<Rox>
I stood there and looked in the mirror: nothing different today than any other. Blue jeans, worn out converse, plain long sleeve. My brown hair laid flat down my back like every day. Just a touch of mascara and I was ready to head to class. Accounting, psychology, and French. Maybe not the funnest lineup, but I was ready. Yet, there was something about today that just felt different. I'm not sure what it was, but I felt like I might actually accomplish something worth while today. And I liked that sense of pride. I grabbed my bag and headed to the car. It wasn't great, an '87 Toyota Corolla, but it got me everywhere I needed it to. Even when the harsh winters came in and froze everything in its wake.
Luckily, it wasn't that cold yet. Just the beginning of fall. The leaves had started changing into magnificent hues of orange and yellow. A few had fallen, but not enough to make the streets look dirty and cluttered. This was my favorite time of the year. The sky was still blue, with a few wispy clouds spaced sporadically. Cool enough to wear a scarf, or maybe a beanie, but not enough to need a jacket. But even more exciting than the weather, was the boy standing nonchalantly against my driver door: Axel.
Axel was one of my best friends. We met our junior year of high school when I transferred districts. We'd been through everything together. Relationships, parents, school; you name it, we'd handled it together. But after graduation, Axel left for vacation in France. He was supposed to be back a couple weeks ago to get ready for school. He sent me a letter telling me he was extending his stay to learn more about the culture and that he wouldn't be back until winter quarter. Today was the was first day of fall quarter. I was beyond surprised to see him standing with his backpack against my car like this wasn't a big deal for me.
I threw my bag down and ran to him at full speed, jumping onto him in a giant hug. I'd missed him so much. But suddenly I was angry. He's here. Now. He lied to me. I slapped his arm and glared at him.
"What are you doing here?" I said a little too loud crossing my arms for emphasis.
"Umm, hopefully getting a ride to school?" he responded sardonically rubbing his bicep. He knew what I meant. But he also knew I couldn't stay mad at him.
"No! What are you doing here? As in this town? You're supposed to be in France until winter," I explained slowly.
"Oh, that," he sighed. "I decided France wasn't as important as I thought it was. Life wasn't going to wait for me, so I, uh, came back to get a jump start."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're here. Even if you didn't tell me you we coming! Let me go get my bag and we can head out."
I walked over and retrieved my backpack from the asphalt and climbed in the drivers seat. I let the engine heat up and picked a song to start the ride: Crown The Empire. Hopefully France hadn't changed Axel's taste in music too much. I couldn't handle my best friend any different than before he left. Because truth be told, I was in love with him just the way he was.
The drive to school wasn't a long one, but I pressured him to tell me as much as he could about his trip. What it looked like, how the food was, the differences in culture.. But there was one major point I was trying to get at.
"So, did you meet anyone?" I asked with the same amount of urgency as the previous questions.
"Well, yeah. I met tons of people," he laughed.
"Not what I meant, haha. I mean, did you meet any girls you particularly took a liking to?" I questioned a little more nervously.
"There were a few girls who seemed nice enough, but no. None of them really caught my attention," he responded more quietly.
I glanced over and he was looking out the window. I knew what that meant; his detached "don't ask me that" demeanor. The conversation was over. He always did that when I asked him about girls. As I pulled in to the parking lot I wondered if he knew. If he knew how I felt and just didn't want to hurt me. But there was that small piece of me, in the back of my mind, that hoped just a little, that he felt the same way. I pushed the thought aside as I parked the car and shut off the engine.
"You ready?" I tried for excitement, but sounded more anxious.
"As much as I can be," he sighed as we parted ways to go to our first class.
