Atomic Rebooted

36. Wish

CLAIRE

"What?" I forced a fake laugh. "Where did you get that idea?"

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "I literally just told you. Come on, let's go to class— I won't tell anyone, if it helps."

"Please don't," I said, dropping into serious mode as we started to move out of the library. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Stephanie looked a little deflated, but there was a spark of the joy caused by pure vindication.

"So Psyche was—"

"My mom." That was the first time I'd admitted that out loud. "Come on, we've got to get to class. You can't tell anyone, I'm dead serious, Steph."

"I know." Stephanie sobered. "I'll take it to my grave. And sorry, I'll be less nosy— I just— I had to know."

Seeing her there, I recognized a little bit of myself in the past two weeks.

"It's okay, I know what it's like," I said quietly, letting my features soften. "It's just— it's not like in other places. It's not as glamorous as in the bigger cities."

Stephanie nodded. "I've noticed. I'm sorry— I know I don't know what you've been going through. I really know that now."

"It's okay,"

"You know you don't have to lie so much about how you're feeling, right?" Stephanie ventured as we entered the hallway. "We're still your friends."

"Right."

That too, was a lie. I'd learned a long time ago, when I was a little girl still grieving the death of my mother, that no one really wanted to know how anybody was actually feeling. It wasn't anyone's fault— grief and all the ugly little emotions inside of me were awkward and uncomfortable and no one wanted to be around it.

Except for Tristan. . .

That's when I realized he must've overheard the whole thing.

My heart raced. I glanced around the hallway, locking onto him as he headed towards one of the English classrooms.

I was learning a lot from my powers and taking on my mom's mantle lately. I was learning about the city I'd grown up in, the events that had been happening around me all along that I'd ignored because I was just a kid. I was learning about myself, and what I was really made of.

And I was learning the importance of acting now.

I had the power now to change things, to change my life.

Maybe the adrenaline from the weekend still hadn't entirely worn off.

Maybe because I'd faced off against the guy who nearly killed me about a week ago, I felt like I could face something as petty and yet just as heart-racing as a high school love story.

"I gotta go," I said to Stephanie. "I gotta get to Pre-Calc."

Stephanie frowned. "But I'm in Pre-Calc with you—"

Then she spotted him, at the same time I did. "Oh."

I handed her my messenger bag. "I'll get there as fast as I can."

"Better hurry," Stephanie warned as she adjusted her own backpack on her shoulder.

"I will."

With that, I darted around other students and ran up to Tristan, right before he could go through the door of his English class.

"Claire?" He turned, surprised.

"I need to tell you something, I'll make it quick," I said breathlessly. "I don't know, what you overheard in the library—"