Dragon Racers

The One And Only

I sat by the lake, letting my toes curl underneath the sand. My eyes were sore from crying and the once warm streaks of water that flowed down my cheeks had finally ceased. Rose sensed my sadness and she nudged her head against mine before giving me a lick. I gave her a weak smile as I rubbed her nose. I looked down at my reflection. My chocolate hair covered half my face and my face had grown red from all the crying.

I heard a snap behind me and I quickly turned my head to the sound. Axel stood tall, his eyes never leaving mine. Tears began to drown out my vision and I tried hard not to let them spill. Axel’s expression saddened and he ran over to me. His strong arms wrapped around me and I welcomed the embrace. I nuzzled my head into his chest and I let the new batch of tears to fall. He swayed lightly and he put a reassuring hand on the back of my head.

“I’m so sorry Axel! I’m so sorry!” I said between sobs.

“Shh… It’s okay.” He said still cradling me in his arms. I sniffed and my brows furrowed.

“You’re not mad?” I said looking up at him. He wiped away a stray tear with his thumb and slowly shook his head. He held me in his arms for a few more minutes before speaking.

“I better take you home.” I froze.

“I can’t go home! The last time I spoke to my mom, we got in a heated argument and I basically foretold my father’s death!” I was hysterical. “How am I supposed to face her now?” I said shaking my head and burrowing myself into his chest once more.

“I’m sure she will forgive you. The best thing to do right now is go home and comfort her.” I was hesitant at first, but slowly nodded.  “Good girl.” Axel said, getting up and stretching out hand for me to grab.

“Um … Axel…” I began, as we walked down the street.

“Mmm” was his reply. He looked out onto the road ahead of us and his hands were casually placed in his pockets.

“I know this is a bad time to be talking about this, but about the race-”

“No Luna how many times do I have to tell you? He took his hand out of his pocket and brought it to his forehead, as if to relieve an oncoming migraine. We are No-

I cut him off before he could begin scolding me again. “Just hear me out. Now that my father is gone…” I stiffened up. Saying it out loud made it seem so real. I shook my thoughts. I needed to get my head straight. “My mom is going to need all the help she can get and the grand prize might be enough to get us by.”

“Listen Luna-”

“No you listen!” I grabbed the back of his wrist. He spun around and looked down at me. “You and I both know we can win this thing! We can split the winnings like we always do! I need this please, please.” I said tightening my grip. He stared into my eyes and I stared back at his. A flash of regret showed on his face, but as soon as it came it was gone.

“There really is no winning with you is there?” He said sighing. I smiled from ear to ear. I let go of his wrist and pulled him into a hug.

“Oh Thank you thank you thank you!” I said giddily. He sighed once more and wrapped his toned arms around me.

“This is the last one you got that? After this it’s strictly professional racing. No more shady business.” I nodded eagerly and the rest of the way I felt happier. My heart still felt swollen and seeing my mother’s red eyes didn’t make it any better.

“Mom…” my voice was no louder than a whisper. She gave me small smile and I hugged her. We stood by the front door comforting each other until, we couldn’t cry anymore. Feeling awkward, Axel began to turn and leave, when my Mother stopped him.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” She said wiping off a stray tear.

“Oh I couldn’t.” He said being polite.

“No I insist, it’s the least I can do for looking out for Luna.” She said giving me a gentle squeeze.

“Are you sure?” he said. His greens eyes pierced mine. I gave a small shrug and nodded. Dinner was quite. Every so often my mom would ask Axel questions and either he or I would answer with short vague responses; careful not to give out any info of how we might know each other outside of school.

The rest of the evening went by quite quickly. After Axel left, I said goodnight to my mother and went to my room. I quickly changed out of my school clothes and into something more comfortable. I flopped onto my bed and let my mind travel. My eyes stung from all the crying and even now, I still wanted to cry, but drowsiness got the best of me and I was soon in a dreamless sleep.

Despite my mother’s concern and my mind telling me that I could take a break for a day, I got ready and dressed the next morning for school. Like usual, I stopped by the old barn to see Rose. We spoke for a while, although I did all the talking and she just played around, until I had to leave. I gave her one last hug and went on my way.

When I arrived at school, a lot of people were staring at me. I just assume they had heard a rumor or two about my father’s passing. As I entered history, May and Fang both gave me sympathetic smiles and I gave them a small reassuring one in return.

“So… When were you going to tell us?” May said as I began getting out my books for class.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my dad I only found out yesterday.” I said searching my bag for a pencil.

“Not about that, although we’re really sorry about your loss.” Fang tapped me on the shoulder with a spare one he had. I nodded my thanks and turned to May.

“About what then?” I said looking for papers, that my vortex of a bag seemed to have sucked up.

“About the fact that you know the one and only Axel.” My eyes went wide.

Crap.

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Hey guys, I hoped you enjoyed chapter 7! You can't  yell at me because it's not yet midnoght so that means i made it before my dead line. (that none of you really know about, but basicly to post something every weekend.) I'm planing on writing an online diary. Mostly because I think my life is crazy I don't know when i'll start it I just know when I do it's going to be posted every friday or monday and it will probably the most random crap in the world... Antyways STAY AWESOME! Fun Fact: The octopus brain has about 300 million neurons.