My Chemistry Partner ✔️

02 | ((I found you.))

 Lacey

After my awkward confession to Axel he did his best to not make me feel weird throughout class and I was grateful, but I still felt like an absolute idiot. Unintentionally telling him that he is better than one of the prettiest girls in town, is basically like saying 'you're hot' right in his face. Sometimes, I wish I knew when it was better to clam up instead of running my mouth too much.

Thankfully, I made it through the class without saying anything else stupid, but when class ended I hopped up and bolted from the room as quickly as I could. I probably looked like a freak but as I sit on a bench behind the science building, doing my best to calm my racing heartbeat, I don't really care. How in the world am I supposed to make it through this semester?

The warm Tennessee summer air is blowing around me as I tilt my head back and let the sun hit my face. I can hear the birds chirping, other classmates talking and joking around, but nothing seems to be helping me calm down. I count backward from twenty and do my best to focus on the sounds of the trees swaying in the wind, but I'm still struggling when I peel my eyes open once more.

Sighing, I know I have to get up and get back to my apartment so I can get changed before my shift at the bookstore on campus. I take a few more deep breathes before getting up and starting the walk back to my apartment. I'm hoping my mind clears some before I get there, but I doubt it will.

He's been burrowed in mind for so long and actually getting to talk to him now is almost more than I can handle. I can't seem to get his handsome smile he kept sending my way out of my mind. I think of him the entire way home which is making it pretty hard to get the butterflies he stirred deep in my belly to go away.

I really need them to go away.

Everything he said to me in class replays in my mind over and over again. Like it's on a loop. How he looked at me. How he smiled at me. How he laughed at my jokes. So many little bits of him turning me inside out.

I know why other people like him, they love his football skills because they really are great, but now I know the real reasons why Axel is such a good person. He's a genuinely nice person from what I can see. Behind his mean stare is someone who doesn't always frown, and it seems like he even has a playful side. Before, I couldn't seem to ever picture him joking around, but I bet if I ever get to see more of it, I won't be disappointed.

Elizabeth is washing the dishes when I walk into our apartment and from the look on her face she looks to be in a good mood with the large smile on her face as she sways to the music playing from her phone. Some days I am not sure why I got a roommate, her attitude being a little much sometimes, but there is no way I would have been to afford living alone. So, I put up with her attitude and it's been nice splitting living costs with someone else. The apartments on campus are semi affordable, too, making things even easier on my pockets.

When she's not drinking, Elizabeth is pretty responsible like me, so I haven't really had much to complain about living with her for the last couple of months. There have been a few times where eI was ready to run for the hills, but it's only the second month, and I can only hope the rest of the year goes by smoothly. If things go south I'm glad the apartments we found offer six month leases and I'll be able to reevaluate things before signing another lease with her.

She's wearing a pair of black shorts with a purple tube top and her long, thick hair is cascading down her back like an onyx waterfall. She looks over her shoulder as I close the front door and hang my bag and her bright eyes show me she's already up to no good.

"So, how was class with the brooding hottie?" She's joking but I roll my eyes as I walk into the kitchen behind her.

"You are crazy, Elizabeth, but class was good. Meredith showed up and tried to make me move seats because she wants to be his lab partner."