The Way In Which Things Work

Chapter Two: Several Bad Decisions

The alarm that blared that morning on my phone felt extra loud. I felt around the uncomfortable bed of pillows and blankets I had orchestrated on the floor for the noise that wouldn't stop ringing. I finally find the snooze button and fall back asleep for ten more needed minutes. My sleep had been soundless last night, the exact opposite of how it usually is. Last night though, last night I slept fantastic.

For a second time in the short span of ten minutes my phone sounds off again and this time I know I have to wake up. The time reads 7:10 and I know we have 40 minutes before we leave for school. I roll over slightly on my side to see Axel's sleeping figure, his snore is soft but present. His naked chest is pointed towards the ceiling while his hands were tucked under the blanket. He looked very at peace when he slept, no creases were between his eyebrows and he had an emotionless face. I hoped that's how I looked when I had a good sleep. It looked nice.

Instead of waking him up immediately, I began my process of getting ready for school. He could wake himself up. I shrugged the sweatpants off and tugged my jeans back up around my waist and looked on the floor for the belt that held them up. After finding it in a pile with my boots and shirt from yesterday I looped it around my waist. I looked at the bed that was pushed against the wall after hearing a series of smalls noises and I saw Axel stretching his arms up before rolling out of bed. He yawned and looked at me, I could feel his eyes trained on me and I was right when I looked up from the floor and found his dark eyes staring into mine. Too much for this early in the morning. I paused from putting my sock back on my foot while he watched me, "Oh, please, don't stop getting ready on my account." He tells me while striding across the floor in only his boxers to his chest of clothes. The sarcasm in his voice was very evident. "Please take a pair of my socks so I can stop staring at your big toe through that hole." His smirk playing his lips made the mood lift slightly.

I guess my old socks bothered him. It's not like I could afford to spend any extra money on something as meaningless as socks right now. I didn't mind them but I wasn't going to refute a fresh, clean pair either. Slipping them on one after the other I then put my boots on and tied them around my ankles. The light seeping in from underneath the blinds seemed brighter than usual and without hesitating any longer I peeled them back slightly. "Shit." I cursed under my breath.

"What is it now?" Instead of saying anything I just opened the curtains all the way, blinding us both in the process from the intense starkness of the snowflakes. I checked the weather, it was below 20 degrees and the snow had just started but was meant to stop around noon, that was good news. But it was still going to be fucking freezing.

After pulling on the jacket I was wearing last night over Axel's shirt I was wearing, I ventured out into the kitchen, looking for the coffee pot. Once I found it beneath the sink I fired it up and waited patiently for my much needed dose of caffeine. I sipped it quietly by myself as Axel showered in his bathroom. I looked around the apartment for a spare toothbrush but was unable to come up with one and was forced to spread toothpaste around my mouth with my finger in an attempt to mask coffee breath. By the time he was out of the shower and fully dressed it was 10 minutes until we had to leave.

He waltzes into his kitchen and grabs an apple out of the ceramic bowl resting on the countertop, "Are you really wearing that to school?" Axel questions me.

I glance down at myself, giving my outfit a once over, not seeing the problem. "I am not seeing the problem." He takes his jacket off and tosses it at me from across the kitchen.

"It's freezing outside, you'll get frostbite or something like that if you don't add a layer or two." I don't argue with him, knowing that my efforts won't have any effect on him. I gratefully fix the second jacket on top of the thin one I was currently sporting. He leaves to grab another from his room and we spend the remaining minutes in tension filled silence. Staying here last night seemed like a great idea and now that it's morning everything is so weird and uncomfortable. We have nothing to talk about in the light of day, I almost wished I had never called him.