Practice after school was better than the last one. I ran a lot and my lungs burned from the exerted energy, because I haven't been sleeping or eating as well as I should.

On my walk home, I ran into Axel again. He probably knew exactly when to come outside, he probably calculated the perfect time with his advanced math skills.

He sat on the concrete porch steps and watched my every move like a hawk, his eyes preying my being with each step closer to his house I made. I felt uneasy as his eyes trailed over my body while I walked; I didn't like this feeling. It was foreign to me.

"Bat boy," he exclaimed with a loud voice, his shoulders perking up from the slump they were previously in, "Ready for tomorrow?" His foot tapped against the cement in the same way it had on the hallway floor on his first day at Brookside High.

I had totally forgotten tomorrow was Saturday, the day Axel was apparently going to tutor me in Physics. I remember him mentioning the library, but I felt stupid asking what time since I lost that damn piece of notebook paper he had originally written everything down on. The way he smirked the last time he asked about the paper made me nervous to even bring it up again in conversation.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Looking forward to it," I said with some reluctance. I shuffled my feet against the sidewalk, still wearing my cleats which did not walk well on hard surfaces. I made myself stumble a bit, regaining my balance quickly, hoping Axel didn't notice.

"Great, see you tomorrow morning," he said with a smooth wink, standing up in the same way he did last time we talked outside. My eyes were glued on him unintentionally, watching the way he held himself as he walked back inside of his house. His hand smoothed over his buzzed head before he grabbed the doorknob, heading inside.

I was so intrigued by him, I thought about him the whole way home. Where is his family? Does he live alone? Why does he keep asking about physics on Saturday? I'm not dumb, I know when to show up. I laughed to myself as I trailed up the pathway to my front door. It was nothing but badly spaced flat rocks which allowed plenty of grass to grow inbetween them, forming nothing that should even be considered a pathway.

While opening the door, I realized I literally did not know when to show up at the library tomorrow morning. I stood in the open door frame, blinking a few times to show I was conscious as Aspen stared at me until I snapped out of it, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something." Aspen nodded slowly and shuffled behind me to close the front door. She scurried away just as quickly, silently sitting back in the living room.

I let my bags from school and baseball drop off of my shoulder, landing with a loud thud onto the kitchen floor. I clicked my cleats off and some dried, caked mud fell from the bottom of them. Aspen perked her head up at the sound of my shoes against the floor, sighing quietly at the sight of the flaky, dry mud. She wet a paper towel and was soon down on the ground, cleaning the mud.

"I could have gotten that, I'm responsible too," I muttered with care, trying not to hurt her feelings as she slaved my mud up from the floor. She shook her head and pursed her lips together, standing back up with a wet and dirty paper towel clump in her hands. She immediately threw it out, and once again, reunited with her seat on the couch.

I was careful not to make anymore messes as I scavenged the pantry, ending up eating crackers again—on a plate, of course. I turned my attention back to Aspen and studied the way she perused her history textbook, actually reading every single page instead of skimming.

"Aspen?" I said with a light tone. She looked up from her textbook and stared at me, her eyes locked with mine. "If someone asks you to study at the library on a Saturday morning, what time do you think that is?" I fiddled with my fingers while I awaited her answer, once again feeling vulnerable under the topic of Axel. "Between 8 and 11, probably 9," she answered with precision. I was shocked at her response, only expecting a one word answer.

"Is that from experience?" I asked after noticing her very verbal answer. She nodded her head as a yes this time, a small smile gravitating her lips up towards her cheekbones before looking back down at her textbook. Sometimes I wondered what an actual day in the life of Aspen Greer was like.

Upstairs, my parents and Devian were stoned playing a cards game with only half a deck. I was amused watching them for a few seconds, soon getting bored of their slow hand motions and overly joyous expressions. Luckily they were in my parents room, which meant I was allowed to spend some alone time in my room without Devian.

I sat down on my bed and brought my knees up to my chest, but not in the fetal type of way. I looked around my room but saw nothing unusual. I couldn't find the piece of paper, either, which sent more anxious feelings through my stomach. Where the hell did it go? I quickly realized that thinking about it would do nothing to help the cause, so I got up from my bed and headed into the bathroom. I shut the door and turned the lock, starting the shower without testing the water this time.

I ran my fingers through my dirty, greasy hair. I twisted my face in slight disgust and began undressing myself from my baseball uniform. I noticed there was new soap in the shower, which made me ecstatic for some reason. I thought about tomorrow morning as the water washed over my tired body. I wondered if Devian or my dad had some cologne I could use... Not like this was going to be a date or anything.

---
I read over this chapter, and nothing really significant happens but it's a good build up to the next one. ;) comment and vote (I see you silence readers) because everything is appreciated. How do you like the story and characters so far?