"Well, it's a romance novel. The two main characters are nearly complete opposites. The girl and her family are at risk of being deported, and the boy is pressured by his parents to get into a good school. That's the main gist of it really…" she said. "Sorry, I'm not great at explaining books," she apologised quickly. She never needed to in the past so Hazel wasn't too good with it yet.
"No, no, you're great at explaining," Axel answered quickly, a small smile on his lips as he tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear. "It sounds like a really good novel."
Hazel felt her cheeks warm at his compliment. She nodded in agreement that the novel sounded good. Usually romance wasn't her thing, but there were awards for a reason.
Axel ran a hand through his hair, already feeling a bit flustered as he felt a faint blush spread across his cheeks. This girl was. . . different. Different than most of the other girls he had dated. She was smart, quiet and nice. "Uh, I know this might sound a little crazy, but I was wondering if you want to hang out tomorrow afternoon?"
"W-wait what?" she was confused. Was she being asked out? No… probably not…
But what if it was? Her mind was a panicked mess, unsure of how to respond.
"Sorry, if you don't want to it's fine," Axel answered, looking down at his feet. It wasn't like he wasn't used to getting rejected. Hazel was probably too good for him anyways.
"No, no, it's not that. It was just a surprise…" she said timidly, her cheeks warming. In reality she had never been asked out. Her father never let her. And not in the traditional sense of not wanting to let his child go. He wasn't a good man. Hazel rubbed her arm nervously just thinking about it.
(Sneaking in a bit of backstory oooooooooo)
(Oooh xD )
Axel glanced down at Hazel's arm and then back up at her face, a questioning look on his face, but he decided not to press. She already looked uncomfortable because of a thought in her head. "Is that a yes. . .?" He asked timidly.
Hazel snapped out of her thoughts at the question. Axel seemed like a nice person. It would be something new to try, right. Like a brand new book, waiting for this adventure to be written. She nodded, a soft and timid smile on her face. "Where are we going?" she asked, unsure of what kind of outing it would be.
"There's a cafe down the street," Axel began, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "We can get to know each other and talk about books too." He added, smiling at the last part.
Hazel smiled at the mention of coffee. Coffee was so good as long as sugar and whipped cream was added. She then remembered that she worked there. Eh, the coffee was still good.
"That sounds good. I already work there, so maybe I could give you recommendations on what to try? I dunno, all the fancy names still confuse me," she said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
(Sorry, dinner. I'm back now though)
"I can't tell the difference between most names, either." Axel agreed, chuckling lightly as he leaned on his prosthetic. "Well, I can give you my number if that's easier."
(You're good!)
Hazel blushed at the thought of someone giving her their phone number. She really only had the necessities in her contacts such as her mother, her boss, and 911 of course. She stood and grabbed her small purse and returned to sit beside Axel once again. Fishing her phone from her pocket, she handed it to him, her mind going a mile a minute.
Axel typed in his number, adding in his name his name as well. After a few moments, he finished and handed the phone back to Hazel, a smile lighting up his face. He was surprised that he had gotten through a conversation without stammering next to a cute girl.
Hazel took it and stared at the number for a second before repocketing the device. There was something about Axel that was different. A good different. She couldn't quite place her finger on it however.
"I need to keep sorting things, but I'll see you tomorrow hopefully?" Axel finally said after a long pause, mentally willing that the blush on his cheeks would leave.
"Oh, um, yeah! See you tomorrow then…" she said with an awkward wave. Hazel's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, unsure of how to process what had just happened. I… Hazel Brixtion… was just asked out! And I was given his number too? How did this even happen?! she thought.
Axel limped back towards the counter, leaning over it and sighing, staring off into space. How he had managed to ask an amazing girl like that out…he had no idea. He could already imagine what his older brothers would say. I'm impressed 'lil brother.
Taking out her phone again, she stared at the number again to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Nope. Not a dream.
Sparrow watched the whole exchange. “So looks like somebody got hit with Cupid’s arrow!”she smirked “where are you taking her? What are you going to give her?”
(Sparrow! You sneaky snake XD)
Timothy went back into the bookstore, trying to ignore the previous scenario. She gritted her teeth and reminded herself to be more social. She grabbed a random book from a bookshelf and started to read. Lyudmila Pavlichenko: World's Deadliest Female Sniper. Interesting. It would have to do for now.
Sparrow watched the whole exchange. “So looks like somebody got hit with Cupid’s arrow!”she smirked “where are you taking her? What are you going to give her?”
"Uh, well, I'm taking her to a cafe down the street," Axel answered, blushing furiously as he looked down. "W-what should I bring her?"
(She loves coffee, so there's one, books, there's two… already nailed 2 of her favorite things ahaaaa)
( Lmao. Wonderful xD )