Scales & Tales - The Tales of Mystic High - Book 1

Chapter 8

Aquamarine smiled at Atlantic as he stood in the doorway. "Did you have any troubles with your braces?"

Atlantic shook his head. "Nope! Blackout was pretty good at it, to be honest! I think he has some experience with these kinds of things."

Aquamarine nodded lightly. "Alright..." She seemed a little uneasy, much to Atlantic's obliviousness. She shook her head, clearing her throat. "So, uhm, where is he right now?" She leaned her torso out of the doorway, looking around skeptically. "I assume he'd be walking you to class?"

"Oh, he is!" Atlantic hummed. "He's just in the dorm right now, he said that he needed to take care of something real quick, I'm assuming it was because he had accidentally melted a spoon."

Aquamarine stood there, flabbergasted. "I- What? How do you accidentally melt a spoon!?"

Atlantic laughed. "I dunno! I asked him how he got that weird scar thing on his right eye. Wait- left..." Atlatnic went quiet for a moment, thinking. "Yeah, his right eye. He shrugged, but then his spoon started to melt."

Aquamarine nodded lightly, seeming to understand. "... Atlantic, don't ask people things like that, they might get offended. Who knows what he got it from? It might make him self-conscious or he got it from something traumatic."

"Oh..." Atlantic looked at the ground, frowning. "Is he mad at me..?"

"I'm sure he won't take it to heart." Aquamarine gave him a reassuring side hug. "But when he comes out, we'll head to class, okay? We have the same homeroom, right?"

"Well, I have..." Atlantic looked up, like he was trying to mentally picture his schedule. "M... Ms... Mr..?"

"Ms. Mcklaw," Blackout interrupted, as he opened the door. He had one a black shirt with a red undershirt that stood out at the top, his sleeves burnt, most likely from him accidentally burning something once too close to his sleeves. He also had black shorts on, with red socks that had a flame-like effect at the top, with normal grey and red sneakers. Aquamarine took notice of the black scar that Atlantic was talking about, but made sure not to stare at it for long – if at all.

"Oh, okay!" Atlantic smiled, and Aquamarine noticed Atlantic's eyes shimmer more as Blackout budged into the conversation.

Aquamarine took a mental note, but didn't say anything about it. "Well, let's go to class now, shouldn't we?" Aquamarine suggested.

"Of course!" Atlantic nodded. "Wouldn't want to be late on the first day, would we?"

"Yeah, let's go," Blackout confirmed. The trio walked down the hall, occasionally chatting about stuff like their home or other fun stuff that they've noticed and learned about their school in the short time they've been in their dorms.

"Yeah, did you know they have a surfing club!?" Atlatnic smiled in awe. "I'm going to try out! Oh, boy, I'm so excited!"

"Do you like surfing?" Blackout inquired curiously.

"I love it!" Altantic said, nodding his head rapidly.

Aquamarine added, "back in Sharkdom, he used to go to the surfing center all the time. He loved it."

"It's how I got a good balance! Even though my physical therapist said it's a bad thing I learned to balance on my feet the way I do, it works for me! I genuinely don't see her concerns," Atlantic shrugged carelessly.

Aquamarine sighed. "Atlantic, buddy, we've gone over this several times. Balancing on your toes isn't a good thing. Your feet are going to get locked in that position and it'll cause you pain when you want to move them, and you'll be a lot more prone to arthritis when you get older."

"But sis!" Atlantic whined noisily. "I'm left handed! I'm not going to get arthritis!"

Blackout looked at his roomate strangely. "And being left handed prevents you from having arthritis because..?"

"Oh, well, I do some research on lefties sometimes – just for fun y'know? – but one person suggested that a study has shown that being left handed is somehow connected to a lower rate of arthritis," Atlantic explained.

Blackout blinked. "... You said you're not going to get it. If it's a lower rate of arthritis, there's still a chance, just less likely than someone like me, who's right handed."

Atlantic stood forward for a second, before gasping. "Oh my flippers, you're right! My bad, sorry, sis!" He ruffled Aquamarine's hair playfully.

Aquamarine gasped, as she knew her hair was going to be a mess now. "Atlantic!" She yelled. Continuing her scolding, she said, "don't ruin my hair, you know this! It'll take who knows how long to fix it!"

Blackout rolled his eyes. "Girls..."

Aquamarine sneered at Blackout. "Excuse me?"

"You girls are so obsessed with your hair. I just brush it out with one or two brushes, and then I'm done for the day! Maybe some hair gel if I'm going somewhere important."

"Oh, yeah!? Well you boys are-"

"Stop!" Atlantic shouted suddenly, causing both Aquamarine and Blackout to look at him.

"Oh, sorry, buddy..." Aquamarine frowned, as she saw that Atlantic had stopped walking, and was staring at the ground with furrowed eyebrows. "I forgot you don't like people fighting..."

Blackout looked at Atlantic for a second, before sighing. "Sorry... I guess I shouldn't have made that comment."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have-" Aquamarine started to raise her voice a bit, but quickly stopped herself. "E-er, hey, the elevator's right there! C'mon, Atlantic, do you want to push the button?" She asked desperately, in an attempt to calm down Atlantic, as she knew he loved pushing the elevator buttons.

Atlantic nodded the tiniest bit, speeding up ahead of them. Aquamarine looked worriedly at Blackout, to find him glaring at her. She scowled a bit, but shook her head firmly and walked up to the elevator, which Atlantic was pushing the open button repetitively.