The Missing Boy

Chapter 19 - The Hoodie

The following Monday, Miles wears red hoodie to school. To the rest of the student body, it's just another boy in a hoodie, nothing special, hardly anything out of the ordinary.

To Axel, however, it's like a fucking trigger.

His scent enveloped around the boy he so desperately craves, it's a dangerous combination. Especially with his heightened senses. It's like Miles wants to tease him, torture him. Like he's literally saying the words 'Bite me'.

If Miles is a sin,

I'm going to need to repent.

"Hi." Miles says, waving innocently as he walks through the halls towards Axel, entirely oblivious of the charm he's placed on the vampire, who's grey eyes are almost entirely black from the way his pupils have dilated.

Axel is breathless, seeking to find any sense of control. Wondering how one hoodie could cause such a strong reaction from him. Struggling to keep his canines blunt.

All he can muster is a timid hi back.

Then the bell rings and instead of going to class like all the other students are doing, Axel grabs Miles' hand and leads him to their lunch classroom. Miss Nancy, the librarian, fell sick and hasn't been in for the past week which meant her classroom has been vacant. For now, the room belongs to them.

Axel closes the door behind them, pushing Miles against it and his own body against him.

"We have class." Miles says, although Math seemed to be the last thing on his mind.

"We can catch up."

"We might get caught."

"It's worth the risk." And then Axel kisses him.

You're worth any risk.

And he kisses him, and he kisses him and he kisses him.

•••••••••••

Miles and Axel don't go to class after. They run out of the school, trying to avoid as many cameras as possible, running and laughing until they're far down the road.

"So" Miles says, still huffing and puffing, "what should we do now? Should we go home?"

"No, not home."

"STB?" The new abbreviation for Stupidly Tall Building.

"Nah."

"Where to?" Miles asks, fishing a bottle of water out of his backpack. Of course he isn't surprised that Axel is perfectly fine after a long run.

Axel runs his hand through his hair.

"I don't know, I just want to do something-"

"If you say 'crazy' I'm going to punch you in the face. The last time you did 'something crazy' you slept with a girl."

"Fun, I was going to say something fun." Axel laughs, enjoying the sight of a jealous Miles. "What else is there to do on the bucket list?"

Miles takes out the notebook and his eyes light up when he comes across number 5 on the list.

"Axel, I know what we're gonna do today."

•••••••••••

For a school day, the boys didn't expect the queue for the amusement park to be this long, but either way the boys wait (im)patiently to get to the front of the queue.

Once they're finally in, Axel can't help but stare in awe at all the rollercoasters and stalls. This is the first time Axel has gone to an amusement park. His parents weren't able to take him as a kid and at the time when Miles would invite Axel, he wouldn't want to go. And then there was the crash. But Axel doesn't dwell on that right now, all he feels is excitement.

"So, which rides do you want to go on?" Miles asks and smiles when he hears Axel respond with the answer he had anticipated.

"All of them."

Axel leads them to the biggest ride first, bouncing with every step and Miles struggling to keep up beside the eager boy. Again, there's a queue and once it's their turn to get on the rollercoaster, Axel races to the front. Miles sits beside him, mimicking the large smile on his face.

"You excited?" Miles asks, the answer blatantly obvious.

Axel bites his lip, still smiling, and nods his head.

"Everybody ready?!" The ride instructor yells. There's a chorus of enthusiastic cheers and screams from behind them. And with that, the ride begins.

Axel immediately grabs Miles' hand.

And he holds his hand on every ride after that.

After they had conquered every ride (with several breaks in between. Miles claimed that his human stomach wasn't as advanced as Axel's and that a 5 minute break after every ride was necessary), the two boys decided to sit in the park on their way home. Miles is still finishing his ice cream cone and Axel is playing with the bear Miles had won for him at one of the stalls.

Axel's vampire strength meant that he wasn't able to make light, accurate throws and would end up throwing the ring too far. Miles, on the other hand, had mastered the ring throw, managing to get the ring around the glass bottle on his third try. He automatically gave the prize to Axel, who would have argued against it had the bear not reminded him so much of Miles, and accepted it gratefully.

Miles looks at Axel. And remembers how the lights around the amusement park lit up his eyes and how they shon even on their own. He was so excited. He looked so alive. And Miles wonders how on earth Axel could ever think he was dead.

•••••••••••

Miles tentatively opens the front door, scared that his mother had found out about his impromptu outing to the amusement park. But to his surprise, his mother isn't angry. She's...normal.

"Hi sweetheart, how was your day?"

Average question. Miles replies with an average answer.

"Fine." And then quickly goes to his room.

Miles underestimates how attentive his mother is. Why is it that Miles is coming home from school wearing the hoodie that was supposedly Max's? Max, who's small frame is similar to Miles' yet the hoodie hangs far too loosely on his body. Max, who Miles hasn't spoken to since they were biology partners 2 years ago. And as if on cue, Cassie's phone rings. Max's mom has called her back.

Cassie doesn't want to be the overprotective parent who snoops into their child's personal life. But Miles, her one and only son, who never did anything out of the ordinary, is acting strange. And she has the sneaking suspicion that Axel has everything to do with it.

And she knows this for certain. How? Because Miles never stayed over at Max's house. He never even went to the party.