Chapter 13: What a Little Pervert

On Monday, the date of homecoming was announced. It was the 23rd of October, which was about two weeks away. When it came on the morning announcement, I had planned to make a subtle comment during lunch about how I hoped a special someone would ask me and then stare longingly at Axel's table. I hoped that Sam would catch on. But when lunch came around, I frowned when I saw that Sam wasn't at the table. Cam told me that he was absent today. I'd have to do it some other day.

However, Sam's absence allowed me to do something I forgot to do during the weekend. "So I told Axel."

"About what?" Cam asked as she slurped her soup noisily.

"My crush on him," I responded and she coughed on the warm liquid. Oliver was staring at me in disbelief while Sidney was struggling to see if she heard me right.

"You're lying," Oliver blurted.

"No I'm not," I responded. "I told him Friday night after he broke up with Victoria."

"Seriously?" Sidney asked me, leaning forward.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Seriously."

"You're crazy," Oliver announced.

"Yeah, she is," Cam spoke as she coughed dryly. "How'd you manage to do that?"

I explained to them what happened, sparing the details of Axel's breakup and everything else personal he wouldn't want said. Once I finished, Oliver slowly shook his head. "I repeat, you're crazy."

"I think you're bold," Sidney smiled. "Confident."

"Do you think he likes you?" Cam asked me.

"No," I told them. "But it doesn't matter because I'm getting over him."

"Maybe he'll ask you to homecoming," Oliver decided to say.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," I laughed but in my heart, I hoped he'd ask.

+++

The week flew by and before I knew it, it was Friday. I was weighed down not only by the stormy weather but by the heavy load of homework in my backpack. I was also down because the guys kept talking about homecoming and who they were going to ask. Isaiah asked a girl named Jessica, who said yes. Isaac asked a girl named Jennifer, who also said yes. Demetrious is going with his girlfriend. Colton, Holden, Dylan, and Miles haven't asked girls yet. Axel, as far as I know, hasn't asked any girls either. I didn't want to bring it up because I didn't want him to feel like he had to ask me.

I was excited for Spanish class so I could laugh with Sam. When I walked in the room and saw him sitting in the back, I smiled and approached him, sitting down in my usual seat. He smiled at me, saying hello as I grabbed my notebook from my bag. "How are you?" I asked him, knowing he just recovered from the flu earlier this week.

"I'm fine, not sick at all anymore," he told me.

"Good, you can't afford to miss any more school," I joked.

"Why? You missed me?" he asked before his eyes slightly widened. He decided not to play it off as he grinned at me, waiting for an answer.

I simply chuckled and nodded. "Yeah." It's true, I did.

As Mr. Gonzalez began to do his job, Sam and I took the notes he wrote on the board, conjugating and translating the words from the new unit. By the time the class ended, my hand was cramped up and I felt like I'd just written a book. When the bell rang and I was able to pack up, Sam waited, walking with me down the hall. Isaiah, Isaac, and Colton were close behind, waving at me and Sam as they wiggled their eyebrows. I guess Axel didn't tell them about my feelings for him. Thank goodness.

"So homecoming is next Friday, right?" he asked me and I felt my stomach drop. What if he asks me? I need to say no. I have to. If I say yes, he'll think I like him and then I'll have to be his girlfriend and then eventually marry him, have six kids with him, and then die as his wife.

"Yeah," I told him, rubbing my hands along my pants casually.

"Are you going to go?" he asked as we entered the parking lot.

Say no. Just say no. But I want to go. I've gone the past two years. It's a tradition with my friends. "Yeah," I told him. "Are you?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Do you have a date yet?" If I hadn't confessed my feelings to Axel, I'd say yes and then use him as my fake date. That's just something best friends do. When I realized that I hadn't answered his question, I began to stutter.

"Uh, no, I-I don't," I told him, mentally grimacing.

"I don't either," he said in a tone of excitement. "Do you want to, maybe, be my date to homecoming?"

I stared at him, looking at his scared brown eyes as they flickered between both of mine. He was wringing his hands together, bouncing from toe to heel nervously. Blinking rapidly, he waited for my answer. As much as I wanted to say no to him, I couldn't bring myself to do it. "Sure," I said and he sighed in relief.

"Okay, cool," he nodded, grinning widely. I smiled too but it was forced and I was mentally kicking myself. I'm not going to hear the end of it from Axel. You're leading him on, you know? "I'll buy our tickets on Monday."

"That's okay, I already bought mine," I lied. I'm going to buy my own ticket on Monday before I see him. I don't want him spending any more money on me.

"Okay," he nodded as we stood a small distance from the truck, where the guys were hanging out. "I'll text you later."

I smiled at him and nodded, face-palming as he turned and began walking towards his car. I stopped at the truck, reaching Axel, who pointed at me as if he had a question. "Are you doing anything?"

"Standing, conversing, what about you?" I retorted.

"Asking you if you want to help me babysit Evan," Axel answered. Babysit Evan? He's, like, thirteen. Don't question it.

I thought about the homework in my bag. I have an entire weekend. "Sure, when?" I asked.

"Well he gets out of school at 3:30 so I was thinking we could catch a bite to eat. Then we could go to my house and wait for him to get off of the bus," he explained.

"Oh, okay," I replied, turning to Dylan who was texting on his phone.

"I'm going to Axel's house. I'm going to tell mom and dad but in case one of them gets home before they bother to read my texts, let them know, okay?" I told him.

"Whatever," he answered. When we reached Axel's car, Sam drove by in his white pick-up truck. He smiled at me and I waved back, noticing that his eyes fell on Axel before he turned out of the parking lot.

"So where do you want to eat?" he asked me and I shrugged.

"I could go for a burger," I admitted.

"You sure you don't want to go to froyo?" he asked with a smirk and I glared at him.

"Get out of here," I retorted.

"So you want a burger?" he asked me and I nodded. "Wendy's it is."

"I'm fine with that," I told him.

"Homecoming's next Friday, right?" he asked me and I felt my stomach tense. Was Oliver right? Is he going to ask me to homecoming right now? I suddenly realized that I'd just agreed to go with Sam.

"Yeah," I answered, wanting to go back in time and say no.

"What are you doing for it?" he asked me. I stared at him with a small grimace on my face and he dropped his jaw a little bit. "No..."

"Yeah..." I trailed.

"You're going with Sam?" he asked me.

"Yes! He asked me and he was so nervous and I just couldn't say no!" I told him. Now I wish I had said no.

"He's going to think you like him," Axel informed me.

"I know and then I'm going to have to be his girlfriend and then his wife and I'm going to have to have six of his kids and then I'm going to die before him as Mrs. Abraham!" I blurted.

"Or you could just stop saying yes after homecoming," Axel suggested.

"Yeah, that works too," I nodded. I think I'll go with that. "Oh no!"

"What?" he asked me.

"Now I have to buy a dress," I complained.

"Why not wear an old one?" he asked.

"Because I outgrew my other ones; now they're too short," I told him. When I saw him staring at me doubtfully, I sighed. "Okay, so they're ugly. There I said it. I didn't have much style last year."

He grinned at me. "You still don't, Alexis."

"Shut up," I retorted. "You were the one that said they looked nice on me."

"To save your feelings," he excused.

"I hate you," I told him as I rolled my eyes.

"Do you want to go dress shopping tomorrow?" he asked me.

"Are you going to get a dress, too?" I asked him with a grin.

He snorted. "If you're lucky."

"I don't have much of a choice," I muttered. I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Are you going to homecoming?" Please say yes, please say yes.

"Uh...I don't think so," he admitted with a shrug.

"Why not?" I asked him, wearing a frown.

"Everyone has a date and they're going to be with them. The guys that don't have dates aren't going and I think I'm just going to hang with them or something," he shrugged.

I was originally going to tell him to just get a date but then I realized that this is Axel I'm talking to. He takes a while to start to like a person and he's not the type to approach any random girl and ask her out just because she's pretty. I also think he's still pretty hurt about Victoria. "You could always hang out with me and my friends."

"It's okay. Just have fun and don't do anything you don't want to do. If Sam pressures you into doing anything before, during, or after homecoming—," he started. I covered my ears, humming loudly. He nudged me in the side, causing me to flail slightly. "I'm just saying that all you have to do is say no and if that doesn't work, just call me or one of the guys and I'm sure Sammy won't do anything like that ever again."

+++

"Hey, Evan," I greeted the small Axel look-alike. He had long brown hair and the same coffee colored eyes as his older brother. His nose, however, was straight and his lips were much smaller. He nodded at me as he crawled into the car, sitting with a sigh.

"I smell food," he said quietly as his eyes landed on the Wendy's bag.

"There's a burger and some fries in there for you," Axel explained and his brother grabbed the bag, stuffing his face with fries. Axel sighed, shaking his head. "You're welcome."

"Thanks," Evan said through a mouthful of French fries.

"There's a lady in the car, at least have some manners," Axel responded.

"The only lady in this car is in the driver's seat," Evan spoke as he purposefully chewed with his mouth open. "No offense, Lex. You're quite the lady."

"Thanks, Evan," I replied in amusement, staring at Axel, who had his eyes narrowed and his nose wrinkled.

"I should've just left you in the trashcan when I found you all those years ago," Axel sighed.

"So why are you here, Lex?" Evan asked as he finished off the fries. He reached towards the cup holder. "Is this your drink, Ax?"

"Yes, don't—," he started but his brother grabbed it and began drinking out of it, "touch it..."

"You didn't answer my question," Evan blurted.

"We're babysitting you," Axel answered for me.

"First of all, I'm not a baby. Second of all, I don't need anyone to watch me; I'm thirteen years old. And third, why would you get Dr. Pepper? You know I hate Dr. Pepper," Evan spoke.

"Shut up," Axel sighed as he turned the corner, slowing down when he reached his house. I grabbed my things as I got out of the car, followed by Evan.

"So you're my babysitter?" he asked, smirking at me. A French fry flew towards the back of his head.

"You're disgusting. She's, like, forty. You're eleven," Axel responded.

"I like older women," Evan announced.

"I'm not forty," I told Axel as he unlocked the front door.

"How old are you?" Evan asked me curiously as we entered the house.

"Too old for you," Axel responded for me. "Go do your homework, little boy."

"What are you guys going to be doing?" Evan inquired.

"None of your business," Axel retorted. "Shoo."

"I'm not a fly, you can't just shoo me away," Evan responded.

"You behave like a fly, you're a pest and you keep making that annoying sound," Axel replied.

"What sound? All I'm doing is talking," Evan retorted.

"There it goes again," Axel spoke. "Do you hear that, Alexis?"

"Hear what?" Evan asked in a whiny tone.

"Go away," Axel drawled, shoving his brother by the back.

"I'm telling mom," Evan snapped.

"Tell her. Can you also tell her that you don't need a babysitter anymore?" Axel responded as he threw out the trash in the kitchen.

"I'm going to tell mom that you kicked me out so you could be alone with Lex," Evan snapped.

"Do it, I don't care. Tell her how you were perving on Alexis while you're at it," Axel retorted. The sound of Evan storming up the steps sounded and Axel sighed loudly. "That kid is so annoying, I swear. You're so lucky you don't have any little siblings."

"You're the equivalent to a little sibling," I told him.

"That's gross," he wrinkled his nose. "Now that I think about it, it's good that you don't have any little siblings, you creep."

"No!" I called. "I didn't mean it like that."

"You'd have a crush on your little sibling; that's just weird," he responded with a smirk as he closed the fridge.

"No! I wouldn't! I was just saying because you're annoying like one," I told him. He started laughing and I glared at him. "I hate you, I swear I do."

+++

"I'll be right back," Axel said as he got up off his bed, walking out of the slightly closed door. I heard a door open a few feet away and I knew he was in the bathroom. The bedroom door opened a bit and I saw Evan peeking his head in.

"Can you help me with my homework?" he asked me. When he saw my hesitation, he puckered out his lower lip, just like Axel would. "Please."

I sighed and got up, opening the door and following him to his room. The walls were blue, my favorite color, and the carpet was like Axel's- soft and white. The first thing I laid my eyes on was a reptile cage. A light was shining above it and a lizard was resting on a log. I turned to see Evan sitting at his desk with an orange folder opened. A math paper was sitting on the hardwood and he pointed to it. "This is what I don't get."

"Okay, let me see," I spoke as I kneeled down beside him, staring at the paper. Slope. "Oh, do you know the formula?"

"No..." he trailed and I grabbed his pencil, writing it down for him. I continued to help him, instructing him on what to do.

"Alexis?" Axel called from the hallway.

"I'm in Evan's room," I replied.

"Why?" he asked as he reached the doorway.

"I'm helping with his homework," I told Axel.

"Oh yeah, what subject?" Axel asked, narrowing his eyes at Evan.

"Math," Evan replied.

"What topic?" Axel inquired.

"Slope," his younger brother answered.

"Wasn't it just yesterday that you were telling mom that algebra was too easy for you? And that you wanted to be transferred into honors?" Axel asked.

"Yeah, so?" Evan responded, spinning in his chair.

"You don't need help," Axel retorted.

"Axel..." I spoke, cutting him off. "Do you get it now, Evan?"

"Yes, thank you, Lex," he responded, staring up at me with a large grin on his face. I nodded before turning to Axel. As we walked out of the room, Axel shut the door, telling him not to bother us.

"Why do you amuse him?" Axel asked me when we entered his room again.

"He flirts with me because I'm an older girl. I don't think too much of it," I told Axel. "And he needed help with his homework."

"You were crouched down beside him, weren't you?" Axel asked me and I nodded. "He was looking down your shirt."

"What? How do you know that?" I asked, suddenly yanking up my shirt.

"He used to do it to Victoria. He's a repeat offender," Axel announced.

"He's a little pervert," I muttered.

"Like I said," he replied.

"I wonder where he learned it," I spoke, staring at Axel.

"What? You think I taught him?" Axel asked.

"Maybe not taught him, but influenced him," I shrugged.

"I don't do that! I'm not a creep!" he explained. "He probably learns from the kids at his school."

"Oh my gosh..." I trailed, cringing.

"And if he asks you for a hug, say no," Axel started. "He just wants to cop a feel."

+++

"No," Axel said bluntly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Too sparkly," he responded. I looked down at the dress. I mean, it is pretty sparkly but I thought it was cute. "Try on the red one."

I frowned as I looked at him. "Why are you so mean?" I asked.

"You asked for complete honesty. Do you want to walk out of here with a sparkly, frilly, loud dress?" he queried and I scoffed, curling my lip before walking back into the cubicle.

"What about this one?" I asked him after I changed into the red dress. I liked it. It was cute and there were no sparkles. It wasn't too tight and it wasn't too loose. It wasn't loud nor was it too frilly. It had no straps but I was willing to pull it up every now and again.

"It's too short," he told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. It came up to mid-thigh, like most of the other dresses.

"If you bend over in the slightest, you're on display for everyone at homecoming to see," he explained.

"But it's cute..." I frowned as I looked at it.

"Yeah, it is, but it's short," he repeated. I sighed loudly as I walked back to the cubicle. "Try on the blue one!"

I changed into the blue one, allowing the straps to hold it up rather than my own hands. It was definitely longer than the red dress. No sparkles, frill, or loudness at all. A simple silver belt like design traveled around the waist of the dress. I looked at it in the mirror and shrugged. It's cute but it's a bit plain. I turned around and looked at the back. A deep dip displayed the top portion of my back. I leaned over slightly to make sure that I wouldn't expose myself at the schoolwide event.

"What's taking you so long?" Axel asked from outside of the dressing room.

"I'm looking at it!" I called back as I quickly took a picture of the dress. I left the cubicle and stood in front of him. He nodded as he examined in the dress, allowing a surge of self-consciousness to rise up through my body.

"I like it," he admitted.

"Really?" I asked him, slightly shocked. I was waiting for him to make a comment about the hemming of the dress and how he hated the brand of thread used while plotting out a five paragraph hate letter to the designer.

"Yeah," he told me. "It's cute."

"Alright, I'll put this one aside," I told him.

As I turned around, he told me stop. "Wait a second."

"What?" I asked, turning back around.

"No, let me see the back of the dress," he responded. I slowly turned around again and he moved my hair out of the way, allowing his fingers to brush against the back of my neck.

I waited for him to announce that he hated it and that it was the worst dress in the world and that he was going to burn it at the stake for being such an ugly dress. "Yeah, it's nice. I like it."

"Okay..." I trailed as he let my hair drop again. My face was red and in order to keep him from seeing it, I had to practically run back into the changing stall.

After trying on the last two dresses, we decided to go with the blue one. When I exited the stall with the dress on my arm, I nodded at him. "I'm going to buy it."

"Good. I wouldn't have let you walk out of here with any other dress," he told me as he nodded, waiting for me to put the other dresses on the return rack outside the dressing stalls. "Is blue Sam's favorite color?"

"I don't know," I told him. "I think it's green."

"Well, I'm sure he'll like it either way," Axel replied, earning an eye roll.

+++

"He likes it," I told Axel as we sat in the food court.

"You sent him a picture?" Axel inquired and I nodded, turning my phone around for him to see the conversation.

"Wow, he's a boring texter," Axel muttered as he grabbed my phone from me, scrolling through the messages. I didn't bother taking it back. Like Axel said, Sam's a boring texter and there's not much that goes on in the conversation.

Axel began texting something and my eyes widened. What's he saying? What if he opened a different conversation? I told my friends in our group chat how I thought Axel was going to ask me to homecoming yesterday. "What are you doing?" I asked him, moving to the edge of my chair. I was preparing to reach across the table and grab my phone back. He pushed his chair backwards to avoid that from happening. "Axel."

"Wait," he responded, half paying attention to me and half paying attention to the message he was typing.

"What are you doing?" I repeated.

"Talking to Sam," he answered.

"What are you saying?" I question.

"Don't worry, he's only asking what you're doing in his dry texting ways," Axel replied. I slowly relaxed, watching as he tapped away on my phone, responding to Sam's message. A few moments later, my phone was slid across the table back at me.

I unlocked it and went to the messages.

Haha, what are you doing? Sam asked.

Nothing, I'm just hanging out with Axel. What about you? That was Axel's attempt to impersonate me.

Cleaning out my car. This is yet another example of Sam's dry texting skills.

What would you do if I was there with you? ;-) Oh my gosh, Axel. Really? I looked up at him and saw that he was grinning.

I'd ask you to help me because my back is starting to hurt from being bent over. Oh, thank goodness he didn't notice.

Bent over? ;-) Axel. Are you serious right now?

Yeah, to get the bottles and stuff from under the seats. He's so innocent, it's cute.

I can imagine. And Axel says he doesn't know where Evan gets it...

"You're such a creep," I told him. "You're lucky he's innocent or else this conversation would've taken a turn for the worse."

"I was hoping it would," Axel laughed.

"See, I told you he's not creepy," I replied. "Unlike you."

"He's horrible at flirting!" Axel laughed. "I was practically begging him to say something remotely innappropiate!"

"I realized that. But he's good at getting his feelings across," I told Axel as I locked my phone and shoved it into my pocket.

"Unlike you," Axel retorted.

"I told you how—," I started but he cut me off.

"I mean with him," he replied and I sighed, shrugging.

"I don't know. It's a lot harder to tell someone you don't like them than it is to tell someone you do like them," I admitted. "Or at least that's how it is for me."

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because when someone nice and genuine likes you, you have to try your best not to be a jerk to them. Not only could it crush their self-esteem but it could make them fear rejection to the point where it keeps them from telling their next crush about their feelings," I told him. No pressure or anything, though. "Telling someone you like them is easy. You just can't expect them to like you back."

"Yeah, you're right," he told me. Nodding his head, he surveyed the people around us. Turning back to me, he smiled. I wish I knew what he was thinking.

+++

When Monday rolled around, my friends were growing excited for homecoming. I, on the other hand, wasn't feeling all that anticipatory. Despite our diverging feelings, we all went to buy our tickets together. I tucked my ticket secretively into my purse, telling my friends not to say anything about my purchase, especially not to Sam. Speaking of the humorous boy, whenever I saw him in the hallways, he'd offer me a large, boyish smile. And whenever I was with Axel, I was too scared to look up at the boy to my side in fear of a judging face.

"You have to tell him," Axel insisted as he walked me to Spanish. We were five minutes early and he said he'd wait with me until the bell rings. His last period teacher was absent so he had a free period, and I wasn't arguing.

"I will," I told Axel.

"Even I'm starting to feel guilty whenever I see him grinning at you from a mile away," Axel told me.

"Who are we talking about?" Isaiah asked as he and his brother joined our conversation. Axel looked at me as if asking if we could further the discussion with the two new members. "Oh...I know that look."

"We can tell when we're not wanted," Isaac announced, turning away dramatically.

"You guys..." I trailed.

"Drama queens," Axel muttered, earning a nudge in the stomach. When he saw me staring at him, he cleared his throat. "Sam likes Alexis. Alexis doesn't like Sam. Alexis keeps agreeing to go out with Sam. Alexis is leading Sam on. Sam is going to get hurt. Alexis is too scared to say no."

"Why are you scared to say no?" Isaac asked before lowering his voice. "Is he dangerous?"

"No, I just don't want to hurt his feelings," I explained.

"Oh, good, I have two classes with him. Girl, I was about to switch out of them so fast and block him on all of my social media. Last thing I need in my life is another creep," Isaac replied with a relieved sigh.

"Glad to see you have my wellbeing in mind," I muttered.

"I would've had you block him too," Isaac replied as if it was obvious.

"Anyway, I don't know what to do," I started. "I'm going to homecoming with him on Friday."

"We heard," Isaiah announced with a nod towards Axel. "Just tell him at the end of homecoming. Just say, 'Look, I know you like me and all, but I'm just not into you that way. Hopefully, we can still be friends.' That should set things straight."

"It's not that easy," I frowned. "I'm not good at rejecting people."

"It's easy. Just say it. Don't think. Just speak," Isaiah informed me.

"Out of pure curiosity, how many girls have you rejected?" I asked him.

"None! You're crazy to think girls like him," Isaac snorted. Isaiah reached out and punched his chest.

"Not many but the few I did reject don't hate me," Isaiah informed me. "Unlike Isaac."

"Look, it was one time," Isaac explained. "I mean, she burned some of my clothes but I don't have to worry about her liking me anymore, right?"

"You screamed at her from the window that you weren't interested and then threw a water balloon at her," Isaiah retorted with narrowed eyes.

"But she doesn't talk to me anymore. Who really won?" Isaac asked as if the answer was obvious.

"All I'm saying is that you've got to do it. You'll both be happier if it's done sooner rather than later," Isaiah told me. "It won't stress you out that much if you don't put too much thought into it. Just think of it as you proposing a friendship to someone, because it's basically what you're doing."

I sighed and nodded, listening as the bell rang. Sam turned into the hallway. "Hey, Lex!" he called.

"Hey, Lex," Axel mocked quietly, imitating Sam's higher pitched voice. I slapped his arm, repressing a grin as Sam approached us.

"Get to class or wherever it is you're going," I told him, turning him around and shoving him.

"Hey, Sam," Axel greeted the boy he was just imitating.

"Hello," Sam smiled at him. He had a large grin on his face, looking so innocent and happy. Too bad I'm going to have to crush his heart in just a few days...