Atlantis Tide Breaker

Atlantis Tide Breaker Chapter Three

Silence filled the room. Long, drawn-out, uncomfortable silence. Everyone stared at Sky. And me because I sat next to her. Their looks intense.

My body heated. In advanced classes I never called attention to myself. Preferred to stay under the radar so I didn’t expose my giggly-nitwit act. I squirmed in my seat.

Sky appeared cool and unflustered. Her face wasn’t red. She didn’t fidget in her chair.

“Advanced Placement Biology is not for jokesters.” The teacher waved her hand. “We are serious about the study of science.”

The bell rang minimizing the tension.

“Class dismissed.” The teacher took off her reading glasses and glared at Sky as if recognizing a problem student.

“Human hearts?” My stomach roiled. “You were kidding, right?”

“Of course.” Sky picked up her backpack and flashed a short, snitchy smile.

Was she joking?

I liked that Sky was smart and cool. I liked how she dressed. And I’d love to find a friend I could be myself around. But something about her was unusual.

She turned right and headed for the cafeteria seeming to know her way around the school. “Are you eating lunch with your boyfriend?”

“Gill is not my boyfriend. And hey,” I had to jog to keep up with her. “How do you know about Gill? You disappeared before I could introduce you.” My curiosity meter was going off full blast.

“I don’t like watching the making out scene.”

I wish. No, I don’t. I couldn’t like Gill. Not after the way he’d treated me.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” At one time I’d hoped, but now I knew it was impossible.

She arched her finely-drawn brow like a sarcastic question mark. Sky didn’t need words.

“I don’t even know what he was doing here this morning.” Which was the truth.

“Obviously looking for you.”

Which was true, but not for the reasons Sky thought.

“He wanted to talk to me about…something, but I had to get to class.”

He shouldn’t have shown up at school. Who else wondered what he was to me? And how was I going to explain him?

“He’s not going to be hanging around you all the time?” Sky’s questions seemed to rise with hope.

Like she didn’t want Gill hanging around or she didn’t like him. Which was silly. “No. Why?”

“I just thought…two single girls could hang as long as you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“No, BF.” Or BFF. My chest squeezed tight trying to hold in the pain. This wasn’t about replacing Maris. This was about opening the real me to new people.

Sky was new and had no one to hang out with. She was cool and smart. This situation was going to work for both of us.

Sky flicked her hair. “So, we’re good?”

“Golden.”

After finding space at a table, unwrapping my sandwich, peeling my banana, and sharing my brownie—Sky forgot to bring lunch—I felt more comfortable. The Populars I hadn’t seen yet, stopped by my table to say hi. The guy I’d crushed on last year asked how my summer went. The swim coach reminded me about practice after school.