Oh, The Joys of Being "Popular"-Tucker
Spring in high school really only meant one thing: prom season.
Ever since the first day we returned from Christmas break, prom was all the senior class could talk about. Who was taking who, what girls were wearing the same dresses (gasp!), the houses in the Pocono's we were going to rent for the weekend after the dance, and so on. Prom was the only common ground among each and every student in the class. In a way, it served as something that brought people together. Even if you thought you were too cool to admit it (Axel and I) or if you were over the so-called "heinous popularity façade," (the females who fangirled over Korean Pop music and went to museums for fun) deep down, everyone was excited about prom. The only thing that truly had the potential to make prom a disaster was the prom court.
Thankfully, I was left out of the prom court drama that year because my girlfriend was a junior and therefore couldn't be nominated as my queen. Axel, however, fared quite differently.
By January, he had garnered the reputation of being the sexy, mysterious, star-soccer player and foreign boy who was damn good with his hands, on the field and off of it (a direct quote from at least three of the girls he's gotten with.)
Everyone felt one mutual emotion when they thought of my best friend, and that was jealousy. The straight guys wanted to be him, (Axel had made a name for himself in the male community for his famous "two fuck one Otto" scandal in which he pulled a freshman and senior in one night) the gay guys wanted to do him, and the girls he hadn't fucked wanted any piece of him they could get.
The only other thing every senior girl had in common, besides the bizarre craving for my best friend, was the innate, devout, unfathomable lust for the title of prom queen. And if one of them had any chance of achieving that dream, it was with Axel. And boy did he know it.
"I'm taking Jessica to the movies tonight," he was saying to me as we stood at our lockers, ready to go home for the day. I stood up straight and gave my best friend a look. He grinned wickedly back at me.
"You're disgusting," I told him honestly. This was his third "date" this week. Girls had been throwing themselves at him left and right as soon as they discovered that he was the secret ingredient in the prom queen magic formula, and it really wasn't doing good things for Ax's already inflated ego.
The shitty thing was, I was the scientist behind it all. I was the man responsible for single-handedly getting my best friend innumerable fucks that Spring, all because I mentioned something to this girl I sit next to in calculus.
Our conversation went a bit like this:
Girl: God, do you hear those girls?
The two bitches in front of us were talking about likely candidates for Queen. One of them suggested herself.
Me: laughs slightly. Yeah, right?
Girl: I wish prom didn't exist. We should just have a spring dance or something, that way everyone can have fun without the popularity contest.
Yeah, this was the type of girl I mentioned earlier. The one who listens to K-Pop.
Me: Nods head appreciatively, trying to be polite whilst desperately wanting to suggest she find a Korean dick to sit on.
Girl: I mean like, do they seriously think that the title of prom queen will make them better people? Will it help them in the long run?
Yes, this girl was seriously still talking. This is why I said what I said next.
Me: They're just doing it wrong. Whoever ends up dating Otto will win Queen. He's any girl's key to winning, no matter who said girl is. People love him; therefore people will vote for him and whomever he is dating.
Girl: Pauses. Oh, well, I guess that's true.
Annnnnd cue every girl in a ten-mile radius flinging themselves at my best friend. I said that three weeks ago, so by now I was getting sick and tired of Axel using all these innocent doe-eyed females just to get a couple of good fucks from the girls who would put out, and decent blow jobs from the ones who at least had a small shred of dignity. I love my best friend, but he was being absolutely repulsive.
"I know," Axel told me, sticking his tongue out. I shook my head at him before we started to walk down the hallway towards the exit.
And that's when this super weird thing happened.
Some guy, a decent looking, small-waisted brunette, about my height with really good style, shut his locker door in front of us, then began to walk towards us. It was beyond obvious he was checking Axel out and I resisted the urge to point it out.
When he had gotten within conversational distance, his eyes finally settled on Axel's face. He smirked.
"Axel," the boy called out, his voice strangely deep, causing my best friend to snap his eyes up to the boy as soon as he tossed a small object towards us. Axel caught it, stopped walking, and stared down at it. He started chuckling when he realized it was his wallet.
"Thanks, man. I owe you," Axel told him with a head nod. I was growing suspicious. The kid looked familiar, maybe, but he definitely wasn't someone we would ever hang out with.
The kid only smirked. "Don't worry about it," he said, some weird sensual undertone to his voice I didn't quite understand. Axel chuckled again before saying a goodbye and resuming his walk again.
I was left dumb founded in the middle of the hallway for a few seconds, flashes of smirks and eye rolls and once over's falling into place in my mind. I jogged to catch up to Axel.
"You fucked him, didn't you?"
Axel barely even hesitated. "What? No I didn't. He's in my group for the history project. We were working on it at his house last night and I forgot my wallet."
I could always tell when Axel was lying to me. He hated doing it, so he always avoided my stare, rushed his answer, and crackled his knuckles behind his back.
Right now, he was doing all of the above.
"Axel, I know you're lying, I can tell when you're lying." For some reason, my voice was rising and anger was coursing through my veins. I hated it when Axel lied to me.
"Jesus Tuck, you're in our history class. You know we're in the same group!" This time he looked me in the eyes, only because his words weren't necessarily lies. His cheeks were flaming a light pink, though, and that's what really gave him away. Axel never blushed, like ever.
"Stop lying to me! I know you fucked him!"
Axel pushed me square in the chest after I said-yelled, really-that last part.
"What the fuck, Tuck? Stop yelling at me, leave it alone!"
He stormed away from me, throwing open the double doors that led to the senior parking lot, looking like he was in some high school rom-com film. I jogged to catch up to him, sighing with impatience.
Once I reached him, I grabbed his shoulder. "Can I borrow a dollar?"
It was a dick move, sure, but it was the only way I was going to get him to admit he was lying to me.
Axel's eyebrows furrowed as he stopped on the cement steps, mumbling an "I guess," reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. As soon as he opened it up, I snatched it right out of his vulnerable little hands.
"HEY!"
It was too late. I was already holding the wallet open, giving him a clear view of the empty pocket. His face paled. I raised my eyebrows.
"I haven't gotten around to replacing the one from this weekend," he attempted, his voice weak like he knew what I was going to say next.
"Save it, Axel. I watched you put a new condom in here yesterday morning, meaning the only possible way this pocket would be empty is if you had sex last night."
He rolled his lip between his teeth, taking a deep breath. When he spoke, his voice was tired, angry, and justifiably so. I shouldn't have pushed him so hard.
"Ok, so what? I fucked him. I fucked the kid from History, are you happy? Do you want to give me a trophy or a medal?"
"That's not how the expression goes," I mumbled, handing his wallet back. Guilt bit at my stomach; I hated seeing Axel's grins fade.
"Who bloody cares," he started walking again. "What's your deal anyway? Don't like that I'm versatile?"
The pompous tone he used for the last part made me angry, jealous even. "No," I barked back. "I don't like when you lie to me."
Axel snorted. "I lie to you all the time."
This time it was my turn to snort. "Bullshit, dude. You physically can't lie to me. It goes against your nature."
"Whatever," he mumbled in response, pulling the collar of his jacket up higher on his neck. I took my keys out of my pocket and unlocked my car. Axel grabbed them right from my hand and jogged to the passenger's side. I watched him lean over and turn the car on, then blast the heat.
We were mostly silent on the way home. I parked my car outside the Otto's and followed Axel in. This was our daily routine. I hung out with Axel for the hour Maggie was still in school, (senior's got out earlier than everyone else) and then left to go pick her up when she texted me. Mags and I would either make out, watch movies, or study, then do it all over again the next day. At this point I still hadn't taken her virginity; Axel had threatened my manhood enough times for me to realize fucking his sister wouldn't be the most intelligent idea.
I was still feeling kinda weird about the whole Axel-fucking-guys thing as we sat in his beanbag chairs playing Fifa. I remember tossing my controller on the ground after he won for the second time in a row, then turning to look at him, like really look at him.
He didn't look gay. Before today, Axel was the straightest guy I knew. Now I realized he wasn't particularly all that straight, just very horny.
"So, was it different?" I asked him, the first time we had spoken since the school.
I watched him shake his head, his eyes fluttering closed. "I knew you would do this. This is exactly why I didn't tell you."
"Do what? Axel, you know I don't care. We're best friends. I'm just curious, that's all."
He sighed, then turned the TV off and stretched out on his beanbag. For some reason I was conscious of his shirt riding up, exposing the taut skin on his abdomen as he did so.
"It wasn't different. Not really. Fewer curves, more dick, no tits. What you would expect, really."
"Huh," I said, still looking at Ax's exposed skin. His words didn't really sink in, until a few minutes later, when he broke the silence I had created.
"I liked it."
He sounded scared. Like, liking sex with History boy was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him.
I smiled at him, trying to make him feel a little better. He managed one back. "Dude, that's awesome," I told him. I hated-still hate-seeing Axel show weakness; he is the strongest man I know. "That just means your horizons have expanded. Just think of all the potential conquests!"
Axel laughed at that. "Yeah... I guess you're right. But hey, I still prefer tits. Just remember that when you try to set me up with someone."
I nodded. "Alright, dude."
My phone buzzed with a text from Maggie. She needed a ride. "I'm going to go pick up your sister," I told him, getting up and shoving my phone in my pocket.
Axel was busy staring at his own phone, smiling slightly at something. "Ok," he said, distractedly. I was a bit surprised. Usually, he'd make an attempt at preventing me from deflowering his sister. I figured he was talking to History boy or some other unimportant pawn, so I headed out. But before I got to the front door, he was calling out to me.
"Hey Oaks!"
I smiled, turning around to see him leaning over the railing at the top of the staircase. "You touch my sister and I tell the whole school you have Chlamydia. Enjoy the rest of your day, babe!"
He started uncontrollably laughing, snorting to himself as he headed back to his room.
That was the Axel I knew.