"Hey there, kid! How are ya?" I was frantic to say the least. I had dropped my spoon into my soup. I shrieked and grabbed another, longer spoon to fish it out. With it burning hot, I could only throw it into the sink. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I just… Dropped something is all. How did you get my uncle's number?" No one in the area beside my uncle had any information on me.

"I bribed the lady at the front office. Twenty bucks and an errand isn't so bad to get a hold of your number. I didn't mind losing a few bucks," Axel laughed. I could hear his smile, and it made me a little jealous. He was a rich kid. He could throw twenty bucks around wherever he wanted.

"Alright… and why does it matter?"

"I was worried is all. You weren't there when I went back with the principal. So when school starts Monday, you best go talk to him. Is that okay? Are you okay?" he questioned. I swallowed a bit and then sighed. Was I? I had skipped school, called at work.

"I don't know. Probably. I'll be at school tomorrow, if that's what you mean." I tasted the soup and put a bit more seasoning in it before turning off the burner.

"I mean mentally. I have the address to your house- I mean, your uncle's, if you want me to come over," Axel tried. I rolled my eyes a bit and put a lid on the pot I was using, letting it cool down. There was a long silence before I answered.

"No, it's fine. You don't need to do that."

To be honest, I hadn't wanted him to come over. I was good at coping by cooking, and I had done a pretty good job so far. I didn't want a reminder of school in my own house. I would have to get homework, and though I knew that Axel and I took the same classes, I didn't dare ask him for the assignments. He would want to force his way over to my house.

"Roxas, I really don't mind-"

"Axel, really."

"Can I come over? Maybe have dinner with you or something? Please? I'm worried about you. Just let me do this one little thing. After that, I'll leave you alone- not that I want to, but…" His voice faded out a bit and I couldn't stop myself from sighing loudly into the phone.

"Fine. I made potato soup… Not that there's a whole lot of it anyway." I heard him cheer and I couldn't resist rolling my eyes.

"Alright! Just wait outside your house! You said you live down the street from your uncle's, right? I have the street, so just wait out on your steps or something!" Before I could tell him to just meet me at the store or the school, he hung up. Very energetic, I decided. I left the soup there, off the heat, and grabbed a jacket.

Slipping it on, I went outside, zipping up the front once I was sitting down. Maybe my shorts weren't such a good idea, right in the middle of winter, but I didn't want to dirty a pair of pants for work. I sat outside for maybe 10 minutes before considering that maybe I should have asked him where he lived.

I didn't know how long it would take for him to get there, so I was a bit anxious. Maybe twenty minutes went by before he was peering around a car and spotting me. I looked up at him, smiling a little in greeting.

He trotted over to me and helped me to my feet. He had his backpack on still, and I wondered why. Maybe he had homework, or something. I didn't ask as we went inside my house, where the heater was. Axel sighed and plopped down into one of my chairs around my dinner table. There were 4, just like a usual house even though I never had anyone.

"It's warm in here," he chimed, making me smile a little. As much as I didn't want him over, it was nice to have company. I hadn't made a single friend, and having one like this wasn't so bad. I made sure the soup was still hot before splitting it into two bowls and bringing it over to him.

Axel had his bright red backpack on the floor by his feet, and he was digging through it like it was Narnia. I saw across from him as he pulled his hand out with an 'Aha!' I wasn't sure what he was up to, but he didn't say anything either. He winced a little and then offered a bright smile. He dropped whatever he had pulled out right back into his bag.

"What was-?"

"Oh, nothing. Let's have dinner, yeah? This looks good. Did you make it?" Axel asked as I handed him a spoon. It was at that moment that I saw how long his fingers were. He should have played piano or something.

"Yeah, I did. Living alone, you learn to make a few things." As soon as the spoon was in his hand, he started pushing the potatoes around in the bowl, sipping up a bit of the broth before deciding that he liked it, or so it looked like.

"It is good. I didn't expect a teenager that lives alone… I didn't expect that you could cook," he said. I was thinking about rolling my eyes, but I just smiled a little and went to blow on a potato that I had scooped up. I waited until it was cool to eat it, and I loved it. All the spices and seasoning were amazing in this concoction.

I thanked him for the compliment, but not many other things were said at the table. The occasional question was asked about my house, but not much else. When I was rinsing bowls in the sink was when he asked the craziest questions.

I listened to each one and answered as I should have- the truth. He asked about my living alone, why I lived in that town, about why I didn't just stay with my uncle. All the answers had different stories and different reasons. I didn't want to spend all night explaining these things to him, so I just faced him and saw him digging in his bag again. He handed me a paper with all of our homework assignments. I sighed and took it.

"I told them that I would try to get it to you, even though I wasn't sure if I could. I made it happen though, as you can see. But… I told them that there was a greater chance that I wouldn't, so they don't expect it from you tomorrow," Axel explained slowly, pursing his lips and turning away from me. "Are you even going to school tomorrow? If not, I can swing by and then pick up your homework, then bring you the next set. As long as you stay caught up, I don't think they're really going to care."

I shrugged. I didn't know. Maybe. I didn't really want to go just to get picked on, but I would show that I was weak by not going. What did it matter? I would probably move again within a couple weeks.

"I don't know. I'll probably be out of this town in no time. This is what happened the last time I stayed somewhere, but it wasn't students causing the problems." I let myself grow quiet as I took a deep breath. I would still have to go to school, or maybe I could just start taking online classes so that I didn't have to see people all the time.

Axel had curious eyes going on, and I simply stared back into them, not really wanting to explain what I had meant. So he just shrugged and flipped around in his chair. He was sitting with the seat backwards, arms folded over the top of the chair, head rested there.

"I'm guessing that you've moved around quite a bit. I mean, you've been here for quite a few moths… but there are still boxes piled high in here. I see a box labeled over there- books? Not a single bookshelf in sight." I bit my lip. I wanted to talk to someone, but not this 'Axel' guy. I wanted to talk to my old best friends, back in the town I started in. Axel was reading into me no problem though; I had moved a million times.

"Well, yeah. I'm sure you've seen me reading. And this is the longest I've stayed in a town, but I don't have a way out at the very moment. I was supposed to do my permit tests and then go do driving stuff… get a license. But I'm struggling." I had to be honest, and I hoped that maybe when he knew how awful everything was, he would leave me alone.

"Well, that sucks. I'm sorry. I can help, if you want," he said, making me knit my brows together and turn to him.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, a bit harsher than I intended.

"I told you. I've been really interested in-"

"That's enough!"