Song: I Think About You by Ross Lynch from the series; Austin and Ally

Chapter Seven: Is it no to yes or yes to no?

I felt cold hands on my face. I looked up and saw Zahra. She couldn't have been the one who flung the big guy off me, right?

The sound of fist connecting with jaw snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned my head in the direction of the noise.

Axel.

He was punching the big guy. I rushed to my feet and went to drag him away from the guy before he did any serious damage. Once I reached him and tried to pry him off, he just pushed me away.

"Ouch!" I complained as I landed on the floor. My butt can't take this pain anymore. It just isn't fair to it.

As if realizing what he did, he rushed over to me and helped me up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that was you. I didn't think."

"Well duh!" I replied as I rubbed my butt soothingly.

"I'm serious, Charvi. Are you okay? Did Noah hurt you?"

"No. I'm fine."

The purple bruise on your wrist is wondering if it isn't purple enough for you.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now I can yell at you."

"Yell at me?"

"Yes. What are you doing here? Aren't you meant to be at home?"

"I can do whatever I want. Isn't this party for everyone?"

"Yes but..." He trailed off and looked me up and down.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm wearing my pyjamas."

"Why?"

"Cos I live next door and rushed over here."

"Thanks for your help, but you don't need to rearrange his face." I pointed to the bloody figure on the floor. "Let's go Zahra."

"One more thing."

"What?"

She walked up to Noah and stomped on his leg. "That."

"Perfect." I said.

She walked up to me and we began heading for the exit of the corridor.

"Where are you going now?" Axel called after us.

"Home."

He grabbed my wrist to turn me around and I winced.

He released me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said as I rubbed my wrist.

"What do you mean nothing? Your wrist is bruised."

"It's not a big deal."

He just turned away from me and faced Zahra. "Are you going home now?" She nodded. "Did you bring your car?" She nodded. "Are you drunk?" She shook her head.

Cat got her tongue?

"I'll take it from here." He told her and grabbed my other wrist and started dragging me away. "Where are we going?"

"To the kitchen." I looked over my shoulder and waved at Zahra. She waved back and started on her way.

*********************

"This doesn't make me feel better." I whined.

He was pressing a frozen bottle of water on my wrist.

"It would later."

I tried grabbing the bottle from his hand, but he wouldn't budge. "I can do it myself."

"I know."

I jumped from where I was sitting on his kitchen counter.

"So let me."

He didn't reply. I yanked my hand away. "I'm going home."

I walked towards the door before I could leave, he asked:

"Should I walk you?"

I gave him an incredulous look. "Who are you and what have you done with The Annoying Axel Brown?"

"I'm serious."

"You kinda mentioned that before. Plus, I can walk myself. I live next door, remember. I can handle myself."

"It didn't seem like it when Noah was all over you."

"He wasn't all over me."

He raised his brows.

"It was a one-time thing, and I don't go to a lot of parties so it's not my fault."

"Then why did you come to this one?"

"Zahra needed my help."

"Always the selfless one."

"That was just being a good friend. Anyone would have done it."

"So how about I walk you?"

"It's fine, Axel. Thanks."

"You didn't come for our classes today."

Oh shit! I forgot about that.

"I'm sorry. I forgot."

"Where were you?"

"Somewhere."

"If it was a good enough reason for missing I would like to know."

"I was at a friend's house."

"You missed our lesson for that? Were you at Xander's?"

"No, and that doesn't even matter. All you need to know is that it was for a good reason. I already said I was sorry."

"Are you free tomorrow?"

"Free for what?"

"Our next lesson."

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"Yes it is. The deal is for two lessons a week."

"On Tuesdays and Fridays."

"But you missed it. It's only fair I get another one to cover up. So see you tomorrow at 2pm. Your house this time." He didn't wait for me to reply before he walked out the door.

I turned to walk out the back door when I bumped into someone and stumbled back.

Really?

"Oh come on! Open your eyes, people!"

"Calm down. You don't have to get so worked up. It was an accident."

I looked up at the sound of the voice. Zane.

"You. You really need to get your eyes checked."

He scoffed. "It takes two people to bump into each other."

"But it's usually one person's fault. And the last..." I paused and pretended to think as I counted on my fingers. "Three times, it was your fault."

"The first time, I didn't bump into you. The door hit your head."

"So it's the door's fault?" I crossed my arms.

"Perhaps."

"Real mature. Just blame the inanimate object in the situation. Just please step aside, so I can go home."

"No."

"No?"

"Yes."

"Yes?" I thought he said no.

He's probably confused.

Clearly.

"I mean no to yes. No wait, I mean yes to no."

"Is it no to yes or yes to no?

"You know what I mean."

"No I don't actually."

"I'm saying no I won't step aside."

"Why?"

"Because I'm waiting for an apology."

"For what? You bumped into me in case you forgot. So keep waiting."

"No. For being so rude."

"Give me a break if I'm not in the mood. I had a bad night and you male species are the cause."

I tried to step around him, but he stepped in my front.

"Are you drunk?"

"Maybe a little." He chuckled and stumbled forward. I took a step back before he fell on me because with the way he was moving, he didn't look steady. He took me in. "What are you wearing?"

"Haven't you heard? It's the latest trend." I touched his leather jacket. "That's a little out of date."

"Is it?"

"Like totally."

His green eyes pierced through mine.

"Look, I'm tired and I just want to go home."

His eyes flashed to my wrist that was already swelling.

"Don't ask."

"I wasn't going to. Are you going to drive?"

"I'm not the one who's drunk. Plus, I don't need to drive. I live next door."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I just said that." I walked around him and this time, he let me.

Good. I'm drained. I'm never stepping foot into a party again.

That's going to be kind of difficult. Leyla's birthday party is next weekend.

Would she even want me there?

Of course she would. She won't let a boy come in between years of friendship.

I hope not.

**************************

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it."

It was 3pm and I was on the couch texting Xander about what I should get Leyla for her birthday. I saw this beautiful necklace when I was gift shopping on Thursday, but it was too expensive for me to afford.

I would have been binge watching The Originals, but here I was helping Axel with Calculus. After teaching him for an hour, I gave him some equations to solve, so he was lying on the carpet doing just that.

"Well, obviously. It's not like this is my house."

I rolled my eyes and got up. "I'm coming!" I yelled.

I opened it to reveal Zahra.

"Surprise!"

"Hi." I hugged her. "What are you doing here?"

"Girl time duh!" I let her in and closed the door after her. "Leyla's on her way. She stopped at Axel's house to see him. Lucky girl, huh. He's finally talking to her."

"Oh no."

Oh no indeed.

"Oh no? I thought you'd be happy for her."

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?" By that time, we had gotten to the sitting room so I just pointed at Axel.

Her eyes traced my finger and she shook her head. "Leyla's not going to like that. What is he doing here?"

"I'm tutoring him."

"Why?"

"I'll explain that later. Now we need to get him out of here and into his house before she finds out."

"We better. I can't have my two best friends fighting. I already talked to her and told her she was being stupidly angry with you."

"Axel! Up!"

"What, why?" He looked up. "Oh, hi Zoey."

"It's Zahra."

He stood to his feet. "Why do I have to leave anyways?"

"Leyla's at your door."

"Uh, why?"

"To see you, duh." I pointed out the obvious.

"Why?"

"Because that's what friends do. Spend time with each other."

Before he could reply, the bell rang.

I rushed up to him and grabbed his arm. "You'll have to go out the window. There's no back door."

"This is stupid. I don't see why I have to go."

"Do I really have to explain this to you?" I groaned.

"Seeing as I don't understand, yes. What about our lesson?"

"I'll text you on what we'll do about it." The bell rang again and again. "Just hurry."

"At least lemme grab my bag, books and shoes."

I released him and rushed back to the sitting room to get his books and bag. "Get your shoes from the door. Quick!"

By the time, we'd gotten all his stuff and pushed him out the window, Leyla had rung the bell about seven times.

"What took you so long? And why are you sweating?" She questioned when I opened the door.

You would be sweating too if you tried to shove a 6-foot 150 pounds boy out the window because he was being too slow.

"Sweating?" I touched my forehead. "Me? Pfft."

"But you are. There's...." I cut her off. "Come in. Come in." I dragged her in.

"So how was your talk with Axel?" Zahra asked subtly.

"I kept ringing the doorbell, but no one answered. He's probably at Shawn or Mason's house."

So it's Mason not Miles.

"You and Axel huh?" I asked.

She blushed. "Not exactly. But we're friends."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"So good he keeps calling me Lila."

"He called me Zoey." Zahra snorted.

"When did you talk to him?" She gave her a puzzled look.

"I bumped into him one time in the parking lot and he said 'Sorry Zoey'." Zahra lied, seeing as the only time he said her name was about a minute ago.

"Oh. I'm okay with it anyways. I never correct him. Maybe he just prefers Lila."

"Sure." Zahra stressed.

"So how's your wrist? Zahra filled me in with what happened last night."

"It's fine thanks. It's a little swollen, but it doesn't hurt as much. I've been icing it." I had to hide it from mum and Reveka. I wasn't really ready for an interrogation. It'd be gone by tomorrow. No need to make a big deal out of nothing.

"Good."

"Yeah, good."

Leyla looked at me before looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. I was jealous, but I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you when you did nothing to deserve it. You were right. My anger was misplaced. The truth is, I was actually just angry at myself."

"It's okay. I realized how you must have felt so I just let it be."

"So you forgive me?"

I nodded and stretched my arms forward to engulf her in a hug. "Plus, there's no need to be jealous. Me and Axel? Never gonna happen. Trust me. We definitely do not see each other that way."

"You sure?"

"Never been so sure."

"Hey! You two shouldn't leave me out of the hug." Zahra whined.

Leyla and I opened our arms and added her to our big hug.

After a few seconds, we released ourselves and went to my room. Reveka was at Chloe's house. Mum was working again. At least she came home yesterday night and left by about 11am. So we ate breakfast together. More like I prepared her breakfast and took it to her in bed. She slept a little more than usual. She deserved it. She works herself too hard.

"Let's get down to business." Zahra rubbed her hands together as she lay on my bed.

"What do you mean?"

"We're here to plan my birthday ball."

"Ball? Not party?"

"My parents want it to be a ball. You know, with suits, fancy dresses and all."

"Oh yeah. I forgot you were wealthy."

"More like filthy rich." Zahra snorted.

"Whatever." Leyla dismissed.

"So what's the theme? There's going to be a theme right?"

Leyla complained. "Does there really have to be one?"

"Of course. How about a masquerade ball?" Zahra added.

"But that's so mysterious."

"All the more reason. Come on guys. I've always wanted to wear a mask to a ball. Maybe I'll meet my Prince Charming. You never know."

"Get your head out of the clouds." I nudged her arm.

She just swatted my hand away.

"Where's the venue?"

"My parents rented a large banquet hall. They even hired an event planner. They're stressing this out."

"Well turning 18 is kind of a big deal." I added.

"Kind of?" Zahra asked. "It's a really big deal. You'll finally be an adult."

"True."

"When are we going to check out this hall?"

"We could go now if you want. At least, we'll know what we're working with."

"Isn't the event planner handling all that?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we need to pick the guests, hand out invitations, choose themes and all that."

"We should be sending the invitations latest Tuesday." Zahra pointed out. "So it won't be rushed and people would have enough time to get their clothes ready."

"You're right. I'll call Ellie and tell her to meet us there." She said as she stood up.

"Guys, I'll meet you by the car. I want to change first."

"I'll wait with you." Zahra offered. "Leyla, you go ahead."

"Okay guys. See you outside. I'll call Axel too. To tell him I stopped by."

When her footsteps began fading, Zahra turned to me. "If you hate his guts, why are you tutoring him?"

I hesitated. "I made a deal with him."

She arched a brow. "What kind of deal?"

"The 'don't tell Leyla' kind."

"What did you do?" She groaned.

"Nothing like you're thinking. Whatever it is that you're thinking."

"Okay?"

"Remember on Monday when I told him I wanted to talk to him privately?"

"Yeah?" She urged.

"I wanted to fix things. Well I told him to talk to Leyla at least once a day, to be her friend." Her jaw dropped. "I was asking for a favour, but he said he'd only do it if I tutored him."

"You sold yourself to him just so he could talk to Leyla?"

"Don't put it like that. I didn't sell myself to him. I just give him 3 hours of my time twice a week so he'll be friends with her."

"What do you call that?"

"Negotiation."

"Why doesn't he just ask someone else?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wants familiarity or something and didn't feel like the guys on the football team would take him seriously. I'm just guessing." I shrugged.

"Why does he want you then?"

"I thought I already answered that."

She rolled her eyes.

"Would Leyla be mad if she found out?"

"Would you be mad if you found out the guy you liked only talks to you because your best friend agreed to spend time with him?"

"Don't put it that way. I tutor him. It's nothing special."

"Still."

I groaned.

"Change. She'll be wondering what's taking us so long."

I changed into my jean shorts, a plain black long sleeve T-shirt and black ankle boots.

"Shouldn't you call Axel and tell him you're going out?"

"Why would I do that?"

"You were in the middle of a lesson. He'll be waiting for feedback."

"I'll probably just text him. You heard Leyla, she said she's gonna try calling him."

"True. Let's go down."

When we got outside, we saw Leyla on Axel's terrace talking to him. Her smile was so bright, she was competing with the sun.

We walked up to them.

"Hi Axel." Zahra greeted.

"Oh hey Zahra."

"At least you got my name this time." She joked.

He just turned to me and smiled. "Hi."

I just waved. I didn't want to talk to him in front of Leyla. She mistook our banters for flirting and I don't want to upset her.

So she's controlling your actions.

It's not like that.

So how is it like?

I'm just trying to protect her feelings.

When he finally took us in, his smile dropped.

"Are you guys going somewhere?"

"Yeah we are." Leyla answered. I tried to look everywhere but his face. The sky, the grass, my shoes.

"Where?" I could feel his eyes on me. I snuck a glance, and it was. What more of my time am I going to pay him for this?

"I'm sorry." I mouthed and luckily, only he caught it. He really needed lessons and I wasn't taking this seriously enough. I mean, he was fulfilling his end of the deal.

"To see the event planner for my birthday."

"Your birthday?"

"Yeah. You know. It's next Saturday. I told you about 2 days ago."

"Oh yes. I remember."

"Is there a problem?"

"No. Not at all."

"Well, see you later then." She turned and headed for the car. He grabbed my arm.

"I'll distract her." Zahra whispered.

I gave her a thankful smile.

"What do you want? She could catch us."

"You sound like you're afraid of her."

"I'm not. I just don't want her to get upset over nothing."

"What about our lesson?"

"I said I'm sorry. I'll text you okay?" I turned my head to where Zahra was showing Leyla something on her shoe.

"Fine." He released my arm and crossed his. "I'll be waiting."

I rushed to them. "Let's go guys. What are we waiting for?"

"I don't know. Zahra decided to explain to me how her shoe was made."

"You know me, I love talking about shoes." She smiled widely

Leyla gave her a puzzled look, and I decided to just push her towards the car before she asked any more questions.

As we drove past Axel's house, he just stared at me until I couldn't see him anymore.

He seems really upset about you missing lessons.

I know right.

****************************

So how was that?

What do you guys think about Axel?

I should add more Zane and Charvi scenes right? I know.

Anyways please vote, comment and share. Thanks. ;)