Broken

Chapter 42

Atlas headed for class the next morning on his motorbike thinking about the conversation he'd had with Thea the night before. Of course, there was no discussion he had with her where she didn't bring up Killian. And the night before had been a lot more about Killian than it was about the other things they were supposed to talk about. Or thing he thought they would talk about.

Thea, although she hadn't made it obvious, had caught on that he didn't want to talk about his reasons for wanting the easy route. She knew there was a reason behind him wanting easy and predictable from his usual hard-to-get, unpredictable choice. He figured she knew it was related to the accident but he hadn't said anything to confirm her suspicions or deny them. He just let her think what she wanted to and left it at that. He was still trying to process everything internally and wasn't ready to talk about it with anyone just yet.

The only thing in his life that was good was Thea and he didn't want to bring his brokenness into that as well. Thea deserved all the good things in life and he wasn't going to taint her with his darkness which brought him to why he didn't want her to be with Killian. He was afraid she would go through what he did, maybe worse and he wanted to protect her as much as he could.

A small part of him knew that he was being completely illogical but he couldn't see past his pain. All he could see were flashes of what Thea might become if she were in his place. It would break him to see his sister go through a fraction of anything he was going through.

If he had to protect her from Makenna as well as Killian, then he would.

Makenna.
Atlas' thoughts drifted to her and what had been going through his mind since the previous day. He hadn't been able to stop thinking that although Makenna might not be in the same boat as he was, she had something she was hiding.

That made him really curious. He wanted to find out her story and just like the girl he'd met that first night at the party, the girl he still didn't know, he wanted to uncover Makenna's secrets. The curiosity he felt that night with the strange girl was the same curiosity he now felt towards Makenna. But unlike the strange girl that night, he was second-guessing his decision to even take a step to figure it out.

Makenna wasn't normal.

Well, to be honest, no one was normal, everyone is simply different shades of normal. Some people choose to show all the shades at once and others show only the best or worst shade. And to him, it looked like Makenna was showing only one, but he wasn't sure if it was her best or her worst shade. There was just something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Have you ever met someone who stood out to you because they were just simply not like the rest even though the rest weren't really like the rest?

It's kind of like having one star stand out in the midst of all the bright stars. But you can't really understand why that star is the one that caught your attention and not one of the other brighter ones. It's like picking food on a menu of foods you know nothing about. It just kind of stands out from the rest because it feels...familiar.

Well, that's what Makenna was to Atlas.

He couldn't understand why and as much as he wanted to stay the course and stay out of trouble, he really couldn't help it. He just had to know what was different about her. Why the thought of her hiding something that was most likely hurting her brought out all sorts of feelings in him.

Curiosity and fear, that's what he felt. So maybe they weren't in the same boat of brokenness. But they both had secrets they carried, secrets that were probably weighing on her as much as it was weighing on him. As much as he wanted to find out about her, he also just as much wanted to stay away from her because he didn't need more drama in his life. Also, if he didn't take the step to find out, he wouldn't be able to get it out of his mind, and if he did do it, he might end up regretting it.

The other feeling he was able to place about the entire Makenna situation was Makenna herself. She was her own reason. He knew whatever he did decide to do, she would make it hard for him. Staying away wasn't enough for her. He got the feeling that she would rather he didn't exist. Trying to figure her out would be even harder, he had a feeling she would make his life a living hell.

So, after staying up all night thinking about what he was or wasn't going to do, he still hadn't come to a decision. But the curiosity was getting the best of him.

Just as Atlas dismounted his motorbike, Will pulled into the parking lot a few spots away from him.

"Hey, man." Will smiled at him as he got out of his truck and shut the door.

"Hi, mate."

They met somewhere in the middle as they headed in the same direction that was their department.

"How did the sightseeing go?"

Atlas smiled,
"I can't wait to get back on the road after class today."

"That good, eh?"

Atlas shook his head almost in disbelief,
"Better than I imagined."

"Find any secret hideout?"

"Not yet." Atlas said, "But I did stop at a Boathouse for lunch."

Will inhaled,
"You went that far out. I thought you'd at least want to check out the neighbouring places first but that's great. The boathouse's food is so good."

"Tell me about it."

"There are a few places you can try out as well." Will said,

"Text me their names."

They got to their department's building and headed to their first class.