Axel

6

  I S A B E L L A

A long week of cleaning up the aftermath of the storm had left me exhausted, and I found myself loosing track of the days.

Abby had ignored me at school, and I had gone through the five stages of grief when she decided to spread a rumour about me. According to her, I was a whore who had been passed around through Keith and Axel.

Axel Brown.

Unexpectedly I didn't think the last name suited him, it was too soft for who he was. Yet I was thrilled with the extra information I had received about him, because solving him was the only thing keeping me sane right now.

Although the backlash I received from the rumour had somewhat put me off from Axel, I had stopped seeking him out as much when the girls corned me in the halls and told me not to go near him.

It hasn't been easy, because he's everywhere I am.

He's in the cafe almost everyday, ordering the same drink that contains hot chocolate. We hardly talk apart from a single greeting, which is mostly one sided as he hardly acknowledges me - only shoving the money on the counter and leaving.

There's something different about him, something dark following him and although all the signs tell me to stay away I can't help but want to know. I had a problem, I knew that. There has been countless times where I have fixated on someone in the cafe and felt the need to figure out everything about them, yet nothing had satisfied me. They'd turn out to be plain, and easy to figure out and I'd grow bored of observing them.

And then I met him, and I couldn't figure him out and that sparked a fire in me that grew with each piece of information id puzzle together about him.

Every day, his large frame leans on the wall, patiently waiting for his order. He always stood on his phone, never spoke to anybody and every two days he wore gym gear, and apart from revealing where his build had come from it didn't say much about him.

I don't dare call out his name, my colleagues always do it. I don't have the courage to. I watch him push off the wall and slide his phone into his pocket, he nods at my colleague and takes the plastic cup before leaving without looking back.

And I'm only left waiting for him to arrive the next day, so the cycle can continue. I smile, he'll nod and then he'll leave without one word to me. It's a loop i've gotten used to by now, i just don't know if i like it.

"Hey." Lucy greets with a warm smile, she has her apron on and a towel around her neck. Her hair in a messy ponytail that enhanced her face structure as she placed a plate in the dishwasher.

"Hi." I brightly smile at her, cleaning up a counter. It was late, and i was pleased to be closing the cafe with Lucy tonight.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" She asks, and i shake my head. Her lips curl into a smile that now reaches her eyes as she swipes the towel from around her neck and gently places it down.

"Oh that's great! Do you like watching people fight?" She asks, and the question causes me to knit my eyebrows.

"I don't know, maybe? I don't really watch that stuff." I reply, lifting a chair and stacking it onto the other.

"This boy i sorta like invited me to come watch him fight, i don't want to go alone. Would you like to?" She wore an expression that seemed too convincing, but the way her thumbs circled eachother revealed her anxiety about going alone.