The Face Off

Chapter 10

Blakely's POV:

I get into Braxtons car and he drives us back to my house. We didn't talk the entire time, but just listened to the radio. I can feel myself getting more and more nervous the closer we get to the house. Braxton pulls into a spot along the street and locks his car after I get out. Here we go. 

I open the front door, Braxton following behind me. I look around and see my Gram in the kitchen. 

"Gram, I'm home!" I yell. I motion for Braxton to follow me into the kitchen. Gram turns around and smiles when she sees us.

"Oh, who have you brought with you?" 

"Gram, this is Braxton, my partner for the project I told you about. Braxton, this is my Gram." Braxton reaches his hand out to greet her.

"You can call me Nancy. I made you kids some snacks." She points to the plate she made of celery with cream cheese and everything bagel seasoning on it. 

"That's very kind of you Nancy. Thank you for having me over." Braxton says.

"Any of my sweet pea's friends are welcome here anytime. You two just let me know if you need anything; I'll get out of your hair." Gram says as she heads into the living room. 

I grab the plate and my backpack and show Braxton where we will be working. We head into my room and I open the balcony door and put my stuff down outside. Braxton stopped in my room and was looking around. 

"This is your room?" Braxton questions. I nod. 

"Not much decoration?" he comments. My room has white walls, no posters on the wall, a brown bed frame and side tables, and a desk as well. I had a candle on my bedside table a picture of my Mom, Dad, and me at Disney World from when I was a kid sitting on my dresser. 

"I didn't feel like decorating much when I moved." I said walking back onto the balcony. Braxton followed me out a took a seat beside me. 

"So we did the research part, I think we just need to finish the presentation of our research, the jobs we picked to be the financial provider in case you need a back up plan, and this weekend is supposed to be the weekend we get the baby." I inform him. He agrees and we both put in slides and type up our research for the powerpoint. After what seemed like a few hours, we were finished. 

"How are we going to the part with the baby this weekend? It's not like we live together, are we taking turns?" Braxton asked. I thought about it for a moment and he is right. However, I do not trust him along with the baby if my grade depends on it and I also don't want to be stuck doing all the work. 

"I don't know. This project is for both of us. We will have to think about it." 

"What should we name the baby? If it's a boy, I think he should be named Alex, short for Alexander Ovechkin. The baby would be destined for Greatness." Braxton joked.

"Let's just call it something neutral, like ocean. Clearly, we see enough of it." I add. Braxton and I close our computers and just look out at the waves crashing. We still haven't talked about Friday Night which I have been thankful for. I don't even know what to say about it. It seemed like Braxton wanted to kiss me, but if I brought it up, I would embarrass myself and I don't even know if I wanted him to kiss me. Of course, I get butterflies when he talks to me and I like hanging out with him, but I'm scared. Maybe it's because my parents dumped me here that I am scared to let other people in who could leave me too one day. I don't need anymore hurt in my life. Not from Mom, Dad, or some boy. 

"I still have some questions left I believe." Braxton says referring to the game of 20 questions we started the other night. My heart starts beating faster. 

"Who was in that picture I saw on your dresser?" Braxton asks. Here we go. I either lie or tell him the honest truth. Do I trust Braxton enough with my truth? 

"It's me, my Mom, and Dad at Disney World when I was 5 years old." I smile thinking back on that day. I remember meeting Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and Snow White that day. I remember going on some of the rides, but can't remember which ones exactly. I just remember feeling like a princess that day. 

"I know you want to ask so just ask me." I demand standing up, walking towards the rail of the balcony. Braxton looks startled by my sudden change, but didn't say anything. 

"Look, my Mom and Dad are fine. They aren't dead if that's what you're thinking. They had their own dreams to follow and it didn't include me." I say very frustrated. Braxton comes to stand next to me. 

"It's like I don't exist anymore." a tear slips down my one cheek. I try to turn my head so he doesn't notice. Braxton puts an arm around and guides me to sit down with him. We sat there for a little while, Braxton holding me in his arms. He still hasn't said a word.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to lay all that on you. Gosh, now you see the ugly side of me I've been trying to hide. You shouldn't be holding me like this. I have been doing fine on my own." I say wiping my face.

"Blakely." Braxton finally speaks. 

"You don't have to be on your own. I want to be here." Braxton's words reminded me of something a boyfriend would say which is not what he is. However, I have never met a guy quite like Braxton before. Is this guy real or some older, more mature guy thrown into a high schoolers body? I crawl out of Braxtons embrace and we both stand back up. 

"Can we just forget this ever happened?" I plea. 

"Blakely I would never tell anyone about your personal life, but that doesn't change anything for me. I still like hanging out with you nevertheless." I nod my head and Braxton rubs my back supportively. 

"Kids dinner is almost ready. Braxton has to join us for dinner!" Gram yells out to us. 

"If Gram say you're staying, you don't really have a choice. C'mon." This has been an emotional conversation and I'm glad it's over. I have a lot of thinking to do about our partnership.