Broken

Chapter 56

Makenna turned in the direction her name was called and smiled a little at Thea. Thea waved at her gesturing for her to join them. Makenna shook her head but Thea kept gesturing and Makenna finally pushed away from the counter and walked to their table.

"Thea? How's it going?"

"Great. Have a seat while you wait for your order."

Makenna pulled out a chair and sat down,
"Killian."

"Mac." Killian looked at his sister,

The siblings looked at each other and Thea looked back and forth between them before she leaned in and whispered,
"It's pretty weird that no one knows you are siblings."

They both turned to look at her.

"It's also not something we're trying to keep a secret." Makenna said,

"But you prefer it that way." Killian said,

Makenna looked at her brother and couldn't argue with him,
"And would you like to be associated with me?"

Killian looked at Makenna, and shrugged,
"You're my sister. I made peace with that fact since I was old enough to understand what that meant."

Makenna held back her laugh but saw Killian crack a smile, which made her smile,
"Well, give it one more year and it would no longer matter."

Killian nodded in agreement and looked at Thea to find her lost.
"Thea?"

Thea looked up at Killian and glanced at Makenna who was also looking at her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yea, totally." Pause, "Just that Atlas has his last term after this. I'm wondering where he'll be headed after."

The mention of Thea's thorn-in-her-side brother was like a splash of ice-cold water on her back. Saved by the bell, her number flashed on the calling system.

"I'll see you both some other time," Makenna got up, "I have somewhere to be."

Thea smiled up at her,
"See you around, Mac."

Makenna smiled before she walked away. Killian looked from his sister to Thea with a surprised look,
"What was that?"

"What?" Thea looked clueless as to what he was talking about,

"When did you and my sister become friends?"

"Ah, that's between your sister and me." Thea took a sip of her drink so she could get out of answering any other question he had,

"Seriously, Thea."

Thea put her drink on the table,
"Mac is like the female figure I never had."

Killian knew about Thea's absent mum but that was it. He didn't know the details.
"I love my sister, but is she really the person you want to have as an example?"

Thea smiled sadly,
"She said something similar but it's my decision," Pause, "Plus, Mac is like a painting with so many layers of black and grey. It takes time and patience before you get to the all-white canvas."

Killian smiled,
"Did you just refer to my sister as a painting?"

Thea shrugged with a shy smile,
"I think everyone is a painting waiting to be understood."

Killian shook his head with his smile still intact,
"Only you, Thea. Only you."

Makenna made the short walk to the gym with her drink in her hand. She had asked Alfie to skip the plastic and pour her drink into her thermos. That way she could take it with her to the gym and not worry about it getting hot to drink later. She was arriving at the entrance of the gym when Brandon walked out and smiled the moment he saw her.

"Hey, you,"

They walked toward each other and stopped a few feet from each other,
"Hey,"

"Missed you yesterday."

"Slammed."

"Are we going to see you tonight?"

"Uh, tonight?"

"Hee said she was going to drag you along."

"Oh, I missed her this morning."

"Well, I hope you can make it tonight." Brandon said, "It's going to be fun."

That's what I hear every night.
Makenna thought.

"Isn't it always." She said,

Brandon smiled as he studied her. She didn't like feeling like she was under a microscope.

"See you later."

"Yea."

Makenna walked around him and headed inside the gym.

At the same time, Atlas was on his bike heading to the College library to meet up with Will. Focusing on the road ahead, movement in the street in his peripheral vision caught his attention. Atlas glanced at the pavement on the other side to find her. She was talking to a guy and just as he got closer on his bike, she said something and walked away heading into a building. Atlas didn't miss seeing the guy turn around to watch her go before he drove off.

Atlas headed to the library and was making his way up the stairs towards the library when he caught sight of Will talking to two familiar-looking girls. Will's gaze found him,

"There he is," Will smiled as Atlas got closer, "Atlas."

"Hey mate," Atlas glanced from Will to the girls and recognition hit as he smiled at them,

"You remember Khloe and Renee."

Atlas nodded at them in greeting,
"It's nice to see you again."

"We see you all the time in class," Renee said,

"Right."

"They want to join in on our study time," Will said, "Hope that's ok?"

"This being our final semester and," Khloe looked at Renee,

"...and with our project, we need to get in as much studying as we can."

"Certainly."

"Great." Khloe said,

They all headed into the library together and were soon seated at a table. To Atlas' surprise, it went really well. There were things the girls discussed between themselves and with him and Will. Those discussions allowed him to have a better grasp of some important concepts. They went through their previous notes to revise some old topics and prepared for their next class with textbooks and Google.

After a couple of hours of studying, they all headed out of the library together,

"I feel ready to take on the day." Renee said,

"Same," Khloe smiled,

"That's why we do this often," Will said about him and Atlas,

"Do you mind if we join in more?" Khloe asked,

"We would welcome it." Atlas said,

"Great," Khloe said,

They headed down the stairs together.

"So, Atlas, I hear this isn't your final semester." Renee said,

"No, the transfer here delayed me a term." A complete twist of the truth, he thought.

"That's a bummer."

Atlas agreed.

"When do you plan on finishing your final semester?"

They all stopped at the base of the stairs.

"Hopefully, this summer. I'd prefer not to wait for the Autumn term."

"Reasonable plan." Khloe said,

That reminded Atlas of his meeting with the Chancellor. He checked his watch.
"Speaking of which, I have an important meeting regarding just that." He looked at them, "See you lot later."

"See you later, Man," Will said,

"Bye." The girls called as he walked away,

Atlas threw them a smile over his shoulder and kept walking.