Nao Summers hates drama, but life becomes full of it when he's paired with the school delinquent on a film project. He's also in dire need of a way to break up with his girlfriend who wants to have lots of sex, while Nao would prefer to die. To crow...
September was nearing its midway point and summer had left for good. Fresh autumn days showered us in impromptu rainfall, which rendered my morning commute humid and uncomfortable. Dressing for the weather was a massive pain, and I realized I was nowhere near ready for the colder season. I would have to go shopping with Lily one of these days. She seized every opportunity to dictate my fashion choices.
The project was going as well as you'd expect. Axel hardly spoke, the interviews were underway, and Mr. White would not stop badgering me about my responsibilities. Every day my inbox overflowed with emails and little reminders from my teacher. It seemed he'd discovered that slowly chipping away at my confidence was a surefire way to make me fail. I would die before I gave him that satisfaction.
"So let me get this straight," Lily said, voice piercing through the phone. "You're ditching me for the second time this week, and you don't even have a good reason?"
I stepped into the hustle and bustle of the school gym, cradling my cell phone against my ear as I greeted the dancers with a wave. The room was the size of a football field, and had mirrors running down the entire eastern wall. The reflections showed an array of dancers doing stretches that would quite literally kill me if I dared attempt them.
"I'm not ditching you, Lil," I said through gritted teeth. "It's this school project. It's eating me alive." I kicked my shoes off and dropped my backpack next to them. Tightening my grip on the camera strap, I tried to find a way out letting Lily down again. "You know my teacher will murder me if anything goes wrong. Lil, he hates me more than you hate Uggs."
She began protesting at that, but I cut her off before she could finish. "Listen, I'll make it up to you, I promise. This is my last project duty for the week. I'm all yours after this." Oh, crap. I turned around just in time to watch Axel sidle into the gym. "I've got to go," I told my phone, hoping Lily was still listening. "I'll call you later."
Axel walked up to me as the conversation ended. His shoulders were slumped and he appeared empty-handed except for his phone. A sullen mood settled over us as soon as he reached my side. The last few days had consisted of meetings with teachers and one-on-one interviews, which had gone quite well, all things considered. The problem was that Axel was still clamped up, and judging from his sullen expression, in an awful mood.
He stopped next to me and grunted, which I supposed was as much of a greeting as I was likely to get from him. I meant to interrogate him about his lack of communication lately, but was interrupted by an eager voice. The class rep for 3D was crossing the floor, greeting us with a sharp wave and a smile. He was a scrawny dude with floppy hair and a lopsided grin. His shirt hung around his toned frame, showing off carefully sculpted muscles from years of ballet. This guy had ambition.
"Hi! You're here for the video project, right?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear. "Your teacher told me you'd be coming! This is such a wonderful opportunity for our talents." Class rep extended his hand, and I shook it with reluctance, pasting on my trademark "get-me-out-of-here" grin. "We're just about ready to start our session for the day," the class rep continued. "We've zoomed through warm-ups already - figured you'd want to get right to the good stuff."
He chuckled, face breaking into a warm grin. The poor guy extended his hand at Axel this time, letting it hang bravely between them for a long, awkward moment. The air grew stale as the seconds passed, and it was clear Axel had no intention of shaking hands with this guy. Class rep eventually let it fall to his side. I noted the sullen look on Axel's face, and decided it was time I took charge before he started handing out punches.
"Let's do this."
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Axel's mood did not magically improve as the class dragged on. I mentally faced this revelation as I adjusted the ISO on the camera, trying not to sigh. I had tried my best to bring enough pep and enthusiasm for the both of us, but truth be told, I wasn't a peppy person. The poor class rep had caught on before long, and grew dejected in spite of my efforts to lighten the atmosphere.
He ended up sticking us with the newbies - the kids that only danced because their parents forced them to. As a consequence, the interviews we conducted were an absolute bore. Not only did Axel stay silent throughout the entire ordeal - intimidating anyone within a ten-foot radius - but he actively sabotaged our project with his disinterest. The students answered in clipped, terrified sentences, and most of them seemed to want to be anywhere else in the world.
A drink break arrived, and our interviewees fled back to the safety of their flock. I stood next to Axel with my back against the sticky gym wall, and a sweaty camera in my hands. I switched the thing off.
"Okay." I exhaled, fed up and ready to put my life on the line again. "Are you gonna tell me what the heck is up with you?"
Axel was sitting next to me, back pasted to the wall in an apathetic slouch. He was staring straight ahead, stone cold eyes burning a hole through the opposing wall. I thought I saw something flicker through those eyes, but it might have been the faulty spotlights in the ceiling. At long last Axel reacted.
"What?" he grunted in reply, an eloquent response if I ever saw one.
He kept his eyes trained on the wall, and my skin crawled with realization. Axel had been distant since the sleepover, luring me into a false sense of security. It was like hanging around him had desensitized me to his reputation, leading me to situations like this. I don't know when I became so hell-bent on writing my obituary, but that's what I was doing. As a testament to this realization, Axel turned his head just slightly, enough to showcase the fresh bruise that marred his jawline. That's the dude I was messing with. Me and my damn mouth.
"I know it's none of my business," I said, wetting my lips. "But you're scaring the dancers. I know you can't change your face, but If you could quit glaring I think that would be helpful."
The words were out there, now, existing in the world. It was a concrete entity that challenged the fragile peace between us, the treaty that stated quite clearly "don't ask." The agreement had been in place ever since our partnership became reality. Axel would leave my tiny life intact as long as I minded my own business. He'd further imprinted that agreement into the cupboard when he slammed his palm on it that night. I still felt the warning words sometimes, like a breath against my nape, like fear rippling down my spine. Don't break anything.
Had I broken something now?
"Okay," Axel's voice shattered the silence, and the passage of time returned to normal. He turned away from me, got up, and walked over to the class rep. I was left alone with my sweaty palms and mushy brain. Wait, what...?
I watched as they exchanged words. The rep seemed to grow even more sweaty and lopsided as the conversation progressed, and kept scratching his cheek as he talked. With only his back visible, I couldn't see Axel's expression. He seemed to be gesticulating, and made the rep break into a nervous smile. Before long Axel seemed to nod, and then he turned around and returned to my side.
"We'll be interviewing their ace," he said casually, fishing his phone out of his pocket. I stared at him, mouth hanging open. I was probably drooling, but that seemed unimportant.
"We'll be what?!" I squeaked. "How?! I mean — Why?"
Axel shrugged. "Guess he just felt like it."
I wanted to question him, wanted to drag answers out of his bruised lips and find out how he'd changed everything in the span of four minutes, but I didn't. All I did was stare at him in wonder. A part of me was convinced Axel had just blackmailed class rep into helping us, but another part didn't care. Anything that could make this project easier on me was gladly accepted.
"Oh yeah, I think her name was... Olivia," Axel supplied, finally slipping his phone back into his pocket. "That's probably relevant."
Not even seconds after Axel uttered the name, an eerie laugh pierced through the sports hall. At that moment, clouds obscured the sun, and the air thickened with impending thunder. A cold breeze blew through the room, disturbing skirts and equipment, despite the gym having zero windows or open doors. A series of heavy footsteps broke through the atmosphere, and I found myself in the shadow of a gigantic dancer.
Her name was Olivia. She was my girlfriend's best friend, and she hated my guts.
