Broken

Chapter 57

Later the same day, the seconds ticked by and the time drew closer for Makenna to head to the party. She decided it was best to be absent from the room in case Hee swung by to get her. As she slipped into her most comfy black hoodie, her phone lit up with a new message. She glanced at her phone and saw a message notification from Brandon. She picked up her phone and read the message.

Where are you? Can't find you.
The message read.

Rather than reply to it, she slipped it into her back pocket and completely ignored it. Makenna grabbed her headphones and put them on as she headed out of her room.

Her day had gotten better after spending two hours at the gym. She had headed back to her room, showered, and caught up on some light reading. It was the downtime she needed to unwind, but that didn't mean Vanessa's words hadn't stopped echoing over and over in her head.

Have I truly been that selfish?
She asked herself.

Makenna walked aimlessly with her headphones on. She felt privileged to be able to walk alone at night with headphones on. The majority of women didn't get to have that small joy of simply having some alone time while heading home at night. A moment that was supposed to be one of life's little joys had become one of the moments women fear the most. Rather than walk home and try to unwind from the day's hectic work, women walked home with their hearts hammering, one ear pinned to the ground for any other footsteps that weren't theirs.

Makenna blinked back the tears that made their way to her eyes as she swallowed hard.

How could you let there be so much bad in the world?
She directed the question to God.

How am I supposed to stay good when all I see, all that comes my way, is bad?
It was moments like this, she was thankful that Rachel hadn't stuck around to witness all the bad that was in the world.

The flickering of lights caught her attention. She looked up from the path she walked towards her go to store with lights that had stopped flickering. She stopped when she caught sight of the neon sign on the store that read God.

Makenna shifted her gaze up at the starry night sky,
"Seriously?"

She looked at the store and let out a frustrated sigh. She hesitated but ended up heading towards it. Just as she opened the door, the overhead store bell rang announcing the presence of a customer. At the same time, the store owner, or worker, hit the wooden pane that held the neon sign. The sign flickered and glowed brighter with all the letters that now read Goodies.

Atlas had arrived at his apartment after his meeting with his Chancellor. They'd ironed out everything regarding his late transfer to the University. In order to make things work out how he'd planned, he had to take two extra courses this term to lessen the workload for the summer term. Atlas had left the chancellor's office and immediately headed to the registrar's office. He'd gotten the course list for his final semester and figured out which classes he was going to take. He'd gone through the official channels to ensure that he began those classes the following week.

On his way back to his apartment, he'd borrowed some books from the library to catch up on the scheme. He didn't want to go to those classes completely clueless.

After hours of studying, he was finally caught up with one of the two courses. He was surprised to find that it was pretty late at night and he'd totally forgotten to eat. Atlas stood up and stretched to get rid of the ache in his muscle from sitting for too long. He picked up his phone to place his order but stopped the second he unlocked the phone. He decided to go get dinner to give him some time away from the books. He knew some fresh air would do him good, and also get blood back into his legs.

Atlas slipped his phone into his pocket and grabbed his keys. He locked the door to his apartment and headed out. Atlas googled fast food joints near him as soon as he stepped out of his apartment building. He saw there was a Chick-Fil-A nearby that was just nine minutes away. He knew Americans were bonkers about their Chick-Fil-A, but he'd never actually tried it. Tonight, he was either going to have a great meal or starve.

Atlas got his first Chick-Fil-A meal and decided to take the long way back to his apartment. Eighteen minutes wasn't nearly enough to revive him and get him ready for another few hours of hitting the books. Taking a different route, he walked and found himself at Jefferson Avenue, the same road that led to Thea's workplace. He sighted a store and thought he should get some snacks in case the Chick-Fil-A experience didn't go well.

He crossed the road and headed inside the store, the overhead store bell ringing as he walked inside. He nodded a greeting to the man who sat behind the counter who responded with one of his. Atlas headed further inside the store, browsing the first aisle for something that looked good. It wasn't until the third aisle that he finally found something that looked familiar. Different packaging than what he was used to seeing, but the content looked the same.

Atlas reached the end of the third aisle and turned to head to the fourth aisle. He caught sight of a shadow standing in the middle of the fourth aisle and stopped. Only it wasn't a shadow.

Atlas' lips curled up in a slow smile as he realized who it was. She had headphones on as she looked to be reading the content of the packets in her hand. Atlas glanced at his feet debating his choices as he slid his empty hand into his pocket. Without hesitation, he headed towards her.

What's the worst that could happen?
He asked himself as he got closer to her.