Trials Of A Heart | ✔️

6

~Brielle's POV~

When I got to school the next day, I immediately began to look around for Phoenix, wanting to ask him about when his next match was. If I didn't ask whilst I was thinking of it, I'd probably forget to ask at all.

First I began looking around inside, thinking he would be here already since it was almost time for the first class to begin, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I also couldn't find his friend, Matias, anywhere, so it wasn't like I had anyone I could ask. After I finally gave up on looking inside, I decided to instead look outside the building for him. I wandered aimlessly around the front door before I walked over to the side of the building and rounded the side of it, peeking around to see if I could find him, but he wasn't over there either.

Frustrated, I spun around and immediately slammed into a hard chest, making my nose throb slightly. "Ow!" I exclaimed in surprise, taking a step back. "Geez. Watch where you're going, won't you?" I heard a familiar voice tease, causing me to look up. To my surprise, my eyes landed on that of Phoenix, standing before me with a playful smirk on his lips. "Phoenix!" I gasped, glad that I had finally found him. Though to be more accurate, it seemed like he had found me. "I was looking all over for you." I told him honestly, which seemed to surprise him because he raised his brows.

"For me?" He repeated. "What for?" He asked, clearly very confused. I gave him a smile and push my hair out of my face, beginning to grow a little anxious. "Y-You remember the friend I was with when I went to your boxing match? She was in the room talking to Bowie for a little bit?" I recalled, but he just stared at me, looking entirely clueless.

"Sorry, no. Can't say I remember her." He shrugged, causing me to frown deeply. I lifted a hand and awkwardly scratched the back of my neck. "Oh." I said awkwardly. "W-Well, she really likes boxing. Your boxing, to be specific. I told her I'd ask if, um," I cleared my throat and felt my face begin to warm as he stared at me intently, making me feel hot. "I said I'd ask if you have any recent matches coming up so that she and I can go together." I told him, looking away uncomfortably. There was no way I could look this man in the eye for longer than five seconds and not want to pee myself.

He gently grabbed my chin and turned my face towards his again. "Firstly, look at me when you're talking to me." He said, making my cheeks burn. I thought he'd let go of my face but he didn't, a smirk slowly growing on his lips as he eyed my facial features. "And secondly," He began, brown eyes wandering to my lips. "I thought you said you don't like violence. Why would you want to go again? Trying to get a peek of me with my shirt off?" He hummed, sounding playful.

Phoenix had a way of teasing me that made my face burn even if it wasn't true, shaking my head adamantly as I peered up at him. "N-No!" I squealed, flustered. "I'm not a pervert, I promise!" I exclaimed. That just made him snort in amusement, his eyes glinting with undisguised mirth. "People who aren't perverts generally don't insist so aggressively that they aren't perverts." He responded, biting his bottom lip as he looked at me. My heart began to pound as he took a step closer to me, pushing me back behind the side of the school more so that we were hidden by the wall. "T-That..I'm..." My words began to fail me miserably as he pressed me into the wall, making my brain malfunction.

My hands trembled as he got even closer, so much so that our chests touched and his breath fanned over my face. "You what?" He hummed, cocking up a brow. He placed both his hands on either side of my head, caging me against the bricks, and it was then that I lost control of the words that left my mouth. "I-I....I'm not normally a pervert b-but you do look really good with your shirt off." I admitted, and his brows shot up in surprise. "Oh?" He grinned. "Sounds to me like you really do just want to see me with my shirt off." He chuckled, but I weakly shook my head, unable to believe I had said that to him.

"That's not it!" I exclaimed, looking down as I placed my hands on his hard chest and gently pushed him back. I couldn't think straight when he was so close to me. "I just... I told her I would go again, so I'm asking if you have another match any time soon." I explained, trying my best not to sink myself into the embarrassment that I was still feeling. He didn't try to get closer to me again, thankfully, and just smiled. "I'm only teasing you, Brielle. You're fun to play with. I know you're not creeping on me like that." He assured me, running a hand through his brown hair. "And yes, I do have a match coming up. It's next weekend, on Saturday night." He told me. He paused for a minute and then grinned mischievously. "How about we exchange numbers, so I can text you the information later?" He suggested.

Though at first I was a little bit hesitant to agree, seeing as I still hardly knew Phoenix at all, I ultimately ended up swapping phone numbers with him. Besides, he was harmless, it seemed. Sure, he was a little bit brooding and playful and he teased me a lot but he was still harmless. It wasn't like he'd do anything to me.

After we exchanged numbers he and I headed into the building together, which ended up attracting a bit more attention than I had expected it to. Thankfully, though, he walked off rather quickly and everyone seemed to kind of ignore my presence, which I was honestly okay with. I didn't want attention from anyone.

I did, however, kind of wish he had said goodbye before walking off. It was only polite. But then again, Phoenix doesn't seem like the type to do something just because it's the polite thing to do.

**

After school, I sat in my bedroom on my bed, letting a show that I had already seen before play on Netflix as background music whilst I was coloring in a coloring book and snacking on grapes. We hadn't been given any homework yet again, and I prayed it would stay that way for a little longer.

As I was focusing on coloring, my phone suddenly began to ring as it laid next to me. I took a look and saw that it was Phoenix, so I reluctantly answered the call. "Hello?" I said into the phone, popping another grape into my mouth. "You picked up quick." Phoenix simply responded. I swallowed the grape and furrowed my brows. "Well, yeah. I'm at home, and it's not like we have any homework yet. What else am I supposed to be busy doing besides nothing?" I wondered, causing him to snort softly, as if he found my response funny.

"Most people who are twenty and in college go party their asses off, or maybe have random sex with someone. Speaking from experience here, you know. Well, except I wasn't in college when I did it." He chuckled. I felt my face flush and I began to twirl a strand of my hair around my finger. "Well, I don't really like alcohol and it's generally very common at parties, especially in college...Actually, I don't really like parties, either." I told him, peering up at my ceiling in thought. "You don't like a lot of things." He said bluntly, but I didn't mind. "So, no parties, then. What about the sex part? Who doesn't like sex?" He asked.

"Phoenix, you realize we barely know each other at all. I-I don't want to talk about my sex life...." I refused, too embarrassed to admit that I didn't even have one. It seemed I didn't even need to say it, though. "Oh, you don't want to? Or is it just that you don't have any experience on the matter, so you have nothing to say?" He hummed. I stayed quiet and he laughed softly, but I was grateful that he didn't sound mocking or like he was making fun of me. "Just say that next time." He chuckled into the phone and the sound made my gut clench. "But it's embarrassing..." I mumbled, popping another grape into my mouth to eat.

"I might be a bit of a jerk sometimes," His voice was light as he spoke. "But I'm not so much of an asshole that I'd make fun of you for something like that. It's not a thing to be ashamed of either way."