C3 Three

I woke up to my phone buzzing repeatedly from somewhere on my kingsized bed. Yawning, I searched for the noisy gadget. I threw my blanket on the floor and heard a loud thud.

Ah, there it was.

"What do you want?!," I yelled out annoyedly after I picked up my phone from the floor. Thank god for the fluffy carpet that protected its fall.

It was only seven am on a Sunday morning and I stayed up till late last night to edit a story that I will never publish. A story inspired by Landon's personality.

"Landon kissed Lilah!" Caden screamed over the phone. I had to hold my phone further away from my ear because he was literally yelling at me like I was deaf. "See, you can shoot your shot at Axel!"

After he dropped the bombshell of Landon kissing Lilah on me my heart made a little somersault. Not only did I have new content to write about, but now I was also a hundredth percent sure Axel was a free man.

Not that I wasn’t sure about it that night. But now with Lilah kissing Landon, it meant that Axel really was a free man. Guess it’s my turn now.

"When did they kiss?" I asked curiously. I brushed my hair out of my face as I tried to sit up straight in bed.

"The same night y'all were on the balcony." Caden gushed with excitement. "Didn't you see?"

Must have happened when she was in the shower.

"Seriously? I obviously did not see her kiss Landon. Neither did Axel."

"Anyway, that's not the reason I called you. You need to talk to Axel, that's why I called you." Caden said in a matter-of-fact tone. He was obsessed with the idea of Axel and me together.

"I uploaded a selfie, he saw it and didn't even reply," I told him, rolling my eyes while massaging my temples. "I don't think he's interested."

"I just want to remind you that he's Quinton's cousin and you know that Quin can't flirt for shit. Why do you think his cousin can? It's probably in their DNA that they can't flirt!"

I laughed. Caden had a point there. "I tried everything. From posting a selfie to bonding with him over sad songs he posted on his story last night. The only thing he did was send me more sad songs causing me to get flashbacks of my time with Landon! So no, if he's interested in me he will hit me up."

"Why would you bond with him over sad songs?" Caden yelled out frustrated. "Couldn't you just ask how the weather was or something?"

I plopped down on my pillow. "Watch him ghost me when I do that."

There was a long pause on the other side of the line. "Caden, are you there?" I asked.

It was silent for a while until I heard the faint tapping of fingernails on a screen. "Bitch, I can hear you!"

"Thank me later." He muttered before ending the call suddenly.

I stared confused at my phone until my screen lit up with a notification from Axel.

AX: Wanna hang out?

"Oh my god...this bitch." I cursed at Caden because I knew this was him doing.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Axel watched the sea, lost in the rhythmic beating of waves hitting the rocks. His eyes were steady to the horizon, face aglow with the last orange rays before twilight attracted the stars. His lips bear the aspect of a smile, just enough to show that he was enjoying his

thoughts, whatever they may be.

Probably how Caden threatened him to take me out. Yea, I don't think that makes it on the list of enjoyable thoughts.

I moved closer to him so that he could feel my presence, yet stayed quiet, allowing him to stay lost in the moment for a little while longer.

When the sun rays disappeared and the chilly evening breeze took its place I grabbed the sweater I brought with me and put it over the tank top I was wearing.

"Cold?" Axel asked, handing me the cup with iced coffee we bought earlier. He was dressed in a black hoodie and ripped jeans. His cap was backward, preventing his hair from flying in all directions.

I nodded my head and took a sip of the iced coffee. "So what's up with all the sad songs on your story?"

I know he was going through a hard time, but I had to start this conversation somehow.

Axel looked at me, a sad smile playing on his lips. "Have you ever been heartbroken before?" Not really. I was the heartbreaker until Landon came along. But he didn’t need to know that. "Yes, but I got over it in a month."

"That means it wasn't real," he said, looking at me with pity in his eyes.

"Why do you say that?" I questioned. What does a boy like him know about love? "You never get over someone you love. You just learn how to live without them." "That's deep, is that how you feel about Lilah?"

He let out a deep sigh and nodded his head. "It's hard to forget all the good times I had with her."

"She really hurt you, didn't she? Did you love her?" Why am I playing therapist for him now?

"I loved her a lot," he said, smiling bitterly. There was a short silence as he just stared into the distance. His eyes were glassy like he was on the verge of breaking down. "I wished I didn't."

"You did your part, she did hers," I whispered, placing my hand in his, giving him a soft squeeze. "She was your lesson, not your forever."

He scoffed and pulled his hand away. "Girls ain't shit." "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"So what do you enjoy doing?" Axel asked, changing the subject.

"Reading, writing,...oh and watching serial killer documentaries." After those words left my mouth I realized how boring and creepy I sound.

"I'm scared of you."

"Don't worry. I'm not Ted Bundy."

"You're probably worse." Axel chuckled. "Exactly," I answered jokingly.

"So, what do you write?"

"Mostly fiction. Romance."

"You write romance, but you have never experienced true love before. That's odd, don't you think?" he asked, giving me a doubtful look.

"I observe people. People who are in love." "Not all that glitters is gold," Axel remarked.

"Like you and Lilah?"

"Exactly. Do you have any works I can read?"

It took a second or two for his words to sink in. I felt my lips stretching into a gaping grin and my eyebrows arching for the sky. "Yeah of course. I will send you the link."

"Great, I'm excited to start reading. Why do you look so amazed?"

Amazement didn't quite cover how I felt at that moment. I felt like someone just took my spark of wonder and poured kerosine on it. It was not everyday someone asked me to read my books.

"I never saw you as a guy who reads," I admitted sheepishly.

"I'm full of surprises." He winks at me. "I was surprised you agreed to hang out with me." "Why?" I chuckled.

"That means you don't have a boyfriend, but then again I already knew that for a couple of minutes now."

"I'm an innocent little noodle," I smiled innocently at him. "Can't you see?"

When I said that there was this mischievous glint in his eyes that I didn't miss. "I got my nickname for you," he declared.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Promise I'm the only one allowed to call you that."

"I promise. Now, what is it?"

"Noodles."