CONSUME

[23] aftercare

***

kameron springfield

"Damn it," I mumbled to myself, holding my phone tightly in my hand and glancing at it every other second. I'm late for my own Club Meeting. It starts at 3 o'clock PM, and I'm nearly over ten minutes late. My last class of the day ran over time since I had an exam to take, therefore I couldn't make it punctually to Club. 

"I'm here!" I exclaimed victoriously as I walked into the classroom, the commotion of my voice bringing everyone's attention to me. I sighed, heading straight for my desk. After throwing all of my stuff down, I looked around the room. 

"Late. That's unlike you." 

I gasped, almost jumping from being startled by the sound of his voice. The voice I haven't heard since it was whispering sensual praises into my ear and fingering my--

Oh my god. I whipped my head at him and, "You. Decided to show up today?" I asked pointedly, finding myself grow overwhelmed at the sight of Axel. I'm feeling not only flustered with the memories of the things we've done together, but also a bit upset with how it all ended two nights ago. When he left from my bedroom window with no explanation. I frowned, getting more angry at the thought.

He's showed up to school today, and now he's sitting in the desk in front of me with a blank expression on his face. He's got dark circles under his eyes, as if he hasn't been sleeping, and his hair is messily styled. Arms crossed with a dark green hoodie on. He didn't respond to me. 

I decided I'd may as well act as normal as possible, seeing as everybody in the room is watching our interaction. I cleared my throat and straightened out the black sweater I'm wearing. I stepped to the front of the room and said, "Sorry I'm late guys. Everybody working okay?" I asked, looking at students' desks and seeing different works of art. 

A few people nodded, and so I continued. "Anyone have any volunteer papers for the Winter Fair?" I asked. 

To that nobody said a word, and Karly looked up to me with an apologetic expression on her face. I looked at Cole, who shrugged, and I pursed my lips with disappointment. 

"Well, that's fine I guess. It's not a required thing anyways," I stated. I smiled at Cole lightly, remembering the last conversation we had. I'm trying to act indifferent about everything, hoping that if I'm simply friendly and keep maintaining our typical dynamic, the whole 'he has feelings for me' thing will just blow over. "Guess it's just you and me for the volunteering, then." I told him. 

Cole eyed me up and down, and then nodded with a smile. He didn't say anything though. I hope he's not too uncomfortable about my lack of response to his confession. But he seems alright enough about the two of us volunteering together, so it'll be okay I suppose.

I shifted my gaze to everyone else, until it landed annoyingly on Axel. He was staring at Cole who sat in front of him, icy blue eyes burning holes through the back of his head. I frowned at his strange demeanor, but then froze in place when Axel looked to me. 

"What about the Winter Fair?" Axel asked. 

His deep voice was heard throughout the entire classroom, and all of the members of the club stopped what they were doing to look at him. It's jarring to hear him speak up so clearly amongst the whole class, because usually during these meetings he's completely silent for the entire hour. 

Karly fluttered her eyelashes at him, her face turning pink. I wanted to roll my eyes at her reaction, feeling my blood simmer from her infatuation with Axel. 

"The Club has a tent for the Winter Fair. We do face painting. I handed out volunteer forms at the last meeting." I pressed my lips together after I informed him, huffing out air and trying to ignore my emotions towards him, as well as the way that Karly and some other girls in the room are watching him. My jaw clenched from the girls' eyes on Axel's face and his hands that are crossed around his body. He sat back in his desk's chair comfortably man spreading his legs.