The Distance Between Us

Chapter 22: Rule Breaker

Chapter 22: Rule Breaker

"Alexis?" Axel called into my room as I stood before the mirror above my sink.

"I'm in the bathroom," I replied in a muffled voice. I was applying a lip scrub, massaging it on my mouth.

"Are you decent?" he asked me. I made a sound of confirmation and he slowly entered the bathroom, standing against the wall behind me. His eyes fell on my lips as I rubbed them together, allowing the exfoliation process to begin. "What's that on your mouth?"

"A lip scrub," I responded as I felt my lips begin to burn. Does that mean it's done?

"What does it do?" he asked me as he gazed at me. I began rubbing the pink, chunky scrub off with a wad of toilet paper.

"It softens your lips," I told him, dampening the tissue and getting off the rest of the exfoliator remains.

"Who are you softening your lips for?" he asked me curiously, earning an eye roll.

"It makes for easier lipstick application," I excused. You, I wanted to answer. Maybe in another life...

"Really?" he asked curiously. For a minute, I thought I'd said that last part aloud.

"Yeah," I answered. "I just bought a new one. It's pink and it's supposed to stay on for a while."

"Is it matte?" he asked, impressing me with his knowledge. I was surprised he remembered that makeup vocabulary word.

"Yeah," I told him with a smile. I left the bathroom, listening as he followed behind me. He dropped down on my bed as I got out all my makeup. He watched me in the mirror, which is something I think he enjoys. "Why do you always watch me put on makeup?"

"It's fascinating, I guess," he answered with a shrug while I put on my foundation.

I blended out my concealer, setting it with a powder. He stared as I brushed out my brows. I wiggled them and he smiled at me. I continued to apply my makeup, waiting for him to ask what I was getting ready for. I can already tell he's preparing by the way he's biting his lip. "So where are you going?"

"I'm going to the movies," I told him honestly. Okay so maybe I'm leaving out the part where I admit that I'm going to be accompanying Sam...and that we're going to be alone. But it's not a date.

"With who?" he asked curiously and we made eye contact in the mirror. I quickly looked away, directing my gaze on my eyeliner instead.

"Sam..." I trailed.

"Again?" Axel asked with wide eyes. "You were just with him last Friday and then on Thursday."

"And we had fun last Friday so we decided to hang out again this weekend," I explained to Axel. Last weekend we went rollerskating and then on Thursday we hung out at Froyo again, talking and relaxing until closing hours.

"Why?" he asked in annoyance.

"Because we're friends," I told Axel.

"It's just you two?" Axel queried and I nodded. "And you're going to the movies?" Another nod. "Doesn't that sound like a date to you?"

"We clarified that it's not a date, just two friends hanging out," I told him with a shrug. "Kind of like what we do."

"Why couldn't you invite, like, Cam or someone?" he responded as I applied my lipstick. "You haven't hung out with your other friends in a while."

I shrugged again. "Because we wanted to hang out alone." It was actually Cam's idea. She suggested that we should hang out together because of the simple fact that we have a major thing in common; we both like someone who doesn't like us back. Unrequited love, if you would. I was a bit hesitant because Sam likes me but I just shrugged it off and figured I might as well. Besides, he's kept the flirting at a bare minimum so we should be fine.