*Six's POV*
*3 years later*
After doing summer courses and studying my ass off, I’m finally graduating from nursing school in the top of my class and I already have job offers from the local hospitals. It’s been a hectic 3 years trying to keep up with school, Theo and Axle and spending time with our friends. We’re still really close to the whole high school group. Paradox took off faster than anyone was expecting so they’re busy constantly and have their first tour planned for next year.
It's a little sad that I won't get to go with him because of Theo's school and my job and whatnot, but I'll use as many vacation days as I can and we'll fly to see each other as much as possible. It's definitely going to be difficult, but we've overcome so much shit together already that I don't think doing l
*Six's POV*It’s pitch black in my room when I feel the bed moving and I know that it’s my little brother crawling in with me. He has his own room but he finds his way into mine whenever he has a nightmare, which is many nights. Theo is only 3 years old and has seen way too much fucked up shit already. I try to shield him from it, but I can only do so much.“Hey buddy, did you have another bad dream?” He nods and snuggles his little head into my side as I pull the covers over him. “Alright, try and go back to sleep okay?”“Okay, Mommy” he says softly. Sometimes he calls me that when he’s really tired. The line is so blurred at this point considering how little of his upbringing my mother has actually been involved in. I used to try and correct him, bu
*Six's POV*My first three periods pass by rather slowly as they’re all just the teachers running over the syllabus. I make my way to the cafeteria which is a large round room with windows all around and many circular tables with little bench seats connected to them. I find an empty table near a window to sit at. Just as I’m about to take a bite from my sandwich, a girl with blue hair wearing a leather jacket plops herself down beside me, straddling the bench so she’s facing me.“So you must be the new girl.”“Uh, yeah I guess so.”“I’m Cleo,” she says, sticking her hand out.
*Axle's POV*It’s my third first day of senior year and I know we’re not going to be doing any real work, so take it upon myself to skip the morning classes. I’ll show up at lunch to scope everything out. I text the guys to tell them my plan and they say they’ll do the same.When we walk into the cafeteria, conversation comes to a halt and I can’t lie, I love the feeling. People at this school, especially the girls, will go pretty far to get us to pay attention to them. None of them are interesting enough to keep it for very long though.We walk over towards an empty table and as we head over, I’m surprised to see that the cheerleader's usual table is occupied by a group of people I vaguely recognize and Liz is over at a different table with her minions.
*Six's POV*As I sit there reading, I ponder my interaction with Axle. He definitely gives off the vibe that he’s expecting me to beg him to fuck me at any moment. I’m sure he gets it a lot. Don’t get me wrong, he’s extremely physically attractive but I can’t get over how entitled he is. The words he said to me were pleasant enough on the surface but it’s so obvious that he’s expecting this project to lead somewhere. I don’t buy his whole “third time’s a charm” story for a second but I’ll let him think he’s got the upper hand if it means he’s actually gonna help me with this project.When the bell rings, I quickly stuff my things into my bag and start heading towards the door when the teacher stops me.
*Axle's POV*After school, Cam and Ethan come back to our place with us. The driveway is empty, indicating that neither of our parents is home. Shocker. I don’t even know why they bothered having children to be honest. It’s not like they’re ever around. And when they are around, they’re too busy fighting with each other to acknowledge our presence anyway. We stop by the kitchen to grab beers before heading into the living room to play some video games.“So Axle, did you figure out how to get in the new girl’s pants yet?’” Ethan asks.“Maybe. Mrs. Murphy paired us together for English Lit.”“Lucky bastard,” Ethan says.
*Six's POV*I can’t help but feel bad that I assumed Axle wasn’t smart because of a 3 minute conversation about him. I mean, I know almost nothing about the guy, and here I am judging him. I hate when people do that to me. I’m sure the second everyone here found out I was from WestSide, they assumed I was some trouble maker with a record.After school, Cleo, Lexi and I meet up with Nate and Drew in the parking lot and I say, “So, apparently Liz is having a party Friday. Is that a thing you guys would normally go to or what?”“Yeah, I mean everyone usually goes. How did you hear about it?”“Axle mentioned it.”“He did, did he?” Cleo asks while wiggling her eyebr
*Six's POV*After a few rounds of flip cup, I get frustrated by it because, though I’ll never admit it out loud, I am an extremely competitive person so watching my own team drop the cup that many times was not a good time at all. As I’m making my way back to the keg for a refill, I see Axle holding a pitcher underneath it.I walk up and say, “What, the cups weren’t big enough for you?”He looks up at me and says, “It’s actually for the beer pong table, but maybe I'll take that idea for future parties.”“Oh, no that wasn’t a suggestion. It’s clearly a terrible idea.The already lack of carbonation from the shitty keg beer would disappear much too fast for you to be able to drink it and then the last h
*Axle's POV*We play one more game of beer pong and, when Cam and I win again, that puts us up 5 games and we all agree to call it and head into the dance floor. All the guys want to find their hookups for the night.“You gonna go find Six?” Jameson asks.“Obviously.”I walk into the house just in time to see her walking towards the bathroom. My body follows her in and before I can consider whether or not this is a smart idea, I have her pushed up against the bathroom door and bring my lips down onto hers. Her hands come up behind my neck and it’s clear she wants this just as bad as I do.I wrap my hands around her back to cup her ass and pull her against me. My hands make their way d
*Six's POV**3 years later*After doing summer courses and studying my ass off, I’m finally graduating from nursing school in the top of my class and I already have job offers from the local hospitals. It’s been a hectic 3 years trying to keep up with school, Theo and Axle and spending time with our friends. We’re still really close to the whole high school group. Paradox took off faster than anyone was expecting so they’re busy constantly and have their first tour planned for next year.It's a little sad that I won't get to go with him because of Theo's school and my job and whatnot, but I'll use as many vacation days as I can and we'll fly to see each other as much as possible. It's definitely going to be difficult, but we've overcome so much shit together already that I don't think doing l
*Six's POV*About 15 minutes after the band leaves to go set up, we all head out to the dance floor right in front of the stage to secure our places before the hoard gets too large.The head of the prom committee comes on stage to introduce them and then the curtains open. Axle looks down and winks at me so I blow him a kiss back.They start their set and do several songs that are definitely more on the pop end of the spectrum than I’m used to hearing them play. That was probably intentional seeing as most people here would not be into hearing some of their more obscure music. I wonder if the committee had a say in these song choices.Everyone is singing along and dancing and at the end of one song, Axle goes right up to the mic and says, “Alright
*Axle's POV*In the last couple months since Laura died, things have been busy, but thankfully uneventful. Paradox has been practicing a lot and doing gigs all around town and everyone has been studying like crazy to make sure we all graduate, and for Six, to make sure she keeps her scholarship. We’ve all finished our exams and tonight is prom night, to be followed a few days after that by graduation.It’s decided that we’ll all get ready at my place and early afternoon everyone shows up and the girls retreat upstairs. Apparently hair and make up is a big production for them. My mom offered to let them all use her room and the ensuite and even said she would help them out. I think she secretly always hoped for a daughter. Her and Six have been getting really close, which makes them and me happy.
*Six's POV*“What now?” Axle asks me.“Home. I need to see Theo.” My car is still at school but I’ll deal with that later.He brings me to the apartment and when I knock on Shaunice’s door she’s obviously surprised to see me since I’m supposed to be at school for another 2 and half hours.She invites us in and then we hear little steps running down the hall and Theo launches himself at me so I pick him up and hold him tight, thanking anyone that’ll listen that I got custody of him before she died. I was worried for a long time that if I lost her it would mean losing him too. I hug him for longer than usual and he starts to squirm so I put him down and he runs off.
*Six's POV*When my phone starts ringing, I pull it out and see the caller ID and my stomach drops out of my body. They never call.“Hello?”“Hey, Six. It’s Pete. Can you come down the station as soon as possible?”“Did you find her?” He pauses and the dead air over the phone all but confirms my thoughts.“We think so. I can’t say much over the phone, though. Do you have someone who can come with you?”“Yeah," I say, completely numb to emotion.“Okay, see you soon," he tells me.
*Axle's POV*When I wake up in the morning, I realize I’m pressed very close to the wall and I understand why when I lift my head up to see Theo on the other side of Six, snuggled into her side. She did tell me he does this sometimes.I lie my head back down and attempt to go back to sleep, but not long after, I feel movement in the bed. Six feels pretty still so it must be Theo. I look over just in time to see him stretch and smack her right in the face with his hand by accident. She wakes up, startled and moves his hand back down to his side. I gently rub my hand up and down her leg and she says,”How long have you been up?”“Not long. Maybe 5 minutes. Just long enough to see him assault you in his sleep," I say jokingly.“Yeah, he ca
*Six's POV*A couple of weeks later, we get our court date and everything goes as planned and the judge decides to officially grant me legal guardianship of Theo, which, of course I’m ecstatic about. My mom has started to work part time as a cashier at a grocery store and has officially been out of rehab for a month. I'm really proud of all of the progress she's making and I'm starting to become hopeful that maybe it will be the time.A couple of weeks after that, Paradox hears back from the record label and Trevor wants to sign them on a recording contract to start after the school year ends. All of the guys decide to defer college a year to work on recording and do music full time. They all promise their parents that if it doesn't work out, they’ll reapply to colleges for next year.
*Six's POV*When my mom, Theo and I are at the lawyers office, all of our identification and important documents in tow, I’m getting more and more nervous the longer we sit in the waiting room. Idon’t know why though. It’s not like I really have anything to worry about.Before I can get too deep into my spiral, the secretary says, “Miss. Keller? Mr. Hawthorn will see you now.” I get up and take Theo’s hand, following the lady back to an office. I see James Hawthorn sitting behind his desk and he gives me a warm smile before saying, “Welcome, please have a seat.”My mom and I each take one of the chairs and I sit Theo on my lap.“Right, so as discussed, Miss Laura Keller will be relinquishing custody of Theo Keller to you. Is that still the case?”“Yes,” Mom and I say at the same time.“Good,” He says and shoves a stack of documents to us, explaining the
*Axle's POV*After exams and Christmas, which Six, Theo and I spend some of with her mother who got out of rehab and seems to be doing well and some with my family, not including my father, it’s the 3rd of January, and Six’s birthday is tomorrow.We still have a week left of Christmas break, thankfully, and I’ve planned a surprise party for her tonight with all of our friends and I even invited Alisha, Jordan and Shaunice. I know on her birthday, she made an appointment with my mother’s lawyer to sign and submit the paperwork for Theo’s guardianship and then have dinner with him so I had to do it the day before.Stan already said he would watch the kids since she still doesn’t want to leave Theo alone with Laura and I’ve told her that I want to have a pre-birthday celebration with just us so she agrees to come over to my place.When we drop off Theo, Stan says that Shaunice is “in the shower” when Six