As Told By Tuck & Axel

Are You Jealous?

Chapter: Are You Jealous?

Author: Axel Otto

Tuck had decided to marry my sister around September of that year. He asked for my permission of course, which I gave him. That weekend, he traveled home to ask my father for permission next. Mrs. Oaks heard he was coming, and insisted I come too. So, I drove up a couple hours after Tuck did. I wanted to surprise him.

We had dinner, and everything got awkward after Tuck told his mom he wanted to marry Maggie. Mrs. O loved my sister of course, but she thought that Tucker wasn't financially capable of having a wife yet. I didn't disagree, and neither did Tuck. He told his mom that they weren't getting married for a while, and that seemed to settle Mrs. Oaks for a while.

After dinner, she and I went for a walk. She insisted that we needed to catch up, but I wasn't surprised when the first thing she brought up was the impending marriage.

"So, what do you think about it, Ax? I know he values your opinion more than anyone else's." The hint of disdain in her voice made me chuckle.

"That he does," she smiled at me. "I don't know, Mrs. O," I kicked a pebble on the side of the road, shoving my hands in my pockets. "I guess I always knew it was going to happen. I just didn't think it was going to be this soon."

She nodded, then looked over at me with a strange smile. "Are you jealous?"

I scoffed. "Jealous? Of my sister? I mean, it's not like I thought he was going to propose to me, Mrs. O," I chuckled awkwardly. "I mean, he's straight. He's straight! We would never get married, no, it's impossible."

Mrs. Oaks looked taken aback as she paused in the middle of the sidewalk. I paused with her. After a few seconds, she looked up at me with a smile and broken chuckles. "Oh, Axel," she shook her head. "I meant, are you jealous that Tucker is getting married before you, not are you jealous that he asked Maggie instead of you!"

She broke off into hysterical laughter afterwards, probably assuming my previous response was my attempt at being humorous. It wasn't.

"Axel, you're too cute," she said, shaking her head at me again. I could feel my cheeks heat up even more.

We grew silent for the rest of the way; Mrs. Oaks really just needed to be by herself for a while. But before we walked back into the house, she paused, her hand on the doorknob, and smiled back at me. "If it counts," she said. "I'm so team Axel."