I slumped down in my seat, head hanging. Great. Terrific. We were locked in the classroom, school was closing in, I checked my watch, ah, yes. Fourteen minutes. And here I was, tired and alone with Axel.
Axel seemed unnaturally calm about the whole ordeal. He had settled into one of the windowsills and was staring out at the parking lot beneath us. Cars were starting up and escaping the premises, their taillights sending trails of light beams racing down the walls. The employees inside were blissfully unaware of the two teenagers that were trapped in a classroom on the fourth floor.
I contemplated calling Seth, but knowing him, he was already engrossed in one of his TV shows, and wouldn't notice my calls until it was too late. Another glance at the watch confirmed my suspicions. 7 pm was approaching fast, and no student cards would allow entry after that. We were screwed.
"Damn it," I muttered, resting my elbows on the table. The computer was still displaying an error message, but I didn't feel much like editing anymore anyway. The stupid thing could deactivate completely, for all I cared. I was more concerned with the fact that I had to spend the night in here. With Axel, to boot.
"At least it's a Wednesday," Axel said, catching me off guard. He was still looking out the window, swinging his leg back and forth.
"What?"
"We'll be found in the morning," he said. "Don't worry."
I scoffed, getting up from my seat. "I'm not worried," I muttered.
The media classrooms were larger than average and filled to the brim with computers and film equipment. An entire wall was dedicated to cabinets and shelves that held anything from cameras and microphones, to high-end lenses and props. After the extensive theft a couple years back, locks had been installed on all storage spaces. I could no longer walk on over and grab a $900 lens if I wanted to. It was kind of ridiculous that that had been an option before.
Aside from the storage units, the rest of the room was littered with desks and stationary Macs. Cords and electrical sockets were spread around for convenience's sake, accommodating any project that needed a connection. It was a decent classroom, usually filled with decent people. Too bad it wasn't the best place to spend a fall night.
"I almost wish we were stuck in a hallway," I said, more to myself than to anyone else. "The alcoves have pillows..."
Axel kept quiet, staying in his little windowsill palace. Whatever, it's not like I expected him to make this situation bearable. If Seth was here, we would have found a fun way to solve this. Things were rarely fun when Axel was involved, though. I continued stalking around the room, mood growing more and more sullen.
December High had been awarded several prizes throughout the years. One of them was the prestigious "The Future is Green" award, which was given to organizations that proved especially invested in environmental questions. December High's continuous efforts to keep the school as environmentally friendly as possible did not go unnoticed. Both the key card incentive - that was powered by windmill energy - in addition to eco-friendly tools and projects, earned them the title of Greenest School in the district. Another deciding factor had been the school's excellent initiative to save energy.
Another click resounded through the room, and everything around us went black.
"Oh, fantastic," I groaned. "That's just great."
"Huh, I'd forgotten about that." Axel finally spoke up, voice laced with fascination. "Lights out after 7 pm..."
"You're not helping," I warned him, trying to feel my way through the classroom. I yelped as my hip bumped into a table.
"Are you going to sleep?" Axel asked. From the sound of his voice, he was still somewhere close to the window. The darkness was almost complete aside from a few scattered lights from computers and streetlights outside. The clock on the wall was backlit, and the neon green exit sign by the door served no purpose.
"Ouch," I hissed, hitting another corner as I moved. "There's nowhere to sleep here," I said, looking in the general direction of where I thought Axel might be. Something moved by a window, confirming my hunch.
"Hmm," Axel's shadow hummed. "I guess you're right."
I found my previous seat - an achievement considering the situation - and slumped back into it. The seat was hard plastic, built to support students' backs, not to be slept in. I glanced at the wall clock as it all began to sink in. It was barely past 7 pm. The first employees wouldn't show up until 6 am at the earliest. We'd be stuck here nearly twelve hours.
I sank further into the chair. It was like all the air had been let out of my exhausted body. What in the world would I do with all this time? Axel had asked me about sleep, but even that seemed far off. 7 pm was early, especially by teenager standards. There was no way I could just conk out and wake up in time for 1st period.
"Hey," Axel said, interrupting my slow descent into madness. "About what you said earlier."
I blinked against the darkness. Had I said anything? Everything had been enveloped by the horror of the lock-in. What was Axel talking about?
"About Fort Violet," he continued.
I shut my mouth, which had been wide open without my permission. My cheeks burned at the memory of my outburst. Right. Fort Violet. The dam that had burst and bathed me in a healthy dose of humiliation.
Axel remained quiet and annoyance pricked at me. Did he bring up my anger just to embarrass me? Or...
"I didn't know you were thinking that way," he said at last. His words seemed far away, even though he was just a few feet to my right. I kind of wished I could see his expression.
"It's... I'm sorry about that," I mumbled, scratching the back of my head. "I've had a shitty past few days, so I got kind of heated. Didn't mean to let it out on you."
Axel didn't reply to that, but apologizing made my shoulders feel lighter. Axel got on my nerves, true, but he didn't deserve the way I spoke to him earlier. It was weird, but hanging around him made me do weird stuff. I got annoyed with Seth and my brother all the time, but I'd never exploded like that before. It felt unnatural.
"...Did you want to?" Axel's voice sounded again. He dragged his words — they almost sounded uncertain.
"Huh?" I said, turning my head. My eyes were getting used to the dark. I thought I saw Axel's silhouette by the window.
"Talk," he replied. "Did you want to?"
My mouth fell open again. His words hung between us, question dancing in the stagnant air. Did I want to talk? To him? I'd spent the last month trying to achieve conversation with him - unsuccessfully, at that - and now he asked me if I wanted to talk? Just, out of the blue like that?
"I... Talk about what?" I said stupidly.
"Fort Violet," Axel said. "Your girlfriend, the fighting..." He paused, hanging on to his words. "...My dad."
I frowned. I'd been so worried about saying the wrong thing, inciting Axel's rage and getting my ass kicked... The prospect of "talking it out" with him was an odd one. Was he really just socially inept?
"Well," I made up my mind. "We've got plenty of time, so I don't see why not."
Axel made a sound, and then he seemed to be removing himself from his window seat. Slowly but surely his shadow moved through the room, navigated past the lethal edges of tables and chairs, and reached my seat. A scraping sound hinted to his retrieval of a chair, and then the school delinquent sat down next to me. The room grew so silent I could hear the clock ticking on the wall.
"Um," I said, unsure where to begin. Where did you begin with this stuff? Fort Violet had been the first incident, but really, hadn't it all began by the rooftop? On that September afternoon, all those days ago?
"The fighting," Axel said as if reading my mind. "Is not for fun."
I nodded, mentally chewing on that. Alright, that made sense. After getting a punch to my own nose, enjoying the concept of fighting seemed more and more like an impossibility for me. It was only natural that Axel had some other reason to do it.
I was pleased, but admittedly surprised as well. Here I was, sitting in the dark with Axel Montgomery, who was willingly volunteering information about himself... This really was an odd day.
"Fort Violet..." He continued. "I don't like tight spaces."
Oh, okay, so we were done with the previous topic? Already? I'd been curious about Fort Violet as well, so I figured the best thing was to let him elaborate on that. I made a sound of encouragement.
"My dad..." Axel muttered. "Likes controlling things."
The silence settled between us. I stared at the dark lump that was Axel, listening to the rhythmic tick-tock of the wall clock.
"Your turn," he had the audacity to say.
A different kind of dam burst inside of me, and laughter bubbled out of my chest. Unable to hold it back, it welled out of me like an overflowing river. The ridiculousness of the situation completely overtook me. Here I was expecting us to chatter and talk all night, and that's what he managed to spew? Here I was expecting us to talk things through, maybe learn a few things about each other, and this is what Axel had to say?
"What?" Axel questioned.
"God," I muttered, brushing a stray tear from my cheekbone, chest still heaving with laughter. Everything this guy did was priceless. Simply priceless. "You really know how to talk things through, huh?"
"I don't get it."
"It's fine. Man, I haven't laughed like that in ages..."
"Still don't know why you're laughing."
I straightened my back against the chair, spirits suddenly lifted. It was past 7 pm, I was stuck here with Axel, and my stomach was growling like no tomorrow. Yet, in spite of all this, I couldn't help but feel strangely upbeat. We hadn't talked things through - not really, but my shoulders were lighter nonetheless. Being around Axel was an odd experience indeed.
"Ah," the man himself exclaimed, dragging me back to reality. Had I been chuckling to myself...?
"What?" I questioned.
Axel was rummaging around, presumably getting up from his seat - I could only see a general outline through the darkness - and moving towards the windows again.
"What?" I repeated, turning my head.
Axel was standing by the window now, raven hair melting into the rest of his silhouette. The streetlights outside cast a revealing light on his shape. He was tapping the glass with his knuckles.
"I think," he said, "we can get out of here after all."
I stumbled to my feet, hand clasping my cell phone. "Really? How?"
Axel nodded - evident in the way his shadow moved - and grabbed the handle on the side of the window. He yanked at it, and I struggled past tables and computers to reach him.
"What are you doing?"
"Opening it."
"Well, obviously, but why? You're not suggesting— "
Axel made a sound that was suspiciously close to laughter. The handle finally relented, and with a final pull, the window came open. An icy draft washed over us, and the drone of engines and city sounds came alive.
"Let's go," Axel said, tilted smile visible in the yellow hues from the streetlights.