Falling for My Old High School Bully (Complete)

Chapter 3 - Axel's Announcement

Emma checked her phone and there was still 15 minutes before her first class so she went to the bathroom. As she was washing her hands she looked at her reflection in the mirror and let out a sigh, disappointed once again in the face that was looking back at her. She couldn't help but think that maybe if she was prettier Axel wouldn't have been so pissed off about people thinking they were dating.

She got her hands wet and tried to slick down some of the frizzy fly-aways on her brown hair that framed her face but it was no use. They just sprang right back up and she groaned in frustration. It was hard growing up without a Mom because no one was there to teach her how to tame her frizzy hair, how to dress or do makeup and her Dad definitely didn't care about any of that.

To say Emma's Dad was a cheapskate would be the understatement of the century. He said nice clothes were a total waste of money so he took her shopping at thrift stores and yard sales and she just had to put up with whatever she could find, which usually didn't fit very well, didn't look good and wasn't her style at all.

He also refused to spend the money to buy her contacts so she was stuck wearing these thick black glasses that were 3 years old that sat a little crooked from her brother accidentally sitting on them one time and they weren't strong enough to even see clearly. He also wouldn't put out the money for braces to fix her very crooked teeth so she tried not to smile so people wouldn't see them. They made her really self conscious.

She couldn't wait until she was older and could have her own money to fix herself up and not have to depend on her Dad for everything. She had been focusing on getting the best grades she could to get a full ride scholarship to a good college so she could get away from this small town, even though she would miss Stella and her family.

She looked at her reflection and let out a disappointed exhale, because this was as good as it was gonna get. She trudged her way out of the bathroom and down the crowded hallway towards her class, clutching her books with her head hanging low. She took her seat in Science and watched  Axel come in and flop down in his seat across the room right as the bell rang. 

She couldn't help but glance over at him from time to time but he didn't glance in her direction, not even once. He also didn't talk to anyone else in class. He just slumped down in his seat and put his earbuds in.

At lunch she sat at the usual table next to Stella and got out her lunch.

"Our plan worked. The whole school has seen the pictures and everyone's talking about you and Axel being secret lovers," Stella said raising her eyebrows up and down with a laugh as she ate a cucumber stick and took a drink of her homemade Kombucha, which Emma thought was the most disgusting drink ever invented. She could tell by the huge grin on her face that she was really proud of herself.

"You should have seen how mad he looked this morning when he confronted me at my locker about it. I thought he was going to pop a blood vessel in his neck," Emma laughed. "I acted like we had nothing to do with it but I don't think he believed me for a second."

Stella laughed. "Yeah. I wish I could've seen the look on his face."

There was a strange rumbling of voices and then the cafeteria got more quiet than normal.  

"Hey! Can I have everyone's attention for a minute?!" a male voice called out loudly and they both turned around to see Axel in the center of the cafeteria standing up on top of a chair.

The crowded room got completely quiet and listened.

"I wanted to let you all know that those photos that everyone's been passing around are completely fake and Photoshopped and I have the originals to prove it. I have never and would never, in a million years, even if she was the last girl left on earth, EVER date Emma Jacobs," he said, glaring across the cafeteria at her.