KISS (6 page)

“
Hey, I didn’t know you had
this class too.”

Her heart flat-lined.

It was Axel Rotterdam…and he was
standing behind her.

7

I Won’t Fall for You

Axel was pleased to see the vivacious
blonde from the weekend. Today she was dressed casually compared to
the white dress he’d seen her in when they first met. His mind
flashed for a moment almost as if he was missing something, he
pushed it aside. He wouldn’t confuse the color of her dress. Blue
jeans adorned her legs, nice collard long sleeve shirt hung loosely
on her. She was striking and dressed very casual golden sandals
added to her complete look. He’d never spent so much time observing
what a girl wore. He wondered why he didn’t notice her before. A
masculine chuckle fell from his lips, when he noted the blush that
swept up the back of her neck. Her small hands were balled into
small fists in her lap. It was cute.

He honed in on her. There was finally
something he wanted to do, something he could pursue without
pressure from his parents. Sometimes he felt they were living
vicariously through him. His grin grew, this was a decision he made
on his own. It wasn’t or hadn’t been planned for him.
Finally.

“
Found you.” He snickered
noting her reaction. He’d have to thank her friend later for
helping him. He took a seat behind her as the teacher entered the
classroom. History, just got a whole lot better.

Iris sat in her seat quaking. Her desk
rattled and rockets shot out of from it bursting in the sky
spilling all her secret desires in the form of sparkling patterns.
She gulped once again. Why must she be like every other
stereotypical teenager with boy problems? If she had a choice, she
would choose to be the confident, outgoing type—instead she was
left with a horse galloping in her chest and dizziness. Did people
still swoon?

She wondered why she was in history.
She was a girl from a long lost empire hunched in a cave coveting
her surreptitious private affair, when the soldiers from a
neighboring empire would discover her meager existence and drag her
before their benevolent king. Just when she was forced to her knees
to endure the king’s demands the heavens opened up and shined down
on her.

Holey grandmother’s
panties! The bell has rang. I’m free!

Iris jerked in her seat and fled the
classroom. She was Jeff Gordon wining the grand prix. She gave a
shout for victory when she made it out of the classroom unscathed
and Axel free. She was going to kill Natasha later. Her ass was
grass. She glanced furtively over her shoulders expecting him to
jump out at her any second. She ignored the sinking in her chest
when she realized he wasn’t behind her.

Geez, I’ve got it bad.
That jerk and his good looks. I hate it!

Lunch couldn’t have come fast enough.
She decided to skip out on lunch with her friends today and spend
some time under the large maple tree outside the school. Her
friends were okay with it, even they were aware of her mood swings.
She couldn’t believe she behaved in such a matter with Axel. She’d
already met him for crying aloud. He probably was going to think
her some weird strange chick. Besides, did she really wanted to
start something with Chester waiting at home for her? She didn’t
know what she wanted anymore. She had intended to go after Axel all
this time, but then Cheese showed up throwing a monkey ranch in all
her plans. She felt like a washed up ringmaster who couldn’t
control what was going on in his own circus. Taking a deep breath,
she scanned her surroundings. No Axel. Good. It was safe. Sitting
down she dug into her lunch.

“
I didn’t peg you as the
shy type.” The apple she was preparing to bite into fell from her
fingers. It rolled away from her like a lone tumbleweed in the
desert seeking a home. She was petrified. Why was she suddenly so
nervous? Was it because of Chester or was it because she was
actually feeling something?

“
I like it. A different
side of the girl I rode with to the hospital.” Iris swallowed her
trepidation. She could feel his body heat through the tree bark.
“You must’ve forgotten the other time we met in the library. I
remember a certain someone being a little shy,” she said
smugly.

Axel froze. He didn’t remember talking
to her in the library. His mind was an asteroid shower shooting off
sporadically in undesignated pathways across the universe, having a
sublime effect on all those who witness its brilliance. His mouth
dried up. Standing suddenly, he approached her.

“
I’m sure I would remember
a pretty face like yours,” he said while leaning over her. Iris
felt like she had a stich in her side from his sudden closeness.
Now that she focused, she realized they were nose to nose and his
breath fanned across her lips. Her vision tunneled. They were in an
open field and it was just the two of them. Would he take it from
her? She threw her head back and danced with arms stretched out.
Looking up towards the sky her heart soared as she realized that it
had already been taken by another.

“
Don’t worry sweet cheeks,
there will be other chances.” She looked at him perplexed. He
seemed different now. The jarring bell alerted her to the afternoon
classes ready to ensnare her and put her into an eternal
sleep.

“
Whatever lover boy,” she
said rolling her eyes and walking away while her heart raced in her
chest like sprinter doing the two hundred meter.

She groaned when she spotted Natasha,
Amie, and Crystal at her locker. Looking at Crystal she knew she
was jealous, but did a poor job trying to hide it under a friendly
façade. Meh…she could go screw herself.

Looks like the wicked
bitch of the west isn’t very happy with me. I wondered how it would
feel to punch her in the throat. Probably good. I bet really
good.

“
We never got around to
hanging out this summer,” Crystal said with jealousy reflected in
her eyes. Well Iris supposed she would be jealous too if the guy
she was interested in was vying for the attention of another girl.
Her heart tanked thinking about her problems with Chester. What
would they do if they knew she was friends with a rock
star?

Bleh, like I’ll ever tell
them.

“
Yeah, I was busy helping
my dad. Nothing exciting.” “Well I heard Axel sat with you during
lunch.”

Ouch. She didn’t know Amie could be so
bratty, clearly she’d been spending too much time with Crystal.
Iris wasn’t a push over. She may be cool and down to earth, but she
could be snobby when she wanted to, it was a talent that only those
born from wealth could master.

“
If I thought it was
anything important I would’ve mentioned it.” Her inner girl jumped
in glee clapping, cheering her on at Amie’s stained cheeks. Little
brat. It’s what she got for trying to intimidate her. “Oh, don’t be
that way Iris. Amie’s was just a little curious.”

Yeah right cow, and you’re
hiding a hooker underneath that skirt.

Hell she was probably the one that put
little Amie up to it. “Axel sits behind Iris in history. It
probably was something about class,” Natasha refuted for her. Thank
the heavens the girl has gotten her marbles back, she clearly lost
them or sent them scattering this morning when she set her up. She
fought the urge to roll her eyes again, at this point they were
going to get stuck.

“
Yea, you’re totally right.
I can’t see how it could be something more. He’s totally
untouchable.”

Crystal you slut! He very
much wants this. Hag!

Iris would give anything to shove her
fist down her throat. It was time to cut Crystal out of her life.
She was no good.

“
Look, if you’re going to
be a bitch, you can fuck off.” She said looking Crystal in the eye.
She sneered at her before stalking off to her next class. Dark
satisfaction filled her giving her twisted pleasure at the fearful
expression on Crystal’s face.

Ommgggeee, did she think I
was going to hit her! I know that I’ve dreamt about it many times,
but c’mon on I’m a lover not a fighter.

She hated drama.

***

Axel stretched before starting his
laps. Iris filled his mind, his nostrils flared as he thought about
getting his hands on her, she was certainly interesting and
different. If he brought a girl like her home his parents would
definitely approve. Her friend Crystal had been forcing herself
onto him lately and he hated it. He wanted to do the chasing. He
wondered if Iris even knew. He bet she was probably the type of
girl who didn’t care about stuff like that. Axel didn’t know what
he exactly wanted from her. She made him forget about his home
life. He lost himself in the rhythm of the beat as his feet hit the
pavement while he ran. Running was his escape, it was the one thing
he could do to release all the turbulent emotions inside of him
that were building up waiting to explode. Running allowed him to
have a cathartic released. If anything happened where he couldn’t
run anymore he would fall apart.

“
Dude, I heard through the
grapevine that you were getting close to the innocent rose.” Axel
didn’t understand where he was coming from. What were they a bunch
of women? Apparently Brad took this as a chance to further
elaborate his thoughts.

“
You know she won’t put
out. Pretty much everyone has tried to get with her. Only two
words, epic fail.”

Axel didn’t know what came over him.
He blanked for a moment. One minute he was running next to Brad
like they were best pals and the next second he was staring at a
bloody face. The blood coated his fist and his body still pumped it
out furiously.

Blank.

He was in the principal’s office. His
fists trembled as he looked around the cold hard exterior. He
couldn’t have done that to Brad. The principal smiled at him and
told him the school will handle it, but his parents would be
arriving soon. He sunk further into his chair.

Blank.

The principal had left and his father
was screaming at him, his voice reverberated around the small
office, giving him a headache. He couldn’t hearing anything but his
father’s angry voice filling his mind, beating against his skull.
He wished he would stop. He clenched his head. The thought of his
poor mother at home sick and frail made him nauseous.

“
Are you listening boy!”
Axel grunted at the fist that twisted painfully into his abdomen.
His breath left him in a whoosh and he slumped onto his father. His
father stood back and watched as he felt to the floor grabbing his
stomach.

“
Get up boy.” Axel crawled
into the chair and sat as the principal returned. Did he bruise his
ribs? Everything ached right now. He felt sore and discombobulated.
He kept his head down as the water gathered in his eyes. He
couldn’t let anyone see. What would they think?

Blank.

He was in the bed. Curling up he
sought safety in darkness. He would never escape.

8

Lose Control

Axel sat up slowly; he had a restless
night and he was a little upset that he wouldn’t see Iris today.
Her light eased his pain. She was wild, free and everything he
wanted. There was something about her and he gravitated towards it.
She was something new and desirable. Mother sat to his right. She’d
fallen asleep at his bedside. She always knew when something
happened between him and father. It didn’t matter how much he tried
to hide it—she knew. He grunted at the sharp pain in his stomach,
it was still store. He swore under his breath when he saw she had
awaken. He didn’t mean to wake her.

“
Bumblebee.” Her words were
a simple whisper in the silent air. It was a nickname she gave him
when he was there. Bees where his favorite insect even though he
got stung. It wasn’t his fault that he desired to zoom like bees,
they had needles for butts—it was all very grand for a three year
old.

“
Mother, you shouldn’t be
here. I want you to get your rest. Then we can take our walks
again.” His mother had a heart condition and he hated talking about
it. There were only two surgeons in the country who could perform
the surgery, but it didn’t guarantee she’d survive. Axel knew they
were well off, but he saw the stress it caused father; and the
medical bills were on the rise. He wondered if father felt
suffocated, mother wasn’t the only person with issues. Thinking
about mother’s condition made him nervous. Her chances for survival
decreased every day and her will to live—it frighten him to his
very core. His mother always knew when he and father got into an
argument, but she was oblivious to everything else and he wanted to
keep it that way. He wanted her to focus on healing. Axel didn’t
want to think about the dark place he would go. Its inky tendrils
waited hungrily for something to devour. He couldn’t give in to it.
He smiled when mother reached out tentatively and ran her thumb
across his brow.