"Ok we're here." Said Axel, pulling up to the side walk at the nearest intersection to my house.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off in front of your house?" He looked pretty worried, looking around the area.
"No it's okay. And besides, we had a deal remember?" I asked, stuffing the rest of the food in my bag.
"I know we did, but it's a lot after midnight and I don't feel comfortable letting you walk alone this late." He replied, still looking around like he was waiting for something to pop out of the bushes.
"Dude trust me I'm ok. I told you, I'm a taekwondo champion." I said, opening the door and getting down.
"Huh? Wait! I'm gonna call you, and I'll stay with you on the line until you tell me you're safe ok?" The look of worry on his face was heartwarming, so I didn't try fight it.
Now calling "Sophia Grace".
I closed the door as I answered his phone call.
"I'm going to stay with you on the line ok? And I'm staying here in case any interference is needed." He said, getting comfortable in his seat.
I nodded my head because I was too taken aback by how much he cared to be able to come up with a snarky comment. I closed the door, and waved bye to him and started walking towards my house, phone in my back pocket and AirPods in my ears.
"Any questions left you wanna ask me?" He says yawning.
"Why? So you can conveniently dodge all of them and turn this whole thing against me?" I reply, already missing the warmth of his Jeep.
"I won't. Promise." He chuckled a little, a hint of exhaustion visible in his tone.
A random cold breeze made me regret declining his offer to drive me to my doorstep.
Oh for the love of God man up you spineless coward. It's just air. That's cold, it's not like you're going to die of pneumonia like a fifteenth century kid with influenza who won't make it through the winter!
"Ok fine. You said your parents are divorced?" I huffed, the ability to breathe in this weather getting extremely hard.
"Not divorced exactly, but I haven't seen my dad in a couple of years. He works overseas or something heading this big multinational company that does God knows what. All I get from him is a cheque deposit at the beginning of every month. No phone calls. No post cards. Nothing."
The last word held a lot of anger that it took me aback a little.
"Hey I'm sorry if I opened a wound or something. I didn't mean to."
I took a left turn and this midnight breeze showed no sign of mercy on my cyanotic skin.
"Nah it's ok. I'm used to it now. Ok my turn. Based on your ability to meticulously dodge my questions about your life, there is something about you that you don't wish to reveal to the world. Maybe it's a dangerous secret, or maybe you're just not that trusting."
There was a weird type of silence that followed what he just said. Am I really that easy to read? Or has he been studying me that closely that he deduced these from the little time we spent together?
"Was that a question or a statement?" I whispered warily as I turned right on to my street; Holmes Hill.
"A combination of both maybe? I don't know. I am very observant- not a creep. And I tend to notice everything you know. Anyways. Come on answer."
"I just find a hard time trusting people. It's nothing personal but I've been through a lot. Stuff that I'm not comfortable ever sharing. I'm sorry."
The houses around me were all dark and the dim lit street set a creepy scene for anyone with a vivid imagination such as myself. It's ok, just a few more minutes to go. Don't get me wrong, the area is fancy but I think my parents bought the house before anyone else did and it just
"Hey it's ok. I just want you to know that I'm always here if you ever need to talk. I know we got off on the wrong foot at the beginning and I'm partly to blame for that, but I know we can turn things around." I could hear the smile in his voice, and something about that scene caused turmoil in my stomach.
Does anyone know an off switch for this Axel hysteria going on in my abdomen? Because it can't be surgically removed.
"My turn. You said your dad sent you money every month? Why are you working at the corner store?"
The houses got progressively creepy and I could swear I saw someone creep from behind one of the curtains. A lot of these houses are up for sale or rent so most of them were empty, and of course my house happened to be on the end of that street.
89 Holmes Hill.
"Ummm." He started, chuckling a little before answering.
"I'd rather have my own money than ever make him believe that he had anything to do with anything related to me. Like don't get me wrong, I'm keeping the money to help me start something in life, but I also want to be able to have my own money. Girl I don't know if I'm even making sense right now."
"No. No of course you are. That's actually very admirable. You want to be self made and not have an absentee parent be the one responsible for your financial freedom- I totally get it. That's very respectable actually."
"Yeah. Thanks." He chuckled, sounding more and more like he was half asleep.
"My parents died." I blurted out.
Oh sure. Pretend to be all mysterious and shit and as soon as the first person shows you attention, you vomit information they never asked for. Well that's a very smart move dumbass.
"Oh my God I'm so sorry." Oh Lord no, not the sympathy. I hate the sympathy.
"Hey it's fine. It's been a while now anyways. They left me quite a fortune and I'm ok. Honest. One day you'll hear all about it until you ask me to shut up." I chuckle nervously.
"Never."
"And here I am." I said. I got inside, locked the gate set the alarm.
"As I said before, time flies by when you're having fun. Sophia Grace it's been a pleasure." He said, voice all raspy from exhaustion.
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, putting my bag on the kitchen table, and moving over to the living room to make myself comfortable.
"Um, I made sure you're home and now I'm heading home." I heard the engine rev in the background.
"Uh I think the ever loving heck not. I promised Nate I'd make sure you got home in one piece. I plan to stick to that. So I guess we're going to be talking for a little while more."
"Hey fine by me." He laughed as he continued driving.
And that's what we did. We continued our weird back and forth until he got home, and when he did get home, we switched to texting. When I finally went to bed at about 3am, he called me one more time.
"Weren't we texting? Like three seconds ago? Why you calling me now?" I yawned. Don't judge me, this has been an exceptionally long day. I
"I just wanted to hear your voice when I said good night Sophia Grace."
Well that was a weird turn of events.
"Good night Axel Jones." I yawned again like a three year old.
Oh right, I almost forgot.
"Don't forget, we're going to the arcade this weekend ok? I still owe you for being mean a lowkey rude. You didn't deserve that."
"I wouldn't miss it for the whole world. And please, I honestly deserved it. But I just wanted to say thank you for today. I haven't laughed this much in quite a while."
There was a short brief silence with our breathing acting as the background track.
"Thank you for the food. You're right, I really really liked it."
"You're welcome Sophia Grace."
Why does he keep saying both my names together? Whatever thoughts I had were interrupted by his yawning, and his weird gibberish before he completely hung up.
"Goodnight Soph."
••••••••••
We were having lunch in the break room before our shift began, and out of nowhere, Cooper pulled back the chair and slammed his food on the table.
"Who the hell pissed in your fruit loops?" Asked Lara
"I wish I had fruit loops. I wish. My stupid friend made me drink kale because I was - and I quote- eating too much sugar since I started working here. And now he packed me a salad. A frickin salad. What do I look like? A cow?"
"Naaa your features are too close to chicken little with your big ass forehead." Laughed Lara, making me choke on my fries.
"And why are you listening to him?" I asked, looking at what he brought.
Kale, arugula, cut up cucumbers, sweet corn and baby carrots mixed in with a sweet smelling dressing. This actually looks pretty good. I mean nowhere as good as the food Axel got me last night, but I wasn't going to open that door.
"Because he's my best friend. Everyone says I'm the clown and he's the sensible one. He's always been with me and been there for me and I know that whatever he tells me to do will always be for my own good. I met Martin back in third grade and we've been friends for the past nine years. And he kind of promised me that he'd give me back my car keys when I lose the weight." He shrugged, holding the arugula to his face - looking like he was about to projectile vomit.
"Dude just eat it. It's not bad. Aren't you on the baseball team? Shouldn't you be eating healthy anyways?" Said Lara, who by the way drank two bottles of iced coffee.
"Girl you are the last one to talk!" I say, throwing my fry at her.
"Wait are those truffle fries?" She asked, but before I answered Landon interrupted us and sat between us.
"What's poppin ladies. Did you guys miss me?" He wiggled his uneven eyebrows like he half expected us to laugh or something.
"Hello to you too Landon. How's it going?" I ask, hoping the truffle fries question doesn't resurface.
Boy was I wrong.
"Hey are those truffle fries? Dude did you go to the love shack?" He asked, stuffing two fries down his pie hole.
"What. What makes you say that?" My voice suddenly rising two octaves higher.
"Because that's what the bag says weirdo."
"Well did you? Without us?" Added Lara.
They kept looking at me, waiting for an answer.
"Yes...? Axel took me there last night. What's the big deal?" There's honestly nothing special about the occasion.
"Jones took you there? Damn dude you think you're someone's friend." Replied Landon, faking a few tears.
"You can say that again." Added Lara, a look of betrayal covering all of her cute features.
Cooper closed his nose and just stuffed the entirety of the salad down his throat, trying with all his power to keep it from resurfacing.
"It's honestly not a big deal. He drove me home because the busses stopped and it was pretty late. He wanted to make sure I got home safe and on the way there he stopped to get food. Its not a big deal."
"Why can't we all do something together then?" Suggested Landon.
Well if they knew that Axel and I were going to the arcade alone tomorrow then they would honestly disown me, and I kind of like them. I wouldn't want them to be upset because they're really good people who I don't want to lose any time soon.
Before my mouth had the chance to ask my brain for permission, it started babbling before I could stop it.
"Hey why don't we all go to the arcade tomorrow?"
"Are you changing the subject?" Said Cooper and Lara together
"Is it working?"
"Hell yeah! Hey Landon, you free tomorrow?" Asked Lara, a cute little blush covering her cheeks.
"I am little dudes. It's gonna be epic!" He said, sounding a little high and a little drunk. I keep swearing I smell a gas leak and I think it keeps getting to his head. Long exposure could be lethal but in little amounts, it produces Landon's entire personality.
"Epic? What is this a frat party?" Laughed Cooper. His laughing definitely stopped as his face turning an uncomfortable shade of green.
"Dude you don't look too good." Asked Lana, sliding her chair away from him and an inch closer to Landon.
His response came in the form of a sprint to the washroom behind us followed by the loudest barfing I've ever heard.
While Landon and Lara were busy closing their ears and distracting themselves from the horrid sounds, I took that as an opportunity to text Axel.
To: Axel Jones🥸
"Hey so uuuuuh change of plans😬😬😬😬 looks like we won't be alone tomorrow. The squad is coming too."
Delivered