Nao Summers hates drama, but life becomes full of it when he's paired with the school delinquent on a film project. He's also in dire need of a way to break up with his girlfriend who wants to have lots of sex, while Nao would prefer to die. To crow...
The hug was warm. It was the kind of thing you silently craved in winter, when the days were too long and the nights too dark. Strong arms had a way of anchoring you to reality. As Axel's palms warmed my shoulder blades and his hair tickled my face, I knew this was what I needed.
His neck was flush against my cheek, hot, damp, and smelled of him. His hair tickled my skin where we connected. I could feel my nails digging into the fabric of his hoodie. He was there, and he was with me.
"Thank you," I said, once we'd managed to detach ourselves from each other. The locker room was dark and uninviting, but Axel's cheeks had taken on a pink hue. I couldn't take my eyes off of them.
"You're welcome?" He narrowed his eyes, frowning.
It was odd. I'd unloaded all my worries and fears on December 15th, on that single date, hoping that would let me stop thinking about it. I'd pushed Axel that way, too, selfishly believing we were on the same page. The bruise on his neck was proof that we weren't.
"Should we keep looking?" My voice was laced with uncertainty. We both knew we wouldn't find anything. The stalker was too clever to hide the evidence in places we could find it. Seth was acting out of desperation and an overpowering wish to help me out. He was a treasure, but this time he was wrong.
"Let's find Seth," Axel said, agreeing with thoughts I'd never even spoken. We stepped out of the haunted confines of the locker room, trailing the hallways in search for our friend. For every step we took, I fought the urge to reach out again, realizing how silly it was to struggle. We weren't on the same page, but we were in the same room, breathing the same air, looking at each other.
By the time we reached the stairway, my hand was on Axel's back, holding onto the edge of his hoodie.
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"So this thing is a bust," Seth said, shoulders slumping downward. He sat with his back against the bricked wall on the 4th floor.
"Yup." I drew my feet up against my chest, feeling the warmth of Axel nearby.
The time was 7 pm, and the location was the 4th floor. The alcove we sat in was far from our classroom, nearly on the opposite end of the hallway. Above us, the ceiling lamps were in the process of shutting down, dimming before going fully black. The 'exit' sign above the door provided a sick, green hue to the room. Outside, cars were still passing by, but the noise from their engines was muted down there on the streets.
"I'm sorry, Nao," Seth said. He faced the floor instead of my eyes, body sagging more and more for every word he said. All the energy seemed to have gone out of him, like a forgotten balloon after a birthday party.
"It's fine, man," I said, grinning despite myself. "It's not like he'd make this easy for us."
"It might still turn up," Axel said, voice close and comforting.
"I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I kind of doubt that." I let my arms wrap around my knees. The world had been an unkind and chaotic place as of late, but I felt oddly calm now. It was silly to feel this secure just from a stupid hug, but the stalker situation seemed less precarious now. What did it matter if people thought I stole the model? With time, they'd see reason and figure out the truth. It was weird to suddenly believe that after several days of desperation and barely concealed rage.
"Well." Seth bounced to his feet with less enthusiasm than usual. "I'm gonna split. My mom's been crazy annoying lately, and Mio keeps hijacking the TV if I stay out too late." He considered us through clear, blue eyes. "See you guys later?"
Seth got a nod from me, and a quiet "See ya," from Axel. We watched as he slithered down the hall and disappeared from our sight. I felt sorry for him.
"He's a good guy," Axel said. His shoulder was pressed against mine, familiar and warm in the December night. A silent frost had snuck up on the school as we searched, hugged and discussed. The bricks were cold and unfriendly, almost as if they urged us to go, to come back in the daylight. December High was something else after dark, I'd found.
While Axel and I had traversed the school in search for Seth, I had made up my mind. While Seth went on about the stalker and our failure at capturing him, I was busy with other thoughts. When Seth left us behind to chase buses and paranormal TV shows, my stomach was in knots. The empty hole was shrinking and expanding as I tried to formulate a decent way to speak up.
I would do this now. I would grab Axel by the shoulders and tell him how I felt. I would take that chance, like I did when we were locked in. I would get out of the window and place my trust in Axel once again. I didn't know if he would be there to catch me this time, but I had no intention of backing out.
"Axel—" I began, feeling how my throat constricted around his name.
"Wait."
His hand was on my chest, pushing me closer to the window. His hazel eyes burned with alarm.
"What?"
He shushed, drew us both into the back of the alcove and pressed our backs against the glass. Below, people were fighting the slush and snow, glancing at the snowing sky with exasperated faces.
"We're not alone," Axel hissed. He was close now, arms caging me in, keeping me anchored to that single spot in the hallway. I almost felt drunk with adrenaline as I breathed in his scent, picked up on his nerves. Then, my ears caught the sound of footsteps and movement, and that's when I froze.
I wanted to ask who, why, and where, but the answers seemed to align themselves like constellations in the night sky. The school was black and empty except for us, abandoned to the forces of the night, foreign. I always felt like I didn't quite belong in places that had closing times, like there were reasons for keeping us out of there after dark. My breath was warm against Axel's neck.
The footsteps were erratic and didn't seem to be coming closer. Whoever was here, was also anxious, or perhaps indecisive. All I could do was stay very still and try to decipher what they were doing. One moment the footsteps seemed to get louder as if the person was heading in our direction, but soon after they would recede. At one point they stopped, letting the hallway sink back into its natural silence for several minutes. Then, the sounds would come back, louder and more fitful than before.
"What do we do?" I whispered, gripping Axel's shoulder to steady myself. "Is it the stalker?"
"It's got to be," was Axel's reply. He wasn't looking at me, wasn't even facing me. His head tilted as far away as he could get it, perhaps trying to catch a glimpse of the mystery person.
A loud clattering sound sent fear rippling through me. I jumped, hands digging further into Axel's shoulder.
"What was that—"
My sentence was clipped by another shush, and then the footsteps were no longer steps — they were strides.
"He's coming." Axel released me from his arms, slid out of his seat, and perched near the edge of the alcove. I followed suit, nearly stumbling over the mess that was my legs. My left one had fallen asleep, and I was too wired to feel embarrassed over clutching at Axel's hoodie again.
The person was coming closer, their footsteps a violent noise of rapid slaps against linoleum. I drew a breath, held it, and pressed my side against Axel's.
This could be nothing. It could be some confused classmate that was desperate enough to search the school after hours. It could be Mr. White, crazy with stress and paranoia, forcing himself to take one more look at the crime scene. It could even be Seth, returned to continue the Operation's mission on his own, believing us to have gone home ages ago.
My line of thought was broken by a shape that raced down the hallway and into our field of vision. There was no time to think or speak. The next thing that happened was that Axel left my side in a flash of motion, leaped out of the alcove, and subsequently closed his arms around the fleeing person.
Their bodies connected with the floor in a thump that echoed through the hallways, almost like a tired groan from the school itself - a weary school that only wanted to rest its eyes and prepare for a new day.
Axel's voice rose from the tangled mess on the floor.
