The Kissing Game

Chapter 14

As I walked to the cafeteria, I noticed the hallways were oddly empty. Usually they'd be packed with teenagers hanging about the place, but today they were oddly sparse. Frowning, I wondered if there was something special or important going on that I had missed out on.

Soon I reached the cafeteria and walking up to the double doors, I was surprise to hear silence. The cafeteria was always filled with screaming teenagers, so I knew something was happening. What it was, was a complete mystery to me.

Throwing open the doors in hopes of figuring out what was going on, I jumped at the immediate sound of a marching band. My jaw dropped as I saw almost everyone in our school crammed into our cafeteria, standing to the sides, as Axel stood in the centre on a lunch table, grinning at me. The marching band stood in front of him and to my utter disbelief, Axel brought a microphone to his mouth.

   "This one is for you, Zoey," Axel said, causing everyone to cheer.

   Axel then began to sing, to my utter shock. My eyes were bulging as Axel sang his first line.

   "You are you. And I am me. But we together, would be we."

   To be quite honest, his voice was quite bad. His lyrics were horrendous as he kept singing and I stared at him, wondering whether to be angry or happy. Seeing him grinning, his eyes so sincere, made me realize I should be happy. So I started grinning. It took everything in me not to laugh as Axel sang the weirdest song I had ever heard.

   "And I want to know you. Everything that makes you, you," he finished off, singing. "So please forgive me baby. For even the best of us, sin."  

   I laughed and everyone cheered. A huge smile was plastered onto my face and Axel himself looked full of joy. To be honest, seeing him like that brought warmth to my heart. It was such a beautiful sight to see him genuinely happy.

   Once everyone quieted down, he said, "I hope you know the song is a joke. Don't take it seriously."

   "I had a feeling." My heart was soaring with joy. "Was your voice, too?"

   He grinned. "Sadly not."

   Axel jumped off of the table and walked over to me. Everyone's eyes were on us and I knew I should feel self conscious, but I didn't. For the first time in so long, I was so happy and only because one peculiar boy had serenaded me. The thought nearly made me laugh, knowing how absurd it was.

When Axel reached me, he said, "This is an apology. I admit I've been treating you wrongly and I'm really sorry about it. Do you forgive me?"

"Yes," I said easily, knowing I did.

It was so out of character for me to forgive someone so easily, but around Axel I did a lot of things that surprised me. He brought out sides of me that left me contemplating everything, but somehow, there was no one else that brought a smile out of me like this. No one had ever made me laugh like this.

"One more question," he said, eyes softening to that gentle look I enjoyed. "Would you give me a chance? Would you get to know me?"

That wasn't an easy question to answer. A part of me wanted to, but yet another part of me felt wary. This feeling was always around boys and I didn't know what it meant. All I knew was that it left me feeling like I had to reject offers such as this.

"I... I don't know," I said honestly.

"One day," Axel said softly. "That's all I'm asking."

I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.

"You can decide if you truly hate me then," he said, giving me a small smile. "If you do, I'll leave you alone forever. If you don't, well... Let's see."

I stared at him, locking my eyes on his stunning blue eyes. What he said made me realize I had nothing to lose. I was given a choice here and I was given freedom. This was the best thing I could ask for from any guy.

So even though I had an uneasy feeling still, I said, "Yes."

Axel grinned and I decided then that I had no idea where this was going. I had no idea how he'd become a big part of my life. All I knew was that I was going to figure the both of us out.