"There are a few moments in life that are perfect and surreal; like a beautiful dream you don't want to wake up from, but when you do, you can't seem to remember what it was about. Then there are the terrible moments, absolute nightmares that nothin...
A couple of days had passed since Atlas sparred with Makenna. He had seen her the previous day at the gym but she'd been with Thea and he'd been with Sean. They hadn't spoken since that night and he hadn't been able to think of anything else. There was just something about that night that seemed to have changed the air between them. He couldn't quite explain it, but things seemed less hostile. On her part, of course.
He was an entirely different problem. He didn't understand why he had no filter when she was around. The things he said to her sometimes made him wonder where they'd come from and surprised him at how true they were.
He had been meaning to apologise to her that night about what had gone down on Saturday night. But she hadn't brought it up, and he didn't want to be the one to do that. Hence, he hadn't said anything. He wasn't sure if she'd forgotten about it because it didn't bother her, or if she wanted to forget about it because it bothered her. Either way, he wasn't going to bring it up until she did.
"Crap."
Atlas was snapped out of his thoughts by the intrusion. He looked at Will and followed his line of sight to find that their usual table in the library was occupied. Atlas scanned the area to find an empty table or one they could share with other students. He spotted Makenna and Vanessa at a table shared with two other people.
Atlas looked at Will, "We should head to the first floor."
"Oh wait."
Atlas followed Will's line of sight again to find two people getting up for a shared table. It was Makenna's table. Atlas looked at Will to find him smiling at him in a silly way.
"It's your lucky day." Will said before he headed towards them,
Atlas frowned, wondering what he meant by that, but followed quietly behind.
"Hey," Will said when he got to their table,
Vanessa looked up at Will and Atlas looked at Makenna to find that she had her earphones in and hadn't seen them yet.
"Do you mind if we sit with you? There are no empty seats." Will asked her,
"Of course not." Vanessa frowned, "It's a public space. Sit before someone else does."
Makenna heard as Vanessa conversed with a student who wanted to sit at their table. Makenna didn't understand why they asked, as Vanessa said, it is a public space. There was no need to ask.
Someone walked behind her and took the seat next to her and it was then that Makenna realized two things. One; the student had asked because they knew Vanessa. Two; the student had a friend she knew.
Too well. She thought.
If she could recognise him by his signature scent, then she was in trouble.
Makenna clenched her jaw and looked up at Vanessa who smiled sweetly at her before looking at the person that was getting situated beside her. Makenna then looked at Will who was seated next to Vanessa. He did a small wave at her and she gave him the tiniest smile in acknowledgement.
"Hey."
Makenna felt a light grip in her heart as his voice reverberated through her. She turned her head and met his waiting gaze. One of her hands was on the table and the other was crossed in front of her, holding onto the arm of her other hand. When she saw the look in his eyes, she clenched her hand which tightened around her arm.
It was a look that she hated because it felt like his eyes were trying to tell her something. There was a huge possibility that finding out what his eyes were saying would scare her. It was a feeling that she couldn't shake off.
He had seen her at different moments when she wouldn't allow people to see her. Moments when she had been vulnerable and she couldn't help but wonder if that was why she felt different around him. It was fear at how easily she found that she could be vulnerable with this person.
Like a bullet, he had pierced her cold heart; either to heal or to kill. Regardless, he was going to leave a mark.
Makenna shifted her gaze back to the textbook in front of her and went back to studying. Or tried to. It was surprisingly harder to do with him sitting down next to her.
Vanessa and Will looked from Makenna and Atlas to each other. They shared a knowing smile before they went back to studying.
Atlas' gaze dropped to Makenna's hand next to him and he clenched his jaw at how her fingers dug into her skin. It looked painful and as he took out his books, he thought of ways to get her to stop without making it obvious.
He couldn't brush up against her not without having something to reach for on her side of the table. He realized he had layered his outfit and couldn't have been more grateful for anything in his life in that moment. He took off his jacket and made certain that his arm brushed up against her. Makenna didn't flinch at the contact but he was glad that she'd shifted her arm, and in the process, stopped digging her fingers into her arm.
Atlas placed his jacket beside his bag and got right into the books. With one of his arms propped on the table, two of his fingers rested on his temple, poised, as he studied. He found it rather distracting to have Makenna sitting right next to him so it took a while before he actually got deep into what he was reading.
Makenna couldn't tell if Atlas had intentionally or mistakenly brushed his arm against hers. But she quickly shook off the feeling and resumed studying; she tried her hardest to focus. She knew it wasn't the time to worry about tomorrow's problems.
Only time would tell if he wanted to break the ice or bleed her heart.
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Oh my goodness!!
I have a lot of things to tell you guys. I just edited September's vlog and it's going up on Friday. A lot has been going on personally and I've been finding it really hard to schedule a time to work on the new book. I've also been beating myself up for not meeting my deadlines in regard to writing.
There has been a lot to juggle which is why, as you may have noticed from my profile, I'm no longer an Ambassador. It was an amazing journey I'm glad I got to experience, but with everything I have going on, I had to step away.
Do stay tuned for this month's vlog. I gave a shout-out to one of you at the end of the vlog. If you would like me to give you a shout-out in my next video, drop a comment here and subscribe to my channel if you haven't. (Direct link --->)
Sending lots of love to each and every one of you.
Till Saturday, stay blessed, and remember that you're not alone in the world.
