• 23 •

103 40 22
                                    

                              EVA

Today, Abi had one of those classes that took an extra hour after normal school time to conclude, which meant that we weren't going to be picked up until then. In other words, I wasn't leaving the school anytime soon. Thanks to them, I now had an extra hour to overthink what the Principal had told me to death.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that a magazine wanted me for a model.

Me!

That was the part that I was finding hard to believe.

I didn't want to go and wait out there where the other students waited for their parents/drivers to come pick them up. With my face on the cover of the magazine, I suddenly felt too exposed. Like everyone was looking at me. Of course, it was all just in my head, but I couldn't shake the feeling.

I couldn't get out of my own head.

So I decided to go back to class, hoping that it was cleared out by now. What I didn't expect, however, was for Axel to be in class. My class. Not his.

What was he even doing here?

Narrowing my eyes at him, I took note that he was lacing his shoes. He had his head bent low, so he couldn't see me. He was sitting in one of the back seats and chasing his shoes. He ditched the black sneakers he usually wore for school, for a green shoe. It didn't look like a sneaker. It didn't look like anything that I had seen before, to be honest.

I pushed my shoulder back and stepped into the class. I had silent feet, so I didn't know why he looked up immediately I came in. Almost as if he had heard me. Our eyes locked for a moment before he looked away.

He got up, slung his bag over his shoulder, then walked over to me slowly. "I was just looking for you."

"Really? Why?" I asked, shoving the remainder of my books into my bag to get busy. He was standing behind me, just a few feet away and I was stalling so that I could put off looking at him for as long as I could. Which wouldn't be that long, really, seeing as he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. And it would be ridiculous to continue avoiding him.

We were acting like the last week hadn't happened. Like how normal friends acted. That was good. Very good. It was exactly what I wanted, wasn't it?

"I want to train for a while before I go home, and I thought that since you're free, you could go with me. An hour tops, at most."

A frown found its way to my face. "Why do you think I'm free? It's closing. I'm going home."

"It's also Monday and Abi has an extra class." He explained, shocking me completely, "I don't know how long it lasts, but since every subject lasts an hour, I'm guessing this one is no different."

I finally turned around, staring at him in surprise.

"How do you know Abi has an extra class every Monday?"

He shrugged. "You've said it before."

He wasn't meeting my eyes. I mean, he was, but he only held eye contact for five seconds max, and then he was looking at the nearest object. I guess I wasn't the only one feeling this new awkwardness between us. I thought about how hard it was for me. Was it that hard for him too?

"Okayyy." I drew out the word as I thought about what to say next, "Where do you train?"

"The stadium."

Yes, that was right. The school had a stadium that I had never been to. Going with him, would be killing two birds with one stone. One—I got to hang out with him(not that I particularly wanted to), and two—I finally got to see the inside of the stadium.

Obliterated Beginnings Where stories live. Discover now