Forever

Rain soaked into her clothes and tears streamed down her face, but Brooklyn didn’t even know why she was crying anymore. That was a lie, she was angry... angry at her mom for being ill and at her dad for not being there. Hearing the sound of a motorbike engine, she looked up and watched as the rider flicked up his visor.

“Hey hermosa.”

“Hey,” Brooklyn mumbled, wiping her eyes and offering Axel a small smile.

“Want a ride?”

“I don’t know where I’m going...”

“That’s okay,” Axel told her, holding out a spare helmet and motioning for her to climb on.

Without hesitation, Brooklyn took the helmet and put it on before climbing on the back. Wrapping her arms around Axel’s waist, she tightened her grip as he started the engine and set off.

They soon arrived at his house and Brooklyn climbed off, following Axel inside. Changing into some dry clothes that he lent her, she joined him in the living room and sat down on the sofa next to him.

“Thanks for the dry clothes,” Brooklyn mumbled.

“Any time,” Axel replied, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It just feels like I’m angry all the time.”

“Angry about what?”

“My mom being ill, my dad not being around... stuff at school,” Brooklyn explained, “I had no one to talk to.”

“I’m sorry for disappearing,” Axel stated.

“That’s not what I meant,” Brooklyn added quickly, “You’ve always been there and I’ve treated you like shit...”

“I get why things are how they are, Brook.”

“It’s still not right.”

Axel wasn’t someone that her dad approved of and had made it clear that she was to stay away, but he didn’t understand. She hadn’t listened to her dad, yet, she ignored Axel at school and nobody knew that they were friends. Brooklyn was snapped from her thoughts by a pillow hitting her in the face and laughed, throwing it back with a playful glare.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just got trapped in my head again as usual,” Brooklyn told him with a smile.

“I was asking if you were hungry,” Axel continued, though she could tell that he was concerned, “We have everything needed to make home-made nachos.”

“I could eat.”

Glad that he didn’t push for more information, Brooklyn followed him to the kitchen and sat on the counter as Axel threw together his mom’s nachos recipe. It was late afternoon, when her dad text and Axel dropped her off around the corner from her house.

“Call if you need me,” Axel told her as she handed him the helmet.

“I will.”