• 36 •

EVA

Was he pissed?

The Axel I knew would have brought up the—eh, near kiss immediately. But the Axel I knew was also walking away from me right now as if he couldn't bear another minute in my presence.

Maybe he'd changed.

Of course he had. I'd told him that we were strictly going to be friends, none of those uncomfortable talks about feelings—on his side, of course—, no near kisses—this, we were both to blame—and none of those close proximities either.

He'd even stopped flirting with me.

I wasn't sure that I liked this new version of Axel. He was... boring.

When we walked out into the open and our class buildings came into view again, he turned to me sharply. If I had not been watching him, I would have walked into him.

"Thank you for your time today. You were..." He trailed off, his eyes over my shoulder. "It was really helpful." Then he turned back around and walked in that leisurely stride to the car park where his car was.

I blinked in rapid successions, staring at his re