When Alita opened the door, she found no one outside. However, there was a bunch of flowers and a note attached to it on the floor by the door. She picked up the flower and the note and looked carefully again to be sure there was no one around before she went back inside and shut the door.
"Your boyfriend or a secret admirer?" Alita heard Axel ask. He had decided not to tease her today, but right now he knew he would have to exercise a lot of self-control to stop himself from doing just that.
"What? No. It's just my friend." Alita responded, slightly flustered. She suddenly felt like she should explain herself, which baffled her since she doesn't care what people think about her. It's just different with this person before her and she couldn't come up with any reasonable justification for it.
"Your friend sure knows how to impress. I can bet he's trying to hit on you." Axel commented and Alita switched to defense mode. She was ready to tell him how wrong he is about what he just said, but her phone rang out, distracting her from her current mission.
"Hey, Lita..." Brian's voice rang out over the phone when Alita answered.
"Hey, Brian. I just received your message." Alita said.
"That's okay. I figured you might need some alone time so I decided not to drop by. I'm really sorry for what Mr. Silas did. I hope you will consider involving the school authority at this stage?" "Brian asked.
"Yeah, I think that's what I will do. I'm already tired and at my limit."
"Good. Just know that you have my support in whichever decision you make, alright?"
"Thank you. I really appreciate it."
"No need to thank me, Alita. I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, bye." Alita ended the call and turned to Axel.
"I am sorry, I forgot we were supposed to go out today. I'll go get ready now." She said, looking apologetically at him.
"Take your time. I'll be outside." Axel flashed her a warm smile before he disappeared from the room. Alita quickly showered and proceeded to select something to wear. Normally, she wouldn't worry about what to wear and just put on her plain shirt paired with blue jeans. But after seeing Axel show up like a top model tonight, she couldn't bring herself to dress the way she had planned. That would be totally embarrassing. Oh god... What is wrong with her? When did she start caring and paying attention to little things like this? And all because of...
Steeling her mind, she picked out a pair of jeans and a plain pink top. No way she would start fretting over what to wear because of him. After all, she wasn't trying to impress him so he should be okay with whatever she decided to wear right? After convincing herself that it was okay, she dressed up. The moment she saw her reflection in the mirror, Axel's image appeared in her head again.
Before she knew it, she had discarded what she wore and was searching for something else in the closet again. There were only two dinner dresses in her closet. One black floor-length gown with spaghetti straps and one red knee-length off-the-shoulder gown. She had never worn any of them save for the time when she tried them out in the store, thanks to Kayla. After much contemplation, the red dress won.
The moment she stepped out of the building Axel stared at her with slack-jawed amazement. He already knew that she was beautiful but tonight, she looked extremely ravishing in her red dress and silver stilettos, beating all of his imagination. He snapped out of his stunned state as she approached and he extended his hand to take hers.
"You look amazing." He complimented and she offered him a smile.
"Thank you."
Axel led her to the car and opened the door for her. When she got in, he shut the door and took the driver's seat.
The journey to the restaurant would have been a silent one if not for the constant loud beating of Alita's heart. At first, Axel ignored it and dismissed it as initial nervousness but when they got to the restaurant her heart wasn't just beating loud but faster than it was before and he couldn't ignore it anymore. He drove to the parking lot and parked the car, but didn't make any effort to alight.
"Relax, Alita." He tried to get her to calm down, but she tensed up instead. When she turned to look at him, she saw that his eyes were looking at her with concern.
"Huh...? What are you talking about?" She asked, trying to conceal her nervousness, however, she failed miserably.
He had brought her to a five-star restaurant that she had never dreamed of coming to in her entire life. And he is a god-damned prince for god's sake. She knew nothing about fine dining or table etiquettes or how royals eat... Oh, Lord... She's definitely going to embarrass herself tonight. Who wouldn't panic in this situation?
"You are tense and your heart is beating too fast." He answered calmly and she bit her lower lip and at the same time knitted her brows, willing her nerves to calm down. She clenched and unclenched her fist, lowering her eyes and keeping them glued to her lap.
"I am sorry. This is new to me." She whispered, slightly embarrassed that he noticed how nervous she was. This was totally not how she imagined her first date would be, but then she had never really imagined her first date. Moreover, everything with Axel was always unimaginably overwhelming for her.
"Which one is new: eating at a place like this or going out on a date?" Axel asked and Alita's eyes widened subtly. Wait... Did he just read her mind? No. That can't be possible. It was just a random question that coincidentally went in the direction she was thinking.
"Both." She whispered.