Axel asked. Demyx finally thought it safe to join the group.

"Yeah. Big whoop. He didn't have to screw me over the way did. Coulda just ignored me or something."

"I've had my day-dreams interrupted before," Demyx volunteered. "Sucked big time."

Roxas smiled up to the mo-hawked blond. "Thanks, but don't worry about me. I'm pretty much over it." The blond poked Sora back. "Well, I was over it till somebody brought it back up."

"Sorry," the brunet giggled. "I was just being honest."

"I think you took your honesty a bit too far there, Blue," Riku commented, grinning.

Sora pouted. "Maybe. Maybe not. I like my big mouth."

"Don't worry about it," Roxas said again. "That was just first block. It's lunch; just eat."

Axel laughed. "Somebody's cranky today. Something wrong?"

"No," Roxas sighed, closing his eyes again. "Just tired."

"Well don't fall asleep," said the red-head, pouting. "It's no fun when people sleep."

"But what if I need my sleep?"

"Then get it at home."

"If that was possible," the blond retorted.

Interrupting the blond's sour mood the high school bell rang, sending a flurry of black birds into the sky. Riku and Sora reluctantly rose from the bench and picked up their carelessly tossed bags from the ground, Demyx following suit. Axel and Roxas stayed behind.

Roxas wanted to get up as well but he didn't know why he couldn't move his legs. Maybe it was because his legs felt like a ton of bricks joined at his hips. Maybe it was from his feet that felt as though they were glued to the ground. Maybe it was because of the blond's heart pounding in his chest, anticipating the words that eventually stumbled out of Axel's taut mouth.

"So, uhh... What class do you have next?"

Roxas' heart dropped. He put on a fake smile and said, "I've got Biology. What about you?"

"I've got a spare, actually," the red-head grinning. His jade green eyes sparkled.

"Lucky."

Roxas got up and slung his heavy bag over his shoulder, sighing under the massive load.

"Uh, hey, before you go..."

Roxas turned to look at the red-head. A soft wind blew his bangs to the side so he could gaze at Axel who looked stumped as he scratched his head. Loose leaves skated across the paved walkway in a jittery dance, falling on top of one another. The leaves on the trees made for a noisy melody of wind against fauna. Wispy pieces of cloud moved sluggishly across the sky, slowly evaporating into the blue atmosphere. Roxas held his breath. Will he say it?

"What are you doing on Friday?"

The little blond's heart soared, pounding faster and faster in his rib cage that kept it in.

"Nothing. Why?" Roxas asked, feigning curiosity. To his ears it sounded like a stellar movie remake.

"Just wondering. I might have to crash your afternoon and take you out to see my friend's concert. Interested?"

"A concert? I'd like that," the blond replied happily.

Axel beamed. "All right, then. Well, see ya later Roxas."

"Yup."

It was all Roxas could say. Words stuck in his throat and didn't dare to escape past his lips. He turned quickly and ran into the building. Even though words couldn't get out, Roxas worried about keeping his excited squeal inside his lungs. He smiled instead.

Finally, things were looking up for him and Roxas had something to look forward to – his first date.

Roxas.

It was such a unique name, and the way the name rolled off this tip of his tongue was an experience all new to Axel. It had a certain ring to it that he couldn't describe, but since when did that matter? This was about Roxas and the anticipated date on Friday night.

Axel's stomach stirred excited at the thought of it. Finally his feelings and emotions could be expressed to Roxas, and hopefully Roxas would feel the same way. It had been a while before Roxas finally clued in that he liked Axel but Axel was more than happy the blond accepted the invitation to a guy's night out.

The red-head grabbed his PE strip from his messy and hazardous locker and made his way to the gym. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Marluxia glaring at him as they crossed paths in the guy's locker room. Instead of showing how startled he was Axel just smiled back in an almost mocking way. The pink-haired boy paused for a moment but then made his way out when Zexion followed closely behind the rose-haired boy's heels. The red-head laughed to himself as he, too, made his exit out into the gym.

A shark poke made Axel jump a little. He turned and flew his gaze over to Demyx's playful baby blues.

"Hey," Axel exclaimed quietly, feigning a pout, "don't do that. You nearly scared me half to death."

Demyx laughed. "Yeah, right. So do you know what we're doing today?"

"Nope." Axel shook his head.

"Oh," the blond sighed lamely.

There was a pause between the two. They noticed their classmates heading through the heavy double doors and exit outside and followed suit.

"So what did you say to Roxas?"

Axel grinned widely. "I asked him out."

"Really?" The mo-hawked boy's eyes became large. "What was his reply?"

"He pretty much said yes," replied the red-head, shrugging. He looked into Demyx's eyes. "I'm so stoked, though. I can't wait."

"I bet. Ooh! We're playing groundball!"

Axel rolled his eyes. It'd been a while since they last played groundball. The red-head remembered well—he was forced onto Marluxia's team, which of course led to Marluxia to become flirtatious with Axel and unfocused to the game. He rolled his eyes again, hoping he wasn't chosen to be playing with Marluxia. Who knew what would happen in today's game?

Demyx grabbed a ball and lined up with everyone else, Axel lining up on the other side of the line and started to warm up. Axel was impressed with Demyx's improved passing skills. If only the blond's shooting skills were as good as his passing skills...

Their teacher spontaneously blew his whistle and the class gathered around him. He eyed them all before speaking.

"All right, you guys know the drill. This game is played just like blitzball except of course without the waterdome. All rules will apply as I will be keeping a close eye on the game. If any dirty play is performed there will be automatic laps to run as well as three points to the opposing team, got it?"

There was a chorus of groans and the sound of feet shuffling on the grass. Their coach grinned.

"Demyx, Tidus: you guys are team captains. Everyone else, line up in a single file line. Double time!"

Axel shuffled over to the line as Tidus made his first call.

"Hayner."

Demyx made his call. "Axel."

"Marluxia."

"Cloud."

"Yuffie."

"Vaan."

The calls continued until all classmates had been separated into their teams. The coach made his way over to the center of the field as the team players moved into the positions, now sporting a typical referee outfit. In his hand he carried a blue blitzball. He threw it over to Axel who caught it perfectly and squarely, and the game was on.

He paused as he waited for the offensive team to make their way towards him and spontaneously threw the ball over to Demyx, then ran over to him as the blond moved quickly through the crowd before he was rushed at.

Axel suddenly noticed how quickly Demyx could run. All these years of knowing the mo-hawked blond the red-head had never seen him move so strong, so fast. It was almost disturbing.

It was Marluxia and Tidus to reach Demyx first, and Axel and Riku were there to support him in case things got nasty.

Tidus moved first, pounding through the air as he tackled at Demyx. The blond quickly darted to the side to avoid the tackle and Tidus stumbled past him, turning to regard Marluxia's move. But before he could make a move Demyx rushed by him as the play continued with Axel close behind his heels. Vaan followed behind Axel, a playful smile appearing on the trio's lips.

Demyx stopped abruptly and threw the ball over to Vaan, who caught it and dribbled it farther. The offensive team rushed towards Vaan, but in their attempts to break through Vaan he continued on strong. He soon reached the goal and stopped, tossing the deep blue ball over to Axel. Catching it he dropped it and made his move, kicking it just where he liked and watched as the ball curled into the top corner of the goal. Cloud lunged for it but the velocity of the ball was quicker and streamed by his hand—the first goal of the first half.

A chorus of cheers erupted in the cool air, overriding the coach's whistle. As Axel turned he saw his team mates pump their fists in the air. He high-fived Demyx as chuckled loudly to himself as they ran back to their positions.

Roxas, the red-head thought, that one was for you.