Chapter 49

Makenna went to bed that night and woke up the next morning with a smile on her lips. She took her first conscious breath of the day, revelling in it as it filled her lungs with oxygen.

It's a beautiful day to be alive.

She thought as she got out of bed and started to get ready for her day.

It felt like she was walking on clouds and wanted it to never end. She felt like she did when she had those teenage crushes, except she wasn't a teenager anymore.

As Makenna got ready, she was about to get started on her signature dark eye makeup look, but at the last second, she decided to forgo it. She smiled at herself in the mirror and nervously looked away.

Not a moment longer, Makenna exited her dorm building. She slowly came to a stop as she got closer to the pedway, replaying last night in her head.

Atlas pulled up in front of her dorm late at night. Makenna took a moment to dismount his motorbike before she tackled the chin strap. By the time she finally took the helmet off, Atlas already had his on the bike, between his legs.

She handed him the helmet with her fingers wrapped around the latched chin strap,

"Thank you,"

Atlas took the helmet from her, his hands wrapping around hers,

"What for?"

Makenna was getting familiar with his expressions and the one he had on wasn't too hard to figure out - he was teasing her,

"You're smart, you'll figure it out."

Atlas smiled and let go of her hand, the helmet in his possession,

"Well, thank you for dinner."

"I had to square up somehow."

Atlas hung her helmet on the handlebar, his smile slowly disappearing,

"Is that...is that what it was?"

Makenna blinked and looked away.

"You squaring up?"

Makenna looked up at him, the streetlight making it easy for her to see his face and eyes. She took a deep breath and slowly shook her head as she let it out.

"I like being around you."

Atlas' smile was back and Makenna couldn't help but reward him with one of her own.

"Just around."

"Hm-hmm," She nodded teasingly,

"As long as you don't hover too far,"

"I make no promises."

Atlas stared at her face illuminated by the dimly lit streetlight,

"I'll just have to pull and keep you close."

Makenna kept her cool...as cool as she could.

"What makes you think I'll budge?"

Atlas look away for a second with a cocky grin on his lips,

"Want to put that to the test?"

Makenna swallowed,

"I think I'm good..."

"Taking the easy way out?" Atlas reached for the lapels of her jacket with one hand and pulled her closer to him and his motorbike,

Makenna lazily went with the pull and stopped too close, yet so far away from him.

Atlas gazed up at her,

"You Makenna Adams are trouble."

"Took you long enough to figure that out."

Atlas smirked as he took a moment to take it all in,

"I like this."

"Keeping me in a spot against my will?"

"I don't see you fighting it."

"You're not looking hard enough."

Atlas smiled,

"You're making this so easy."

Makenna took a deep breath, filling her suffocating lungs with much-needed oxygen,

"What?"

"Liking you."

Makenna went quiet for a moment as she searched for an answer.

"It's ok, you don't have to say anything." Atlas let go of her jacket and tucked her hair behind ear, "Not tonight anyway."

Makenna swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue and took a few steps back.

"Goodnight, Atlas."

Atlas smiled,

"Goodnight, Makenna."

She turned around and headed into her dorm with Atlas watching till she got inside. He put his helmet on and drove off.

Makenna had to try really hard to get herself to stop smiling. When she finally snapped out of her haze, she headed to class.

On getting to her first class of the day, Makenna spotted Vanessa at her usual seat and went to join her.

"Hey," Makenna took the seat behind Vanessa,

Vanessa turned back,

"Oh, hey."

"What happened yesterday?"

Vanessa frowned,

"Yesterday?"

"Jerry."

"Oh, him." Vanessa brushed it off like it was nothing, "He was...slightly confused."

"About you two being broken up?"

Vanessa's expression was telling but Makenna didn't say anything,

"He's going through something,"

Makenna didn't want to butt in, but she wanted to make sure that Vanessa was alright.

"Just don't let that sway your decision."

"I know," Vanessa nodded, "I was there for him as a friend, nothing more."

"It didn't seem that way yesterday,"

Vanessa looked offended and Makenna quickly raised her hands in surrender,

"Hey, I'm saying it like it was. Will didn't seem too pleased either."

"Will? What does he have to do with this?"

"Vanessa if you don't know that Will has a thing for you, then you may need to get your head checked."

"Hopefully you'll come along to get yours checked as well."

Makenna smiled, loving the clap back,

"If you're referring to yesterday's 'initials misrepresentation', I promise you it's all settled."

"With whom? When? I wasn't there."

"Only Atlas and I were present for it."

Vanessa gasped,

"You guys eventually went on a date?"

"No!" Makenna was louder than she wanted to be, "No."

Vanessa frowned,

"That's disappointing."

"We were together for the rest of the day, it wasn't disappointing at all." Makenna smiled and it slowly grew into a grin,

"Oh, my word." Vanessa caught her smile and smiled in surprise, "I cannot believe I get to witness Makenna Adams fall in love?"

"What?" Makenna panicked, her smile disappearing, "In love? No! Why would you say that? It was just two people hanging out."

"And what, dare I ask, do you think would be the result?"

Makenna thought about it for a moment and blinked,

"Point taken. But hearing you say it now makes it scary."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Vanessa was sincere, "Take it one day at a time, don't think too far ahead."

"Thank you." Makenna nodded, "But we're not even dating."

"Yet." Vanessa smiled, "Not dating yet."

Makenna fell back in her seat and let out a heavy sigh. Her heart was starting to feel heavy and she didn't like it.

"Hey, snap out of it. Don't overthink it."

"Says the person who brought it up in the first place."

"I'm sorry, but you'll see him later and won't even remember what I said."

"Oh, I'm looking forward to testing that theory."

Vanessa smiled,

"Good. Think about that."

Happy February Beautiful People!

The month is already off to a great start and I'm so excited to be back to posting on Wattpad. While I had a productive time off, I've been looking forward to completing this story for your sake and, selfishly, mine.

I don't know what's been happening lately, but I've noticed a drop in the numbers and that's a bit crazy because I'm not one who cares a lot about that. I write because I love it and even if one of you sticks around, I would be so grateful. I guess that makes me cherish every single one of you even more for coming along on this ride with me. If I haven't said it before - Thank You.

You've been such an important part of this journey with me and I'm super grateful for your continued support for this story and my love for writing.

I wish you all a blessed and beautiful February. Till next Saturday, have a fantastic week!