Mismatched

Chapter Fifteen

I spent Sunday in the yard, pulling weeds and tending to the rose bushes I planted last year. It gave me a lot of time to think about Saturday night's festivities. I didn't dance again with Axl, I didn't want to confuse myself further. Instead I found a seat and claimed my new shoes were hurting my feet and I needed a break. After another hour we all called it a evening and Shale drove Bryony and I home for the night. I sat next to Axl in the backseat again, my body seemed to be tuned in to his somehow. I felt myself fidget anytime he moved, my ears pounded with the sound of my own heartbeat. When we arrived back at our house, Axl opened my door for me before I had a chance to do it myself. I thanked him quietly and hurried inside the house, not waiting for Bryony.

When Monday arrived I was still a bundle of confused nerves and my classes slowly ticked by until finally the bell rang for Lunch Hour II. I packed my messenger bag with my Physics text book and headed out of the classroom door. Switching out texts books at my locker, I closed it with a loud clang and jump back in surprise at the smirking person I didn't notice standing behind the locker door.

"Hey, Dahl face." Reed greets me, his eyes sparkle playfully. "Sorry about Saturday, can I make it up to you?" He asked. It took me a beat to understand what Reed was talking about.

Saturday? What happened Saturday? I danced with Axl. The Dance? Oh!

"What happened to you?" I asked, "You didn't even let me know you left." I notice my question causes a small wince around his eyes but his charming grin remained.

"Something came up." He answers vaguely. I square my shoulders, facing him, and raise one eyebrow. The universal body language of, yeah I'm not buying that story.

"Alright, to be honest, I saw you come in." He tells me. "I just wanted to hang out with you and I wasn't expecting you to bring the whole crew, so I left."

"The whole crew? What are you talking about?" I ask, though I suspect I know his meaning. He hesitates but keeps talking.

"I'm good with your sister." He starts, "I can deal with Shale too... But I don't know why you brought Axl along." His tone almost sounds accusatory.

"First of all, I didn't bring Axl. Bryony wanted to come keep me company while you were busy with the Football booth and Shale naturally came with her. I didn't know about Axl coming until we were on our way to the dance. I didn't invite him." I explain.
"Secondly, leaving like that was a shitty thing to do. At least call or text me so I'm not looking around for you for an hour before your teammates tell me you already left. You're the one who invited me, you were the only reason I was there in the first place!"

The smirk on his face is now gone, replaced by a look of solemnity.

"I am sorry, Dahlia." He tells me, all playfulness aside. "It was a shitty thing for me to do. Please let me make it up to you. Can I take you out to dinner tonight?"

I huff a little and consider his peace offering. The steam of the fight having now blown out of me, I nod. He smiles at my acceptance.

"Great! Now let's go to lunch so you're not starving before then." Reed says, leading me to the dining hall. I follow along side him as he talks about his favorite places to eat, but I don't hear most of what he says. I spot Bryony's dark petite head and the two masculine ones around her. My eyes focus on Axl and I feel my heart pound in my chest. I tear my eyes away and follow Reed to the lunch line and then to our table across the room. I think I feel a pair of ice blue eyes on my back, following my movements the whole way, but I don't dare look back over to their table to see if I'm right. A kaleidoscope of butterflies swirl in a cyclone in my stomach at the thought of Axl watching me. I used to feel the butterflies when Reed would talk to me, I definitely felt them when he had asked me to join him at the dance, at least I thought I had. But, just now when he asked me to dinner, they were silent. Not even a tiny flutter. When he was walking next to me, they seemed to be taking a nap. Now the mere thought of Axl sends them into a tizzy. This switch of allegiance is most concerning.