Chapter 28: Chapter 28

XXVIII

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liam has asked me for the tenth time today and I roll my eyes.

"Yes, god! I'm just a bit worried." I answer and he purses his lips.

"You don't look okay. You literally have no nails left to bite."

I look at my hands and see that my nails really aren't in the best state, but I don't really care.

Me and Liam have History together at the moment, and in the next class, Amber joins us and we all have the class together.

"Do you think he's okay?" I ask Liam and he shrugs.

"I don't know. I also don't care." he replies and I hit his arm at that.

"Ow!" he hisses and I glare at him.

"You're my friend! You're supposed to comfort me!" I say and he rolls his eyes.

He takes my hands in his and turns to me. "I'm sure that the world's biggest dick is okay. He's probably just too busy killing puppies at the moment to go to school."

I swat his arm again and turn away from him. "You're the world's worst friend."

He chuckles. "You're dating my enemy, I could say the same."

"I'm not dating him!"

"No, I'm sure he's just a friend. It's perfectly normal for friends to give each other hand jobs!" he hisses in my ear and I glare at him.

"I really wish Amber didn't tell you that."

He makes a face at me and turns back to the teacher.

It really annoyed me how nobody seemed to care that Axel has basically gone missing. Amber literally just shrugged this morning when she found out that I haven't heard from him and that he's not in school.

"He'll come around." was all she said.

I wanted to rip her hair out at that.

The school ends eventually and when I come home I begin to study to pass time and because I don't like it when work piles up.

When I'm almost done, my phone vibrates, meaning I got a new message.

I quickly grab my phone, hoping it's Axel.

*Hey:)*

It's from Theo.

I sigh, a bit disappointed but I reply anyway.

*Hey:)*

He replies a few moments later.

*How are you?*

*I'm good, you?* I type and send.

*Me too:P I was thinking we could make up for Saturday if you have time, maybe go watch a movie or something.*

*Now?* I ask, biting my lip.

Axel would be furious.

But so what if me and Theo would go out? As friends?

There's nothing wrong with that, right?

*Yep, if that's okay with you.*

I stare at my phone, thinking of what to reply.

I don't want to make Axel mad.

Oh, to hell! He makes me mad, too. Besides, he has absolutely no right to be angry, because:

he's not my boyfriend

he doesn't own me

c) Theo is just a friend

and

d) Axel's not even here which means I can't ask him if I can go.

It's not like I have to ask him for permission, anyway.

*Sure:D* I reply and put my phone down to start getting ready.

Theo replies immediately. *Great:D I'll be there in 15 minutes.*

I quickly put on my favourite pair of jeans and a bright yellow shirt. Then I put on a light jacket so that I wouldn't be could.

For makeup, which I washed off when I came home from school, I only use mascara.

I go downstairs to put on my sneakers and to tell my parents that I'm going to the movies with a friend.

Mum smiles at me and says that it's okay. Lucky my dad isn't home so he doesn't question me about it.

Theo arrives five minutes late and hugs me when I open the door.

"I'm really glad we're finally going out." he says and smiles. He's wearing washed out and ripped jeans and a red shirt with all kinds of sketches on it. He has a black jacket on himself.

He looks good like usual, except that he has a bit of a stubble on his chin.

"Yeah, me too. You're a really nice guy and I like hanging out with you." I say and he grins.

"Yay!" he lifts his hand in the air in triumph and I laugh at him.

"So we're going to watch a movie?" I ask him and he nods.

"Sure, if that's what you want to do."

"Movies sound great." I smile. "Unless there's something more fun to do."

He gives me a wicked smile.

"Well, there is one thing I really like to do, but I don't know if you would like it." he slowly says.

"Go on." I tell him and he grins.

"How do you feel about racing?"

***

"Oh my god this is so much fun!" I shout and speed past Theo in the mini bumper car.

Turns out there's a place where you can race in bumper cars on a lane, just outside the town.

I've never done this before but I was ruling it.

Theo laughs loudly and presses on gas, catching up with me and bumping into my side.

I squint my eyes at him and bump him much harder.

He gives me an angry expression and I stick my tongue out at him, laughing. Moment later, I'm back to speeding away from him.

"This is unfair! You got a much faster car than me!" Theo shouts from back and I laugh.

"Maybe you're just not that good." I shout back at him, making him groan but I can see amusement in his eyes.

We stay in the park for a whole hour, even though it seemed like we were there only for five minutes. He paid for our rides and ignored my protests, like the gentleman he was.

"You wanna get something to eat? I'm starving." Theo smiles at me when we exit the place and I nod.

"Me too, but only if you let me pay." I bat my eyelashes in playfulness and he chuckles, shaking his head.

"Absolutely not."

"Fine. Then I'm not eating." I say and raise my chin up, being the stubborn kid I have always been.

"Yeah, right. I bet you're gonna steal more than half of my food." Theoo says and I shake my head.

"Nope."

He laughs. "We'll see."

He drives us to a restaurant near by and I have to admit that the food he ordered looked pretty good, especially when he kept teasing me and moaning when he ate a fry or a piece of stake he bought.

I rolled my eyes each time.

"You sure you don't want one?" he asks for the hundredth time.

I look at him, then at the fry, and at him again.

"Oh, to hell." I whisper and rip the fry from his hand and shove it in my mouth.

I moan at the taste and see Theo gulping and licking his lips when I do that. He better not get angry with me for eating that fry.

"Good?" he asks and I nod, grabbing another fry.

In the end, I actually do end up eating almost half of his food, making him whine and accuse me of starving him. He drives me back home at around 9 PM.

"I had a great time." I smile at him in his car.

"Me too. We should do this again."

"Absolutely. You're such a great friend, you know." I tell him, and I mean it.

Quickly, I hug him tightly and then get out of the car.

"You too." he says and waves at me, and I could swear that his expression was much sadder than it was before. Maybe he didn't want the night to end yet.

"Thanks again. Have a good night." I smile at him and close the door, walking into my house.

"Hey sweetie, how was it?" my mum asks from the couch when I enter. I begin to start taking off my shoes and jacket.

"It was good, mum! I'm going to bed, okay?"

"Yeah, have a good night!"

I grab my bag and slippers and start to walk upstairs. Before I enter the room, I take a deep breath and close my eyes, my hand resting on the door handle.

What if he's in there, waiting for me? Sitting on my bed, maybe reading Tess, looking at his watch to see if I'm late. His curls would fall over his eye and he would huff and push them back, telling himself that he needs a haircut. He would stand up when I walk in and come closer to me, put his hands on my hips and kiss me.

Oh, god, I hope he's in there.

I turn the door handle and walk in, turning on the light. Tears begin to brim in my eyes when I see that the room is empty. I let my bag fall on the floor and let the tears flow down my cheeks. I slide down the door with my back and sit on the floor, covering my face with my hands. It's only been two days and I already miss him so much, it's crazy.

What if something happened to him? What if he got in an accident? What if he's...?

I don't let myself finish that thought, and I begin to search my bag for my phone. I throw the tissues, the lipglosses, the wallet all around me, needing my phone now.

Finally, I feel the hard surface of my phone under my fingertips and I pull it out, unlocking it and pressing on contacts, searching for Axel the Bum.

Sighing in relief, I begin to type in the message.

*Axel, please, just answer me. Just so I know you're okay.*

I press send. I cringe at how needy I sound, but I'm not in the state to form a better message.

Five minutes pass and I still have no reply. My tears begin to flow with more and more force, and I'm fighting to catch a breath.

I type in another message.

*I swear to god, Axel, I'll call the police and tell them you're missing if you don't reply to me.*

I send it.

Before I even put the phone down, I see the screen lit up and the phone vibrates.

I stop crying immediately and with shaky hands I press on the notification.

New message (1) from Axel the Bum

My breath hitches in my throath when I see the message.