Beyond The Crash

CHAPTER 21 | [STUCK TOGETHER]

What the–

A flash of light appeared in the sky, and soon, the sound of thunder followed. Lilley flinched at the sudden sound, letting go of the papers as they spread around her.
"No no no no, it's not fair. It didn't give any warning," she turned to the window.
Atticus finally looked up from his phone and turned to the window. Then his gaze shifted to Lilley, then back at the window, and finally went back to his phone.

She groaned as bent to pick up the drawings around her. Now, she was temporarily stuck there. Never has this happened to her before. She walked over to the stool she previously sat on and glanced at her partner. Was he bothered by this, too?

Normally, or rather, so far, she've known Atticus, which is not long; she hasn't really seen much expressions on him. Unlike Axel, who shows his, well, once in a while, Atticus looks like he doesn't even have that much expression locked in other than looking annoyed... that was all she could pick up. Even his normal, neutral face gave off 'don't even try talking to me' vibe.

So, what was she expecting when she glanced at him? Was it for him to be annoyed by the fact that it's raining all of a sudden? Or look bothered that he can't go home because it's raining? Or just show any other emotions relating to the fact that it's raining and he can't go home?
But what she saw didn't really surprise her. Like she sort of expected it. Unbothered. Like he just didn't care or even have the energy to care.

Seriously?! She frowned as she sat down.
As she was about to turn from him, something caught her eyes. She didn't know how or when it happened, but she just stared at him. Immensely. Like he was a sculpture that held secrets of the artist.

The first thing she noticed was the fact that he had a lot of beauty marks. She moved her stool a bit closer as she felt the need to count them. One under his right eye, another at the top left of his forehead, two at both sides of his neck and two on his left hand; one on the wrist and the other at the back of his palm.
That's one too many beauty marks, she remarked.

Another thing she noticed that differentiated Atticus from Willaim was that his hair was longer and same with his bangs. They covered his eyes just a bit. His eyes though were more sharper than Willaim's. But everything else seemed the same. Same hair, similar height, and pointed nose, etcetera.

Atticus, on the other hand, got a weird feeling. He slowly turned only to flinch to see Lilley, observing him quite closely. His eyes widened a bit, and then he regained his composure. She didn't look like she knew how close they were. Why she was even looking so intently at him like she was observing a test subject was a mystery to him, but something he thought wasn't far from her character.

"What... are you doing?"

She blinked and then looked away, then back at him before realising what was going on. As if she were stuck in a trance and his sudden question pulled her out, she moved back quickly on for the sound of thunder to make her shriek, and she found herself on the floor.

Atticus looked down at her with his brows raised, actually stunned. First, she slept all through their project on a stool without falling, which was quite impressive, then she woke up suddenly and to think she'll take her leave, instead she stayed and even called his art, that he didn't like, impressive and now staring at him like he's a sculpture?
He let out a little scoff and turned back to his phone. "You're weird."

Excuse me? She stood up. After she felt like her heart actually skipped a beat and fell hard on the cold floor, he called her weird.
Am I getting it wrong? Won't normal people ask if I was okay or something?

"I think you got it mistaken," she dusted her skirt. "You're the one that's weird." She glared.

He let out a small scoff, his lips lifting up a bit at the side. Dropping his phone with a slight nod, he turned to her. "I'm weird?"