Crush on Mr. Bad Boy

by Lilly Purdon

  “You could've at least left the blinds open,” Axel grumbled on the phone.

  “Pervert!” I yelled back, trying to put on my winter boots.

  “But you love it.”

  I couldn't help it when a smile appeared on my face. After putting on layered clothes, I skipped happily down the stairs. The walls were now decorated with photos of my dad and I, the evil stepmother was no longer in the picture.

  “Rosie! Are you going somewhere?” my dad hollered from Cleo’s old study, which he now transformed into his own.

  “Yeah, out with Axel!” I hollered back.

  Though my dad was hesitant about Axel, he supported my decision. My father had heard other parents talk about Axel, but I convinced him to give my guy a chance.

  “Stay safe!”

  I slipped out of the front door. Right when I shut the front door, I was embraced in a warm hug. Axel kept me in his embrace for a few minutes before letting go.

  “I missed you,” he grinned at me.

  “We saw each other last night and talked on the phone until three a.m.” I pointed out.

  “Doesn't matter, I still missed you,” he said before giving me a quick peck on my lips.

  My heart fluttered and I felt the whole zoo in my stomach. Every single time he kissed me, even a peck, it never changed. My heart would always go crazy and my knees would always go weak.

  He laced his fingers through mine and dragged me over to his new slick black car. Of course, he wouldn't let anyone call it a 'car'. His car was named after the couple name Layla gave us which was 'Raxel'.

  Once we got settled in his car, he turned on some classical music, but of course he had to switch it to alternative. I didn’t mind though. “So where are we going?” I asked.

  “It's a surprise,” he smirked.

  “You're always filled with surprises.”

  “So you'll never get tired of me,” he shot me a million dollar smile.

  After a while of driving and normal chit-chat, we finally arrived at the destination. He shut off the car's engine and rushed out to open the passenger door for me.

  “Where are we?” I asked, stepping out of the car.

  “Guess.”

  The place was coated in snow. It didn't take me long to realize where we were. A gasp escaped my lips. “You brought me to a junk yard?”

  “Not just any junk yard,” he slung his arm over my shoulder, drawing me closer to his body. He kept me warm. “The one and only junkyard where we watched fireflies and drank tequila…”

  “The junk yard where you started panicking because you had a firefly on your nose,” I teased. “I still can't believe such a bad guy like you would be so scared of fireflies!” I laughed.

  “I wasn’t scared, I was…. Uncomfortable.”

  “Just blow it! Please!” I imitated him. “Yeah, not scared at all.” I snickered sarcastically.

  “Princess,” he said in a warning tone.

  “Prince,” I said back with a smirk on my face.

  His smirk appeared on his face after a few moments. “I'll get you back later. For now, let's climb that pile of junk.” He pointed at the large pile of junk. The junkyard looked so different in the daylight.

  Climbing the giant pile of junk was a lot harder this time, since it was all covered in snow and ice. I slipped multiple times, but Axel had managed to catch me every single time. Once we finally arrived to the couch on the top.

  The first topic of discussion was university.

  “I know you’ve always planned on going to an Ivy League school,” he started. “And I fully support that.”

  I frowned, “but we won’t be together.”

  “It’s your future though, Rosie. I will support you no matter what,” his eyes melted into mine.

  “Axel…” I breathed out.

  “I’ll be fine as long as you’re happy.”

  He was truly all I wanted.

  “Axel…” I smiled, “I already chose where I’m going. I applied, and already heard back from them.”

  I had never seen him look that upset. He was completely shattered, but he still tried to look happy for me.

  “I’m happy for you Rosie, I truly am.”

  I started laughing.

  He sat there staring at me, utterly confused to why I was laughing.

  “Axel, I didn’t apply to any Ivy League schools.”

  He was pleasantly shocked.

  “I applied to Florida…” I smiled. “I sent your application there too.”

  He started kissing me over and over again. “Rosie, you shouldn’t have done that.” Each short kiss was filled with passion. “You gave up your chances-”

  “I didn’t give up anything. Like I said, Ivy League has never been my dream. I just want to be happy.”

  I was overwhelmed with joy to see him happy. He looked like the luckiest guy alive. His eyes showed me how he truly felt about us being able to stay together and attend the same university.

  We talked for hours and hours.

  We talked about everything.

  Parents. My dad is considering getting back with my mom after all she's done to him. School. Is better with you there. Teachers. Sucks no matter what. Grades. I’m passing, so I couldn't care less. Life. Is wonderful with you in it.

  Friendships. Always ended when people go off to college. Playing Cupid. Good luck, I'm still rooting for Trent and Layla. Christmas. I'm spending with you no matter what. The Future. With you in it.

  The sky. The colors of your eyes. Food. Always a touchy subject since I hate peanut butter and you love it. Graduation. You'll be there with me. Prom. Can we just skip out? Fireflies. Please don't bring that up.

  Forgiving Jaxon. I know you're planning to do that on New Year’s Eve and I'm not going to stop you. Children. I want twins. The Stars. Shine in your eyes. Music. Your voice. Being cheesy. I can't help it Princess. Fairytales. Don't our lives seem like one?

  We talked while watching the sunset. Time passed so quickly when I was with him. We talked and talked, until the sky was dark and filled with stars, until the temperature dropped about ten degrees. Once it was completely dark, he lit the candles in the jars around the couch we were sitting on.

  “Sadly, it's too cold for fireflies.” He frowned at the lack of movement around us.

  Heaps of snow decorated the whole junk yard. You could barely see any of the junk. He pulled out the same bottle of tequila from that night and handed it to me.

  I accepted it and took a swing from it. The liquid burned down my throat, making me a little warmer from the cold around us. I handed it back to him so he could get his swing. He shook his head and put the bottle back under the couch.

  “I'm driving,” he shrugged.

  “That didn't stop you last time,” I chuckled.

  “Habits change,” he shrugged again. “Soon I'll become little Mr. Good Boy.” He laughed. His laugh brought joy to my ears, I loved his laugh.

  He leaned into me until our noses were touching. Before he could press his lips against mine, something glowed between our eyes. We both pulled back and stared at the firefly.

  “It's impossible,” I whispered, staring at the one and only firefly right in front of us.

  There was no way the firefly could've been out in such cold weather like this.

  “You thought lots of things were impossible, Princess.” He whispered back, still staring at the firefly. The firefly started to flutter its wings like it was dying.

  Axel held out his palm to catch the freezing firefly, but it refused to drop dead. He still kept his hand below the firefly though just in case. He stared at it like it was the most interesting thing ever. His emerald green eyes shone with curiosity and something else I couldn't point out.

  “You thought me noticing you was impossible, you thought drinking for you was impossible, you thought Layla changing was impossible, you thought getting Cleo out of your life was impossible, you thought getting suspended was impossible, you thought skipping school w
as impossible, and you thought a lot of other things were impossible.

  Flower, things are only impossible if you think they are. And I learned that when I met you. We've both had crushes on each other for years, but settled with other people because we thought us was impossible. But right now, we're sitting here, only the two of us on a pile of junk in a junkyard. That would've sounded impossible to us too if we thought about three months ago.

  Now things are different. Things aren't impossible anymore. The sky is within our reach, and we should reach for the stars. Our lives have changed.” He spoke, still staring at the fluttering firefly.

  “I think that's the best speech I have ever heard,” I admitted. “Did you make it up all on the spot?”

  “I’m just that smart.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him, not believing him.

  Finally he looked away from the firefly and sighed. “Fine, I actually wrote about half of it down. But it was different from what I said, I swear!” he threw both his gloved hands in the air. I couldn't help but smile.

  He grinned sheepishly before grabbing my waist and pulling me so that I was straddling his lap.

  “All we need are tequila and fireflies,” he breathed into my ear. “That makes the perfect date.”

  “Correction, tequila and a firefly,” I snickered.

  “Not anymore,” he said, making me look at the firefly.

  The firefly was no longer alone. Another firefly was fluttering right next to it. I stared at the two fireflies in awe.

  “Princess?” He called for my attention.

  I gave him my full attention.

  “You've got a firefly on your nose,” he said, playfully flicking my nose.

  I huffed, “liar.”

  “By the way.”

  “Huh?”

  “I love you too.” He grinned.

  My breath got caught in my lungs as I stared into his truthful emerald green eyes.

  “And I did not write that down.”

  ~*~

  Chapter 43 HAPPILY EVER AFTER

  Graduation Day...

  “We've all had difficulties we had to overcome.” Dustin spoke confidently in the microphone. “For example, me trying to find someone who could actually tell me and my twin apart.” He looked straight at me with those eyes as the audience chuckled.

  “I must say, I'll miss high school,” he admitted, earning a few groans from us seniors in the audience. “And I'm sure you will too once you get to college. I'll miss all the delicious school food,” he said sarcastically.

  Axel started gagging a few rows away from me. He turned around and caught me looking at him before sending me a wink. He looked hot in the red graduation robe he was wearing.

  “I have to compliment the food; the lunch lady gave me extra cookies on November 1st. It was a treat, especially with the hangovers all of us had!” Dustin joked. “I'll miss the crowded halls, football with all the guys, and all the dances we've had. Even though I showed up at prom alone because I'm forever alone, I still enjoyed it,” he grinned at all of us.

  “I'll jack you off for twenty bucks!” a random girl yelled from the audience.

  All of us seniors started laughing, but the adults glared at us in disapproval. “What an offer, but no thanks,” he grinned sheepishly. “What made high school so great for me were sports and all my supportive friends. They've helped me through an experience of a lifetime.”

  “Says the virgin.” Axel snorted out loud. I took my bracelet off and flung it at his head. Of course with my terrible aim, I missed and hit a person rows away from him. He noticed, and started laughing. However, he did keep his mouth shut.

  Jaxon, who was seated right next to him, turned around and gave me thumbs up for what I did. I forgave him on New Year’s Eve, since it was only fair to. Since then, he had been nothing but sweet to me. Axel still disliked him, but he didn't lay a finger on Jaxon, knowing I would get pissed if he did.

  “Anyways, I'll surely miss high school. College is going to be a challenge for all of us, but I'm sure most of us will be able to overcome it. I want to thank all my friends, family, teachers, the Miami Hurricanes for giving me a full football scholarship and last but not least, the lunch lady for those extra cookies.” Dustin finished his speech.

  Everyone cheered and applauded for him.

  The principal stepped up on the stand and cleared his throat. “Our graduation ceremony is a brief moment in our lives, but the memory of our time here at Jordan High will last forever. Congratulations class of 2013!”

  Everyone stood up and threw their graduation hats in the air.

  Deep down inside, I knew this was a moment we would never forget. I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me before pulling me into a bone crushing hug. "I can't believe we graduated." Axel mumbled in the cusp of my hair.

  “I'm actually surprised you graduated,” I poked his chest.

  He fake gasped in shock. “Are you calling me stupid?”

  I grinned up at him. “You said it yourself, not me.”

  “Rosie!” Jaxon called out, rushing straight up to us. Axel still held onto me possessively, but he kept his mouth shut. “Congratulations!” he yelled while hugging both of us.

  Axel didn't seem too happy about him interrupting our moment, but he didn’t complain. “Congratulations to you too, and that scholarship you earned!” I grinned at him.

  He scratched the back of his neck while looking down. “I wish we were attending the same university though…”

  “Me too,” I replied. He was going to a university in California while I was going to one in Florida.

  “I don’t,” Alex looked down at Jaxon.

  We just ignored him.

  “At least you've got your boyfriend with you,” he winked at me, but he didn’t sound too genuine.

  Axel had somehow managed to get into the same university I applied to. My dad seemed to think it was luck, but I knew he had stepped up his game in the past few months and really turned his grades around. His application was pretty impressive. Turns out, there was a lot of community work he did that I didn’t know about.

  Sure, I dropped my chance of going to an Ivy League school, but I was following my own path in life.

  “You’ll find someone… eventually,” my boyfriend gave an awkward pat on the back to Jaxon.

  “Love sick birds!” Layla shrieked as she sprinted towards us. She tackled me to the ground. “I'll miss you two!”

  “We won't miss you.” Axel grumbled.

  “We'll miss you too,” I replied. I wanted to add, ‘only after October you’.

  “What are you guys talking about?” Jaxon glared at Layla. “You'll be only three hours away from each other!”

  “Shut up, Smith.” Layla rolled her brown eyes.

  “Well if it isn't the whole crew?” Justin and Dustin came walking into our little group. Dustin and Justin applied to the same university we were going to. Axel wasn't too happy when he heard about them, but he said it was better than Matt.

  “I got news from Kasay!” Dustin announced, holding up a small post card. We all gathered around the postcard as he read it out loud.

  Dear everyone,

  First of all I have to apologize for hiding such a big secret from you. Especially you Rose, you were my best friend and I should've trusted you. I will be out in a few months because of my good behavior. #Swag

  I'll miss you all, hope you all enjoy college. I don't know what will come of my future, but I hope you all forgive me. I'm doing great here and I've got a girlfriend worth fighting for. You probably notice my grammar has improved. My girlfriend was an English major before she got arrested.