Calling Affection (Boyxboy)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Oliver's POV

Mondays were always awful. That was the case universally, but especially in high school when you had the classes you hated most, all back-to-back.

And they were made even worse when Axel just wouldn't leave you alone.

"Hey, listen Oliver! Oliver!" He called out from down the hall. I pretended not to hear him, swift walking away to my class.

"Oliver! Hey, wait up! OLIVER!"

Eventually, the crowds of the hallways thinned and he caught up to me.

I internally rolled my eyes and stopped, giving in. If people saw me ignoring him when he was this obnoxious, they'd ask question. And I didn't have any answers.

Axel wasn't expecting me to stop because he crashed into me, and I stumbled into some of the other students in the hallway.

"Sorry!" I gave the group an apologetic smile. "Axel pushed me, haha!" I laughed it off even though I was clearly blaming him. They waved it off with a chuckle.

I recognized Ella in the group. Ella was a nice girl in my English class. She was sweet, but too friendly with the cast of reality-TV-stars-in-the-making at our school for me to bother with her.

Ella looked between Axel and me for a quick second. When her eyes connected with Axel's, she was quiet for a second, before nodding slightly and turning back to me.

Was Ella friends with Axel? I suppressed a groan. Shit, that was inconvenient.

Ella smiled sweetly at me. "Hey Oliver!" she chirped, leaning in.

And my chance to leave left. I restrained a sigh.

"Oh, hey Ella!" I acted like I had just noticed her. "I haven't seen you around lately, how are you doing?" I matched her sweet smile.

Her face relaxed a bit. "I'm doing great, thanks! How about you? You weren't in English all of last week!"

I could feel Axel staring from behind me, but I didn't have a reason to include him in the conversation, so I pretended to be so absorbed by my conversation with Ella that I didn't notice him.

"Yeah, I caught the flu. I couldn't stop vomiting." She grimaced in pity, eyes flickering back to Axel for a second.

Was he making a face? Did he think I was diseased and would now finally leave me alone? I could only pray that was the case.

"But I'm all right now! I hope I didn't miss much?" I continued.

"Hey Ella, who's your friend?" One of the girls in the group asked, moving closer to nudge Ella in the side.

Ella and the girl stared at each other for a moment. Their eyes connected, and it was like a silent understanding passed between them, before the girl peered over at me.

They must have been really good friends to communicate with just a look, I thought as an outsider.

I continued to smile blankly, waiting, and Ella quickly caught on and introduced me.