supernova

56

Atlas made amazing pancakes. I nearly cried when I bit into them because I haven't had such amazing pancakes in so long.

"You are like sent from... I don't know. Oh god, this is so good."  I was very hungry, despite my large Olive Garden meal last night.

"What are you doing today?" Michael asked me as he ate waffles.

"Oh! I'm going to see Daniyal and Fatima!" I answered. I was very excited to see them; they were the sweetest couple I knew.

"Hmm. Did you get them a Christmas gift?" Michael asked.

"No, they're Muslim so they don't celebrate Christmas. But I don't go to peoples houses like this empty handed so I'm going to pick up some sweets like a box of chocolates or something." 

"Can we come with?" Atlas asked.

"I mean, I don't mind, but it's Daniyal's house we're going to."

"Oh, he won't mind. We go there often." I checked my phone looking for a text from Amukta, and when I didn't see one, I texted first.

Amukta
8:46AM

how was last night???

I put my phone away and waited for a response.

"Atlas will take you to Amukta's to get ready. We'll pick you up on the way there, okay?" Michael confirmed with me and I nodded.

"Yea sure." I finished my pancakes and left the house with Atlas.

"Since when do you cook so well?" I asked him. He was a good cook in highschool, but where did he find the time to become so good at it during college?

"Since I do, I guess. You'd be surprised at the things I've learned during college. We should hang out more, you know. We should actually catch up more about what we've done. Like small things, places we've been, crazy experiences. I wanna know what makes this Arabella." He was relaxed into the driver seat as he spoke, his eyes carefully on the road.

"Am I that different from highschool?" I asked. I don't know I was that different.

"No, you just have this new adult confidence in the way you hold yourself. It's beautiful." I looked over at him. His eyes didn't move from the road, but there was a cheeky smile on his face. "We're here," he stopped the car and looked over at me. "But then again, everything about you has always been beautiful."

I got out of the car and looked at him. Before I closed the door I said, "I'm actually really happy that you've changed. You told me you were struggling then. Struggling to cope with your sister and your parents and everyone around you treating you like you're going to shatter at any minute. I'm glad you've changed for the better and grown out of that mindset."

"I'll never be the person I was before Carli died, but I feel the closest to that right now," He gave me a small smile.

"We can never go back to who we were before our their deaths, but we can try to live our lives to the fullest because we know it would make them ecstatic." I closed the door and walked to Amukta's house.

She opened the door.  "Do you not respond to texts anymore? Not even an, 'I'm good' or 'I'm ho-," I stopped my little lecture as I saw Deen in the back. "Never mind. You were home the entire time." I smiled as my face flushed in embarrassment.