Broken

Chapter 67

In the week that followed, Makenna spent more time with Vanessa at the library. The first-semester assessment was coming up the following week and they needed to be on their A-game. Makenna found herself replaying what Vanessa had said about abandoning her family. Granted, she hadn't left. She hadn't walked away like Vanessa's sister had. But it felt like she had done exactly just that without literally leaving.

Her thoughts swam in the murky pool that was her mind. She found herself constantly capturing them and pulling them deep into that pool so that they drowned. But every time, they popped back to the surface. Rinse, wash, repeat. Or in her case, capture, drown, repeat.

The only thing she hadn't tried was what she didn't know was an option. Completely remove the thoughts from the pool. And the only way she could do that was to make the pool inhabitable for thoughts like that. She needed to clean out the pool. The only problem was you never know what's wrong with your surrounding until something new is introduced. Just like you never know what happens in the darkness until light is introduced, Makenna didn't know how muddied the waters were. Vanessa's comment had been the 'something new' she needed.

"Have you read through the case studies of Actus Reus?"

"A few."

"Ok, I found this one with..." Makenna looked up at Vanessa when she stopped to find her gaze fixed on something behind her, "Your 4 O'clock."

Makenna frowned and turned her head to find Will and Atlas walking into the library. They found a table and just as she was about to look away, he looked up and caught her gaze. The instant smile was unexpected and it made her heart pop. Makenna looked away and down at the book in front of her.

"Damn, you two have chemistry."

Makenna looked at Vanessa, again,
"It's not chemistry, it's psychology."

Vanessa frowned,
"What?"

"We have..." Makenna paused,

A disagreement about our siblings' relationship which you don't know about because I don't talk about my brother.

"Bad blood." Makenna said.

"That smile wasn't a cause baby now we got bad blood smile." She sang the lyrics,

"We have a...sort of disagreement and he thinks bonding with me will change my mind."

Vanessa narrowed her eyes,
"That was a I like me better when I'm with you smile." She sang the lyrics to another song,

Makenna wanted to smile at the ridiculous way Vanessa was trying to get her point across. But she didn't because what Vanessa was suggesting was truly...ridiculous.

She focused on what she was studying and she hated that she was aware of Atlas' presence. It felt like a tightening in her chest, like something crawling up her spine. It was uncomfortable and almost impossible to ignore.

Makenna had thought it would be hard to avoid Atlas, but it had actually been quite easy. There were times when she'd gotten close to running into him but she'd been quick to spot him and subtly hide. The past week had given her more time to think about the real reason why Atlas wanted to be friends with her. And the only thing that came to mind was: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Although it didn't seem like it was a problem for him anymore, there was a possibility that Atlas was still trying to spilt up their siblings. He thinks getting to her and being 'friends' with her will get her to back off on everything she says she would do if he messes with their relationship.

That was the most reasonable thing she could come up with. There was no other logical explanation as to why he would want to be friends with her.

Ugh! Damn Atlas!
Makenna hadn't been this frustrated by one annoying person in a long time,

She looked up and remembered the case study Vanessa wanted to discuss,
"Actus Reus."

"Right." Vanessa explained the case study and Makenna forgot everything else.

**

The moment Atlas met her emerald gaze, he wanted to head over to her table just to see what her response would be. The past week, he'd run into her a handful of times but she'd always looked caught up with something and with assessment coming up the following week, he didn't think it was a good time to initiate a conversation.

Atlas had hung out with Will and a few other faces he'd seen in their class. It has been nice getting to officially meet a few of them. They'd all told him the semester assessment was pretty 'chill' and they were all really studying for finals rather than the assessment. Atlas could understand but it was his first and he needed to be fully prepared for whatever came his way. So, he wasn't going to be 'chill' about his preparation.

Atlas searched for a textbook in the ones Will had borrowed on their way in but couldn't find it.
"Are you reading Stephen Ron?"

Will grimaced as he looked at Atlas,
"I knew I was forgetting something."

"That's alright. I'll get it." Atlas pushed back from the table and went in search of the textbook by Stephen J. Skripak and Ron Poff.

At the same time, Vanessa and Makenna packed up their things, each going in different directions inside the library to return the books they had used.

Unfortunately for Makenna, she went in the same direction Atlas went. She slid the last book back into its slot and turned to leave only to have a jump scare.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Makenna asked in her normal tone only to be shushed by people around her.

Atlas looked amused,
"And what did I do now?"

"This is the second time you've done this." She said in a hushed tone,

"Right. Scare you. It was never my intention, on both occasions."

Makenna didn't look convinced.

"You know if I wasn't present at both times, I would think nothing could scare you."

Makenna glared at him before she sidestepped him.

"What happened to being civil?" Atlas turned his head to look at her.

They stood side by side, their shoulders almost touching as they looked at each other.

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if I wasn't being civil."

Atlas' brow quirked in question with a playful smile on his lips,
"You're going to have to do better than that."

If looks could kill, the look he saw in her eyes would have him choking for air.

"Don't push it." She dragged it out slowly it made the warning come off more like a threat.

Unfazed, Atlas searched her eyes trying to see beyond the surface. He was quite aware that from the time he'd run into her to present, she'd somehow gotten into his personal space.

Makenna held his gaze but blinked when his gaze seemed to be searching hers like he'd found a crack that allowed him to see into her soul. She was almost pulled back unsure of when he'd gotten into her space. But she couldn't back down and let him leave with the upper hand. So, she smiled slowly as she searched his eyes too. Then without intending to, her gaze dropped to his lips. Makenna felt the pop in her chest and her smile slipping but she kept it together and lifted her gaze to meet his shocked ones.