‘Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free,’

- Jim Morrison

Chapter Ten

Azelie walked sleepily into the Chemistry class, barely paying any attention to her surroundings. She had hardly slept, her mind buzzing awake all night long slowly driving her closer to insanity. She had practically jumped out of her bed when the alarm clock went off signaling to Azelie that it was 6 and she could now go out running. Her skin was a shade of grey, washed out of all colour while her hair was up in a messy bun, Azelie too tired to straighten it.

She quickly dumped her bag under her desk before pulling out her chai and sitting down before laying her head softly on the desk, and slowly closing her eyes. Her mind began to drift peacefully away, the buzz from the coffee she had drunk in the morning starting to wear off.

“Wakey! Wakey sleepy head!” a voice sung, causing her to let out a groan of tiredness. Why did she have to be partnered with Cole for Chemistry! She opened her eyes slightly to find Cole smiling down at her, no hint of sleepiness in his bright green eyes.

“Go away!” She cried, shoving her arm out to hit him but instead missing by miles.

“Hey! No need for violence!” Cole tutted playfully, waggingly one finger at Azelie. she let out another groan while pushing her head slightly off the wooden table. Cole was already annoying her and she’d only been speaking to him for barely even 30 seconds.

“Go away and there will be no need for violence!” Azelie groaned in reply, wishing that Cole would just leave her alone.

“Why are you always so tired anyway?” Cole questioned, “Every time I see you, you are always half asleep!”

“Maybe it’s because you bore me to death!” she replied, not even bothering to look at him.

“No, seriously! Why are you always tired?” he questioned, his green eyes not moving away from her. His question made her think. Should she tell him the truth? That, of course, would lead to more questions which Azelie really didn’t want to answer.

“I work nights as a stripper, I get off around 4am so I don’t get a lot of sleep,” she replied, a smile forming on her lips. Cole just rolled his eyes, chucking a little at her answer. Had he been expecting her to tell the truth? Of course not! Nothing was ever easy with this girl!

“You know what! I think you are too scared to tell me the answer!” Cole exclaimed, Azelie letting out a slight laugh before turning her head to face Cole, the tiredness melting away from her body.

“Who said it isn’t the truth? I could be a stripper!” she answered. “And I thought we went over this - I’m not scared of anything!”

“Well I still don’t believe that you aren’t scared of everything!” Cole replied, looking away from Azelie and over to the teacher who had just entered the room.

“Ha - I am well aware of that!”

“You what! I’m going to prove it to you!” Cole spoke, turning to face her once again, his eyes bright.

“Prove what?”

“That you aren’t fearless!” he replied, “Azelie Ryans, I am going to find your fear!” His answer made Azelie burst out with laughter, causing a few heads to turn her way, trying to figure out what she was finding so funny.

“How the hell are you planning on doing that?” she questioned, a huge smile now playing on her lips.

“I’m not quite sure... but believe me when I say that by the October holidays, you will no longer be able to say that you are fearless!” Cole answered, a huge smile on his face. She just rolled her eyes, not believing for a second that he would succeed in his promise.

“And if you don’t, will you finally believe that I am fearless?” she smiled, her brown eyes looking into Cole’s. He thought for a second, before nodding his head.

“Sure! It’s a deal then! You let me try to find your fear by the October holidays, and if I can’t then I will admit that I was wrong!” Cole said, putting out his hand for Azelie to shake. She quickly grabbed his hand, shaking it slightly before letting go. Smile’s were plastered on both their lips, each believing that the other would fail in their plan.

“So what’s going on with you and Cole?” Kelly questioned as Azelie sat down at the table for lunch. Alex and Cole had just lined up to get their lunch and Kelly had thought that now would be the perfect time to question her on what was happening.

“What do you mean what’s going on with me and Cole?”

“I mean, do you like him?” Kelly questioned, wiggling her eye brows slightly, a bright smile lighting up her face.

“Kelly, we are hardly even friends! How the hell can I like him! I hardly know the guy!” she laughed, shaking her head at Kelly’s questioned. Kelly let out a quiet huff, not believing her friend.

“So what was that last night? He actually offered to walk you home - well, offered might be the wrong word to use but whatever,” Kelly babbled, Azelie rolling her eyes at her friend.

“That was just so you wouldn’t feel bad about leaving me to walk home alone!” she countered, before taking a bite out of her cheese sandwich. Her mind flickered back to the night before. They had both ended up on the train tracks, with Azelie lying down in front of a train while Cole was forced to jump in and save her. He hadn’t believed her then that she was still not scared of anything, and now they had a bet on for him to find her fear.

“Yeah right! Cole never offers to walk people home! Besides, he lives on the other side of town from you!” Kelly pointed out. After the whole train thing, they had just walked to her house in silence. She had tried to tell him that she would be fine, but he always just ignored her.

“Well I don’t know! Honestly though Kelly, we fight like cat and dog! We are hardly even friends!” Azelie replied, before taking another bite out of her lunch. They definitely weren’t friends, but he had saved her twice - not that she was exactly thankful for it. Maybe they had grown slightly closer because of that, but apart from that they still argued constantly over their project in Chemistry. Kelly let out another huff, a little annoyed that Azelie didn’t like Cole as much as Kelly had hoped she would.

“Hey, what you talking about?” Alex questioned as he sat down next to Kelly, Cole sitting down opposite him.

“Er, just the game on Friday and how Azelie has to go!” Kelly replied looking over at Azelie, hoping that she knew what she was talking about. Luckily, Azelie did. The school’s football team, which included Alex and Cole, had it’s first game of the season on Friday and it was all everybody had seemed to be talking about in her class.

“Azelie, you have to come! It’s in the school code that every student has to come and support their football team!” Alex added, looking over at her.

“Really?” she questioned, not quite believing Alex.

“Well, no... but it should be!” Alex replied, smiling slightly over at Azelie. Azelie shook her head softly, looking over at Kelly again.

“I’d have to ask my uncle if it’s okay with him,” Azelie said, making up an excuse so that she wouldn’t have to give them an answer. She knew that Ted would probably force her to go to the game if she asked.

“Well ask if you can go to the party afterwords as well, you can’t ever miss the after party from the game! It’s seriously awesome!” Kelly smiled. Azelie knew that even if she said no, Kelly would drag her to the party. Last week she had managed to get out of going, but now that they were closer, she knew she had no chance of finding an escape.

“I’ll ask,” Azelie replied, before taking another bite from her sandwich. The rest of lunch consisted of Alex and Kelly flirting shamelessly, Kelly, of course, completely unaware of the effect that she had on the boy. It made Azelie smile that Kelly wanted her and Cole to get together desperately when she should have been focusing on her own relationship. She could only turn a blind eye to his feelings for so long. When the bell rang, Kelly and Azelie made their way to their history class, preparing themselves to be bored to death for the next hour.

“I’m home!” Azelie shouted as she opened the front door to her house, not quite sure if Ted would be home or not. The warm homey smell wrapped around Azelie. Back down in Florida, she had never once felt at home living with her aunts. She had never wanted to go home from school, dreading what she would have to face.

“Hey! I’m in the kitchen,” a voice shouted in reply. She dumped her bag at the front door before slipping her pair of black vans off, leaving them beside her bag. She quickly walked through to the kitchen, the smell of food filling the air. She let out a loud laugh when she saw her uncle.

“Oh my god! Ted, what the hell are you wearing?” she questioned, looking her uncle up and down suspiciously. He was standing beside the cooker, frying something in the pan while a pink, frilly apron was tied to his body, making him look ridiculous.

“An apron - duh! What else does it look like?” Ted smirked. Azelie just shook her head at her uncle, still not quite believing her eyes.

“Seriously, what has even possessed you to buy that... that thing?” she asked, imagining herself setting it on fire as soon as Ted has finished cooking.

“I thought it would go well with my pale complexion!” he shrugged, a smile visible on his lips, as he turned away from Azelie and back to the food he was cooking. Azelie rolled her eyes at her uncle, a smile still playing on her lips. “Do you not like my new apron, Azelie? I think it’s lovely!” Ted questioned, smiling evilly.

“Well.. it’s rather... em... different?’ she answered after pausing slightly to figure out whether or not she should tell him that just looking at the apron made her eyes burn.

“Good different?” He smirked.

“Different in that I want to cover it in holy water and burn it,” she answered bluntly, managing to hold down her laugher as she shook her head from side to side. Ted turned his head to look over at her, and stuck out his tongue at her his niece.

“Fine then! No burgers for you!” Ted shouted, flipping over one in the pan.

“Hey that’s not fair! Feed the starving teenager!”

“Admit that my apron is awesome and I will!” Ted answered, smiling over at Azelie, waiting for her to say the words. She shook her head furiously, still not wanting to lie. “Fine then - two burgers for me I guess!” He added, looking back down at the burgers to make sure that they weren’t burning

“Arg! Fine then - your apron is cool!” Azelie said, her stomach betraying her brain. “Now feed me!” Ted laughed slightly at his niece, before telling her to get out two plates and buns. Azelie quickly did so, and within two minutes the two of them were munching into their burger and chips.

“So how was school?” Ted questioned, looking over at Azelie before taking a bite out of his burger.

“It was fine, Kelly was as crazy as ever!” she smiled in reply.

“Was Kelly the one that you went to the cinema last night with?” He questioned, looking up at his niece.

“Yeah, she invited me to the football game on Friday, and then to the party afterwards as well,” Azelie answered, bringing up the party. Kelly had threatened that if she didn’t go, then she would be kidnapping her Friday night, which wasn’t really her idea of fun, so she just decided to ask.

“And your point is...” Ted trailed off.

“Well, can I go?” She questioned quickly.

“Azelie! You don’t need to ask! Hell, when I was your age I would just tell my dad that I was going out and that was that! Honestly, it’s fine!” Ted smiled, shaking his head slightly. He had always been the crazier one out of him and Azelie’s mother. While his sister preferred to stay in every night painting, Ted would be the one running around the town naked.

“Oh right, I guess I’m just used to not having to ask,” She replied quietly before slowly biting into her burger. Silence fell over the pair as they ate their dinner.

“So, any boys that I need to track down?” Ted questioned, raising an eyebrow at his niece.

“What do you mean?” She answered, not quite sure what he was trying to say.

“Is there any guys that I need to track down and chop off pieces of their anatomy that they would rather keep? Ted said slowly, in order to clarify what he had said. She finally understood him, and began to shake her head furiously, pushing any thoughts of what Kelly had been talking about earlier to the recess of her mind.

“So who was the mysterious young gentleman walking you home last night?” He questioned, a smirk forming on his lips. She swore internally. She had been sure that Ted had been asleep when she had come home the night before. “And judging by your shock, you were sure that you had gotten away without me noticing? I’m like a shark, Azelie! I notice everything!” He added, his eyes opening freakishly wide. She shook her head slightly, trying to hide the smile that had crept up on to her face.

“He’s just a friend - well, barely even that! Kelly had to get a lift home because she had a curfew to be home by and he offered to walk me home,” She answered truthfully, knowing fully that there was no way on earth Ted was ever going to drop the subject of boys.

“Just a friend... hmm, that’s what they all say, darling...” He said, trailing off, “And then a year later they end up on 16 and pregnant, Jersey Shore, or whatever brain cell killing crap you kids watch nowadays,” Ted stated, with a grin.

“Okay first of all, I’m not going to end up on 16 and pregnant! I have more common sense than that! And Jersey Shore? Really Ted? If I wanted to kill my brain cells, I would just bang my head against a wall!” Azelie laughed, shaking her head at her uncle.

“I know, I know! I was just joking!” he smiled in reply, “But seriously, I give you three months before you are dating that guy!” Azelie just shook her head in reply, seriously doubting the idea that her and Cole would still be talking in three months. They probably would have killed each other over their chemistry project or something.

Azelie spend the rest of her night finishing off her homework from school, before moving on to iPod reading one of the many books that were scattered in piles around her room.

It was around nine when she stepped out of the house to go for her jog. With her iPod playing on full blast through her earphones, she began to pick up speed, quickly jogging away from any life. She had decided to take another route instead of her usual one, taking a left on a crossroads where she would usually take the road directly ahead of her, which led to the bridge where she and Cole had met.

She jogged down the unfamiliar road, wondering slightly in her mind where it would take her. On the left of the road, there was a house. It had a drive coming off the main road and leading up to the house, which was lit up by the various lights inside. Two cars were parked in the drive way, one looking oddly familiar. She shook her head, before carrying on with her run, turning her iPod down slightly. She was just about past the house when she heard the sound of the door opening. Azelie quickly jumped back into the bushes and trees which were dotted along the road. Confusion took over Azelie as she began to realise that she was hiding for no reason. She wasn’t trespassing or breaking the law? But why had she decided to suddenly jump and hide?

Then her question was answered as the sound of quick footsteps filled the air. She could barely make the running figure out as it jogged away from the house, but she knew as soon as she lay eyes on the person, that it was Cole. At first he jogged slowly, but once he reached the edge of the drive way, his slow jog has turned into a sprint, flying past Azelie as she started to feel slightly like a stalker.

Everything was suddenly a blur to her, everything odd and strange. Shaking her head slightly, she emerged out of the trees, before jogging back up the road she had come, praying that she wouldn’t run into Cole on the way.

Thoughts began to buzz in Azelie’s mind as she began to over think the entire situation, watching as Cole ran into the distance. How did she know that it was him? Why had she hidden? Was she so sure about what she had thought before? About her and Cole not speaking in three months? Was he really going to try to find her fear? What if he succeeded?

The last question stuck in her head as she began to turn her iPod up louder. He wouldn’t succeed in finding her fear! Azelie truly believed that she wasn’t scared of anything, and nothing Cole could do would change that.

‘How much could change in three months anyway?’ Azelie questioned, before running into the darkness.

Woo new chapter! Sorry it's a bit late! I'm on holiday right now so I wasn't writing as much as I should have been! :) At least it's up now! I wasn't going to upload at all until Saturday! :P Song on the side is The Lumineers' 'Ho Hey' such a good song :D

Anyway, I have a favour to ask! Has anybody been to San Fransisco (or does anybody live there) and if so, can you pretty please contact me via PM or just send me a message! It would be super helpful and you may be rewarded with spoilers for your information! :D

Pretty please also leave a comment telling me what you thought of the chapter, and also vote if it's good enought! :D

Thank you so much for taking the time to read! Until next time folks...

Unicorn out.