Toxin

CHAPTER 7 - Insanity has occurred...

"Don't you have any other friends?" I asked Atlas, devilishly grinning. He rolled his eyes, "I have Vapour if it's really necessary." Atlas joked, shoving his hands in the front pockets in his jumper. Just then, Effie ran over to us, stumbling whilst trying to carry her books. "Where were you?!" she hissed, only just noticing Atlas next to me. I struggled to find words, but it now looked like is wasn't required any longer. Effie winked at me; "Give me all the deets." now trudging along behind me to her locker. I sighed, hunching my shoulders. I heard a velvet-like chuckle from next to me, so I turned to face him. "Vapour?" I guessed, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, you're good at this already." Vapour purred, smiling down at me which was almost at a point that made me now think he was smirking. "Atlas told me you usually didn't come through during the day." I muttered, my curiosity getting the better of me. He sighed, chuckling again. "So am I now not allowed to make an appearance anymore?" he sneered, his eyes glistening playfully. I rolled my eyes in return, replying "That's not what I said." with a childish pout. He laughed again, his shoulders bouncing up and down as he did so. I mumbled with a small tone to my voice, fighting the urge to smile. This just made me frown even more, forcing me and Vapour to laugh together, a synchronised harmony. Vapour sighed one last time before his laughter died down to a halt. Atlas looked down at me again, the corners of his mouth still tilted up in an attractive manner. I blushed, heavily too. Atlas lifted the corners of his mouth higher, and soon he was giving me the fox-like look again. I frowned, rubbing my tingling cheeks roughly, attempting to get rid of the blush. It didn't work. "You know, it's very easy to tell when you blush." Atlas smirked, stretching one long arm over my shoulders. I rolled my eyes and began to rub my cheeks again. "I told you we could've made-out before~" he teased, his flawless white teeth being shown in a beautiful, wide smile. I glared at him, my cheeks now urging to stay this red bright colour. I slapped him across the face, which made my hand sting. Though, as usual, Atlas didn't flinch. I scowled, crossing my arms whilst secretly rubbing my hand in a rhythmic motion. We walked down the corridor and outside, on to the oval and towards a free table. "Oh shit." I stopped, cursing under my breath. "What?" Atlas stopped, turning to look down at me. "My money's in my bag." I hissed, squeezing my fists into tight balls. Atlas snorted, chucking me a twenty dollar note. I looked up at him, frowning and shoving the note into his chest. "I'm not taking your money. Besides, it's too much just for a recess snack." I shook my head, still pushing the note into his chest. I felt him ripple as he chuckled lowly. "Sweetheart..." I pouted. "Firstly, I know you don't want to walk all the way back down the hill just for five dollars, and secondly, this isn't my money." he smirked, grabbing my wrist and pushing it softly against my chest, even though he did this gesture softly, I still couldn't move his hand, or arm away. I rolled my eyes, looking at the floor. "Of course it's not your money." I muttered, glaring back up at his sky blue eyes. I sighed, retrieving my hand from his grasp and making my way up to the canteen. "Want anything?" I asked, standing patiently in cue. Atlas chuckled again, tilting his head forward and looking up at me; "Aaly, I don't need food.".

I stared back at him whilst he bursted into laughter. "And of course the not so human boy doesn't need food!" I blurted out, still quietly though to make sure I had no attention on me, other than Atlas's. "Boy? Wow. That's harsh." Atlas spat jokingly, wading up to me with an elegant touch. I rolled my eyes. "Grow up, then maybe I'll give you the title of an adolescent." I retorted, smirking. "Big words for such a small girl." Atlas grinned, pulling me forward by the my waist and clinging onto my lower back. I'd grit my teeth, glaring up at him. "I'm the average height for a girl- teen my age." I spat, turning my head away from his upper chest and pouting. I heard Atlas snort, which I chose to ignore. "Atlas, you need to go now. Save us a seat, and I'll be up in a few." I exclaimed, uselessly shoving him away from me. Although the his restraints were strong, he broke free, only running on the words I had just uttered. I turned back to face the canteen, and broke out into a wild blush. Jesus... he needs to stop doing that. I thought, gulping and hoping that it would wash me back to reality. I blinked, stepping forward. "What would you like?" The worn-out woman said, staring at me. "Uhh, could I have a raspberry and blueberry slushie combo and a packet of Original Smith's Chips?" I replied, tapping on the counter impatiently. "That'll be eight dollars, fifty nine." The women snapped, turning around to prepare my slushie. I moved the twenty dollar note on the counter and waited again, my hands now in my jean pockets. I retrieved my slushie and chips, along with the eleven, forty-one change and set off to find Atlas. It wasn't difficult finding him, as he was towering over the group of girls at the top, left hand corner of the field. I sighed, shuffling my way out of the canteen line and up to them. "Can't we be friends?" one of the girls squealed excitedly as I got closer to the mess of girls around Atlas. "Sure, but that doesn't mean anything more than it sounds, alright?" the dazzling velvet-like voice purred, almost in a threatening-type way. "Excuse me." I muttered as I shoved through the row of girls. I knew they were glaring at me through the awful contacts most of them wore, but I shrugged it off. Vapour gave the girls a sort of look that said "back away", and so the girls scurried off, glancing behind one last time at the beautiful boy next to me before continuing down the hill. He groaned, the silken voice now replaced with Atlas's sultry yet husky voice. I stifled a laugh, patting Atlas on the back. "Girls are weird." he'd mumble, shaking his head. I laughed again, a little louder this time and looked up at him. "So I'm weird too?" I asked, smirking apologetically. He smiled, "Yes, but not as weird as them. I could literally tell them to jump off a cliff and they would." he replied, chuckling slightly. "That's girls for you." I rolled my eyes. "They will do anything blindly. It's like a lamb falling in love with a lion." I finished, smiling. "Did you seriously almost just quote Twilight?" Atlas looked down at me grinning. I returned the grin, closing my eyes and shrugging. Atlas sighed, tilting his head up and flopping back onto the table. "And this is why I get Vapour to do all the talking." he groaned, shielding the sun in his eyes with his arm. "I noticed." I smirked, sitting on the table instead of the seat. A familiar thud came across. I looked up, only to find a grinning Effie making her way up the hill. I rolled my eyes, patting the spot next to me. She gladly ran over, sitting next to me. "Dwayne's not happy with you hanging out with Atlas. He said you could do better." she exclaimed, taking a long sip from her juice box, mocking me from a few days days ago. Atlas sat up, raising an eyebrow. "He's not exactly demanding you do to as he's told... But he thinks you'd be better off without him." I sighed, gazing at the floor. "He's not entirely happy with me either, so that makes two of us." she grinned, punching my arm. I winced, but it didn't hurt me like it should've. Am I seriously shifting now. I grit my teeth, frustrated and annoyed. No... It can't be now. I don't even know the process it goes through. Besides, it happens at night, not in the middle of the day. I sighed, leaning back on the table like Atlas was. I was too distant to notice a teacher on duty was calling over to me to get off the table. I just laid there, watching the clouds as they drifted slowly across one side of the sky, to the other. I then gazed into Atlas's eyes, reflecting the beautiful blue colour directly towards me.