Amber Eyes

FORTY FOUR

"Harassed?" I echo. "Don't you all have such a way with words?"

"Hey, I'm just telling you what he said to me." His voice sounds a little offended, making me smile.

"Is he gonna talk to me about it? Because I'm definitely not entertaining him."

"Maybe he will. He's hard to figure out."

I bite my lip, a new question forming inside my head as I debate whether he's the right person to ask or not. "Was he serious about the 'I want to see who is better so the first examination we're gonna face each other' thing?"

He looks at me for a second before letting out a heavy breath. He nods thoughtfully. "Yeah. I don't blame him though. Technically, he's broken the records as well. Just by point one percent but he's still done that. But then you come along-" he pauses, "No offence. You come along with a fourteen percent lead? That's something no one expected at all. And he didn't take it the right way. Even now, I'm pretty sure that half the students think you're some rich motherfucker who's paid her way to the top."

I don't say anything. I did know about how Rhett had broken the records as well but I didn't know how bad of an effect the whole situation would have on him. I almost feel guilty but then I decide that it's just the gap in our abilities. It's not like I can make him feel better by holding back. That would only make it worse.

"What do you think, Atlas?" I ask him suddenly. "Do you think I paid?"

"I don't know. At first, I did. But I don't know anymore. Maybe you really are some kind of genius overachiever. Maybe you aren't. That doesn't bother me. But from what I've noticed from the whole Iris situation, you're the kind of person who's so fucking confident in herself that people may consider you to be overconfident sometimes. But you aren't." He twists the silver ring on his index finger while staring at nothing in particular. "If you don't perform, you'll drop down by twenty five but it won't matter to you much. You'll catch up in no time.

"Iris will be the one who'll be at a loss. And honestly? Good job at that. I don't like how she thinks she's smart anyways."

The last statement makes me smile. Most of the people who have confronted me about the whole thing do not like me doing what I did. However, besides Mason, Atlas is the only person who thinks it's a rather good idea to do this.

"You need guts to do something like that," he adds a final comment. "So yeah. There's that."

I don't say anything for a few moments before I turn a bit to face him. He's looking at me with a calm expression, waiting for some kind of reaction from me. My lips curl up in a small, amused smile. "Looks like I won't hate you after all."

He laughs.

That night, I got a call. Jude is still at dinner so I didn't bother to get out of the room to receive it. When I pick it up, I'm greeted with silence. I don't say anything either and neither does the person on the other end. We stay quiet for about a few minutes before I decide to break it because something doesn't seem right.

"What's up?" I ask.

A heavy breath. More like a shudder, which makes me think of the possibility that he's smoking again. "Nothing."

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't have called me."

I hear him sigh but he doesn't say anything yet.

"Are you smoking?" I ask him, my voice low. "Nate?"

"I'm going to be straight with you, Harley, okay?" he finally says. His voice isn't playful or friendly. Neither is it hostile or full of hate. It's just straightforward. And blank.