Atlantis Tide Breaker

Atlantis Tide Breaker, Chapter 5

Chapter Five

New Bud Bonding

“So,” Sky flipped on the light by the side of my bed. “Gill was pretty upset about that being the wrong shell.”

“Yeah.” I dropped my backpack onto the desk. “Weird that the nautilus you found matched the one Gill’s looking for.”

Sky had shown up at school after Gill had smashed the fake nautilus. “All those shells look alike. What’s so special about the nautilus he’s looking for?” Her too-casual tone sent a short, shrill alarm through my head.

I tensed by the side of my bed and studied her. She wore the same outfit she’d worn to school. Her dark black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. The strands appeared damp.

Was it something about Sky that had me jumpy or was it because of Gill’s mission? Most of the time she seemed pretty cool, but every once in a while something rang my BS meter.

“The shell belonged to a friend.” My friend’s. Not Gill’s. But Sky didn’t need to know that.

“So he’s got a special attachment to a shell?” Her voice held a slightly snarky tone.

For some reason she didn’t like Gill. I’d sensed the dislike at the restaurant and again outside of school. 

“I don’t know.” Taking a seat at my desk, I opened my laptop and turned it on. Gill might have a mission, but I had homework. “I’m positive Ashtyn took the shell. She was the only one who had access.”

“The entire swim team was at practice and hanging around.” Sky sat on the window seat that looked across Maris’s backyard. “All their stuff was lying all over the bleachers. School backpacks, swim bags, lunchboxes.”

“True.” My photographic memory ran through the scenario one more time. “But she’s the only one with reason.”

“Like what?”

“Ashtyn doesn’t like me.” I ticked the reasons off on my finger. “And she’s attracted to Gill.”

“If she likes him why would she steal from him?” The question and the puzzled expression on Sky’s face matched Gill’s when I explained it to him.

“She’s trying to get his attention.” Duh. What teenager flirt didn’t know that? “To make me mad.”

“Where is Gill tonight?” Sky stood again and roamed over by my bookshelves lining the wall. “I mean he’s your cousin visiting from out of state. Why isn’t he staying with you?”

Because Gill isn’t my cousin and my parents would kill me if I a guy slept over.

My mind flipped around for a reasonable answer. “Um, he’s got other friends in town.” I glanced out the window at Maris’s house. Most likely, he was right next door.

An urge to visit itched like a scratch I couldn’t resist. What was he doing over there?

Sky ran her fingers over a swimming trophy and a porcelain penguin. Then, she picked up a photo of Maris and me at the beach. “Who’s this?”

“That’s my friend, Maris.” An ache spread throughout my body. The dull thud of loneliness was a constant companion. I missed her.

“The one who moved.”

I steeled myself against the pain. “Yes.”

“Where’d she go?”

I scrambled to find a new explanation. Over the summer, everyone assumed Maris was on vacation. I thought she’d be back before the start of school. Ashtyn knew she’d withdrawn from school and I’d told Sky she’d moved. “Africa. With her parents.”