Can't Fake It

7

Kenna glanced around the courtyard, a fire burning bright in the middle as she walked through the throngs of honor students milling around with a sense of superiority coming from an isolated few. Kenna remembered from orientation who those people were and quickly dodged around them as she clutched the crisp copy of her assignment to her chest.

Her wary eyes scanned around once more and finally landed on the boy she had been looking for. Axel was talking to a mixed group of two girls and four boys with a bright look in his eye as he talked animatedly about something Kenna couldn't decipher.

 Kenna smiled to herself for a moment as she watched him before a blush overtook her and she shook herself out of her staring and approached him quickly. Her blush died down as she made her way to the group and Axel was quick to notice her as a smile broke out on his face.

He quickly excused himself from his friends and approached Kenna who quickly held out the paper to him, worried she'd wrinkle it with how uncomfortable she felt amongst the crowd of over achievers she had yet to make herself accustom with despite this being her second year.

Axel took the paper from her, glancing over it quickly before looking back up at her uncomfortable expression that she struggled to contain. "You haven't been to many of these things have you?" Axel had to shout over the voices of the people surrounding them and the music playing from speakers nearby. 

"Try one. I went to the mandatory orientation, but these type of events don't really seem like much fun to me." Axel had to lean closer to her in order to hear and Kenna looked to her feet, not enjoying their close proximity as nerves made her stomach roll. 

Axel looked surprised and laughed as he shook his head at her. "How do you make friends without going to things like this?" He waved his hand at the scene around him and Kenna couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head at him. "I have my suitemates and a few acquaintances. I don't need a whole lot of friends." Kenna explained and Axel tilted his head as he listened, his grey eyes focused solely on her, seeming to hang onto every word.

He opened his mouth to respond when a loud bout of laughter broke out from a nearby group and a brief look of annoyance flashed in Axel's eyes as he quickly scanned the crowd. He looked back to Kenna before his eyes lit up and a grin grew on his lips.

"You wanna go somewhere quieter to talk?" Axel asked and Kenna bit her lip, glancing around again before nodding quickly and smiling slightly as he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd quickly, coming to the edge quickly before continuing to pull her along a sidewalk until they reached Campus Coffee.

He never let go of her hand as he lead her inside and pulled her over to one of the booths. When they reached it he finally released her hand as she sat down and he ran off to get them something to drink, leaving Kenna to quickly wipe her sweaty palms on her pants legs as she glanced around her at the nearly empty café. 

The lack of people shocked Kenna since she was used to the normal flow of overly-stressed students hoping to cram in any last minute information they could before their night or morning class. Kenna had been one of those many students just the year before. 

"I didn't know what you like so I got it black. I figured you could add whatever you want from there." Axel startled Kenna out of her observations and she quickly smiled as she took the coffee from him. "Don't worry, this is what I normally get anyways." Kenna told him with a laugh before commencing to dump about a pound of sugar into her drink in order to get rid of that pesky bitterness of coffee.

Axel's eyes drifted to his copy of the scene he had placed on the table when they had come in and a small smile came to his lips. "I think it's pretty good. Broadway worthy even." Axel winked with a laugh and Kenna shook her head at him, taking a sip of her coffee.