Bruised Knuckles

19. friendzone

After the game was over, Axel and I stayed on the field. We sat down in the outfield and bought some soda from the concession stand before they closed for the night.

"I'm happy," Axel repeated before taking a sip of his soda, "that I met you. Because without you I would have never found myself."

I smiled and picked at the grass in the field, squinting my eyes slightly from the sun setting just overhead, "You think you made the right decision going to prom with me?"

Axel nodded his head in long movements, his freckles becoming more apparent in the illuminated evening sky.

"I wouldn't want to go with anyone else. I just met you but I like you a lot, you know, in the friend way."

Please don't remind me. My stomach dropped because I held false hope that maybe tonight we'd breakthrough to something a little bit more than friends. I tried to keep that hope while we continued talking.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I said while pretending to not care. I did care, though, and I pitched this next question directly to Axel with no prior thoughts.

"Would you ever like me more than a friend?"

I regretted this question as I said it.

"I mean, we'll see," Axel said while rubbing his chin with his fingers, "actually, yes," he corrected with a sly smile on his face.

I could sense his sarcasm when he first answered, but it wasn't there after he changed his mind.

"Wait, really?" I took a sip of my soda and set it back down in the grass, narrowing my eyebrows slightly at the answer I didn't think he would say.

"You would like me as more than a friend?" I repeated this once more just in case he misheard me.

"Yeah, of course, what's not to like?" Axel shrugged and sent another warm smile my way, extending his legs in the grass now as he leaned back on his hands.

I could think of a million things that weren't to like, but I didn't say any of them to his face. Most came from my family. I just decided that gradual introduction would be better — better than throwing my family and their flaws in his face. He already met Devian, so I guess that story is over with for now.

I saw the sun descend the horizon, the sky glowing a soft orange tint as a few stars twinkled. I looked over at Axel now, and he was staring directly at me.

"What?" I laughed quietly and tried to figure out what he was staring at.

"You're really attractive under this light," he confessed to me as I blinked slowly, trying to comprehend what just came out of his mouth. I felt butterflies flood my stomach as he kept staring at me.

"Thank you," I mumbled as he slowly turned his head away, looking up at the sky.

If anyone else stared at me like that, I'd probably punch them square in the nose. He was different, he was someone who made me feel vulnerable and weak in the best way possible. I wanted this now, I wanted to feel weak and vulnerable under his presence rather than arrogant by myself.

"Maybe we should get you home," Axel muttered while beginning to stand up on his two feet. He extended a hand down towards me, and I grabbed it, standing up next to him.

"You played really well today," Axel told me as we began walking towards the field's metal gate.

"Is today compliment Orion day or somethin'?" I blurted with a grin, definitely not comfortable with all of these compliments centered around me. Nobody ever did this before.

Axel shook his head. "Not exactly, but you're attractive enough to compliment a million times and still have more to say."

I rolled my eyes and unlocked the metal gate, letting Axel out after me, closing it again. We began walking down the sidewalk and he peeked over at me from the side.

"I'll stop complimenting you if you really don't like it."

I shook my head, because I didn't necessarily not like it. It was just something different. "No, I like it," I shrugged and told him.

He smiled and nudged my shoulder with his, running his fingers through his hair afterwards. "You know what, tonight was fun. I feel like I know you ten times better. I think our families have to meet soon," Axel told me confidently.

I sucked in air through my nostrils, automatically nodding as I agreed our parents meeting would be a good idea. It definitely wouldn't be, and I held my breath at the comment.

Finally, we made it to Axel's house. We both stood on the sidewalk and he half smiled, quickly glancing up at his row home with the porch lights on.

He directed his attention back to me. "Thanks for asking me to prom. I didn't want to move here so close to the end of the school year but I guess my family had to, and it ended up being one of the best mistakes ever."

I felt my heart flutter for the thousandth time that night, letting my eyes land on his. The way he talked to me tonight, was so poetic and genuine. I never heard anything like it before.

If we were in a crowded room with hundreds of other people, I'd only hear his voice. I began to wonder if this was all because I asked him to prom. If I never interfered would he have went with Mick?

"I'll see you in school tomorrow," I quickly muttered, my brain overreacting with thoughts and what-if's.

"Okay, Orion. Remember to study your physics," Axel reminded me with a soft wink, walking up to his house as he waved goodbye.

Physics. I sighed softly at the thought of the test tomorrow.

I began walking home alone, my hands stuffed into my pockets. It was completely dark now, my mind kicking back and forth between prom and physics. Both were related to Axel and I was just ready to get him out of my mind for the night.

I'm not sure what happens when you like someone, but I'm pretty sure what I'm experiencing is exactly it.