7-The hidden feelings
Axel's pov
Things are really rapidly getting out of hand and Shawn doesn't seem to notice. This only pisses me off some more.
This past week, not only Tessa continued being overly close and obsessed with Shawn but now Grace too.
I didn't imagine it, she really did a 180 and now likes Shawn. Even if she seems to like him, knowing her, I find it hard to imagine she genuinely likes him, and neither does Tessa. So all this sparks trouble.
As much as Shawn annoys me with how mysterious he is and that he keeps ruining everything in the gang, he doesn't deserve that.
Now that I no longer have a girlfriend, I have more time to do other things and I've spent it on trying to understand Shawn.
I've concluded that he's innocent, yeah, I knew he probably was but it sure didn't look like it.
I don't know him all that well, well it's not like I talk to him but he's quite reserved even if he's gotten used to eating with us.
And there's one thing I know, he doesn't seem like a guy that wants to be popular nor does he seem comfortable with it.
I mean, he still hasn't done anything with his new status, he still acts like a normal student and everyone that would be at his place would know better than do that.
Besides, he doesn't fit in with us and it doesn't take rocket science to realize that, yet the girls either don't notice or choose to ignore it on purpose.
At least, Zayne hasn't done anything bad. Indeed, he wasn't keen on Shawn at first but I guess he learned to like the guy.
So yeah, Shawn is definitely not friends with us.
Anyways, I keep referring the gang to me even if officially I'm no longer apart of the gang. Indeed, my status has taken a dip since I broke up with Grace but at least they still let me be with them.
I know I'm not technically allowed to be at their table but Zayne decided to change the rules apparently and let me sit with them.
I'm not friends with Zayne per se but yeah, it's a nice thing of him to do but at the same time, it's so annoying having to face Grace every single day.
We already have our lockers next to each other and now I have to eat at the same table as me. At least she somehow hasn't banished me from eating at the table.
I mean ever since I'm no longer at the top of the school, they've been kind of ignoring me except for Zayne a few times but that's it. They act like I don't exist when we eat lunch even Shawn hasn't tried talking to me, then again he's too shy to talk to me.
Though, I'm kinda exaggerating the sense sometimes Grace does acknowledge me, still, not any better. I still find it surprising that she hasn't cut me off completely but then again, she dumped me for Shawn.
I'm not mad at her, especially since those past few days I've come to realize I didn't like her as much as I thought. I did have great moments with her and I enjoyed my time with her but I'm not heartbroken, our breakup was only a matter of time.
Anyway, enough about my relationship with her, it's all in the past, what matters is to prevent her from getting into a relationship with Shawn.
If Shawn seemed to like her back or Tessa even then I wouldn't get involved like that but he doesn't.
So those past few days, I've been preventing the girls from doing their subtle tricks on him and it works but clearly not enough.
The girls have noticed and are mad at me but I don't let that phase me, I will do anything to stop this whole nonsense, even if it means protecting Shawn.
If I want to do something about it, I better skate faster. And that's what I do.
It doesn't take long to arrive at Selcan High.
As soon as I'm there I get off my skateboard, then put my skateboard underneath my arm and get into the school. I walk to the lockers but to my surprise, the group isn't there, instead, Shawn is at his locker alongside his sister.
I arrive at my locker and to my luck it's right next to Shawn's but as usual, I decided to ignore him as I put my skateboard in my locker.
"Hey, you skateboard right?" Ugh, why are we destroying my peace?
I close my locker and look at the person in question.
"Yeah, I do. Shawn didn't tell you?" I say coldly to his sister but she doesn't take it to heart.
"I already knew but we saw you the other day, you were..." Then suddenly Shawn grabs her and puts his hand on his sister's mouth.
"Sorry about Jasper...They're saying nonsense." The name and pronouns confuse me but I choose to ignore it because what catches my attention is Shawn.
It's the first time he talks to me first, I can't tell if I like it or not.
"It's fine..." He releases his sister and glares at her but she only smirks. What is up with them today?
I decide to leave but get stopped again.
"I never got to tell you but we both think that you play guitar well, it's a shame that you don't let it be known." Shawn's sister says and my eyes light up at the possibility that Shawn thinks the same thing but I really shouldn't care about something so dumb.
"Guitar is just a side hobby of mine, skateboard is my thing." Why am I saying this to them?
"Cool, you're the first that I know that does skateboard." Why is Shawn's sister talking to me so much suddenly?
"I find that hard to believe but I've got to go." Even if the class is not exactly now, I'm not lying either, I don't intend to stay here forever.
"Oh yeah sure."
I start to walk away and I steal one last glance at them. To my surprise, Shawn is looking at me and we make eye contact. I get caught off guard and he does too, I quickly turn around and start to walk away, trying to forget about it.
———————-
If I thought yesterday it was weird what happened, then it's not any better on this fine sunny Friday.
At least Shawn's sister hasn't tried to talk to me again and neither did Shawn but not gonna lie, he's been a bit shy around me those past few days. It is quite odd but I'm starting to think Grace and Tessa are behind that. I bet they are trying to brainwash him into thinking that he shouldn't like me because I'm no longer popular.
I mean I've never seen that happen but I wouldn't be surprised, even I'm surprised I'm still allowed to eat with them despite others at school obviously disagreeing. I don't care much about what others say about me but they certainly find it weird.
Speaking of eating with them, it's lunchtime but at least after today it'll be the weekend.
They all walk together to the VIP table and I walk behind them.
Then we get there, and we all sit down.
Nowadays, I sit next to Zayne and Shawn is sitting in front of me next to the two girls.
"Ugh, I think I failed the history exam this morning," Tessa complains.
"Really? Was the exam that bad? We have ours after this. What are the questions?" Zayne asks concerned.
"Well, I didn't understand all that much. They were asking questions about I don't know a thing about the Greeks I guess but at the end, the stupid teacher made us write a short essay about it." Tessaa complains.
"A short essay? What is wrong with that teacher?" Zayne sympathizes with Tessa and for once it works.
"I know right?" Tessa says.
"Oh well, I think I'll pass," Grace says confidently.
"What? How? You almost flunked History last year!" Tessa says confused.
"Ah, well that's thanks to Shawn, he helped me so now I understand what I have to do in the exam." Grace smiled at Shawn and he smiled. Tessa only looks back in disbelief.
"Wow, so you're telling me Shawn didn't help me because he helped you?!" Tessa says angered and yet only Shawn is caught off guard.
"Oh, that's on you," Grace looks down on her only taunting her some more and if looks could kill, Grace would be dead by now.
"If it makes you feel better, maybe next time I could be your study partner," Zayne asks and I can already tell that was the wrong thing to say.
"Studying with you? As if, that would help. Only a smart guy like Shawn would be of help." Tessa says sharply and Zayne's smile vanishes. Meanwhile, Shawn is entirely confused about all this.
Gosh, poor Zayne, he keeps being rejected time and time again, I wonder when he's gonna learn Tessa is not worth it. There are plenty of girls dying to be with him.
"Yeah, I guess I should just get Shawn as my study partner too." Zayne surprisingly says curtly and Tessa glares at her in warning.
While Tessa continues this useless debate against Zayne and now graces I look at Shawn and yet again I get surprised by him looking at me, so we make eye contact again.
This surprises me and I try to avoid it but I can't deny it. The fact Shawn is looking at me all the while a war is going on next to us makes me oddly content. He seems to be on board with me, he wants this freaking war to come to an end and honestly, I'm so sick of it that I decided to put an end to it myself.
"Seriously whether or not Shawn would be of help, he doesn't have to curter to any of you. Who said Shawn should waste his time helping you study?" They all look as if I've lost my mind but at least Shawn seems glad that I've got his back.
"And who said we should listen to you? Let's face it you're not one of us anymore." Grace looks down on me.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, I'm still sitting at this table, so yeah I get to say what I want." Grace glares daggers at me.
"Then get out." She says deeply irritated and I act unbothered.
"Nah, you're the one that let me sit with you so now this is my place too."
"And it's no longer you're place, get lost," Tessa says curtly and stares down at her.
"You heard? I'm not the only that agrees." I stand up angered by this but Zayne stands up and forces me back down.
"Enough! It doesn't matter whether or not Axel is popular. What matters is that he's been one of us for those past few months and he always will be. At least to me, he's my buddy and as far as I'm concerned I'm the king of this school so at any moment I can kick you out too. Anything else to add?" Zayne says dead serious and it is evident that it shook the girls, even Shawn is shaken.
They remain silent and it remains that way for the rest of the lunchtime even if the silence is suffocating.
———————-
Gosh, classes are finally over and it means it's finally the weekend, even better it's Labour weekend. So that means right now I couldn't care any less about my driving lesson. Yeah, I have driving lessons but the only reason I do it is because my dad wants me to.
I know Dad would kill me if I didn't go but really what can he do about it?
Whatever, it's not like it's the end of the world if I miss one lesson.
I walk to my locker and notice that the others left already for some reason, Shawn and his sister are still at their lockers.
I arrive and open my locker. This seems to gain the attention of the two as they both look at me but it doesn't last as Shawn's sister seems to whisper something to Shawn and he only gets embarrassed, cute.
Wait what? Did I just find that cute? What the hell, Shawn's not cute. I admit he's good-looking but I can't start thinking he's cute, I'm not gay damnit.
I put my binders in my locker and take my skateboard.
And before they can say anything to me, I leave.
Once outside, I take my skateboard underneath my arm and put it down so I can get on it. Then I start skating to my house without a care in the world.
———————
I arrive at my one-story house and realize that my dad's car is there. Crap, he'll notice that I'm not supposed to be here...
Oh, whatever, I'll just hope he's not in the living room.
Speaking of my dad, he's in his early fifties and he's the same height as me but he's quite slim, weidly enough. Other than that, the only thing we have alike is the German features, though I'm a bit different because I have some Asian genes. So yeah, I don't even have his graying dark blond hair and blue eyes.
Regardless, I walk to the door and unlock it.
At first, it's silent as I take off my shoes but once I walk into the living room I quickly realize it's not. In fact, to my horror, my dad is there but he's not allowed, he's with someone else.
It's a woman that looks around his age and is black skinned. She seems to be around 5.4 ft, yet almost as big as my dad. She has glasses on and her outfit is formal attire. Good, whoever this is, is not a slut or something.
My dad notices me and freezes.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at your driving lesson?" He asks coldly as his icy blue eyes stare coldly at me and I stare back at him.
"I could ask the same about you," I say nonchalantly.
"Don't turn this conversation about me, young man." He glares at me in warning but I choose to ignore it.
"Turn this conversation on you? I have the right to know who's this woman next to you." The woman looks at me surprised but she quickly regains her composure, while my dad looks at me in furry.
"Don't you dare talk about your future mother like that!" My face and heart drop upon hearing that and I absolutely lose it.
"Excuse me? How bold of you to call her my future mother, she's not even your girlfriend." I lash out as if it's bile but it seems like this causes silence between the two of them.
"It was only a matter of time before you found out, so meet your future step-mom Ms Katlego." My dad says and I grow stone cold.
"Nice to finally meet you, Axel. This isn't what I envisioned when meeting you for the first time but you can call me just Kayley." She smiles faintly and I stay frozen unable to say a word.
"Axel Schneider, don't be ungrateful to your step-mom." My blood boils upon hearing that word.
And even if my dad will kill me for this, I decide I've had enough and just straight up leave without another word.
———————
Just last Friday I was so glad that it was finally the long labour weekend but no, my dad had to ruin it.
Usually, I love weekends because it's the only time I'm left alone, well the most I could when I was popular but now this joy is all gone.
I'm still not over what happened last Friday but my dad had to make it worse and invite her to celebrate labour weekend. I felt sick in my stomach to see them together. I refuse to acknowledge her as my stepmom or accept her as one.
Luckily for me, I somehow never got grounded. Maybe it's that woman who's behind this but I don't care.
Anyways, the end of labour weekend marks the beginning of September and unfortunately find myself in French class. I have the misfortune of having all members of the group there, including Shawn's sister. Though I'm sitting next to Zayne.
The teacher goes on and on about some theory but eventually, he drops a bomb on us.
"With everything that we've learned so far, it's time you apply it in a presentation de groupe. This presentation will be done in teams of two and because it's only September, you get to decide your partner. So go, pick your partners." Everyone cheers happily.
Immediately, I notice Grace and Tessa head for Shawn but I stand up first and without thinking about it, I walk to Shawn and he looks at me in confusion.
"Wanna be my partner for this project?"
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