Slice of (magic) Life

Chapter 3 - Axle

"Sooo, who was that girl?" Axle's father asked. Axle wanted to facepalm himself a million times then dig his own grave and bury himself in it, never to see the light of day again. He was so awkward when he talked to that girl, Elaine. The only talking he ever did was strictly done for school purposes only. If he did decide to have casual conversation, the kind that wasn't between him and his father, then it would be with his close friend group. His close friend group meaning his only two friends in his grade, or even in his entire school. Axle was never the kind to just talk like he'd expect everyone to listen and feel for him. That's what popular kids would do in his school. But not for him. Axle would gladly be cast as the shy or even invisible kid if he could help it.

"Axle?" His father tried again, which snapped Axle out of his jumbled thoughts. He replied, "Oh, just a student in my grade. Her name's Elaine. She just wants to get me a drink or something because.... something." Axle's dad gave him a sly smile. After that they rode back home in silence the rest of the way. On their way home, it started to drizzle a little. When his dad parked the car in front of their house he instructed, "Get inside quickly, it's about to pour out there." Swiftly, Axle pushed open the car door, grabbed his backpack, got out and shut the door behind him, then dashed for the front door which had a small roof jutting out of the building.

Axle's father raced after him, getting more soaked since he had to lock up the car. When he arrived, Axle watched as the front door was unlocked to let them in. Axle walked inside and immediately went straight to his room, while his father went into his study. Axle flopped onto his bed and looked at the clock on his table across from where he was laying down. The hands read three thirty-five. He sighed and rested his head back into his pillow. He was both excited for the chance to meet another kid from his grade but also a bit irritated that he had to leave home almost as soon as he got there.

After a few minutes of just laying on the bed feeling tired of walking everywhere at school, Axle looked at his clock again to see that it had only been two minutes. With a deep breath, he sat up and brought out all the school things he needed to do before tomorrow's classes. He placed the books and notebooks on his study table beside his clock and thought of what to bring to his impromptu and upcoming meeting. It's not a meeting. More like a.... date? Axle was shocked at his own thoughts' crazy idea and shut that specific one out of his brain. No, no, no, NO. It's not a date. She just wants to talk, that's all. Nothing weird or suspicious going on. Just a regular old meet up with a batch-mate whom I've never talked to in my life.

Axle continued to have his internal conversations with himself while he grabbed his casual sling bag and packed a few things. He didn't exactly know what to bring since they were just getting some drinks and 'hanging out'. He decided bringing his usual hobby things like his notebook for drawing and his MP3 player, in case Elaine ever asked about things he liked. He also placed in the small bag a couple of books he recently got into. Then when he zipped it up he thought, Should I bring money? I guess I should. Just in case she doesn't have enough. Axle moved to his drawer and pulled his wallet out of a safe space. Once he had a decent amount for buying drinks, he placed it carefully at the bottom of the bag.

When he finished changing into a different set of clothes, partially because he got rained on and partially so that Elaine would think he wasn't desperate for the opportunity to talk, Axle heard a frighteningly loud thunder strike close by. He jumped a bit, not used to that much sound. He was usually by himself, even if he had a couple of friends. And whenever he was alone, he didn't usually make any noise. All the noise Axle makes comes from him head, his thoughts. To people who don't really know Axle, they'd think he was just another shy or introverted kid, which wouldn't be too far from the truth. But personally, Axle just wanted to live his life as normal as possible. He didn't revel in the spotlight whenever he did have it for a few moments. He just wanted to be done with it so that everyone paying attention to him would just go back to doing their own thing.