1.
“Did you finish it?”
My hand shook as I pulled out the math paper from my bag. It was scribbled with random numbers, no coherency at all. Hopefully, she doesn't notice that.
“H-here,” I stuttered.
“You’re so small and weak and ugly. How are you friends with the hottest guy in school?” She snared, snatching the paper away.
I kept my head down and stayed quiet. Rachel was not the type to play around with. She was vicious, cruel, pure evil. And I didn’t want to be someone that crossed paths with her. No one crossed paths with her, except for one person.
And here he is.
“Leave her alone,” his voice echoed down the hall.
“Axel!” Rachel squealed. “I wasn’t bothering her, right?”
“R-right,” I said, looking up at him.
Axel gave me a disappointing look when I looked up at him.
“We were chatting. Girl talk and whatnots,” Rachel said.
“Well, you can stop keeping her company now,” Axel said, taking a hold of my arm. “She’s in good hands.”
He dragged me away before Rachel could squeak out another response.
My vision was blinded by the sun as Axel and I walked to our usual shaded spot at the tree.
“Why do you let her do that?” He asked me. It was the same question, day after day.
“I don’t know,” I replied. It was the same answer, day after day.
“You can’t keep letting people stomp all over you, Hazel,” he said.
“I know. I know.”
He pulled out his sandwich and gave me half.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
This was how it was, ever since the beginning. Axel and I were childhood friends because of our parents. Growing up, we were inseparable because we both lacked siblings.
When puberty hit Axel, he got more masculine, and hotter overall. And as for me, I got bigger glasses. No difference in body change, or facial change. Except for my eyesight, which got worse.
From there, Axel got more popular while I tried my hardest to blend in and not get in people’s way. But one thing never changed, our friendship.
“You know, I’m glad you’re my best friend sometimes,” I said.
“I know you are,” he widely smiled.
“Cocky much?”
“Did you just realize?”
“Oh no. Realized it a long time ago, just wanted to point it out.”
He laughed. “I’m glad you’re my best friend too. Between the two of us, this school is extremely boring.”
“Besides the fact that everyone finds it weird the nerd and the bad boy are best friends? It’s pretty boring,” I pointed out.
“Is that our label?” He scoffed. “People are pathetic.”
“It suits me, don’t ya think?” I looked at him and pushed my glasses up. “The Nerd.”
“So how am I the bad boy?”
“You have the appearance.”
And he does. His wardrobe looks like it was styled out of a grunge magazine. Ripped jeans, jean jackets, cross necklaces. If his mom allowed him to get a lip piercing, the magazine company might even want to hire him.
He rolled up his jacket. “Do I now?”
“Yeah, you do.”
I used my hand to comb his hair up. The gel made it easier for the hair to stand on its own.
He pulled out his phone to check the new hairstyle.
“Girls go for this?” His brows furrowed.
“Sure, you look cute.” I tilted my head, smiling. He actually looked silly, but anything suited him.
“You’re adorable yourself,” he said.
“Oh shut up,” I smiled. “But stop gelling your hair, it’s disgusting.”
“You find the gel disgusting?”
“Yes! I’ve been telling you this since the first time you bought it! I like your natural hair.”
“Interesting," he nodded. "I bought it trying to impress a girl.”
My eyebrows raised. “Who’s the girl?”
“Someone.”
“Cause that tells me everything,” I said sarcastically.
“Don’t worry about it.” He ruffled my hair and finished off his part of the sandwich.
I pouted and dropped the subject.
“Hey, you really think I’m cute?” He asked, smirking a little bit.
“No, when did I say that?” I turned my head somewhere else, avoiding his gaze.
“Sure, Hazel,” he smiled. “And for the record, you’re pretty cute yourself.”
It was normal for us to compliment each other like this. Playful flirting. Both of us knew that it meant nothing more than what was on the surface.
But for some reason, those words seem to hit the heart harder.
The bell signaling the end of lunch rang, not giving me the chance to overthink the feeling.
“See you later,” he said.
“See ya,” I said.
And we parted ways.
He went to Calc as I went to Physics. Our worst subjects, and each other’s strong points. Next, to have the bad boy as your best friend, you have a great physics tutor 24/7.
I sat through the long boring lecture, writing down a few notes if I was lucky enough to pay attention. Axel can explain the rest to me later.
“You can pack your things, but don’t leave yet. For this semester, you’re assigned a project and a partner. And no, you can’t choose.” His words were directed toward the group of girls in the back already looking eager.
Mr.Dek pulled out our seating chart clipboard and started assigning. It seemed like everyone was paired up with their friends, considering everyone was friends with each other in this class. And then there was me.
“Hazel, you’re with Sam.”
And for once, in my whole entire school career, I questioned who. The entire grade, I knew by last name and first name. But Sam, who is Sam?
“You have a couple minutes left to discuss what your project will be about. And remember, it has to be what we’ve learned in this semester.”
As everyone met with their partner, I started to single out people who I thought were Sam. Now, are they a girl or boy?
One boy was left after everyone was paired up. He sat in the corner of the class with his head down. Ugh, this project will be the death of me.
I cautiously walked up to him.
“Hi,” I said. “You’re Sam, right?”
He shyly nodded, then mumbled out a “hi”.
“Um, so what do you want to do for the project?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, it’s due two weeks from now so I guess we still have time to plan it out,” I suggested.
He shrugged, “Sure.”
“Hey, I don’t mean to be rude or anything. But, I want an A on this and if you're not about the group work life I honestly can do it by myself,” I said.
“Same and sorry, I’m just a little shy,” he said. "Anxiety."
“Yeah, that's a shitty thing. How about we plan it later? I'm not in the mood to do work right now.”
“Okay. Nice to meet you, Hazel.”
“You too, Sam."
“I call shotgun!” I yelled out.
“Why are you calling shotgun? There’s only two of us and I’m the driver,” Axel said.
“I’m practicing for the future!” I replied.
He shook his head and chuckled. I replied with a bright smile.
Axel drove us back to my house. Every day, he came over. I always told him it's was fine, but his excuse was that it was dangerous for me to be at home alone.
I took out my keys and unlocked the front door.
“You want something to eat?” I dropped my book bag and headed for the kitchen.
“You still have fruit snacks?” He followed me.
I opened the cabinet and craned my neck to check. At the far right, behind the pop-tarts, there was a box filled with fruit snacks.
I got on my tippy toes and strained all my limbs to reach for the fruit snacks. Body warmth appeared behind me and another arm reached out to easily grab the fruit snacks.
“Smh, I could’ve easily gotten that,” I said.
“You absolutely could’ve,” Axel said, with a straight face but I knew it was sarcasm. I rolled my eyes.
Axel tore open the fruit snack bag as I asked, "Treehouse?"
His eyes met mine and I already knew the answer.
“Treehouse.”
