Beyond the Ordinary

Chapter 40

KATE 

After the date was over, Axel drove me home.

"I had fun tonight," Axel told me.

I smiled, not wanting to go inside. "Me too."

Axel took my hand and squeezed it. "When can we go out again?"

I smiled. "How does tomorrow sound?"

Axel kissed my hand. "Sounds perfect."

✡ ✡ ✡

I entered my house, tossing my bag onto my bed and shutting my bedroom door softly so I wouldn't wake my father.

I took out my computer, trying to decide what song I should sing for musical theater tryouts. I scrolled through my YouTube account, searching for one when I decided that I should head into the basement to practice since my father was asleep. I grabbed my computer and my phone and headed down into the basement, the steps creaking beneath my weight, the only light being the one from my computer. I fumbled around for a light switch and flipped it on, the room erupting in brightness.

The basement was surprisingly large and didn't smell as bad as my old one had back in New York. It was also mostly finished, a brown couch and table in front of it propped up against a wall and a television that hadn't been set up yet sitting opposite of it on another wall. The other side was still unfinished, with only a table in the middle of the room. I strolled over to the couch and put my electronics down onto the table.

Continuing to scroll through my YouTube, I found a song by Daya called 'Hideaway' and found the karaoke for it, pressing play. As the intro ended, I began to sing, surprised at how decent my voice sounded despite it not being warmed up.

As the chorus hit, I grew more confident as I hit the notes with little effort. I finished the song, slightly out of breath, before searching for another song I thought I might be able to do better. I then came across a song called 'All I Want' by Olivia Rodrigo and pressed play on the karaoke version. As the song played, I decided to stick with 'Hideaway' since I just knew the words better and closed my laptop shut.

I headed back up the stairs, shutting off the light and closing the door once I reached the hallway that led to my kitchen. Putting my laptop and phone on the kitchen island, I grabbed a snack of Goldfish and headed back to my room to continue my other homework.

Once in my bedroom, I took out my homework for English, disappointed since I didn't have any pre-calc homework because we'd had a quiz that day. I got halfway through chapter three of Huckleberry Finn when I received a text from Axel.

AXEL - Hey beautiful ;)

I felt my lips spread apart in a giddy smile as I typed,

KATE - Hey handsome :)

The dots appeared within seconds and he replied saying,

AXEL - I miss u already :(

I could imagine the pout on his lips.

KATE - I miss u too.

AXEL - Want to continue our game?

I smiled.

KATE - Sure. Ur turn or mine?

AXEL - Mine.

I put down my box and spun around in my chair.

KATE - Okay... what's your question for me?

AXEL - Katie, will u be my gf? :)

I smiled, not even believing what he'd just asked, especially considering that we'd only been on one date.

KATE - Sure!

Axel began typing before saying,

AXEL - Yay! But just to make it official...

He began typing again...

AXEL - Katie, I know that's not ur actual name, but... I think ur really sweet and ur like rly beautiful, not to mention, ur personality's to dream for, so I was wondering... would you like to be my girlfriend? ;)

I read his text over and over before it finally resonated in my brain that he'd actually said that.

KATE - Axel, ur also rly sweet, and cute, plus ur personality is so funny and perfect... So ofc I would like to be ur gf!

Then I got a Snapchat notification from him.

I left the messages app and opened Snapchat, opening his snap.

He was smiling wide, and he'd written, 'This is what u do to me' in a text box over his head.

I snapped a picture of me smiling, just as wide as he'd been, and typed, 'U do the same to me', hitting send.