Chapter 7: Not Entirely Crazy

It didn't take long before the news of Axel's parents kicking the bucket spread around the internet, it wouldn't have spread like this if the youngster had not made his debut last night and gotten his name out there.

Ariel cried the whole night after breaking the news to her brother and Axel just went to his room without saying a word.

He didn't want to cry like his sister, he didn't want to shed any tears, but by the time he woke up the next morning, his pillow was soaked in tears.

Right from a very young age, Axel had always aspired to become a great footballer and he had always done everything he could do to make sure he didn't end up as a flop.

Training was very important to him and he used everything he could get his hand on to make the most of it and that included their garage.

His father didn't have a car so the garage was mostly empty and that was why he convinced him to buy certain gym equipment that he was certain was going to be necessary for his daily training.

In no time, the youngster turned the dusty garage that no one hardly visited into his very own gym.

He never missed a morning without going there and even after what he heard last night, he still got up early to head over there.

He always changed into his sports outfit before heading out but right now, he was in his pajamas while running on the treadmill, his blank eyes fixated on the wall.

He was always smiling whenever he ran on the treadmill and would always try to crank up the speed beyond what he could normally take to see how he could handle it, but right now his eyes looked dead and the speed was lower than what he usually used.

"I don't understand." He sighed before turning off the treadmill. "It's the year two thousand and forty, why in the world are plane crashes still a thing!?"

He seemed to have snapped there, but he was able to calm himself down before slowly sitting down on the floor beside the treadmill.

He slowly turned his gaze to the dumbbells by his left before turning to the cable row machine on the right.

Those were the only equipment he had in there at the moment.

'Stay calm, Axel, this is just some evil plot to make me fall into depression and never achieve my goals as a footballer. It's not going to work!' He screamed inwardly before getting down on all fours for a push-up.

With every push up, he tried to clear his mind of this crazy thought but it just kept coming back to him and by the time he got to thirty, he was already losing it.

"Why, why, why?!" He yelled before quickly rushing out of the room.

'Maybe a jog around the house will help me clear my mind.'

He started jogging as soon as that thought popped into his mind, but just after completing a full rotation, he stopped right in front of the garage because the thoughts were starting to flood back.

'This is just a minor issue that won't affect me for that long, I'll be back to my old self in no time.'

"Huh?" He gasped as soon as his mind finished processing that thought before suddenly falling to his knees. "Did I just call my parents' death a minor issue?"

His eyes were slowly starting to get filled up before he suddenly crashed down to the floor.

"I'm a horrible person." He muttered before slowly closing his eyes.

He lost consciousness at that moment and no one found him there until almost thirty minutes later.

To Axel, it only felt like two seconds since he closed his eyes before his nose caught that familiar scent.

"Strawberry?" He muttered before slowly opening his eyes to find someone looming over him in a squatting position.

It was blurry at first but after a couple of blinks, he was able to confirm that it was Aurora, she was the only one he knew that smelt like that anyway.

"Oh, so you're finally awake." She remarked.

"Huh? When did you get here?" He asked with a confused expression on his face before proceeding to sit up on the floor.

"About seven minutes ago."

"Huh? But I only closed my eyes for a few seconds." The confusion was still written all over his as he placed his right hand on the back of his head.

"Wow, your sister sure is right."

"Right about what?"

She let out a sigh and turned her gaze to the house before turning it back to him to say, "She thinks you've gone crazy."

"Huh?"

"According to her, you screamed something before quickly rushing out of the garage, then you ran around the house once before you fell to the floor and passed out, you've been out for almost thirty minutes now." She explained.

"Seriously? For that long?"

"Yeah, she was watching you from the window the whole time, and then when I arrived, she made me come talk to you."

"Oh, I see."

He was about to attempt to get up on his feet when she suddenly pushed him down.

"Don't go anywhere, you may not have lost your mind to the extent your sister claimed but you're still not okay. I mean, who starts their day still dressed in their pajamas and hair that looks like it had dogs searching for something in it?" She remarked bluntly before getting up from the floor.

Axel went cold after that, his gaze slowly shifted away from her as he let out a subtle sigh.

"You know, you should try being a bit conservative with your words." He muttered with his gaze fixated on the floor.

Aurora didn't reply to that, but she still had her gaze on him and for a moment there she felt something in her heart.

"Just stay there, I'll be back in a sec." She shook her head before quickly making her way to the house.

"Why am I even listening to her?" Axel muttered under his breath before slowly picking up a little twig from the floor.

It didn't take long before she returned outside with a small basket in her hand and Axel could already tell what was inside by the aroma.

"Are those cupcakes?" He inquired as soon as she sat down beside him.

"Yeah." She replied with a nod before opening the basket. "Your sister already made breakfast for you but you can have one." She added before giving him one of the cupcakes.

Axel didn't hesitate in taking it off her hand.

"You're being strangely nice today." He said before slowly taking a bite from the cupcake.

"What's so strange about it?" She replied before taking a bite from the one she was holding. "I mean it's the least I can do after what I heard last night."

Unlike earlier when she was speaking bluntly to him, she sounded calm and genuine now.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry for not saying this earlier but please accept my condolences, Axel, I know this must be really hard for you to stomach."

He didn't respond to that immediately and just took another bite from the cupcake.

"It's okay, having your cupcake seems to have made my mood a bit better, but still…" His voice suddenly dropped as he turned his gaze to the garage which was still open. "Did Ryan come with you?"

"No, they have a training session, but he said he'll come see you later." She responded.

"Oh, he's training, maybe I should go train at the stadium." He muttered.