So see, here's the thing about me. Even when I know people, there are some people I just don't want in my personal space or people I don't think about allowing into my space at all. If they aren't close friends, they don't get to come close enough.
Axel on the other hand, wasn't a close friend and I still had somehow agreed to let him come over again. Like voluntarily. Instead of coming along with Demyx.
I don't know what the hell I was thinking but there was something that sort of made it okay to break my own pre-set rules. I thought maybe I was setting myself up for a disaster, but in the end? It actually went a lot differently.
As soon as sixth period was over, I shot out of my seat and merged into the hallway with everybody else. I figured if I moved fast enough I could maybe ditch him and he'd give up. Unfortunately, I forgot about the fact that he has longer legs than I do and he cut through the crowd with ease. He was already waiting at my locker by the time I got there.
I didn't want to think too much about why he even knew where my locker was.
"You know, you could have waited." He was leaning on the locker next to mine with all the nonchalance in the world. Even though he was leaning back and had his head facing the flow of students, I could tell one green eye was trained on me anyway. You know the look cats get when they know you're watching them and they're waiting to see when they can get away with something shitty like knocking china off a cabinet? That's it. That's the way he was looking at me.
"Yeah, well, it's Teitzel's class. You really think I want to be in there any longer than I have to be?" It was a viable excuse, and it wouldn't be the first time I bolted from a classroom, but something told me Axel didn't believe a word I said. Instead, he was watching me struggle to open my locker as I continued spinning the combination around in circles.
"...need some help?"
"No." I had to cut him off quickly, if only because I could tell he was trying not to laugh. That didn't seem to matter though since I heard a chuckle from above me as he suddenly leaned over to get a better look at the lock.
"You sure? What's your combination?"
Cat. China.
I didn't even have a reason to tell him, but part of me wanted to just to see what he'd do with it. It wasn't even about getting my locker open (which I still needed to do anyway) but it was about seeing how much I could trust Axel as a person. So far on a scale from 1-10 he was hovering at about a 3 and that was almost an improvement. I finally moved out of the way and leaned against the opposite locker so he could try himself.
"3-5-8. But I'm telling you, you won't get it open-"
"Got it," he interrupted me, swinging open the locker door.
China. Floor.
I stared at him for a bit, trying to decide if it was disbelief that he managed to do it or aggravation that he proved me wrong. Truthfully it was a little bit of both but I didn't really want to feel too much of anything about him. He merely smiled and stepped away from my locker, leaving it open for me. He continued watching me as I grabbed some books out of my locker and shoved them into my backpack, and even though I was trying to pack up to go I tried to keep an eye on him, too.
It meant dropping my math book on my foot, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Kickflipping it up into my hand I shoved that into my bag, too, before slamming the locker closed.
"Like I said, I've gotta make a stop somewhere. Do you want to follow me or-" I stopped myself suddenly, already thinking of the possibilities of Sora being home and alone with Axel. Not that I thought they would talk about me, but I think we already covered that I was being completely paranoid about this. "Actually, never mind, just follow me and then we'll head to my place."
"Sure." He raised an eyebrow and banged on the locker once before pushing himself away to sashay down the hall. And maybe I was staring a little, but it was already a disorienting, exciting and weird kind of day. I was probably going to have to get used to that.
I tried not to think about it. I tried not to think about it as we split up in the parking lot and I started driving to my orthodontist's office. I tried not to think about it when I glanced up in my rearview mirror and saw his stupid red mustang behind me. I tried not to think about it when I got to the office and was told I had to put two plastic molds in my mouth and be stuck with them for two weeks.
Even that wasn't enough to distract me though. Running my tongue over the smooth plastic, I didn't bother saying anything as I left the office and led Axel back to my house. It was a lot harder to ignore the problem when it was right next to me, but I headed up the driveway with Axel in tow and let him step into the front hall.
"Sora?" I called out, vaguely alarmed by how muffled and awkward my voice sounded with my retainers in. Axel also looked surprised but he thankfully said nothing about it. Sora didn't respond to me and a quick sweep of the house proved that he wasn't home even though his car was on the street.
"Probably at Riku's." I didn't have to offer an explanation but I also didn't see a reason not to. With a shrug, I gestured for Axel to follow me up to my room.
"So how long have those two been together?" The question was asked as he shut the door, but I looped back around to keep it open. No way. Absolutely not.
"Five years? Officially, at least. They've been best friends since they were, like, four though."
"Real long time to be dedicated to somebody." He didn't finish the statement, but I heard the invisible tag-on. 'At this age.'
"Yeah, most people say the same thing. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't work for anybody else but them but there's some kind of weird magic going on there that I've never really understood. They didn't even come out until about a year or something after they were dating." God, why was I still talking? Why would Axel care? I settled at my desk and began pulling books out of my bed while Axel made himself comfortable on my bed. Belatedly, I realized maybe he should have been literally anywhere else but my bed, but it was kind of too late to kick him off. He leaned back against the headboard, arms folded behind his head as he glanced around my room.
"So basically you have to do all of the reading from pages 60 to 75 and then answer questions one, two, four, five, and seven on page 78.
"That's not so bad." I didn't even bother acknowledging the weird look that was on Axel's face, going on my merry way writing the assignment down on a post-it note and sticking it to the first page of reading, shutting the book and dropping it on the floor.
"Anything else?"
He shrugged. "If you're asking if I got your homework for all your classes, the answer's no. I don't have your schedule memorized. And anyway you heard Teitzel in class. We need to read the next three chapters of The Color Purple, do the next four pages in the reading packet, and do that other sheet he gave us at the end of the period."
"So what you're saying is I have a lot of reading and you're here to distract me."
"You think I'm a distraction?"
Oh god, he sounded genuinely delighted about that. Ignoring him, I scribbled out notes on purple post-its.
"That's not a good thing, Axel."
"Of course it is."
"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"
"It means you're thinking about me."
...couldn't really counter him on that one. I didn't have anything to say that wouldn't be obvious denial so I did what I'm good at and ignored him again. Eventually the silence drove him crazy enough that he got off of my bed and wandered over to this massive stack of CDs I have in a corner of my room by my stereo.
"Jeez Rox, what'd you do? Rob a Best Buy?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I did. I walked into the Best Buy we absolutely have on this island and robbed the entire store."
"Feisty. But seriously, how many CDs do you have?"
"Uh…300, 400 give or take…" I was maybe a little embarrassed that I didn't actually have a number. "I really like music."
"Yeah, I see that." He seemed to be reading off bands to himself, mouth moving silently as he read the labels. From my place at my desk I could see him rotating through Taking Back Sunday, Phantom Planet, Something Corporate and The Killers. "So what's your favorite?"
"Man, you can't ask me that. That's like asking a mom to pick her favorite kid." I finally got up to join him, partially to see what I even had over there and partially to stop him from throwing my stuff everywhere. Even though I made a big deal out of having to pick a favorite I already had an answer by the time I stopped at his side and reached over to eject the CD that was in the player. Fishing it out, I held it between two fingers for Axel to read.
"Motion City Soundtrack. 'Commit This to Memory?'"
"Yeah. It's their second album, it just came out in June. They're probably my favorite band."
"Why?"
For once in my life, I expected the question. "I've never heard a single song from them that I don't relate to. I want to simultaneously meet and be Justin Pierre."
"I'm guessing that's the lyricist?"
"Yeah. Here, hang on-" I turned to place the disc back in the stereo, immediately turning up the volume to let the first song play.
"I am wrecked. I am overblown. I'm also fed up with the common cold. But I just hate to say goodbye to all the metaphors and lies that have taken me years to come up with…"
The song continued to play and Axel tilted his head as he listened, but his hands never stayed still. He seemed to be picking up various discs and re-organizing them, maybe alphabetizing them from where he picked everything up.
"Not bad." It was a quick sentence to tell me he was listening and even though he wasn't facing me I could tell he was watching me. "So music's really your entire life."
"...I'd try to argue that it's not my entire life but I think everybody else would call me a liar. It's the biggest part of my life. Does that count?"
"Sure. I just wouldn't have expected that from you. You're...this weird enigma."
"And rockstars are transparent?" It sort of just slipped out, but Axel took it as a challenge. He straightened up, suddenly much taller than me as he glanced back at the stereo and then over to my bass in the corner.
"You only play bass?"
"...and guitar. And piano."
"And you write the music for your band."
"Right." I had no idea where he was going with this before he reached over to pause the stereo.
"I've got a test for you. We're going to test your ear for music."
What.
"Uh." He shushed me shortly after that, glancing around my room again.
"Got a guitar?"
"Duh? You've seen me play it."
"Not your bass, dummy. An actual guitar. It's not a test if you're using the instrument you're really used to."
I still had no idea where he was going with this before I nodded slowly, heading back toward my desk and reaching for a case tucked between the desk and the wall. Unzipping it, I pulled out the red guitar I didn't use that often and raised an eyebrow. He waved a hand toward the amp on the floor and it didn't take a genius to figure out he wanted me to plug in.
Maybe it was a good thing nobody else was home. This was way bizarre and despite the fact I could have just told him to get the hell out of my house I found myself following his directions. Once I was plugged in I stood still and gave him another skeptical look, waiting for instructions. He grinned, looking back at the stereo and fiddling with the buttons and knobs until he seemed satisfied.
"I've never heard this CD," he stated the obvious. "But I'm picking a random number and a random song, and I want to see what you can do."
"Like. Play along?"
"Yeah. Prove me wrong. Prove to me that you're a musician and not just another guy playing pretend in his parents' garage."
It was a dick move, to be honest, but simultaneously I found myself wanting to meet the challenge and blow him out of the water anyway. And it shouldn't have been that hard. I'd been listening to the CD almost nonstop since the summer, so I knew the songs like the back of my hand.
Then again, I wasn't expecting him to pick the 8th track on the album.
"Let's get fucked up and die, I'm speaking figuratively of course…"
...in a way, LG FUAD is a song that I both love and hate for my own personal reasons and it's maybe why I ended up freezing and staring at Axel instead of doing anything. The music played, Justin's voice rang from my speakers, and Axel gave me an expectant look. On the one hand, I could have just played dumb that I couldn't pick up the notes and figure it out myself. On the other hand, I was still kind of annoyed by everything over the last couple of days with my friends and with Axel and constantly having to prove myself. At least this was something I could prove with ease and without having to defend myself.
I jumped in about a minute after the song started, right around the second verse.
"Let's get fucked up and die, I'm riding hard on the last legs of every lie, and the BMX bike of my life is about to explode, I'm about to explode…"
It was a pretty easy song to pick up on once you found the rhythm and maybe I knew this particular song a little too well. I didn't bother looking at him at all, focused on my fingers even though I didn't need to be and playing my way through the end. It was easier to immerse myself in the sound and not focus on how Axel was judging me. It was easier to pick up on the pitch and the notes and do what I was good at. It was easier to drown out everything else, and the song came to an end a little too soon. I strummed the final note and finally looked up to glare at him even as ninth track started playing on its own.
"Like that?"
...he had the nerve to chuckle, but at least it wasn't loudly and instead he slowly clapped as he lowered the volume.
"All right." He even sounded impressed and that was all I needed. "I stand corrected. Nice job."
I didn't exactly get a chance to rub my victory in his face or even say anything before we both heard a pair of feet thunder up the stairs and Kairi dashed into my room, throwing her bag down.
"Thanks for waiting for me after school, Roxas!" Shit. I knew I'd forgotten something important.
"Kairi, I'm so sorry! I didn't-"
"Sorry about that, Princess." Axel cut in suddenly and smoothly placed his hand over my mouth to get me to stop talking. "I held your boyfriend hostage so that he could get his homework." There was a skeptical look as her blue eyes flicked back and forth between me and Axel but after a moment she nodded. It was an acceptable excuse, and she knew I'd been gone all day anyway.
There was a glint in her eye that said this wasn't over though and a sudden feeling of dread drowned me.
"In that case he's forgiven," she laughed before giving Axel a quirk of a grin. "And he's not my boyfriend. Roxas is still single."
Subtle, Kairi!
"Best friend, whatever." Axel didn't seem to mind, but a glance at his watch made him wrinkle his nose in discontent. "I was gonna stick around a little longer but it looks like I've gotta jet. I'll see you guys later?" It was more of a statement than a question anyway as he waved and started to head out, stopping shortly at the door. "And Rox? If you don't get anything I just explained to you, feel free to call." With that, he walked out of my bedroom. Kairi and I stood in silence as we listened to Axel head down the stairs and out the front door. She crossed the room toward the window to look down below, watching Axel's car disappear into the distance before casting an amused look over her shoulder.
"You could have just said you had a date with Axel." Despite my indignant squawking, she made herself comfortable on my bed.
"I did not have a date. You heard him. He was just telling me what the homework was for the classes I missed. Which, by the way, you should fill me in on fifth period and what I missed there, too." It didn't take long to put away my guitar and while normally I would have joined her on my bed I settled in my desk chair just to have some space.
"Don't change the subject. And anyway, he had the Look."
"What look?"
"The look. Capital L." She didn't even bother looking up from her phone where she was texting but I was apparently supposed to know what the Look was.
"Kairi, I don't understand what 'the look' is!"
"He's definitely interested in you."
"And you're definitely full of shit." I rolled my eyes and turned around to face my desk, grabbing my copy of The Color Purple from my backpack instead. I could hear her shuffling around on my bed and making herself comfortable instead.
"Oh come on, Roxas! You can't keep denying this forever."
"Sure I can. Who's going to stop me?" She didn't reply immediately and I kept the book in my hand as I flipped the pages to my last stopping point. "So what are you doing here? Don't tell me you came all the way over here just to tell me I left you at school."
"Of course not. Demyx gave me a ride here instead and we started talking."
"Oh yeah? What'd he have to say?"
"Well for starters, you do realize that your birthday's in two weeks, don't you?"
"What? No it's not." There was a rustling of covers again as she crawled toward me to hold her phone up and show off the calendar.
"Today is October 10th. Your birthday is the 26th. That's 16 days, and if you round that, that's two weeks."
This just in: local boy doesn't understand the passage of time.
"Okay, so my birthday's in two weeks. What's your point?"
"Sora claimed your 15th birthday party. I got to arrange your sweet sixteen, so Demyx feels like he should be the one planning your 17th. How would you feel about throwing a Halloween party mixed with your birthday party instead of splitting them this year?"
"I guess it makes sense. My birthday's on a Wednesday anyway so a party on a Saturday's probably easier.
"Exactly! We can do whatever you want on your birthday but we'll go to Demyx's that weekend. He also said something about Halloween costumes, so be prepared for that."
"When did you two suddenly get so close?" I thought about what Demyx had told me on Saturday, but it somehow made less sense to me that Kairi was talking about him just as much.
"Since we became co-chairs for the 'Roxas still isn't legal but we're pretending anyway' Brigade. And before you say it, I didn't come up with the name."
"Did you get any details about this party out of him?
"Even if I did, what makes you think I'd tell you?"
"Because you're my best friend? The light of my life? My everything?" I tilted my head back to look at her. At least it got her to laugh even as she pushed on my face.
"Dork. I'm not going to be the light of your life forever."
"Fat chance. You're always going to be the most important person to me."
I couldn't picture it otherwise. I've tried before, it was never a pretty picture. But this wasn't the first time we'd had this argument and she settled for looking at the ceiling instead.
"That's sweet." It's all she said even as she seemed to contemplate that. "So...how long are you stuck with a retainer?"
"Two weeks." I hated being reminded of that and even while my tongue was busy running over the plastic Kairi was making her own mental notes...whatever they were. "Just in time for the party, I guess."
"You heard about the party already?" Demyx's voice echoed in the hallway as he stepped up the last few stairs and entered my room, shoving his car keys in his pocket and joining Kairi on my bed after depositing his guitar case next to mine.
"Where the hell did you come from?"
"Downstairs. I ran home for my guitar. Practice, remember?"
"You're early. And Sora's not even here yet anyway."
"Where's Sora?" Kairi interjected even as she shifted enough to accommodate for the sudden-Demyx and still not looking up from her phone.
"I don't know. I got home and his car was here but he wasn't in the house. He might be at Riku's?"
"It's a nine out of ten chance he's at Riku's." Demyx rolled his eyes. "He'll show up when he feels like showing up. What'd you tell Roxas about the party already?"
"Nothing!" There was that same teasing grin on Kairi's face as she finally looked up. "Just that it's going to also be a Halloween party and we're doing a costume theme. What else was I supposed to tell him?"
"Could both of you maybe tell me what's going on?"
"No way. It's sort of like a surprise party but in reverse? Like you know we're throwing a party but you won't know what to expect."
"That doesn't...sound like a surprise party, but sure." I realized by that point I wasn't going to get any sort of work done so I threw my books down and finally faced both of them. "Who're we inviting? Am I in charge of the guest list?"
"You can be, but we share the same friends, dude. It'll be everyone we know. My place is big enough for that." Somewhere downstairs the front door slammed.
"You're not going to let me help with the planning part of it at all, are you."
"Absolutely not." Demyx grinned just as Sora breezed into my room, dropping his backpack by the door and waving briefly.
"What're we planning and not letting Roxas help with?"
"His birthday party." A look of understanding dawned on Sora's face.
"So that's what that text was about. You can count on me. I'll make sure he's clueless as usual."
"Hey!" The other three started laughing even as Sora reached for his drumpad and settled himself on the floor by the bed. Band practice was now technically in session, but I wasn't really sure how much we'd get done when I could barely talk, much less sing. "Are you actually here to work or are you here to make fun of me?"
"Why can't we do both?" Sora grinned at me. "You know I like multitasking. Also what the heck is in your mouth?"
"Plastic. And shut up."
"Hey, you got your braces off!" Demyx finally seemed to notice and he grinned brightly, suddenly launching himself off of my bed to face me. "Smile."
"Wha-get out of my face!"
"Aw come on! Just do it!"
I probably should have known that I would be expecting this for the next couple of weeks whenever I saw people, but it didn't make it any less annoying to smile with my retainers in. The fun part of being braces-less had worn off already and would stay worn off until I could go without the plastic. Demyx seemed fairly satisfied though and nodded to himself.
"I can't believe it. You've had your braces for years. It's kind of weird seeing you without them."
"Yeah, but it'll make it easier to hear Roxas sing when he doesn't have anything else in his mouth." Sora helpfully pointed out. "Which, by the way, you can't sing like that, can you?"
"Not really. Demyx might have to sing full-time in practices for a while. Sorry."
"No big. Should we get started? I wanted to show you guys something I picked up!" Demyx grabbed his guitar and played a few notes, immediately drawing our attention and leaving Kairi in full party-planning mode on her phone. That was how we spent the afternoon, and I almost believed that maybe two weeks wouldn't be as agonizingly slow as I anticipated.
To my surprise those two weeks went by pretty fast. I almost couldn't believe it when Kairi walked up to me and informed me that my birthday was the next day.
"Are you serious?" I looked up from my pre-calc notes in disbelief.
"Yep. Tomorrow you'll be 17 and then a few days later is Dem's party. I'm so excited! It's going to be really fun and I think you're going to love it." Kairi got out of her seat as the bell rang, packing up her things and heading out of the classroom with me.
"It's hard to believe we've been in school for almost two months though. I don't get where the time went."
"It's senior year, Roxas. Time's going to fly by faster than you know it. It's all the more reason we have to make every party and every free moment together count, right?"
For once, I didn't actually argue with her. "You're right. I never thought of it that way, but maybe we should be hanging out more often."
"Well we're still going to hang out after school tomorrow, aren't we? The usual birthday tradition?"
Our birthdays very rarely land on days we can actually have parties, so Kairi and I started hosting movie marathons with each other to celebrate the day of. I think we were twelve or thirteen when that started and we've never thought about stopping it. It was easy to answer her after that. "I'll bring the movies, you bring the snacks?"
"Sounds like a plan!" We'd reached my English class and she stood up just a little taller to give me a quick kiss on the cheek. It's a rare form of affection, but she's allowed. Kairi's one of those girls that you want to take every form of affection she'll give you and bottle it up forever. Anybody would be lucky to have that.
"Get out of here. You're going to be late for class." I knew I was grinning at her though and she laughed, waving over her shoulder and darting down the hall to her last class. I watched her go for a few moments before turning to head into class myself.
"Man. If you weren't constantly denying it, I'd think that you and Kairi were an item there."
"Hey, Axel." I didn't even have to look up to see who was looming over me. The redhead was quickly becoming an everyday fixture in my life.
"How's it goin', Halfpint?" An everyday fixture with shittier and shittier nicknames, I might add.
"Pretty good actually."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
"Because." I could have just left it there, but I already knew I'd be wasting time trying to keep it from him. "Tomorrow's special."
"So I heard. Birthday, huh? Yours or Kai's?" he stretched out in his chair, looking over at me.
"Mine."
"Right on. The big one-eight?" It suddenly dawned on me just how little Axel actually knew, and even though there really wasn't a reason to I felt myself flush a bit.
"Uh…not exactly. You're a year off."
The silence that followed was deafening as he did the math. "You're 16?"
"I'm turning 17 tomorrow!"
"Wow. I didn't realize you were so young." I didn't like that he was giving me another unreadable look, but I couldn't exactly lie about this.
"Yeah. Sora turned 17 two months ago." On the other hand, I could have picked a better distractionary tactic.
"…then how did you…?" he trailed off, unsure of how to finish his sentence. I knew exactly what he was thinking though. It was the same question everybody asked every time Sora or I mentioned our age.
"Why're we seniors? Sora's actually really smart. He skipped fourth grade. And I just started school early, I guess. I don't really have a reason for being here. I just am."
"I'm sure you're smart though."
"Nah...I'm pretty average, really."
"You're in AP English. Sora's not."
"That's because Sora took it last year as a junior." Sora's goal was to take every AP class that the school offered and take the test. He passed all of them. Every single one.
"Wow. Well, think of it this way, Roxas. If you hadn't taken AP English this year, you wouldn't have been with me!" There was a wide smile and I rolled my eyes almost on reflex.
"Oh the tragedy." He frowned slightly and tapped me on the nose with his pencil.
"Hey now, be nice. You might not get your present that way."
"Present?" Maybe I should have been more offended he just booped my nose, but he'd said the magic word and I was gone. "Present?" I repeated.
"Present. Or, at least, what I'm hoping passes as a decent present."
"Depends. What is it?"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white envelope, holding it between two fingers in front of my eyes. "I know how much you like music. I actually got some tickets to this underground show…it's not even underground, but it's from a band that's aiming for a major label. Anyway, my friend was supposed to go with me but he backed out and you know, I'd hate to put a good ticket to waste." He let me take the envelope from his hand and I pulled the tickets out from inside.
"Panic! At The Disco?"
"Yeah. I've heard them play a few times before, I think you'd like them. So, what do you say?" When I looked up, all I saw was Axel giving me this hopeful look. I glanced down at the ticket again, weighing my options.
"What time does the show start?"
"Like, eight or something. But it's over in Twilight Town? Not sure if you know how far that is, but-"
"Dude, I used to live there." I was starting to get into the idea despite by best judgment. "I know exactly how far it is."
"Four hours away, but we're going to want time in case we want food so I'm thinking we leave right after school. Sound fair?"
I hadn't even said yes yet, but he made it sound like it was a done deal. Then again, what were my options here? Free concert, free trip to Twilight Town, free ride. Or...no concert, no Twilight Town, and an Axel-free afternoon.
...Kairi would understand. Maybe. I wasn't sure what I was going to tell her that wouldn't give her the wrong idea, but I knew I had to find a way to rearrange my plans. It was just like Axel to throw a wrench into everything and leave me to figure it out, but it was getting harder and harder to see the cons in this.
"Yeah, sounds great." I went to pocket the envelope, but Axel obviously had a different idea since he slammed his hand down on my desk and both tickets back.
"Not so fast." The envelope disappeared into his pocket again. "I'm holding onto the tickets to make sure you actually come with me."
"What, you think I'd go by myself?"
"Roxas, to tell you the truth, I don't know what you'd do."
"Hey wait, what's that supposed to mean?" An awkward little smile was thrown over his shoulder in response.
"Nothing. It just means that you're kind of one of those unpredictable people."
"…is that bad?"
"Not always. But it doesn't matter." He waved it off, his normal charming grin returning to his features. "So do you just want to come home with me after school tomorrow and then we'll go from there?"
"Um…sure?"
"Then we're all set." The bell rang, Teitzel entered the classroom, and we stopped talking. Of course, now I wasn't going to be able to focus on the lesson but honestly, who would after hearing all of that? I didn't really know what to think. It was all a big blur to me and the more I tried to reason with it the more lost I felt. I did know one thing though. It was a date. With Axel. On my 17th birthday.
I suppose worse things could have happened that day.
Kairi found me at my locker after school and immediately started chattering about…okay, I'm going to be honest and say that I wasn't really listening to a single word she said. I was still fixated on what tomorrow would bring. I was a little too grateful that she didn't even notice as she just continued having her one-sided conversation as we drove home. While she told me about…Selphie I think (I guess, I don't know), I focused on Kairi herself. What was I supposed to tell her? There was no way I was going to flat-out say that I had a date for tomorrow. First of all, I'm not sure she'd believe me and second of all when she did believe me she'd tease me mercilessly and offer a bunch of advice I wasn't ready for.
That's when I decided that I just wasn't going to tell her at all. Was that a stupid plan? Oh, absolutely. But it'd be easier on both of us this way.
"So tomorrow after school right?" she asked me as I pulled up to her house, looking at me curiously. I paused for a little too long and her expression dropped a little.
"Something kind of came up with my mom. Can we raincheck?"
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah! Yeah, everything's fine it's just...you know. Family." She nodded, eyes full of understanding and just like that I was off the hook.
"We'll raincheck for Friday maybe. How's that sound?"
"Sounds great." My own voice sounded hollow to my ears. I couldn't believe I'd just lied to her face.
"Perfect! I'll see you tomorrow!" She bid me goodbye and slammed the car door shut, heading up her front walk to her house. As soon as she closed her front door, I put my car into reverse and drove out of her driveway, turning around and driving straight into town toward the strip mall. Glancing at the clock, I realized that it was about 3:30. Perfect timing. I parked in front of the mall and walked inside, making my way to a store called Invincible. I looked around the shop, smiling when I found my target and heading toward her, draping my arms over her shoulders.
"Hey baby, think you can help a boy out? I'll make it worth your while," I drawled out, laughing slightly as she jumped. I wasn't laughing for long when she playfully pushed at my shoulder but she grinned all the same.
"Roxas! How are you?" She briefly hugged me before returning to folding shirts but her attention was still focused on me. Olette and I have been friends since tenth grade. I met her through one of my other friends, actually. Like everyone else I knew, she got a job over the summer, too, and had been working at Invincible for a few months now.
"I'm pretty good actually." It almost surprised me to think about the fact that I was telling her the truth. "How about you? I haven't seen you at all this year."
"I've been busy…school, job, tutoring, all that fun stuff." Olette's a hard worker; she's always working for a goal and uses her time wisely, so I wasn't too surprised by her answer.
"Sounds about right." I didn't even notice that she was looking at me and leaving the shirts behind, giving me an inquisitive look even as my eyes drifted to a mannequin in the corner.
"All right, you, what's the special occasion?"
"Huh?" I blinked in surprise. "What makes you think there's a special occasion going on?"
"For one thing, you're always with Kairi when you go shopping. Secondly, you're really fidgety." Out of all of the girls in my life, Olette was probably the most observant even if she didn't always say so. She liked to watch people and figure them out that way. She and Naminé had that in common, but Olette was more likely to confront you if she noticed something was up.
Like right now.
"Okay…you're right, but you have to promise not to say anything."
"Ooh, big secret huh? Maybe even a hot date?"
I didn't even know how to answer that.
"Well, tomorrow-"
"Is your birthday!" Olette suddenly interrupted me. "Oh my gosh, Roxas, I almost completely forgot! And your party's Saturday! Shoot."
"Olette, it's fine. You're coming Saturday?"
"Yes! I wouldn't miss it for the world."
She's sweet that way. It's one of the best things about Olette, I think, and it was the earnest way she said it that helped me calm down enough to clear my head. "You're the best." The look on her face told me she appreciated the sentiment but she was still interested in what I actually had up my sleeve. "Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to this concert and I don't really have anything good to wear. Think you can help me out?"
"Why didn't you just bring Kairi along?" She grabbed my hand and led me toward the guys' section without waiting.
"Uh, well, you know...she was busy." Olette signaled for me to stop and began holding up different shirts and pants in front of me in a whirlwind of movement. I didn't want to tell her that the real reason Kairi wasn't with me because Kairi didn't know. They're friends, too; they could easily discuss things without me.
"Makes sense." She nodded and frowned at the items she was holding before turning to shove me toward the dressing room. "I'll go pick out some stuff I want you to try, you stay here."
"Huh? Wait a sec!" I didn't even get to protest before she pushed me behind a changing stall door and locked me in. With a small sigh, I sat on the little bench and waited. About ten minutes later the door opened, revealing Olette weighed down by several shirts and pairs of pants before she dropped them on the bench beside me.
"Okay, babe, try these on."
"All of them?"
"Yup! If it helps, try on the pants first. I'll wait outside the door, but I want to see them on you." She opened the door and walked outside.
"You're kidding me."
"You asked for my help, Roxas. My opinion comes with it!" I could hear her laughing even as she leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the door. She'd brought me seven pairs of jeans to try on and I didn't even want to count how many shirts were there. I was losing valuable time though so for once I just listened to her and began trying stuff on.
I hate clothes shopping for a reason, and that reason is that most of the time the stuff you try on doesn't even fit at all. Six out of seven were way too big for me in all different ways and I was half-tempted not to bother with the last pair. I knew Olette wouldn't let me leave if I didn't though so without hesitation I snagged them and stepped out of the ones I was wearing, pulling on the pair in my hands. Weirdly, they didn't feel too bad. A little tight, but not enough to feel uncomfortable. I looked at myself in the mirror, turning at all different angles to get a better look.
"Roxas?" I must have been quiet for too long because Olette's voice sounded closer. "Let me see." I opened the dressing room door and walked out, earning a whistle of approval from her. "You're a total stud! I love them!" She walked closer and grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me around to get a better look. "They look awesome!"
"They're kinda tight…are you sure?"
"Sure I'm sure. Go try on some of the shirts." She ushered me back into the dressing room, this time following me.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" She settled on the bench next to the shirts, beginning to fold the jeans I'd thrown all over the room.
"Being productive so that I won't get fired. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen you shirtless before. Need I remind you of two summers ago?"
Okay, so...maybe I didn't exactly introduce Olette properly. Let me start over.
This is Olette, my ex-girlfriend. I'm not even sure it really counted as a relationship considering we dated over the summer before junior year and broke up before school started. It wasn't a bad match or anything, it just didn't feel like enough chemistry for both of us. She told me that she liked me as a friend rather than a boyfriend, I never found myself wanting any more than just holding her hand and sometimes kissing her, and in the end we decided to go back to being friends. Nothing changed between us since then and now other than the fact she was apparently now getting paid to see me half-naked.
"Fine, fine. Just don't make fun of me for being scrawny."
"Who said you were scrawny to begin with?" She looked up, suddenly wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Green's not your color."
"Some guy." The green shirt came off and a blue one was swapped for it.
"Very descriptive."
"Well seriously, it didn't matter to me that much."
"Of course it doesn't. That's why you just told me not to make fun of you," she teased. "And try the next shirt." Rolling my eyes, I did as she said.
"Okay so maybe it did bother me a little, but it's in the past, whatever," I rationalized, slipping the black t-shirt over my head. Olette opened her mouth to answer but a thoughtful noise replaced all words.
"That shirt is very you. And very concert-chic." It was black (which didn't surprise me, I look good in black) with white graffiti all over the front in the shape of scribbles, musical notes, guitars, and speakers with the words "Do Your Music" amongst the entire mess. It was just enough to be eye-catching and subtle enough to be a multi-functional concert shirt.
"…I like it," I agreed, smiling slightly as I looked between the mirror and Olette. "Nice job." I started changing back into my own clothes, not really bothered that Olette was still in the dressing room with me.
"Don't you want to try on the other shirts?"
"Nope, that's definitely the one I want." I opened the dressing room door, dropping all of the rejects into the barrel on the side.
"Okay then, give them to me." She didn't even wait before she plucked them out of my hands, marching her way to the check-out and leaving me to follow. By the time I got there she was already adding up the amounts. "So that's be $40.23." She pressed a few more numbers and reached for her purse under the counter, pulling out $25. She took a small bit of change and dropped it into her purse, handing the receipt to me. "And this is where you can say 'thank you, Olette!'" She grinned.
"…did you just…?"
"Think of it as a birthday present at a 40 discount."
"You're incredible, Lette. Just flat-out incredible." I took the bag out of her hand and shoved the receipt into my pocket.
"Just have a lot of fun tomorrow, okay?"
"I will." I felt a lot more optimistic, at least, and I pulled her in for another hug. "I'll see you Saturday." I made my way out of the shop and drove myself back home, glancing at the bag with my new clothes in it every now and then.
As far as I was concerned, this was the current update. I had a concert date with Axel the next day, it involved an indie band, and I was pretty much going to be the hottest thing on two legs. What could possibly go wrong?
To nobody's surprise, there were going to be a lot of problems with the whole plan. First of all; there was no way I was going to wear my concert clothes to school, mainly because I didn't want to attract too much attention and I didn't want to get them dirty which was maybe stupid, but I still wanted to look good for that night. Secondly, it was my 17th birthday. I attracted attention even though I didn't want it.
"Happy birthday, Roxas!" Selphie tackled me as soon as she spotted me, clinging to me.
"Thanks Sel." Even if my head was spinning a little from the attack I let her cling for a bit as Kairi joined us and draped her arms over my shoulder to look at both of us.
"Do you and your mom have big plans for today?"
I stared at her for a few minutes because at first I couldn't even remember the lie I'd told her, but I shook my head and picked up the slack. "Nothing too big? I think she just wants me to herself for the night. You know how parents are. We're all set for Friday though, I promise."
"Wait is that why you made me trade shifts with you?" Selphie suddenly pouted, thankfully pulling herself away from me to latch onto Kairi instead. "That's totally unfair!"
"Sorry, Selphie!" Kairi wasn't that sorry though since she was grinning anyway. "It's really important...and we're both off Saturday for the party anyway, right? I'll make it up to you and take your shift next Friday."
"Hm...okay, deal!" The bell rang above us and both girls looked at me. "We should probably get to class. See you later?" Selphie was a year younger than us, but she and Kairi still shared an elective class that they were heading to.
"I'll catch up with both of you at lunch."
"Sounds good. Say hi to your mom for me!" Selphie waved and immediately linked arms with Kairi, merging with the crowd as the two of them were swept up and disappeared.
"Why are you saying hi to your mom for Selphie?" Sora appeared out of nowhere, falling in line with me and also scaring the shit out of me.
"Don't! Do that!"
"Sorry. But seriously. I thought you were going to Kairi's after school anyway for your birthday marathon."
This was the first flaw in my brilliant plan. I'd managed to lie to Kairi and Selphie, but I'd need someone to cover me in case that lie fell through. That cover was going to have to be Sora, but he didn't exactly know that yet.
"Yeah, about that. I can't exactly make it so I might have told Kairi I was hanging out with my mom today…?"
I could have done without the judgmental look Sora was throwing me, but I also had to play my cards right at this point.
"What do you have to do that's better than hanging out with Kairi?"
"...you can't tell Kairi under any circumstances. I'll tell her later after everything's over but she can't know right now."
"What? I mean okay, sure, but that seems really suspicious, Roxas, even for you."
"Do you want to know or not?"
"Obviously." He sighed. "I have to know what lie I'm protecting, don't I? What is it?"
"I owe you. I'm kind of going to a concert."
"Where?"
"Twilight Town?"
"Are you joking?" He suddenly didn't look too happy with me either. "Roxas, that's a four hour trip. One way."
"I know! I know, I know. I'm going with a friend, I'll be fine."
"Who?"
"Does that part really matter?"
"A little, but you're not going to tell me so I can't tell Kairi, are you?"
"You're so smart." I couldn't help but grin. "Trust me. If my mom asks, I'll be coming home from Kairi's late. If Kairi asks, my mom and I are out. Got it?"
There was silence as we walked to our next class and for a moment I thought Sora was actually going to tell me no. He hated lying to our friends, too, and I could tell he still wasn't sold on the idea. Eventually he sighed and shook his head, stopping in front of our Chemistry classroom.
"You owe me. Majorly. And happy birthday."
I took that as a sign he was going to cover for me even as he turned his back on me and walked ahead of me, purposefully getting his textbook out to pretend to read before class started.
It should have been smooth sailing from there, but I was so racked up with nerves it took all of my willpower not to squirm around every ten seconds. I really didn't know which I was more nervous about; going to the concert with Axel, or Kairi somehow finding out. I didn't think I was going to make it to sixth period, but I did. That was probably a mistake since my nerves amped up to twenty by then and it didn't help that Axel was already waiting for me.
"And there's the birthday boy now."
"I'm going to take that as "Happy Birthday, Roxas" and say "thanks.""
He waved it off and leaned back in his chair. "Are you going to be ready to go right after school's over?"
"I guess…I kinda wanna drop my car off at my house first? That cool?" I wasn't going to take no for an answer because I had to stick with my story. It would look even worse if my car was gone and I wasn't home. Plus I still had to change. I had a lot on my mind and maybe I didn't sound as confident as I wanted to feel but Axel didn't seem to notice.
"We can do that. I can just follow you home and then we'll go from there."
The bell rang which meant I could stop talking for a while, but for the entire period I couldn't focus on anything Teitzel said, but rather about what I was going to do. I mean…anything could happen and this was pretty much a date wasn't it? If what Kairi said was true, maybe Axel did see some weird sort of potential in me. What if he tried to hold my hand? Worse, what if he tried to kiss me? I wasn't prepared for that kind of thing! I didn't even know if I wanted that kind of thing.
No, wait, correction. I didn't want to want that kind of thing. I think that was the more honest truth.
Either way, I couldn't help but give him the once-over. Knowing Axel, he wasn't going to change clothes or anything before we left for Twilight Town. Besides, jeans, a t-shirt, and beat-up sneakers were suitable enough.
That just meant that I was going to look better than he did.
I spent the entire period blanking on what I was supposed to be learning and focusing on my battle strategy. I had to prepare myself for anything and I was thinking about it a little too hard because there was suddenly a hand waving in my face and class was over.
"You ready?" Axel was already standing and waiting for me to do the same. I quickly shoved the rest of my stuff into my bag and practically tripped out of my desk but it was a smoother transition as we headed for the door and exited toward the parking lot. It didn't make sense for me to go to my locker when I'd already resigned myself to not bothering with my homework that night.
"We're taking your car to the ferry station and then taking the car on the ferry to take to the main land aren't we?"
"Something like that. You're going to have to help me navigate a little. I don't know where I'm going."
"I'll figure it out. I'll see you at my place in a bit."
"Will do," was the last thing I heard before I shut the door, starting my car and pulling out of the parking lot. On the bright side, Sora was taking Kairi home, so I had that much extra time. I arrived at my house about a split-second before Axel did, parking my car out front and running inside. I should have won a medal or something for how fast I dropped my backpack, changed into my new outfit, grabbed my wallet and keys and flew back out the door. I'm not even sure I was looking as I jumped into Axel's mustang and buckled myself in.
It was about then I realized the car wasn't moving. The car was on, Guns 'n Roses were playing from the stereo and Axel was staring at something behind me. It was only after I looked over my shoulder and made an idiot of myself that I realized that he was looking at me.
"What?"
After a long, lingering pause he grinned at me. "You look good." He didn't say another word and put the car in drive, heading out down the street. That was just it. No making fun of me for changing my clothes, no stupid jokes, nothing.
It felt like progress, but I didn't want to think about the weird butterflies in my stomach.
We drove in silence for a short while until we reached the ferry station, driving the car up onto a different compartment of the boat and paying for our tickets, departing only a few minutes after that.
Growing up on an island for so long I've gotten way too used to the ocean, but looking over at Axel I saw him staring at the water below us as the ferry chugged along. It was almost a look of awe as green eyes darted back and forth as though he was hoping to spot fish in the waves. We stood in silence for a while before I finally chose to break it.
"Did you ever see the ocean before you moved here?" He blinked and looked away from the rolling waves under the boat.
"Nope, can't say that I have." He grinned and leaned against the railing, now facing me entirely.
"Ever?"
"Nah. My hometown was too far away from the ocean to really ever have a chance to go see it. I always wanted to though. Demyx used to tell me about it in his emails...had to come see it for myself."
"You moved here just to see the ocean?"
He sighed softly. "I moved here for a change of scenery. Where I'm from...it's pretty dark and miserable. People don't talk to each other, it rains all the time...it's pretty depressing! I like it here a lot more."
Something about the story didn't entirely add up. "And your parents were fine with you moving for the school year?"
"They'd trust Demyx with their own lives." There was a strange tinge in his tone as he said it but before I could ask him any more questions, the ferry pulled into dock to the mainland. "Come on, let's go get my car and get out of here."
Getting off the ferry took a little bit of time since everyone else had cars to drive off, too, but eventually we were on our way on the main road. You'd think that maybe being stuck in a car with someone like Axel for four hours was a recipe for disaster, or maybe the perfect set-up for an awkward outing, but...I don't know. It was kind of weird, but in a way I was sort of intrigued by the idea of having zero interruptions for as long as I could.
Plus it's not like I was the one driving. He was driving, I was navigating, and all I had to do was talk to him.
"Did you know that you could be actually kidnapping me right now and I don't even know your favorite color?" I could have maybe said something less stupid, but for some reason Axel liked me and my stupid words if the laugh was any indication.
"What do you think it is?" I took a quick look at what he was wearing, not at all surprised to find it was all black again. Black jeans, a black t-shirt, a black hoodie…
"Black…?"
There was a sound like a buzzer going off and telling me I was wrong, and I was only half-surprised to realize it came from Axel's mouth. "Wrong answer! Wanna try again? Think real hard about it."
"...red."
"Bingo." He grinned to himself even as he glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
"Is that even your real hair color?"
"Sort of. It's a little darker but I like it better." That answered that at least. It was the willingness to put up with my inane questions that made the time go by. In those four hours he told me a lot and answered a lot of what I'd call shallow questions. Favorite color: red ("and black, so you were sort of right.") Favorite song: Lithium. ("You should play it for me sometime.") Favorite snack: Skittles. ("The slogan's hilarious, what more do you need?") Favorite animal: Dragons. ("I don't care if they aren't real, they count. But I also like dogs.") Favorite holiday: New Year's. ("I like the idea of new beginnings. And fireworks. I love fireworks.")
Every time I tried to ask him questions about himself though and his life before the islands he found a clever way to dodge the topic and turn it around on me. I couldn't pin him down to get the answers I really wanted, and he didn't seem to mind asking me all of the same questions and then some. I found out a few things I didn't know, like he was in art with me and Riku so he could pick up painting and that he used to be a cross-country runner but quit before sophomore year. It was little pieces that made up the beginnings of a picture but there were huge gaping holes in what I knew as Axel Tamashi.
Traffic in downtown Twilight Town was surprisingly a little more crowded than usual, but it didn't help we were driving right into the heart of the city. Cars were already lined up and the parking lots were filling up fast around the concert venue.
"I thought you said this was an underground band?"
"I did…but this is also a pretty popular club. I thought you said you used to live here?" He frowned out the windshield, immediately cutting someone off to try and find a space to park.
"Yeah, when I was little. I moved when I was a kid." Axel sighed and shook his head in mock-fashion, finally turning around and pulling into the alley of the club. "This isn't a parking spot, dude."
"It is now. Let's go." He got out of the car and waited for me to do the same, locking it and safely putting the keys in his pocket. Handing me my ticket, we jumped into line with everybody else. It was still a bit of a wait to actually get inside but the band was just starting to set up by the time Axel and I walked through the doors.
"C'mon, we can get further inside this way." I barely heard him before Axel suddenly grabbed my hand, holding onto it tightly and pulling me through the crowd of people.
Was it normal to feel a shock of electricity jolt through your body when somebody held your hand? For a feeling of warmth to start pumping through your veins as the other person's hand tightened around yours? I didn't think so, but that's what happened. Or maybe I was just focused on my palms probably being sweaty and not tripping over my own feet as I kept up and dodged people's shoulders.
Axel and I finally stopped about 15 feet away from the stage, looking up at the band. They were finally ready to start and I realized the timing was just right. The lead singer was at the mic and grinning at the crowd while his drummer tapped out a test beat and his guitarist and bassist tuned their instruments one last time. The guy introduced himself as Brendon Urie and introduced his band as Panic at the Disco before they launched straight into a song called "London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines."
It wasn't bad, to tell you the truth. The beat was good, Brendon's voice wasn't bad, and it was enough to catch my attention at least. Me being me, I watched the bassist like a hawk, watching his fingers slide between the different chords and frets. It was only when they rolled into the chorus that I looked at Axel and saw he was only bobbing his head along and for some reason it just felt...wrong. I'm not sure what encouraged me to do it, but I stepped closer and jabbed a finger into his side to get his attention.
"Ow! What?"
"You're not dancing." I gestured to the crowd around us dancing to the music.
"Yeah…that's another thing. I don't really dance."
"…you brought me to a club and you don't even dance?"
"You got it."
I'm not sure if it surprised him that I do dance with a good beat, but he was giving me a level stare even as I refused to back off on this. The thing about music is that it's an artform that deserves to be appreciated, and the way that people can honor artists is by dancing or singing along. Since I didn't know the words and I know he didn't either, this was the next step. It wasn't as simple as arguing though. No way. By now I realized that the only thing that really worked on Axel was some kind of reverse psychology or even just threatening to take myself out of the picture for some reason.
So that's what I did.
"Fine." I shrugged as nonchalantly as possible as I began to back off. "Since you don't dance, I'll go find somebody else who does. See ya."
I didn't even get two feet before Axel grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back toward him. "No, don't do that," he said, pulling me even closer until I was standing at his side once again.
"Problem?" I knew exactly what I was doing. I looked up at him with slightly wide eyes and a tilt of the head. The perfect picture of innocence. (It was a trick I'd learned from Kairi years ago, frankly, but it always worked on me.)
"…first of all, it'd be pretty stupid of you to go lose yourself in a crowd, especially around these kinds of people and when I'm your ride home. Secondly, I don't want to stay by myself." He waved a hand briefly like he was so inconvenienced by the idea of me ditching him.
"Yeah, but I wanna dance." He didn't say anything immediately, and it was about then I pulled out the big guns. "And it's my birthday. Remember?"
I'd never heard such a pathetic noise as his shoulders slumped but he shook his head and pulled me back to our original spot.
"Alright, alright, you win. I'll dance…only a little bit though!"
"Good." I couldn't help but smile up at him as the band started in on their next song. I suppose Axel's idea of a little bit was different than the rest of the world's because he danced next to me and with me for pretty much the entire setlist. It wasn't a long show and it wasn't anything unique and unusual, but it was fun and I didn't even think about the fact that for once I was genuinely happy to be hanging out with him. The lyrics were easy to pick up on (especially during "Time to Dance") and it just felt good being around someone that would play along. The show almost ended too soon and I was disappointed as the last note was played. The club began clearing out and making way for the next band that had a time slot at the club.
It was wordless, but Axel took that as a cue that we should get going and once again grabbed my hand. Even though my hands were definitely sweaty this time I didn't worry about it. I followed him back out of the club and toward the alley as the chill night air slapped me in the face and brought me back to reality. The car, surprisingly, was still there, but a bright pink slip was tucked under the windshield wiper.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Axel sighed and let go of my hand then, sauntering up to the car and plucking the parking ticket off of the window. He looked at it for a minute before crumpling it and shoving it into the pocket of his hoodie, turning back to face me. "What do you think? Gotta be home right away?"
I didn't even look at my phone to see what time it was before I shrugged. "No. Got something in mind?"
He didn't bother to reply as he leaned down to open the door for me, shutting it once my limbs were inside and slouching down into the driver's seat and driving out of the alley.
It was maybe 9:30pm when Axel and I found ourselves in the parking lot of this ice cream place I knew about and had missed more than anything. He didn't say anything when he parked but when I tried to follow him into the shop he told me to stay put and wait. I wasn't huge on following orders, but I was a little too curious to question him and waited alone. It wasn't long after that he came out with a small box and climbed back into his car, handing it over to me.
"You. Got me a cupcake." I know I sounded skeptical but the vanilla cupcake with blue frosting was unexpected. Axel suddenly reaching into his pocket and jamming a candle into the top was just as unexpected and with a flick of his wrist he produced a lighter and lit the top.
"Make a wish, kid." I could have argued with him that I wasn't exactly a kid (and I wasn't that much younger than him) but the gesture wasn't lost on me either. The flame flickered before my eyes and Axel lifted both eyebrows, seemingly waiting for me to act. Or smash the cupcake in his face. I don't really blame him for thinking that. I didn't have to think that hard on a wish either and when I blew out the candle the smokey tendrils crawled up toward the ceiling and out of sight.
"…thank you, Axel. For everything." Plucking the candle out of the cupcake, maybe it was a little gross to lick the frosting off but I didn't care. It was my birthday. Why should I? Axel gave me a half-smiled and leaned back in his seat still fiddling with the lighter in his hand.
"What'd you wish for?"
"Man, you know if I tell you it won't come true. Don't try to destroy my wish." Holding the cupcake in my hand, I tried to figure out how to break it in half without getting frosting all over my hands. For the record? There really wasn't an easy way. In the end I took a bite out of my side and held it out to him. "Seasalt frosting."
"You seemed like a seasalt kind of guy." He looked at the cupcake presented to him, genuinely surprised by the offer before taking a small bite himself. "Was I wrong?"
"Not even."
It was weird. We weren't exactly friends, but maybe we were. This wasn't exactly a date, but maybe it was. I really wasn't sure what it was or what we were doing when it was just us in this little sphere of the universe but I did know that this was someone who knew me better than I had anticipated and someone I didn't mind trying to get to know myself. Over the last couple of weeks, things with Axel had mellowed out and his company was almost wanted.
…I don't know who I'm trying to convince. By that point, his company was absolutely wanted even if I didn't have a clue what to do about it. He was a friend and we had a lot of things in common and things to share with each other, but that still didn't mean much in the way of the crush department. Axel and I were just two people figuring it out, and he wasn't interested in me like that enough to do anything about it. I could live with that. I could live with someone with a dumb sense of humor and good taste in music who knew what I would like without asking and just be friends.
I could still look at him, and…maybe just being friends would make the whole thing go away. Crushes were a flash in the pan as my mom liked to say and this one was getting squashed before it could even begin to cook. That analogy got mixed up, but I already told you I'm not the best author.
The two of us sat in the parking lot sharing a cupcake and listening to Stone Temple Pilots for a while. There wasn't a lot that needed to be said, but it was a comfortable kind of companionable silence I could appreciate. Axel, surprisingly, had been to a lot of concerts before and spent most of the time telling me everything there was to know about different venues and different genres. He knew the scene better than I did which was impressive on its own, but for once he sounded like he was sharing instead of lording it over me.
It was just another change I noticed.
The drive back was long and I'm pretty sure I slept for part of it, but the parts I remember were trading more stories about shows we've been to, favorite movies and favorite books. ("Invisible Monsters." "…I think I've heard that before?" "Read it to understand everything there is to know.") Everything was getting locked away in a mental folder with everything I knew about Axel. That collection was growing more and more every day and I still didn't have a clue how to feel about it.
Watching the ocean at night as we traveled on the short ferry ride back to the island gave me a little time to try and clear my head. Axel watched the stars and the water and everything he possibly could while I found myself watching him and wondering how much of what he was telling me was truly him and how much was a fabrication of himself. Even if it was all fake somehow and maybe if he wasn't telling me everything, I was starting to really like the things I did learn.
"Pop quiz," he said to me as he looked up at the sky. "Where do stars come from?"
"The galaxy, isn't it?"
"Well yeah. But the galaxy has to do something to make the stars and allow them to be born. It's the dust and the gas and the combination of gravity that compresses gas atoms together to create heat energy. Clouds get hotter and hotter and glow and grow. It's the rapid expansion that creates a main sequence star and depending how big it is will determine how long it'll live."
I didn't know if that was true, but it sounded about right. He'd told me that his favorite subject was science because there was always a loophole for everything but I hadn't realized he maybe actually knew what he was talking about.
"So what you're saying is you like the stars."
There was a lingering pause before he let out a small huff of air, bowing his head to look at the water again. "Who wouldn't like something that lasts forever? And anyway I like the constellations. They make cool pictures. Check it out, you can just barely see the north star from here."
It was another dip of something a little too real quickly smothered by a distraction and it was a game he liked to play. It was something that had initially pissed me off but once I started learning the rules I found it was easier to be patient. Sort of. It was still frustrating to know I was missing big pieces and maybe that was just the kind of friendship we were destined to have.
I immediately got mad for associating destiny with him, too.
By the time we drove back to the island and down the street by my house it was almost two in the morning. We both still had school the next morning but considering Axel looked the way that I felt I had a feeling neither of us would be getting much sleep before then.
"So hey." He stopped a few blocks down so I wouldn't draw anyone's attention at my house. The walk wouldn't be terrible, at least. "I just…tonight was really cool. I had a lot of fun."
"You weren't such bad company yourself." The tone was light but there was a quirk of his lips that was all I needed to know. "I'll see you in the morning?"
"I'll think about it." Unlocking the door, I unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped out on the sidewalk. "Thanks again for everything."
"Yeah, sure." I thought maybe he was just going to let me go but he suddenly turned to face me. "Hey, Roxas."
"Yeah?"
"Anybody ever tell you you're pretty incredible?" He didn't even give me a chance to answer before he shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. He was driving slow enough it was easy to watch him leave and I stayed rooted in my spot for a while.
Incredible wasn't a word I heard often, but somehow…it was nice. I didn't want to think about the fact that it had an effect on me, or on the fact that I was probably blushing, but I started walking down the street and started looking for my house keys. I didn't even get that far though before a buzzing started from in my pocket.
"Who the hell would be calling me at 2am?" I murmured to myself as I flipped my phone open. "Hello?"
It was in that split-second I remembered exactly the kind of person who would call me at 2am, and I realized I was in absolute deep shit.
"Look up." Kairi's tone was firm and left little room for argument as I turned and came face-to-face with her house. Letting my gaze shift up to the second floor, I traced a map to the window on the far right and noticed the silhouette of my best friend staring down at me.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." She promptly (and rightfully, truthfully) hung up on me and slammed the window shut, taking away every single good feel I had in an instant.
Somehow…I had a feeling that tomorrow wasn't going to be as great as today was.
Note: Happy holidays to those who celebrate! Next couple of chapters will come over the next week or so, and chapters 6-9 so far are 100% rewritten. Same chain of events, but a new spin. Hope you're enjoying the ride.