The Kissing Game

Chapter 16

   "How was your day with Axel?" Hannah asked as I sat next to her at our lunch table.

   "Good," I said nonchalantly, forcing myself not to look at her. "Whatever."

   "Oh my god." I knew Hannah was grinning. "You like him."

   I whipped my head to look at her, eyes wide. "I don't!"

   "Do too!"

   Huffing, I scowled. I didn't want to talk about this. Axel and I had one nice day together and I still barely knew him. Liking the guy was not possible.

   "Hannah, I don't think he's horrible," I admitted. "But, I won't fall for him."

   "Why not?" she asked.

   "Because." I frowned. "He's... I just won't."

   Hannah shook her head. "What am I going to do with you?"

   "I always wonder the same thing."

   Our heads whipped towards who had spoken and my eyes went wide with horror as I saw Axel standing there, grinning. Internally I began to pray that he heard nothing.

   Ignoring Hannah's enormous grin, I asked, "What are you doing here?"

   "I need a favour from a very pretty girl," Axel said, winking. "Would you be up for it?"

   My eyebrows rose. Staring at him, my heart stuttered as I wondered what he wanted.

   "What's the favour?" I asked, staring into his eyes.

   "I need a Calculus tutor," he said, shrugging. "I'm getting a pretty low mark and my parents are pissed. Could you help?"

   I stared at Axel, slightly surprised. A part of me was also disappointed for some reason, but I hid my emotions. Blinking, I wondered what to say.

   "I'll pay you," Axel added, looking suddenly shy. "And I understand if you're too busy and stuff, but it would really mean a lot if you'd help."

Axel looked hopeful and nervous, and it got to me. So even though I felt like this would be a bad idea, I just sighed and nodded. He broke into a grin again and I was glad to see joy fill his eyes.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "Honestly, thank you so much."

All of the sudden, he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. My face went completely red, my heart stopped, and Hannah giggled next to me, causing me to give her a dirty look. She shut up and I was glad because fury was all I felt. Fury and this tight feeling in my stomach that made me worry.

"Don't touch me," I snapped, eyes hard. "Axel, I swear to god if you touch me again I'll-"

"Whoa." Axel's eyes went wide. "My bad... Chill. I'm sorry."

A tense silence suddenly surrounded us and I noticed Hannah was staring at the ground. Axel looked away as well and suddenly, I felt bad. I hadn't meant to snap, but being touched by a guy who wasn't my boyfriend got to me. I didn't know why, but my defences had flown up at the simple kiss.