ATOMS (THE SOCIETY)

vii. both under the same sky

chapter seven. ☁️ episode two.
both under the same sky

summer. 10:34 am , june 04
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬  phoebe beckett

PHOEBE MADE HER WAY BACK TO ELLE, her face clouded with confusion and her shoulders slumped and she dragged her feet shuffled across the silver pavement. She looked up as she got closer and saw that Elle's confused expression had matched her own.  "What happened?" Elle asked.

The two walked side by side towards the direction of the Pressmans, Elle's gaze intently on Phoebe and Phoebe's gaze intently on the floor. "Nothing. Just...Harry Bingham being a dick like usual."

"To you?" Elle asked and Phoebe nodded. "That's weird. I swear I saw his car in your driveway everyday and I saw him picking up flower for you too."

"He's so.. Wait-- you say him picking flowers for me?" Phoebe brought her head up from her staring contest with the ground and looked at the azure eyes of her friend. She's always liked Elle's eyes, even envied her a bit for having eyes that was the same colour of the sky. Her eyes were dark and antagonistic, burdened with heavy lashes and coloured with the paint of mundanity.

"Yeah in the park." Elle nodded. "And I remember he tied it with an orange ribbon."

Phoebe'  mind drifted back to the dried up bouquet of flowers by her bedside table, crafted together with a bright orange ribbon and her eyes widened. "He picked that out himself?!"

"Yeah." Elle chuckled.  "What did you think he did?"

"I don't know!" Phoebe shrugged her shoulders. "I thought he bought it or something."

Elle chuckled as she swung an arm over Phoebe's shoulders. "Phoebs, you're kinda dumb."

A gasp escaped Phoebe's lips. "I mean-- yes, true. But why?"

"Harry Bingham is in love with you." Elle said with such ease that it sounded like she was simply addressing an everyday occurrence and Harry Bingham falling in love was certainly not something that happened everyday.

Phoebe's lips pressed together to make a 'pfft' sound and shook her head. "Impossible. He literally just said we weren't friends."

"I saw that boy drive up to your house everyday for almost a whole week..."

"Okay. Creep." Phoebe muttered jokingly but was ignored.

"...And he would come out with kind of like a sad expression but come again the next day, wearing a kind of hopeful expression this time." Elle explained, using her hands to make the picture in the air.

"What are you saying?" Phoebe asked, suddenly picturing Harry coming out of her house with a sullen and despondent look etched on his features but returning nonetheless. A strike of guilt ran through her bones, she'd rejected Harry for his help over and over again (with words that she should not have used) but he still returned and brought her breakfast and flowers.

Elle slapped her forehead at her best friend's naivety.  She took her arm off Phoebe's shoulders and explained with her hands, "Harry." Then she made a heart. "In love." Then she pointed to Phoebe. "With you."

Phoebe sighed. "Elle stop. Just because someone brings someone flowers and breakfast doesn't mean they're in love with that person."

"Wait-- he brought you breakfast? What exactly did happen in there?"

"Nothing. He just made sure I ate and then left."

"Hmm..." Elle mumbled. "Do you know why he stopped?"