To The Moon and Back

𝟐𝟓 | 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡

W A V E L E N G T H

The distance between consecutive crests of a wave. This serves as a unit of measure of electromagnetic radiation.

T O T H E
M O O N & B A C K

IT'S THURSDAY TODAY. I've started back at work and despite my mother telling me to return to school when I'm ready, she sent a text message yesterday basically telling me I have to go back. And yes, I'm an adult, so really, I don't have to, but I know she will check and I don't feel like listening to her crying.

I'm in design and technology now. I'm late, per usual, but when I enter the classroom, Professor Warner doesn't say anything, he simply glares at me before returning to his laptop. The instructions for the lesson are written messily on the whiteboard.

There are five steps we are to follow but the first step begins with research, specifically in relation to European buildings and their ecosystems. See—I just want to learn how to do cool shit, not study fucking buildings.

I groan and the few students actually working turn around to glare at me like some fucking librarian and I glare back. They turn away quickly. I notice Solar and Pandora seated together, one of three spare seats next to her and I am making my way toward a seat not near them when Solar notices me.

"Atlas!" he calls and people shush him. I stare at him with pure irritation but I remember my best friend doesn't know me anymore. He doesn't know that after being on and off with Pandora for years upon years on end, we have finally stopped speaking. He doesn't know anything. "Come sit over here, mate."

I don't bother hiding my sour expression as I huff, sitting down next to Pandora and folding my arms across my chest. She doesn't look at me but I can tell she wants to.

"Why did you have to invite him to sit here?" Pandora whines, her tone portraying pure disgust as she turns to—what I'm assuming—glare at Solar.

Solar leans back, glancing at me as he moves his curls out of his eyes, rolling them as he laughs.

I smirk sparing her a glance and I realize how long it truly has been since I last saw her because I barely recognize her despite nothing have been changed about her appearance. She still has the same two-toned hair, the front strands and beneath silver and the rest a warm brown. Her skin is still tanned, her eyes still brown, and her smile still irritating as ever.

"Your twenty-two, sweetheart. Don't want me sitting next to you, why don't you try telling me yourself?" my words chip away at her confidence as her expression falters, her lips pressed into a thin line.

She scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Okay, fine." she huffs, crossing her arms as she turns in her seat to stare at me with a fiery gaze. "Move."

I shake my head, laughing, which just aggravates her even further. "I'm not the one with the problem, but if my being here is such a distraction, there's a spare seat right over there." I point over my shoulder, toward the back.

Pandora analyses the person near the empty space unashamed, before shaking her head. "I hate you."

"I know."

I then realize I didn't bring anything to class—purposefully, though. I didn't bring my laptop because I never use it outside of school, so it's always flat. So, by attending class without resources, then results in me usually observing someone else, that someone being Pandora, but I can't do that anymore.

I feel irritation bubbling and boiling beneath my skin and my ears begin to ring so loudly that I want to scream. Why the bloody hell did I bother coming to class in the first place? And along with that, unprepared too.