My Chemistry Partner ✔️

04 | ((Broken iPhone.))

Lacey

The bookstore is always pretty dead any time past seven-thirty, and tonight is no different. The last bit of my shift has been easy, but I can't get Axel off my mind. I can't wrap my head around how he acts when he's around me. It's too good to be true for someone like him to even talk to me, and at this point, he's taken it a lot farther than just talking. The tiny smirks, him coming to the bookstore just for me, and how he seems to want to be around me lately.

It's a little weird, but it's just... everything.

I wander around the drafty library, making sure all of the doors leading outside are locked, the cold metal biting into my skin as I flip the latches. The quiet rooms should unnerve me, but when people leave and only the books remain, I always find a sense of calm. The books do all the talking, and I love a good book conversation far more than the conversations I usually take part in. I've never cared to talk to many people outside my family.

Until Axel.

Every conversation with him feels like a gift, and my heart begins pounding harder the second I think of him again. I find the large clock high on the light gray wall near the front of the building, and as I watch the seconds tick, tick, tick, I let my hands run along the spines of the old classic literature near the back of the library.

I get off in three minutes, and once I'm in the back hall, I clock out before heading home. I'm not excited about going to this party tonight, but I plan to make the best of it. It's been a while since I went out, and for good reason, but I hope tonight won't make me regret breaking my party fast.

I make my way outside into the night, the light breeze blowing around me, and from somewhere around here, I smell a grill fire and charring meat. Grilling out has always been something I've loved, but I can't even let my stomach rumble before I'm back to thinking about Axel. I bet he likes to eat grilled food too. In high school, he was known for his grilling skills, though I was never invited to any barbecues. I heard about them often and always tried to imagine what they were like, but I'll never know for sure.

I move slowly as I walk across the concrete, staring at my phone to call Elizabeth. My mind is still reeling, and I desperately need to talk to someone, or I might explode. As her cheery voice comes over her voicemail, I hear my name being called from behind me. I jump, whirling around quickly as I hang up. I lose my grip on my phone in the process, and it crashes down to the pavement hard. Without looking, I know I am totally screwed.

I clamp my eyes closed, tuck my head to my chest, and curse as I bend down to pick it up.

"That's the fourth time in the last six months. Ugh! You would think I would pick better cases by now." I stand, and when I open my eyes, I can only stare at the massive crack in the middle of my phone. I internally cringe, thinking how much I'll have to pay to have it fixed... again.

"They say the LifeProof cases work pretty well."

My eyes snap up, looking directly at a concerned-looking Axel. He's smirking, and my eyebrows furrow as I remember why my phone fell in the first place. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry." His apology is sincere, and it melts me right where I am. He reaches out a hand for me to let him see the phone, and as he surveys the screen, his lips press into a firm line. "It's pretty bad."

I stand here watching him and narrow my eyes slightly as my eyebrows relax. This man before me is like a foreign land I've learned all about but never really seen. He entices and confuses me at the same time. "You really aren't how I pictured you."

"What do you mean?" He shifts so he's closer to the row of cars next to us and less in the road, holding my phone out for me to take back. I don't think any cars will be riding by, but I guess it's unsafe to stand in the road, so I take a step toward him and take my phone from his grip.