Checkmate (BxB) ✅

13: artists

Elias

The rest of the week was pretty chill and relax. Axel and I hung out when he didn't have soccer training or he would phone me before going to bed because he said, and I quote, "I can't go sleep without hearing your voice first babe." I would rather not admit that it was sort of true for me too but who in their right mind wouldn't want to hear Axel Rowe's deep husky voice saying 'goodnight babe, sweet dreams' every night?

In art we worked in a comfortable silence next to each other, sometimes asking for advice or suggestions. Our projects moved along well, after all, we had grown to know each other pretty well (obviously!).

Thursday, as we were putting our finishing touches to our artworks before the due date the day after, Axel asked me out again. This time to the movies for Friday night. I was keen to go but a bit worried if anyone saw us. Axel replied that we could just say that we were hanging out one last time to celebrate our art project completion.

It hit me then, like a sorrowful cloud, that after Friday Axel and I would no longer be able to hang out as much. He no longer had an excuse to be with me rather than his friends. The art project would be finished, why on earth would he continue to hang out with a geek like me? Axel told me we would cross that bridge when we get to it. I made the mistake of trusting him.

"Okay everyone," Miss O'Neal clapped her hands that Friday, "I will come by to see everybody at their desk and have a look at your artwork which should be completed. I will also have you explain to me the symbolism and meaning behind it."

I sat at my usual desk with Axel beside as Miss O'Neal began to walk around the front of the classroom. In front of me lay my painting and in front of Axel was his sculpture.

"I am still so in awe of your skills," Axel commented as he looked my painting over once again.

"Aw thanks," I blushed and winked at him.

He rolled his eyes but blushed slightly.

"My artwork looks bad next to yours," he looked down at his sculpture with an adorable pout.

"Nah," I patted his shoulder to reassure him, "It's cute. I love the turtle."

Axel beamed proudly.

"Well well what do we have here?" Miss O'Neal stopped in front of Axel and inspected his sculpture.

"My partner was Elias. His favourite animals are turtles so that is the overarching idea. I used clay to sculpt a turtle, on which I added glasses to echo Elias' own. I painted the shell as if it were a chessboard as Elias is the school chess champion and loves the game. At the top of the shell there is the black and white kings pieces beside each other. One because Elias' last name is King, and two because he has a big heart which he uses to get on with people who are different or oppose him." Axel explained.

I had a good look at his sculpture and all the little details suddenly stood out. As well as the meaning behind them. I hadn't realised how much more than just a turtle his artwork was and I fervently hoped I wasn't blushing from the attention Axel had brought to me and who I was.

"Lovely," Miss O'Neal smiled before stepping sideways so that she now stood before me, "And you Elias, what did you do to represent Axel?"

I looked down at my painting and took a deep breath to calm myself before I spoke.

"I decided on a watercolour painting as it is one of my favourite mediums to work with and gave me a large palette of colours which was essential as Axel is a multi-facetted person. The main illustration is of a black panther, his favourite animal, which has eyes the same colour as Axel's. Stretching above it is a fig tree with lots of figs, Axel's favourite food. The leaves of the tree are navy rather than green as navy is Axel's favourite colour. On the trunk of the tree is engraved a love heart with the initials 'A +E' in honour of his first kiss." I avoided looking at Axel as I finished the explanation.

"Oh how wonderful!" Miss O'Neal gushed,  "Let me guess, was her name Ella?" She turned to Axel.

I was confused for a moment before realising what she was talking about. I tensed. I was pretty sure Axel wouldn't say the truth but I knew I had taken a risk by putting our initials.

"No her name was Eli," Axel smirked and I jumped as I felt his fingers brush my own beneath the desk.

"Short for Eliana, I suppose," Miss O'Neal pondered and I smiled to myself at Axel's play on words, "Well boys, you both seemed to have gotten to know each other well and your artworks are very good so congratulations on your hard work." She smiled at us before moving on to another pair.

I looked over at Axel as his fingertips continued to lightly touch my own beneath the desk, electrifying me even with that one small touch. He was already looking at me, his bronze eyes lit mischievously.

"So what did you think of my explanation, Eliana?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you dare start calling me that!" I narrowed my eyes at him playfully, "And yes, I didn't realise how meaningful your sculpture really was."

"Well," Axel drawled, slumping back in his chair, "There's actually more meaning to it but it wasn't to be shared with Miss O'Neal."

"Really? What?" I raised my eyebrows, shifting in my seat to look at him properly.

Our change in position meant that the slight contact between our hands was lost. I wanted to reach out to regain some contact with Axel but I knew that doing it in class, or even at school in general, was too dangerous.

"You know the two kings?" Axel started to explain, "They actually represent that you don't want a queen by your side, you want another king."

It took a moment for me to understand but then it hit me. He meant that I didn't want a girl by my side, I wanted a boy. He had managed to secretly represent my sexuality in his artwork like I had done for him on mine. The realisation made warm fuzzies explode in my tummy.

"The look on your face is so adorable right now," Axel murmured low enough that no one else could hear, "I could kiss you."

"I wish you could," I smirked in response, knowing full well that he couldn't do anything in front of the class.

I suddenly felt depressed. Would we ever be able to kiss in public? Not that I was a fan of PDA, but would it ever be okay for us to show our affection in public? Why was it so hard for people to understand love? Why was it so hard for people to understand that gender doesn't matter?

A/N: meh sorry if this chapter was a bit boring (romantically at least) but I promise the next one will get interesting (in a heated kind of way hehe). 😉
What do you think of their artworks and the meaning behind them?
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