Broken

Chapter 32

"Atlas," Will called again just as Atlas turned around to look at him as he made his way down to where he was.

Will stopped a few feet away from him smiling,
"Some people want to meet you."

"I don't want to meet them." Atlas said,

"Why not?" Will glanced at the girls that made their way slowly towards both of them with a smile on their faces.

"If they want to meet me, why go to you to begin with?"

"Girls are shy." Will said, "Besides you emit this 'keep away from me' vibe."

Atlas looked at Will,
"That didn't keep you away."

"Well, girls are different."

"Will, I'm seriously not looking to..."

"They're just asking for an introduction, not a date."

Atlas sighed.

"C'mon."

"Fine." Atlas forced through clenched teeth.

Will turned to the girls and gestured for them to come to meet them.

The girls smiled as they headed towards Will and Atlas and Atlas turned to look at them as they stopped a few feet away from him and Will. They were pretty and had sweet, shy smiles and Atlas felt less irritated by them.

"Atlas, this is Renee and Khloe."

Renee was the dark-haired girl, and Khloe was the brunette.

"Hello," They both said with a little wave,

"Hi." Atlas said with an attempt at a smile,

"We noticed you in class last week and we haven't seen a new face in class since..." Renee turned to Khloe who looked at her,

"Michael." They both said before they turned to him,

"Michael was also a transfer in our second year." Will said to Atlas who nodded in understanding,

"Will said you're also a transfer." Khloe said, "From Cambridge."

"So far, that's accurate."

The girls smiled when he spoke and Atlas looked from them to Will who had a smile on his face before Atlas turned to look at the girls,

"We just love your accent." Renee said,

"Ditto."

"Well, it was nice meeting you Atlas." Khloe smiled and turned to Will, "Thank you for the introduction, Will."

"Of course."

Renee and Khloe walked past them and headed out of the class.

"You see," Will said, "That wasn't so bad."

Atlas agreed that it wasn't but he didn't admit that to Will as they headed out of the class. They were stepping out of their department and heading towards the library because they had some time to kill before their next class when Atlas spotted her.

Dressed again in all black from head to toe which he was getting used to seeing. She looked like she was lost in her own world with her AirPods plugged in as she headed toward them. She hadn't spotted them yet and was still quite a distance away from them. Will was saying something but Atlas wasn't listening. It wasn't that he was trying to block Will out but there was something that happened to him there and then and he just couldn't take his eyes off her.

It was the second time he'd seen her by herself and some people found that hard to do, be alone that is. So, maybe there was a little part that was jealous because of that but there was another part that felt drawn to her and the more he looked at her, the more he thought maybe it wasn't exactly her but her situation, only he didn't know what her situation was.

So, what was it?
Atlas asked himself.

Right then, Makenna shifted her gaze for no reason but the pull she felt. And there he was.

There it was.
Atlas thought.

Her green eyes meet his blue ones as they headed toward each other.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul. Atlas couldn't remember if he'd ever met anyone with green eyes but something about hers made him want to uncover everything about her. Peel back all her layers.

Makenna thought of a Siberian Husky with blue eyes when she met his gaze. His eyes were almost glassy and she wanted to look at them till she was tired of them.

They stared right at each other, neither of them wanting to look away until they walked past each other and shifted their gaze to where they were headed. And just like that, they were back in their bodies and everything else that had been background noise became clear as day.

"Uhh,"

Atlas glanced at Will.

"What. Was. That?" Will had witnessed the whole thing which to Atlas might have been her just passing by him but to Will, he'd not only seen the look but felt it and that hadn't been comfortable for him.

"What was what?"

"I don't know what just happened, but there was something there."

Atlas looked at him like he was confused.

"With the girl from the party the other night."

"You mean my sister's boyfriend's sister?"

Will thought about that for a second,
"Hmm, if that's her that just walked by, then yea!"

Atlas let out a little huff-laugh.
"You, mate, are delusional."

Atlas patted Will on his shoulder and quickened his pace.

"Wait," Will was left behind but also quickened his pace and got right beside Atlas again, "You can't tell me you don't have a thing for her, because that was not nothing."

"That was definitely nothing. Less than nothing in fact." Atlas said as a matter of fact, "What I feel for Mac is nothing as strong as hatred but definitely dislike."

"Ugh," Will snorted a laugh, "If that's what dislike is like with you, I do not want to be a witness to what your being in love is like."

Atlas looked at Will and smiled before he shook his head,
"Not in this lifetime."

Will thought Atlas, just like some guys, wasn't interested in falling in love but what he didn't know was that after Emily, Atlas couldn't think of the word love without feeling guilty. His guilt was tied to love and he knew if he fell into that rabbit hole, he was going to have to do something to let go of that guilt.

And maybe doing something to get rid of the guilt was a good thing but a very tiny part of Atlas didn't want to let go because he knew he deserved the guilt. He deserved to remember. He deserved to carry that night with him for the rest of his life.

Atlas was drowning in dark waters he had muddied all by himself that he was far gone; swept by the waves and he couldn't see that you could carry someone with you, memories of them for the good reasons and not the bad.